Going Deeper Pt 2
January 24, 2010
“Our God is a great ‘BIG’ God! He’s bigger than your situation, He’s bigger than your need, He’s bigger than your issue and if you’ll hear his voice he will manifest himself in that situation on your behalf.”
“When God asks you a question he’s not looking for the answer. He already knows the answer. He wants you to discover what the answer is!”
The above are extracts from this Sundays talk 24th January 2010. To listen to the full talk please click Here.
Going Deeper Pt 1
January 17, 2010
If we have been going after something and haven’t found it.. If we still want what we don’t have, then we have to risk going somewhere where we’ve not been before! If you can do what you want to do in your life this year without God. You don’t need God!!
Whatever your believing God for. Make it bigger than you can accomplish by yourself. Make it bigger than we can do as a people….. We need a God who is bigger than us to fulfil a vision that is bigger than us!
The above are extracts from this Sundays talk 17th January 2010
Nehemiah’s keys to achieving victory in life.
March 2, 2009
Nehemiah:Keys to achieving victory in life.
Have you ever wondered what makes the difference between a winner and a loser? Victorious people seem to share an inability to accept defeat. The alternative to winning seems to be completely unacceptable. They seem to have a capacity to work out what needs to be done and then they go after it with all of the resources at their disposal. Within these terms Nehemiah did nearly everything right in order to accomplish victory in the completion of his project.
1) Victorious people have a compelling purpose.
Nehemiah 2;15 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
Nehemiah did not just have a particular journey but also the destination in mind. He could see both the problem and the solution and yet he had never visited Jerusalem.
Victorious people see
a) Further than others can see:
Victorious leaders and people can see further. Nehemiah was able to see the problem but he was also able to picture the solution. What difficulty are you facing today, what challenge are you experiencing, God wants you to see not just the problem but its potential solution.
b) More than others can see:
He knew that the wall could and should be re-built. He also knew what it would take to accomplish the task in terms of human and material resources.
c) Before others could see.
Many of the neighbouring people groups around Jerusalem did not want to see the wall re-built and several enemy leaders conspired to prevent the completion of the task. Nehemiah saw the danger in advance and planned a strategy accordingly. Many of the struggles described in scripture are about territory and who controls it; in this respect the Bible echoes life itself .For example the struggle around Isaac’s wells in the book of Genesis was about territory and influence. The greatest example of territory and struggle is the area of the human heart and who influences it.
In History we have the example of Churchill .Churchill did everything in his power to win. He deployed troops in the Mediterranean against Mussolini, although he hated communism ,he allied himself with Stallin and the soviets and even sent them supplies. He developed his relationship with Roosevelt though the president was reluctant to join the war. In time his efforts paid off. When the USA entered WW.2, Churchill is reported to have said, “So we have won the war after all” One of Churchill’s most famous rallying calls is contained in the following quotation:
“What is our aim? I answer in one word Victory-victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
What do you need to do? ,What alliances need to be made? ,to accomplish the purpose that God has for you as an individual .Big doors can swing on little hinges. Sometimes your breakthrough is tied up in a relationship, or someone who can show you the favour that you need to succeed. Sometimes your destiny can be tied up with a particular person.
2.Victorious leaders/people create a sense of momentum.
Momentum means a force or speed of movement; and impetus, John Maxwell declares that momentum is the key that unlocks victory. When leaders and people lack momentum, they look worse than they are ,when they have momentum they appear to be better than they are. With enough momentum any kind of change is possible. With sufficient momentum a tipping point becomes inevitable. We need momentum in our individual lives, in our corporate lives together. If you have ever driven behind a new learner driver ,who keeps stalling the car you can see how difficult it is to build any momentum.
The way to stop a great work is to stop its leader,One way to stop him is to break his momentum.
Momentum is often easier to stop than to start.
A) Momentum breakers come from a tidal wave of negativity.
4:1 –2 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall; he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews.In the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble–burned as they are?”
As a result of this negativity, workers became discouraged .We need to recognise that our words create or destroy, discourage or inspire, heal or hurt, so choose yours carefully today! Think about it for a minute, what are your words saying about you?, do you sound like a child of God or a live-in lodger with the Osbournes? The Bible says we should be, swift to hear, slow to speak. (James 1:19 NKJ) King Solomon adds, even fools are thought to be wise when they keep silent. (Proverbs 17:28 NLT) What he means is? stupid people show the world how vacuous they are by speaking too readily .
b)The impact of multiple voices.
12) Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” Notice here that on ten separate occasions they came with a negative report.
The impact of this was to discourage and to break the momentum in the re-building process.
c) Momentum creators include prayer and strategic planning .
He relied upon God.
We need to remember that whatever part we have to play in things the battle belongs to God. Out of prayer and connection with God, a plan was created to address the problems.
4; 12 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.
His plan was to strengthen the weak points in the wall. Sometimes momentum is the only thing between winning and losing. That’s why in football when a team is on top their opponents sometimes will try to disrupt the momentum by giving away a number of fouls to slow the game down and break the momentum. We need a strategy in order to maintain momentum.
Nehemiah’s strategy was simple:
From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armour. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah.
1) It had an offensive capacity. Half of the men continued the work.
2) The other half were engaged in defensive duties protecting the workers.
You and I need a sense of momentum in our spiritual lives. If we are not moving forward then we could be stuck in a rut. Yet progress can take time. It may take you five years to learn to stop people- pleasing, or ten years to stop feeling sorry for yourself, or twenty years to stop going back and reliving your childhood. All the while God is telling you, ‘Stop it,’ and you’re saying, ‘Yeah, I know. I’m going to do better.’ Then finally a crisis happens and the truth hits you. You need to change. At that point you say, ‘you know what? I’m going to forget those things, which are behind, and start reaching for those things, which are before. Then the momentum has a chance to build.
3) The Power to prevail.
Ch4;22
Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.
There is something about the anointing of God that enables you to not only prevail but also prosper in adversity. Joseph prospered whilst in prison. The people left Egypt with their pockets full and the chains of their captors empty. Jesus preached freedom in a prison that could not contain him.
6:15″ so the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days”
The real miracle in this book is the fact that the wall was completed in 52 days despite many adversaries. The tide begins to turn once the project is successful. The purpose of rebuilding the wall was not just to make the city secure again. The purpose was to change the spiritual climate.
6:17 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.
If we are victorious in building the kind of lives God wants then we will transform the situations we touch around us. If we are victorious in building the kind of church God wants to build we will transform the world around us.
Five things about being filled with the spirit.
November 11, 2008
When was the last time you fed a baby oatmeal?, Peache pure or apple sauce? .Or how about my two all time favourites baked beans , Or chocolate?. My grandson baby Alfie can’t chew chocolate all that well at present but he can give it a ferocious sucking. Regardless of what you may be serving when your baby does not want to eat his or her entire body gets engaged in the struggle. The jaws become cast iron letting nothing enter the mouth. Any food that may miraculously make it past the lips is pushed out by an iron tongue. The baby develops great eye coordination at these times ,when you want it to finish the last few bites, but he or she has had enough. At this point the spoonful headed for the mouth hits the ear instead.Or a small hand pushes the spoonful into your lap. How many of you have ever been there? .Babies need to eat. Good nutrition is important for the growth and development of every infant. However, no matter how hard we may try, and regardless of how tasty the food may be, UNLESS THE BABY IS YIELDED AND WILLING TO EAT, WE CANNOT FILL THE CHILD WITH FOOD. When that same baby is hungry or thirsty and is crying out making its desire known, then it is much easier to “fill” the baby.Similarly, the Holy Spirit does not force Himself to “FILL US.” In the same way that a baby needs to have a desire for food or drink to be willing to eat, we must also crave the presence of the Holy Sprit in our lives in order to be “filled with the Spirit.” If we are to receive the Spirit, we must submit our minds, spirits and bodies to Jesus.
Five things about being filled with the spirit.
1) Jesus is the source of the experience
John 7:37-39 37 declares
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
”If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
Also John the Baptist tells us in:
Matt 3: 11
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
The foundational lesson to be learned here is that Jesus is the baptiser.We baptised a group of people a few weeks ago in water but only Jesus can baptise in the Holy Spirit.Whenever I pray for someone to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit I am simply seeking to be a facillitator for Jesus to move in that person’s life .
2)It is not a limited or a limiting experience
Baptise means to totally immerse and soak.It is therefore a powerful all encompassing experience.Some people refer to this as being filled with the Holy Spirit.I like to think of Baptism as the initial encounter and infilling as an ongoing activity. This is not a limited or a limiting experience. Every christian has the spirit but not every believer is filled with the spirit. When a human being becomes a christian the holy spirit comes to live in and influence that person as an individual. He or she becomes the sacred dwelling place of the Holy Spirit!. God no longer is just “out there somewhere;” God designed you and me to be his address on earth. God wants to lives in you and manifest his life through you. When you commit to God and yield to Jesus Christ, God takes up residence in your life at that very moment. The Holy Spirit comes into a life and sets in motion a transformation within us.In this way baptism in the spirit brings an added dimension that is potentially limitless.
3) It exposes us to the limitless power of Love.
When people get filled with the spirit they experienced the love and power of God. The problem with human love is that it is often conditional and with limitations .It comes with a price tag attached.For example in the following letter,
Dear John,
I have been unable to sleep since I broke off our engagement. Won’t you forgive and forget. Your absence is breaking my heart, I was a fool,nobody can take your place. I love you.I love you,I love you-Marsha
P.S.Congratulations on winning the lottery.
God wants you to know that his love is unconditional. it accepts you as you are but in order to experience in a growing way his limitless love ,we need to learn obediance,this will necessitate going on being filled with the spirit.
4) It is a sign of empowerment.
Just as baptism in water is not a condition of salvation but an outward sign of an inward change.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a condition of empowerment but rather a sign of it.Baptism in the spirit is how Jesus chooses to empower us.What is the difference between someone who’s a christian and a christian who is full of the Holy Spirit? ,It’s a bit like the difference between the light from a tiny candle, and that produced by a gas lantern. The light in the tiny candle is like every Christian – all Christians have the Holy Spirit living within them. But some people are like a gas lantern – they are so full of the Spirit of God that the light they give off is bright and warm and much greater than the light from the tiny candle.One of the main purposes of being filled with the spirit is that it enables us to receive the necesary power to be Christs’ representatives or witnesses here on Earth.
5) It releases within us the power to live a productive life.
Being filled with the spirit can be reduced in our thinking to an experience when it is meant to be an ongoing process.One of the dangers in seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit is that we can emphasise the’experiential’ rather than the process which is meant to enable us to accomplish things for God. If there’s an infilling, there must be an out flowing! Every time someone in the New Testament was filled with the Holy Spirit, things happened. Amazing healings took place. They had book burnings in the town square. Idol makers and pornographers went out of business. They didn’t just celebrate in church; they took it to the streets. There must be an outflow! The first picture we have of God in the Bible is of Him in His creative role. He makes us in His image, breathes life into us, then says, ‘Go out and become productive’ (See Genesis 1:28).
Are you hoping your life will ‘just change for the better?’ Are you praying for somebody with all the answers to come along and improve your circumstances?. No, what’s inside you will change what’s outside you, if you put it to work! This is not some glib, ‘can do’ self-help programme. ‘It is God who works in you’ (Philippians 2:13 NIV). The struggle in your life right now may be over what God wants to do through you! What’s within you is greater than the trouble you’ve been through, the situation you’re in or the obstacles that lie in your path. When everything around you is saying ‘no’ but something deep within you is saying ‘yes, that’s your God-given destiny. Acknowledge it, anchor your life to it and begin to work it out. Be filled with the spirit and God’s power will work through you in the situations you face.
William
Foundations
October 3, 2008
In building work there are many kinds of foundation.Differing situations,the proximity of trees ,varying land conditions can all combine to determine the shape and type of foundation required.Building on sand is often easier,cheaper and can be more comfortable than building upon solid rock.However it usually leaves the building exposed to the elements and when storms arise it is easy to see the kind of foundation upon which the construction was established.During the hurricane season in the USA it is not uncommon to see buildings literally ripped up from their foundations.
When Michael Eisner, head of the Disney Corporation, had plans drawn up for a house, one wall was so thin it almost buckled under its own weight. Another software billionaire’s house had pine panelling that rotted out before the house was even completed. Were they too busy to notice? No, most architects say, people find construction details boring; they’d rather spend their money on more cosmetic stuff. Yet an important truth regarding any kind of building work needs to be remembered that it is the foundation that determines the height, the width, the strength, and ultimately the value of the house.
The same principle applies to the church and even more significantly the lives of its members and those they are seeking to reach.Houses built on sand are quick, cheap and easy; they provide temporary comfort and instant gratification. But building on a foundation of rock is hard: it takes time, effort, foresight and perseverance – but the results are worth it. Jesus says in MATTHEW 7:24 “Therefore if everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock”.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:10 declares how important the laying of good foundations upon God’s word are to the long term effectiveness of what is being constructed;
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.” Successful Christian minstry is the result of commitment, consistency and building according to God?s Word. Similarly successful christian living is the result of commitment, to the same things. When you make those things the foundation of your life, you can make it through life’s variable weather patterns. Today there’s a lot of flaky stuff being pedalled in the name of truth. We need to be building upon a strong foundation of the truth of God’s word.
A recent prophetic word encouraged us in Life Church to think foundationally and as a result we have put together our current Sunday series entitled not suprisingly Foundations.In this series it is our aim to cover often neglected but foundational topics such as Eternity,Heven and Hell,Salvation,Faith,God is Father,Son and Spirit,Water Baptism and being filled with the spirit.These biblical subjects and concepts give us our spiritual foundations.Without good foundations even the most expensive of buildings can fall.Our hope is that this church is here for the long haul and we want it to stand firm on the best of spirittual foundations.We also want the lives of those that we touch to be secured by the good basis of God’s word.
Hope
April 26, 2008
When people attend weekend services at church I assume that they are looking for hope and not despair. John Johnson one of the wealthiest men in America said “men and women are limited not by their place of birth or the colour of their skin but by the size of their hope” What people in today’s world need is hope.
Hope empowers us to reach into the fears, disappointments and failings of the present in order to find something redemptive.
The message of the gospel is profoundly redemptive God entered deep into the darkness of the human condition in order to redeem it. And he did so through the sacrifice of his only Son whose resurrection brought us life: freedom from sin and sinfulness”.
Hope is a Greek word Elpis meaning joyful and confidant expectation. When we have Hope it means that we are looking for something good that we want to have happen in the future, or a confident feeling about the future: Hope is an emotional belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances within one’s personal life.
It’s a mental condition that’s essential to the life God wants you to live. It’s the fuel your heart runs on. It’s the single biggest difference between those who persevere and those who give up. It’s called – hope.
A number of years ago researchers performed an experiment to see the affect hope had on those undergoing hardship. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set in the water, and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest, but because they suddenly had hope! Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for unthinking rodents, how much greater should its effect be upon human beings.
Whilst there are many factors that can diminish our hope there are a serious of hope builders that we can utilise in our lives.
A) Hope Builder One
- Look at the kingdom, not just your corner!
June 6th,1994 was the fiftieth anniversary of the allied invasion of Normandy ,which began the battle to liberate continental Europe from Nazi rule. The event was covered extensively on television.
One of the programmes paired two contrasting interviews back-to back. One interview was with an American who landed on Omaha Beach .He recalled the horrors that sounded like scenes from Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. The ageing veteran recalled looking around at the carnage and the casualties and he began to say “we’re going to lose”
The next interview was with an air force reconnaissance pilot who flew over the whole battle area .He saw the casualties and carnage on the beach but he also saw the penetrations being made by paratroopers, the effectiveness of aerial bombardment and he concluded “we’re going to win” Same battle different perspectives.
Today we need to remind ourselves that God’s kingdom is bigger than our particular section.
• In China it is estimated that 28,000 people become believers on a daily basis. In 1950 one million believers. Today in excess of 60 million.
• In Africa 20,000 become believers every day .In 1900 The continent was 3 percent Christian. I learned the other day of a conference in 1905 that concluded that if things continued as they were at that stage in history then by the end of the century Africa would be a muslim continent. The reality is that by the end of the century it was more than 40% Christian. Today African Christianity is at the forefront .God can take the wisdom of the wise and confound it.
• In the UK lots of negative stuff about the church being extinct by 2050.The reality is that despite continued decline in the main denominations. When you compile an aggregate of new churches and fresh expressions of church the picture is one of slight growth. Like the predictions about Africa God loves to confound the wisdom of the wise and fill that which appears hopeless with hope.
B) Hope Builder Two
- See Christ and not the circumstances!
Hope grows when we see Christ and not just the circumstances. Circumstances have great power over our emotions and feelings. One criticism, one setback, one nasty note or response, ingratitude when you expect gratitude, negativity when you expect something more positive.
At the root of diminished hope is unrealistic expectations. We expect everything to go so well and according to our agenda .
Romans 1: 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live (not by their emotions, not by their feelings, not by their circumstances but) by faith.”
We need to believe that Jesus is Lord of the World AND lord of the church and that the outcome is always subject to his sovereign control. However we need to recognise that yesterday’s faith cannot counteract today’s circumstances. We need today’s faith for current circumstances.
C) Hope Builder Three
- Remember the success stories and not just the problems!
Throughout the Old Testament the Hebrews were regularly exhorted to remember the success stories and not just the problems and failures. When they won battles, crossed rivers, experienced miracles, they piled up stones, so they wouldn’t forget. Annually they celebrated the Passover to remember how God had brought their ancestors out of Egypt. Every Harvest they celebrated the Feast of the Tabernacles. Yes we have to face our problems to do otherwise is simply denial. But we need to come into a season where we disempower failure and empower success.
D) Hope Builder Four
- Hear your call and not just see your complaint!
You see we have got to learn the lesson that every problem and difficulty is really an opportunity. When someone comes to me and says this is not getting done, or that need is not getting met, I’m increasingly wanting to say well what can you do about it?. Kids causing trouble on the street is calling out for someone to come with a solution, it might be you, the gospel isn’t getting out there into the world you might have part of the answer.” You might have the solution” Allow the sense of divine dissatisfaction working on the inside of you to work creatively and positively to give hope of a solution. The fact that you are feeling it means God wants you to do something.
John Maxwell writes:
Hope shines brightest when the hour is darkest.
Hope motivates when discouragement comes.
Hope energizes when the body is tired.
Hope sweetens while bitterness bites.
Hope sings when all melodies are gone.
Hope believes when evidence is eliminated.
Hope listens for answers when no one is talking.
Hope climbs over obstacles when no one is helping.
Hope endures hardship when no on is caring.
Hope smiles confidently when no one is laughing.
Hope reaches for answers when no one is asking.
by William Prentice – Pastor
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