1 John 2:3-11
In a nutshell: Jesus is our Prophet who confronts us, not allowing us to remain in our sinful behaviour. Jesus is our Priest who comforts us, reassuring us of his love and grace towards us. Jesus is our King who commands us, to whom we owe utter obedience.
Need to know
There is a huge difference between ‘knowing’ and ‘knowing’. This is why Jesus could say to Philip, “Have you been with me so long and still do not know me?” Real knowing is powerful and transforming. It shapes how we live.
Really knowing Jesus means knowing him as a Prophet who confronts us, a Priest who comforts us, and a King who commands us:
Jesus Confronts
Jesus is going to get in your face. Prophets tend not to be popular, because prophets tell the truth and often the truth is painful. Jesus’ truth telling was so unpopular it got him killed. Each of us need to know Jesus like this, because all of us at times need to be confronted with the truth.
Jesus Comforts
Jesus is going to put his arm around your shoulder. Jesus is our great High Priest who has suffered in our place. Any pain we experience (physical, emotional, spiritual) has been experienced by Jesus. He understands our pain, and desires to comfort us (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). Each of us need to know Jesus like this, because all of us at times need to be comforted.
Jesus Commands
Jesus is going to tell you what to do. Left to ourselves we make a mess of things, but Jesus calls us to obey him and follow his agenda. Showing this kind of willing obedience to Jesus is a sign of our salvation. Each of us need to know Jesus like this, because all of us at need a leader in whose way we can follow.
WWJD? or HDJDI?
We can only rightly obey Jesus once we have come to know him. Obedience is the result of knowing, not the precondition for it.
So what does this kind of obedience look like?
It can be summed up in one word: “Love.” This is a love from God and for God that results in love for the people of God. When we are seeking to live an obedient life of love asking WWJD? (What would Jesus do?) is not so helpful as asking HDJDI? (How did Jesus do it?).
How you do something is as important as the something itself. Jesus always did it right. He used the right means to achieve the right ends. He always acted according to the old and new commandment to love.
An old and new commandment
This commandment is an old one because it is how the saints of God have always walked. Great heroes of the faith like Noah, Abraham, Moses and David were filled with a love of God which led to a love for his people. All these heroes still messed up and sinned – often dramatically – but God confronted them like a prophet, forgave them like a priest, and set them on the way again like a king.
At the same time the commandment to love is new because it is new in Jesus. Jesus said, “A new command I give to you: Love one another” (John 13:34) and this love is always new because it is always being renewed in us by Jesus. This command isn’t just given once and then forgotten. It has to be experienced daily.
In this sense the command to love is like the New Forest which is not new but extremely old. Yet at the same time it is always new because it changes every day.
So how do we walk in this old/new Jesus way?
A commandment to love
John says that we are not to cause our bother to stumble [v10]. This means we mustn’t do anything that keeps our brother from loving Jesus. And this means we must be prophet, priest and king to one another. Confronting, comforting and commanding are very much part of church life.
This is what John does throughout this letter. He confronts those who are damaging the fellowship. He comforts true believers with a message of full assurance of their salvation. And he commands them as to how they are to live.
This is tough love. This is real love. This is love as Jesus loved.
Application questions
• When have you experienced Jesus confronting you?
• When have you experienced Jesus comforting you?
• When have you experienced Jesus commanding you?
• Which of these three are you most in need of now? Why?
• Do you tend most naturally to act like a prophet, priest or king? What is the strength in this? And what is the weakness?
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Sunday, 21 September 2008
TOUGH LOVE, 2: SINLESS SINNERS
1 John 1:5-2:2
In a nutshell: Our main problem in not medical or legal, economic or philosophical – our problem is sin. In Jesus we can have our sins blotted out so that we have relationship with God and are declared to be sinless. But while we are declared sinless we remain sinners! So long as we live on this planet we will continue to sin. How does this work?! As justified people we have great confidence in our standing before God – we are assured of his eternal love and faithfulness to us. As people who still sin we need to have great grace towards the weaknesses of our fellow believers, who, like us, are sinless sinners. We must daily experience the Saviours grace and forgiveness towards us.
The problem of sin
Mankind is truly amazing, but also all too obviously flawed. We do well not to become blasé about human potential, but also do well to bear in mind how incapable we are of creating heaven on earth.
Our weakness and flaws require a solution, and we tend to look for it in such things as medicine, education, law, economics and philosophy. All these things are important, but no matter how good our systems are they never get to the root problem. Good health care and good schools and good government and good finances and good thinking are all good – but they can’t make us good!
Our root problem is sin. Unless that is dealt with everything else we do is window dressing. It is good to have good health and money in our pockets and a rounded education, but those things don’t change our hearts. They don’t save our souls.
Who this message is for
In this passage John is addressing three types of people:
1. Sinners: those who need to see the problem of their sin and find forgiveness in Jesus.
2. Sinners who think they are saints: those who are self-deceived and need to come into the light.
3. Saints who know they still sin: these people need to have confidence in God’s forgiveness and grace towards the other sinners around them.
1. Jesus solves the sin problem
Jesus is the message we proclaim and Jesus makes an exclusive claim to be the light. The only way to be free of our sin is to come into the light of Christ. But how?
The problem for us is that God is righteous. How can God be righteous and forgive us? Righteousness alone would condemn us, because it cannot accommodate sin any more than light accommodates the dark: Turning on a light doesn’t redeem the darkness, it destroys it!
The solution to this problem is Jesus. Jesus has himself dealt with our sin, on the cross.
The word used to describe this in the ESV translation of the Bible is “Propitiation.” To propitiate means to turn aside wrath, so John is saying here that Jesus has turned aside God’s anger from us, by his death on the cross. Sin is so serious that only death can deal with it. “Living a little bit better” is never enough: Sin must be killed, and it was killed in Jesus.
When we turn in repentance away from sin and towards Jesus the sin problem is solved. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for all – if you turn to him he will forgive you.
2. Jesus calls us to walk in the light
It is not enough to say you know God, you need to demonstrate this knowledge by living in a way that reflects this. To do otherwise is to lie to God.
John is here addressing two groups that look very different, but whose root problem is the same. One group is those who say, “Because I am forgiven, I can do what I like.” Such an attitude is just not possible for those who are followers of Jesus. The other group is the religious, who claim to follow God but who in reality think they are saved by their own good deeds. This attitude is repugnant to Jesus.
The answer for both groups is the way of grace: admit your sin, make Jesus Lord, experience his forgiveness.
A strong piece of evidence that we really are walking in the light is that we are in fellowship with other believers. There is no real fellowship with God that is not expressed in fellowship with believers. To say, “I love Jesus but not the church” is simply to reveal that you really don’t have a clue about Jesus!
3. Jesus is our confidence
We can be certain He has dealt with our sin but we still sin!
Because Christ is our propitiation God looks on us as sinless. But we are still humans, living in a fallen world and we still sin! So we live with a tension: We are not to sin; we are changed people, and our attitudes and actions are evidence of our salvation. But we do sin!
Practically, what this means for church life is that we have high expectations of one another. We really must seek to live lives of purity, and where there is obvious sin, which is not repented of, there must be church discipline to maintain the integrity and health of the church. Yet at the same time we need to display great grace towards our fellow sinners.
Other Christians don’t always act as they should. All of us will at times be offended by other people in the church. And at times our offence will be evidence of our sin rather than the failings of others. Also we tend to make the mistake of assuming people who we like are more sanctified than those we find difficult, which only demonstrates our own sinful tendencies!
The antidote to this is to confess our own sin – to Jesus and to one another. When we do confess we can have great confidence because of Jesus. He is our advocate, our friend, in heaven. As Calvin put it: “Christ’s intercession is the continual application of his death to our salvation.” Jesus is always standing before his Father in heaven as our friend. Because he died, and bore our sin, we can be certain of the Fathers love for us.
I am a sinner, yes, in fellowship with other sinners, but in his sight blameless!
Application Questions
• What examples of mankind’s brilliance inspire you? What examples of his weakness depress you?
• What does the current economic situation tell you about the sinfulness of man?
• What impact has the cross of Christ made on your life?
• What are the practical implications of being a “sinless sinner”?
• How can you deepen your fellowship with other believers?
• Are there sins you need to confess?
In a nutshell: Our main problem in not medical or legal, economic or philosophical – our problem is sin. In Jesus we can have our sins blotted out so that we have relationship with God and are declared to be sinless. But while we are declared sinless we remain sinners! So long as we live on this planet we will continue to sin. How does this work?! As justified people we have great confidence in our standing before God – we are assured of his eternal love and faithfulness to us. As people who still sin we need to have great grace towards the weaknesses of our fellow believers, who, like us, are sinless sinners. We must daily experience the Saviours grace and forgiveness towards us.
The problem of sin
Mankind is truly amazing, but also all too obviously flawed. We do well not to become blasé about human potential, but also do well to bear in mind how incapable we are of creating heaven on earth.
Our weakness and flaws require a solution, and we tend to look for it in such things as medicine, education, law, economics and philosophy. All these things are important, but no matter how good our systems are they never get to the root problem. Good health care and good schools and good government and good finances and good thinking are all good – but they can’t make us good!
Our root problem is sin. Unless that is dealt with everything else we do is window dressing. It is good to have good health and money in our pockets and a rounded education, but those things don’t change our hearts. They don’t save our souls.
Who this message is for
In this passage John is addressing three types of people:
1. Sinners: those who need to see the problem of their sin and find forgiveness in Jesus.
2. Sinners who think they are saints: those who are self-deceived and need to come into the light.
3. Saints who know they still sin: these people need to have confidence in God’s forgiveness and grace towards the other sinners around them.
1. Jesus solves the sin problem
Jesus is the message we proclaim and Jesus makes an exclusive claim to be the light. The only way to be free of our sin is to come into the light of Christ. But how?
The problem for us is that God is righteous. How can God be righteous and forgive us? Righteousness alone would condemn us, because it cannot accommodate sin any more than light accommodates the dark: Turning on a light doesn’t redeem the darkness, it destroys it!
The solution to this problem is Jesus. Jesus has himself dealt with our sin, on the cross.
The word used to describe this in the ESV translation of the Bible is “Propitiation.” To propitiate means to turn aside wrath, so John is saying here that Jesus has turned aside God’s anger from us, by his death on the cross. Sin is so serious that only death can deal with it. “Living a little bit better” is never enough: Sin must be killed, and it was killed in Jesus.
When we turn in repentance away from sin and towards Jesus the sin problem is solved. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for all – if you turn to him he will forgive you.
2. Jesus calls us to walk in the light
It is not enough to say you know God, you need to demonstrate this knowledge by living in a way that reflects this. To do otherwise is to lie to God.
John is here addressing two groups that look very different, but whose root problem is the same. One group is those who say, “Because I am forgiven, I can do what I like.” Such an attitude is just not possible for those who are followers of Jesus. The other group is the religious, who claim to follow God but who in reality think they are saved by their own good deeds. This attitude is repugnant to Jesus.
The answer for both groups is the way of grace: admit your sin, make Jesus Lord, experience his forgiveness.
A strong piece of evidence that we really are walking in the light is that we are in fellowship with other believers. There is no real fellowship with God that is not expressed in fellowship with believers. To say, “I love Jesus but not the church” is simply to reveal that you really don’t have a clue about Jesus!
3. Jesus is our confidence
We can be certain He has dealt with our sin but we still sin!
Because Christ is our propitiation God looks on us as sinless. But we are still humans, living in a fallen world and we still sin! So we live with a tension: We are not to sin; we are changed people, and our attitudes and actions are evidence of our salvation. But we do sin!
Practically, what this means for church life is that we have high expectations of one another. We really must seek to live lives of purity, and where there is obvious sin, which is not repented of, there must be church discipline to maintain the integrity and health of the church. Yet at the same time we need to display great grace towards our fellow sinners.
Other Christians don’t always act as they should. All of us will at times be offended by other people in the church. And at times our offence will be evidence of our sin rather than the failings of others. Also we tend to make the mistake of assuming people who we like are more sanctified than those we find difficult, which only demonstrates our own sinful tendencies!
The antidote to this is to confess our own sin – to Jesus and to one another. When we do confess we can have great confidence because of Jesus. He is our advocate, our friend, in heaven. As Calvin put it: “Christ’s intercession is the continual application of his death to our salvation.” Jesus is always standing before his Father in heaven as our friend. Because he died, and bore our sin, we can be certain of the Fathers love for us.
I am a sinner, yes, in fellowship with other sinners, but in his sight blameless!
Application Questions
• What examples of mankind’s brilliance inspire you? What examples of his weakness depress you?
• What does the current economic situation tell you about the sinfulness of man?
• What impact has the cross of Christ made on your life?
• What are the practical implications of being a “sinless sinner”?
• How can you deepen your fellowship with other believers?
• Are there sins you need to confess?
Sunday, 14 September 2008
TOUGH LOVE, 1: CERTAINTY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
1 JOHN 1:1-4
Series introduction
I am planning to preach through the first epistle of John over 13 weeks in two blocks: seven weeks between now and the end of October, and then a further six weeks in January and February.
John is known as the apostle of love and the story is told of how as an old man he would be carried into the congregation at Ephesus saying, “Little children, love one another.” Eventually, someone asked: “Master, why do you always say this?” John’s reply was, “Because, it is the Lord’s command, and if this only is done, it is enough.”
So love is the central theme running through this letter, but it is a love that is tough, not sentimental. It is a love that demands a lot from those who are loved by Jesus.
In a nutshell: Economic crisis, climate change, terrorist threats… we live in uncertain and alarming times – just as did the believers to whom John wrote this epistle. For them and for us our great and certain hope is in Jesus Christ. We need to trust in him – the one who is fully God and fully man, who really did walk on the earth, die in our place, is raised up with his Father, and has called us into fellowship with himself.
Uncertain times – then and now
We live in uncertain times – economically, politically, environmentally, scientifically and spiritually. The world feels an uncertain place. It was much the same in Ephesus 2,000 years ago.
Ephesus was a great church. It had been taught by Paul and Timothy as well as John, but John wanted to ensure that the believers remained confident despite the uncertainties that surrounded them. John – a pastor – wants his people to live as Christians, with confidence. Throughout his letter John sets out three tests that will help the church to know confidence: Belief, Holiness and Love (or, put another way, Adventure, Purity and Compassion).
Sources of uncertainty
The things that seemed to be causing uncertainty at Ephesus were these:
• Docetism: this group claimed that the body of Christ and his sufferings were not real. Islam is a bit like this in saying it was Judas, not Jesus, who died on the cross.
• Gnosticism: this group claimed the way to salvation was through knowledge. They were a bit like today’s Church of Scientology, which is neither a church nor scientific.
• Antinomianism: these people claimed that because of God’s grace they could do what they liked. They were like people today who claim they are Christians while sleeping with their girlfriends and smoking weed.
• Opposition to apostolic authority: this crowd were rebels who thought they did not need to be led by men appointed by Jesus. There are still lots of this sort around.
• Claimed (& false) fellowship with God: you don’t have to search far on the net to find people like this.
John’s certainty: Jesus is a man
Jesus was fully human – with all that implies, bar sin. John had heard Jesus, seen Jesus, touched Jesus, and writes 1 John to affirm this.
Jesus was not a phantom; not an idea; not a philosophy; not a trick. What was eternal and invisible had truly entered the human dimension.
Often the church has downplayed the humanity of Jesus because it seems so scandalous – it seems scandalous to think of God having wind, having a farmers tan, hitting his thumb with a hammer. It is scandalous – but true!
Jesus’ loving and saving of us are personal: it is not abstract or impersonal. It is relational. It is up close. It is flesh and blood.
John’s certainty: Jesus is God
Jesus is from the beginning. Jesus is “the eternal life” who was with the Father and is equal with the Father.
Jesus is not an angel as the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim. Jesus is not a man who became God as Mormons claim. He is not merely a prophet as Islam claims. Jesus is not just an enlightened man as Buddhism claims. He is not only a wise man or incarnation of God as Hinduism claims.
Jesus made claims to his divinity in John’s presence:
• Jesus claimed to have come down from heaven (John 6:38). Others – like Muhammad – have claimed to visit heaven, but only Jesus has come from heaven.
• Jesus claimed to be God (John 8:58-59; 10:30-33).
• Jesus never repented, because he was sinless. John confirms this (1 John 3:5).
• Jesus said he was the only way to God (John 14:6).
John saw all these things and confirms them: Jesus is God!
Confidently proclaim
It is Jesus that is proclaimed! He is the gospel – its origin, its content, its fulfilment. He is Fully God and Fully Man. He is able to sympathise with our weakness, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15)
He is able to save us!
Ignatius, disciple of John and early Christian martyr said this:
Be Certain! There are lots of things that would cause us to doubt but we have to come to the point where we lay doubt aside and are certain in him.
What certainty produces:
1. Fellowship
John wants his people to know certainty in Jesus so they might have fellowship with God and with one another. “Fellowship” is more than drinking coffee. It is more than religious jargon. It is about having a common cause, deep commitment and unity. By experiencing this with God we can then experience it with other believers.
This is why John’s love is tough – fellowship really matters and those who undermine it are a curse.
2. Joy
John gets joy from the believers being in fellowship with God and with one another. His joy is made complete by their joy.
This is a joy founded in Jesus and means that churches are meant to be joyful even in uncertain times, because he is certain.
Questions
• What things in the world today could make you feel uncertain?
• Why is it so important to understand that Jesus is fully man?
• Why is it so important to understand that Jesus is fully God?
• In what ways does your fellowship with God and other believers need to deepen?
• How does certainty in Jesus produce joy?
Recommended Reading
Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears
Based on a sermon series about Jesus, this book packs a powerful punch. It will shake you out of any lethargy about the Saviour. A great one to read and give away. Get it!
Series introduction
I am planning to preach through the first epistle of John over 13 weeks in two blocks: seven weeks between now and the end of October, and then a further six weeks in January and February.
John is known as the apostle of love and the story is told of how as an old man he would be carried into the congregation at Ephesus saying, “Little children, love one another.” Eventually, someone asked: “Master, why do you always say this?” John’s reply was, “Because, it is the Lord’s command, and if this only is done, it is enough.”
So love is the central theme running through this letter, but it is a love that is tough, not sentimental. It is a love that demands a lot from those who are loved by Jesus.
In a nutshell: Economic crisis, climate change, terrorist threats… we live in uncertain and alarming times – just as did the believers to whom John wrote this epistle. For them and for us our great and certain hope is in Jesus Christ. We need to trust in him – the one who is fully God and fully man, who really did walk on the earth, die in our place, is raised up with his Father, and has called us into fellowship with himself.
Uncertain times – then and now
We live in uncertain times – economically, politically, environmentally, scientifically and spiritually. The world feels an uncertain place. It was much the same in Ephesus 2,000 years ago.
Ephesus was a great church. It had been taught by Paul and Timothy as well as John, but John wanted to ensure that the believers remained confident despite the uncertainties that surrounded them. John – a pastor – wants his people to live as Christians, with confidence. Throughout his letter John sets out three tests that will help the church to know confidence: Belief, Holiness and Love (or, put another way, Adventure, Purity and Compassion).
Sources of uncertainty
The things that seemed to be causing uncertainty at Ephesus were these:
• Docetism: this group claimed that the body of Christ and his sufferings were not real. Islam is a bit like this in saying it was Judas, not Jesus, who died on the cross.
• Gnosticism: this group claimed the way to salvation was through knowledge. They were a bit like today’s Church of Scientology, which is neither a church nor scientific.
• Antinomianism: these people claimed that because of God’s grace they could do what they liked. They were like people today who claim they are Christians while sleeping with their girlfriends and smoking weed.
• Opposition to apostolic authority: this crowd were rebels who thought they did not need to be led by men appointed by Jesus. There are still lots of this sort around.
• Claimed (& false) fellowship with God: you don’t have to search far on the net to find people like this.
John’s certainty: Jesus is a man
Jesus was fully human – with all that implies, bar sin. John had heard Jesus, seen Jesus, touched Jesus, and writes 1 John to affirm this.
Jesus was not a phantom; not an idea; not a philosophy; not a trick. What was eternal and invisible had truly entered the human dimension.
Often the church has downplayed the humanity of Jesus because it seems so scandalous – it seems scandalous to think of God having wind, having a farmers tan, hitting his thumb with a hammer. It is scandalous – but true!
Jesus’ loving and saving of us are personal: it is not abstract or impersonal. It is relational. It is up close. It is flesh and blood.
John’s certainty: Jesus is God
Jesus is from the beginning. Jesus is “the eternal life” who was with the Father and is equal with the Father.
Jesus is not an angel as the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim. Jesus is not a man who became God as Mormons claim. He is not merely a prophet as Islam claims. Jesus is not just an enlightened man as Buddhism claims. He is not only a wise man or incarnation of God as Hinduism claims.
Jesus made claims to his divinity in John’s presence:
• Jesus claimed to have come down from heaven (John 6:38). Others – like Muhammad – have claimed to visit heaven, but only Jesus has come from heaven.
• Jesus claimed to be God (John 8:58-59; 10:30-33).
• Jesus never repented, because he was sinless. John confirms this (1 John 3:5).
• Jesus said he was the only way to God (John 14:6).
John saw all these things and confirms them: Jesus is God!
Confidently proclaim
It is Jesus that is proclaimed! He is the gospel – its origin, its content, its fulfilment. He is Fully God and Fully Man. He is able to sympathise with our weakness, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15)
He is able to save us!
Ignatius, disciple of John and early Christian martyr said this:
Be deaf therefore when anyone speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ, who was of the family of David, and of Mary, who was truly born, both ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth; who also was truly raised from the dead, his Father raised him up, as in the same manner his Father shall raise up in Christ Jesus us who believe in him, without whom we have not true life.
Be Certain! There are lots of things that would cause us to doubt but we have to come to the point where we lay doubt aside and are certain in him.
What certainty produces:
1. Fellowship
John wants his people to know certainty in Jesus so they might have fellowship with God and with one another. “Fellowship” is more than drinking coffee. It is more than religious jargon. It is about having a common cause, deep commitment and unity. By experiencing this with God we can then experience it with other believers.
This is why John’s love is tough – fellowship really matters and those who undermine it are a curse.
2. Joy
John gets joy from the believers being in fellowship with God and with one another. His joy is made complete by their joy.
This is a joy founded in Jesus and means that churches are meant to be joyful even in uncertain times, because he is certain.
Questions
• What things in the world today could make you feel uncertain?
• Why is it so important to understand that Jesus is fully man?
• Why is it so important to understand that Jesus is fully God?
• In what ways does your fellowship with God and other believers need to deepen?
• How does certainty in Jesus produce joy?
Recommended Reading
Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears
Based on a sermon series about Jesus, this book packs a powerful punch. It will shake you out of any lethargy about the Saviour. A great one to read and give away. Get it!
Sunday, 7 September 2008
VISION SUNDAY
Genesis 9:1
Today is about getting our sense of direction right.
It is never good to drift through life. It is good to have a clear sense of purpose and direction. The times in my life that I have found most difficult have been when I haven’t been sure what I was meant to be doing. Living without a sense of direction isn’t relaxing – its stressful! It also leads to unhealthy introspection and listlessness and boredom. It is why people struggle so much when they are unemployed – we have been created to do stuff!
So today is about setting the direction for this church, but this will not be pain free. It is not pain free because it will mean change, and change is always uncomfortable. But if we want to step into all that God has for us we need to be willing to be made uncomfortable for His sake.
The church we mustn’t be and the church we must be (courtesy of Mark Driscoll)
1. Church as bomb shelter
There are all sorts of nasty things that go on in the world and it is natural to want to avoid these nasty things. Very often churches become bomb shelters against the unpleasantness of the world. In these kind of churches the wider culture is seen as threatening, as dark and dangerous, as something not to be interacted with where at all possible.
The positive thing about churches like this is that they can have a strong sense of community, because everyone knows everyone – it really is like a large extended family. But the weaknesses far outweigh the strengths. Churches that go this way tend to be small numerically. They tend to end up with very controlling leadership. They tend to be legalistic and hypocritical. They are not at all missional.
This is not the kind of church we should be.
2. Church as mirror
Rather than resisting the surrounding culture these churches simply reflect the culture. This is how liberal churches go. These churches do not seek to redeem the culture but instead bless the things that God doesn’t. These churches are morally weak and have no prophetic voice into society.
This is not the kind of church we should be.
3. Church as parasite
These churches use and enjoy the facilities of their towns but don’t give much back… except noise, parking problems and criticism.
This is not the kind of church we should be.
4. City within the City
This is Jesus language. We should be a bible-believing, Jesus-loving, mission-focused, people loving church.
We need to live differently from the culture around us, but not in a way that is hostile to the culture around us.
We need to be missionaries to our town.
Mission isn’t something we pay someone else to do, it is what each of us is called to do. Mission is about living in a culture and seeking to transform that culture. It is about being part of a culture while being distinct from that culture. It means that we don’t hide ourselves away, or simply blur with the culture, or merely use the culture, but that we offer our culture a better way to live.
The church is an ark – but the point of the ark is not the ark! The point of the ark is that it was God’s rescue vehicle. It was his means of saving life and then repopulating the earth. As a church on a mission we need to see ourselves in this light. We contain life – the life of Jesus – and we are meant to transform the world around us. Life is meant to spill out of us.
We need to be a church characterised by adventure, purity and compassion.
How are we going to get there?
1. Developing Strong Programmes and Plans
Small Groups
We want to relaunch our small group system and this will take time. We are planning to have a new system in place for September ’09.
Youth Work
Aaron & Tash Lacey will be taking on responsibility for our youth work from October. We want to see many young people caught up in Jesus’ mission.
Alpha
We want to really go to town on Alpha this autumn! The Lighthouse is booked for our taster evening on October 2nd and we want you to invite lots of people!
Membership
We are introducing a new church membership system built around the five biblical values of Grace, Growth, Group, Generosity & Gifts. The Finding Your Place course will run on the last Tuesday of each month (except in December & August) and we would like everyone to do it!
Prayer
Prayer is vital. Please get these prayer meeting dates in your diary: September 9th, 10th & 11th; October 15th; November 12th; December 10th; January 6th, 7th & 8th; February 11th; March 11th; April 21st, 22nd & 23rd; May 13th; June 17th (all at 7.30pm)
2. Setting Some Goals
These are some of the things we would like to see an increase in over the next year:
More weddings & babies
Healthy churches are full of the sound of new life. This means we should be seeing people come to faith in Jesus, but it also means physical new life. Healthy churches have lots of people in the 20s falling in love, getting married and having babies – we want more of this amongst us.
More salvation & baptisms
Healthy churches are full of the sound of spiritual newborns as well! If we are not regularly seeing people come to faith and getting baptised then something is seriously wrong.
More leaders developing
Everything that happens in church depends upon leaders making it happen. We need more people to step into leadership so we can make more things happen!
More training (WordPlus, Foundations, Impact, etc.)
We need to be people of the Word and the Spirit. The different training courses we have access to can play a big role in helping us get to grips with the word and be exposed to the Spirits power.
More money released for the mission
Pretty much everything we do costs! It’s a very simple equation: The more money we have, the more mission we can do.
3. Changing Our Name
This church has been serving Jesus in this area for over 80 years. We need to honour the past here, and thank God for our history, but I would also like us to start seeing the church as a church plant, with all the excitement, commitment, risk-taking and flexibility that comes with that.
And one of the things that will most clearly help us see that this is a new day for the church is giving the church a new name.
In terms of the queues that formed when I first came here, there was a little queue of people saying, “We need to change the name!” And on the two occasions that Guy Miller has been here (on the day when I was brought into eldership and on the Sunday when he came to preach) he said, “You will have a new name.”
I agreed with both the queue and with Guy, but I didn’t think it would be one of the things we would be changing for quite a few years. It didn’t feel like a high priority.
However… When John Lanferman was with us in July he spent a lot of time talking with different people in the church and then reflecting on what he had observed. John is a very wise and experienced leader, with a strong apostolic and prophetic gift, and I have learned to listen to him. The week after he had been with us, at the Brighton Conference, John came up to me and said, “I’ve been thinking about your church – you need to re-plant it; you need to give it a new name.”
My reaction was, “Thanks, and no thanks!” but there were other things that were happening that week, especially through the preaching of Mark Driscoll that started a conviction in me that we should change the name much sooner than I had anticipated.
The thing was that even before moving down here I had been thinking and praying about the church and part of this had been thinking about names, and I had registered a domain name with the name I wanted, thinking I could just keep it parked there for a few years until we were ready to change name.
The thing that really then convicted me – and the other elders – that we should change the name was the prophetic word brought over us by Keith Hazel at a meeting in Bournemouth. I wasn’t there to hear the word, but some of you were, and I got hold of a recording of it, which I played here at the end of July. Part of Keith’s prophecy included a sentence that included the name I thought we should be called.
Here it is:
Gateway, that was the name. That was the domain name I had registered on the 4th December last year.
So why Gateway? This is a gateway town – it is a gateway to the South West of England; it is a gateway to the continent. And we are meant to be a gateway church – a means for people to pass into the kingdom of God. This church is meant to reach a greater area than just Alder Road or Upper Parkstone. When I preached here on November 11th, I made it very clear that if you invited me to come and be your pastor I was coming for the Borough and the conurbation, not just a small parish. I believe the prophetic word to us is that we are to be a Gateway for this whole area, and our name needs to reflect that. And this isn’t a new thing; its not only since I cam here. It fits with things that have been spoken over this church for many years.
So this week, lets gather together to pray, to seek his blessing upon all that we are doing and want to be doing. Lets pray that we might truly be a people together on a mission. And lets pray that we would be a gateway to the kingdom for many, many people in our town.
Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth
Today is about getting our sense of direction right.
It is never good to drift through life. It is good to have a clear sense of purpose and direction. The times in my life that I have found most difficult have been when I haven’t been sure what I was meant to be doing. Living without a sense of direction isn’t relaxing – its stressful! It also leads to unhealthy introspection and listlessness and boredom. It is why people struggle so much when they are unemployed – we have been created to do stuff!
So today is about setting the direction for this church, but this will not be pain free. It is not pain free because it will mean change, and change is always uncomfortable. But if we want to step into all that God has for us we need to be willing to be made uncomfortable for His sake.
The church we mustn’t be and the church we must be (courtesy of Mark Driscoll)
1. Church as bomb shelter
There are all sorts of nasty things that go on in the world and it is natural to want to avoid these nasty things. Very often churches become bomb shelters against the unpleasantness of the world. In these kind of churches the wider culture is seen as threatening, as dark and dangerous, as something not to be interacted with where at all possible.
The positive thing about churches like this is that they can have a strong sense of community, because everyone knows everyone – it really is like a large extended family. But the weaknesses far outweigh the strengths. Churches that go this way tend to be small numerically. They tend to end up with very controlling leadership. They tend to be legalistic and hypocritical. They are not at all missional.
This is not the kind of church we should be.
2. Church as mirror
Rather than resisting the surrounding culture these churches simply reflect the culture. This is how liberal churches go. These churches do not seek to redeem the culture but instead bless the things that God doesn’t. These churches are morally weak and have no prophetic voice into society.
This is not the kind of church we should be.
3. Church as parasite
These churches use and enjoy the facilities of their towns but don’t give much back… except noise, parking problems and criticism.
This is not the kind of church we should be.
4. City within the City
This is Jesus language. We should be a bible-believing, Jesus-loving, mission-focused, people loving church.
We need to live differently from the culture around us, but not in a way that is hostile to the culture around us.
We need to be missionaries to our town.
Mission isn’t something we pay someone else to do, it is what each of us is called to do. Mission is about living in a culture and seeking to transform that culture. It is about being part of a culture while being distinct from that culture. It means that we don’t hide ourselves away, or simply blur with the culture, or merely use the culture, but that we offer our culture a better way to live.
The church is an ark – but the point of the ark is not the ark! The point of the ark is that it was God’s rescue vehicle. It was his means of saving life and then repopulating the earth. As a church on a mission we need to see ourselves in this light. We contain life – the life of Jesus – and we are meant to transform the world around us. Life is meant to spill out of us.
We need to be a church characterised by adventure, purity and compassion.
How are we going to get there?
1. Developing Strong Programmes and Plans
Small Groups
We want to relaunch our small group system and this will take time. We are planning to have a new system in place for September ’09.
Youth Work
Aaron & Tash Lacey will be taking on responsibility for our youth work from October. We want to see many young people caught up in Jesus’ mission.
Alpha
We want to really go to town on Alpha this autumn! The Lighthouse is booked for our taster evening on October 2nd and we want you to invite lots of people!
Membership
We are introducing a new church membership system built around the five biblical values of Grace, Growth, Group, Generosity & Gifts. The Finding Your Place course will run on the last Tuesday of each month (except in December & August) and we would like everyone to do it!
Prayer
Prayer is vital. Please get these prayer meeting dates in your diary: September 9th, 10th & 11th; October 15th; November 12th; December 10th; January 6th, 7th & 8th; February 11th; March 11th; April 21st, 22nd & 23rd; May 13th; June 17th (all at 7.30pm)
2. Setting Some Goals
These are some of the things we would like to see an increase in over the next year:
More weddings & babies
Healthy churches are full of the sound of new life. This means we should be seeing people come to faith in Jesus, but it also means physical new life. Healthy churches have lots of people in the 20s falling in love, getting married and having babies – we want more of this amongst us.
More salvation & baptisms
Healthy churches are full of the sound of spiritual newborns as well! If we are not regularly seeing people come to faith and getting baptised then something is seriously wrong.
More leaders developing
Everything that happens in church depends upon leaders making it happen. We need more people to step into leadership so we can make more things happen!
More training (WordPlus, Foundations, Impact, etc.)
We need to be people of the Word and the Spirit. The different training courses we have access to can play a big role in helping us get to grips with the word and be exposed to the Spirits power.
More money released for the mission
Pretty much everything we do costs! It’s a very simple equation: The more money we have, the more mission we can do.
3. Changing Our Name
This church has been serving Jesus in this area for over 80 years. We need to honour the past here, and thank God for our history, but I would also like us to start seeing the church as a church plant, with all the excitement, commitment, risk-taking and flexibility that comes with that.
And one of the things that will most clearly help us see that this is a new day for the church is giving the church a new name.
In terms of the queues that formed when I first came here, there was a little queue of people saying, “We need to change the name!” And on the two occasions that Guy Miller has been here (on the day when I was brought into eldership and on the Sunday when he came to preach) he said, “You will have a new name.”
I agreed with both the queue and with Guy, but I didn’t think it would be one of the things we would be changing for quite a few years. It didn’t feel like a high priority.
However… When John Lanferman was with us in July he spent a lot of time talking with different people in the church and then reflecting on what he had observed. John is a very wise and experienced leader, with a strong apostolic and prophetic gift, and I have learned to listen to him. The week after he had been with us, at the Brighton Conference, John came up to me and said, “I’ve been thinking about your church – you need to re-plant it; you need to give it a new name.”
My reaction was, “Thanks, and no thanks!” but there were other things that were happening that week, especially through the preaching of Mark Driscoll that started a conviction in me that we should change the name much sooner than I had anticipated.
The thing was that even before moving down here I had been thinking and praying about the church and part of this had been thinking about names, and I had registered a domain name with the name I wanted, thinking I could just keep it parked there for a few years until we were ready to change name.
The thing that really then convicted me – and the other elders – that we should change the name was the prophetic word brought over us by Keith Hazel at a meeting in Bournemouth. I wasn’t there to hear the word, but some of you were, and I got hold of a recording of it, which I played here at the end of July. Part of Keith’s prophecy included a sentence that included the name I thought we should be called.
Here it is:
I believe God recommissions you to be a mighty army in the community. God wants you to touch Poole by the power of the Holy Spirit and be a Gateway into the Kingdom of God.
Gateway, that was the name. That was the domain name I had registered on the 4th December last year.
So why Gateway? This is a gateway town – it is a gateway to the South West of England; it is a gateway to the continent. And we are meant to be a gateway church – a means for people to pass into the kingdom of God. This church is meant to reach a greater area than just Alder Road or Upper Parkstone. When I preached here on November 11th, I made it very clear that if you invited me to come and be your pastor I was coming for the Borough and the conurbation, not just a small parish. I believe the prophetic word to us is that we are to be a Gateway for this whole area, and our name needs to reflect that. And this isn’t a new thing; its not only since I cam here. It fits with things that have been spoken over this church for many years.
So this week, lets gather together to pray, to seek his blessing upon all that we are doing and want to be doing. Lets pray that we might truly be a people together on a mission. And lets pray that we would be a gateway to the kingdom for many, many people in our town.
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