The Tipping Point :Sunday Dec 7th.
November 30, 2008
The theme of our celebration this coming Sunday the seventh of December is The Tipping Point. A tipping point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point; the point when everyday things reach epidemic proportions.
Andy Hall is going to be exploring for us the tipping points that churches reach before major change takes place.
Together for Christmas
November 30, 2008
Wednesday 3rd.of December is the final Together event of the year.It also is the first event of our Christmas activities for this year.
Its a quiz night with cheese,wine and Christmas music.An ideal oportunity to bring visitors along for a fun-filled evening.The event takes place in the Priory Academy Sixth Form Suite starting at 7.30 pm.
Sunday 30th November
November 30, 2008
Here is the Sunday morning message from 30th November.
Simply click the play button on the “Player” below OR use the download link to place the sermon on your PC!
Download: Sermon MP3 Link (Just Right Click to download)
Topic: “Knowing your Song”
Preacher: William Prentice
Latest CD
November 29, 2008
SALVATION DAY
Featuring Kev & Emma Moss
Samples of songs from the CD can be played by clicking on the players below.Salvation Day
Dream Your Dreams
Jesus Lord of Lords
At the Cross
This CD can be purchased from Life Church Office
Please see our Contacts Page
Eternity Christmas Special
November 25, 2008
There will be an Eternity Christmas Special 14th December…
…………………Watch this space for more information.
Facing the Storms
November 23, 2008
A comment by Janice.. Sunday 26th November 2008
Over the middle weekend of our holiday last month there was a tremendous storm. When we went down to the beach the next morning we had to do a double take, because the beach had changed completely overnight. What was a beautiful sandy beach the day before had changed. The storms had come and removed all the sand off the beach and all that was left were stones and pebbles, it seemed like we had stepped onto a completely different beach.
You know the storms do come, the storms do come in our life’s and we cannot stop them. Its what we do with those storms that count. We always think tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll put it right with God; tomorrow I’ll make it up with my friends. Tomorrow I’ll say I’m sorry. For some people there isn’t a tomorrow.
I just felt this morning that I needed to share with you the importance of this moment, this moment in time. Outside elements can completely alter our life’s, but if God is living within our hearts and within our lives we’ll have the stability, the solid foundation that will enable us to withstand the storm. So when storms hit, don’t let the storms win, keep your eyes fixed firmly on Jesus.
Sunday 23rd November
November 23, 2008
Here is the Sunday morning message from 23rd November.
Simply click the play button on the “Player” below OR use the download link to place the sermon on your PC!
Download: Sermon MP3 Link (Just Right Click to download)
Topic: “Spiritual Gifts” (Part 2)
Preacher: William Prentice
Sunday 16th November 2008
November 16, 2008
Here is the Sunday morning message from 16th November.
Simply click the play button on the “Player” below OR use the download link to place the sermon on your PC!
Download: Sermon MP3 Link (Just Right Click to download)
Topic: “Spiritual Gifts” (Part 1)
Preacher: Andy Hicks
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
This Sunday Unwrapping Spiritual Gifts
November 11, 2008
As the season for gift giving is almost upon us we will be taking time over the next two Sundays to consider the spiritual and ministry gifts that God has given to the church.This foundational topic is highly significant as every believer needs to see that he or she can be God’s suprise package to the world around.This week Andy Hicks will be encouraging us to identify our spiritual gifts.
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