Thanks to everyone who made it along to church yesterday. We had a good turn out to both services that were once again truly annointed of God. The Word and the Worship were once again evidence of the fact that New Life is founded on and is developing on the Word and the Spirit.
Sunday Morning: Yesterday morning I announced that last week I resigned from the Irish Leadership Team (ILT), which is Elim's Executive on which I have served for almost 5 years, and also from the IGNITE Evangelism Team, which is the Department I was responsible for as Director while serving on the ILT. My reason for resigning is not negative, but positive in that my focus needs to be on the growth and development of New Life and of Stadium Projects.
My thanks to Craig Seawright for bringing a message that both blessed and challenged us. He shared with us about his personal journey and encouraged us to continue fighting the good fight of faith. He drew our attention to the Book of Acts pointing out that the Book of Acts was not about the works of men, but was about the overflow of the Holy Spirit. He made the point that we cannot be forced into further commitment to church life etc, but that this can only come through the overflow of the Spirit in our own lives. He then spoke of five characteristics of the Early Church as follows:
1. Continued Stedfastness
2. Devotion to the Apostles' Doctrine
3. Devotion to Fellowship
4. Devotion to Prayer and Worship
5. Daily Coversions - The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved
Afterwards there was an opportunity for people to make a fresh commitment to Christ.
Sunday Night: I continued with the series "Facing the Giants" and spoke on "Facing the Giant of Change" making the point that change is often hard to embrace, but is necessary for growth, development, and for life itself.
The last words of a dying church: "We've always done it this way!"
Someone said, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always had!"
The greatest change in a person's life is when they commit themselves to following Christ. Yet although many would desire to do this they fear the change it demands.
Ongoing change should be on the basis that the change is designed and motivated by God. It's not about seeking change that suits our personal agenda or internal church politics, but embracing change that advances our personal development; the development and life of the church, and advances the purposes of the Kingdom of God.
The night ended with an awesome time of worship and ministry to people to who came to the front of the church. There was a special moment when we joined with several young people who responded by coming forward for prayer.
BreakOut: will be on this Thursday night at 7.45. The focus will be prayer. This is a call to prayer for the church for the way ahead and for the things that are going on right now.
Last week's Riddle/Question: Several people made brave attempts, but no one got it! The answer to last week's question is 'ONE'. Why? Because the moment you cut one 0.25cm slice of bread off a 25cm long loaf it is no longer 25cm! I can almost hear you weep!
This Week's Question: (an easy one because you're all struggling) "A farmer has 17 sheep. All but 8 of them die. How many are left grazing?"
This week's Bible verse: Proverbs 4:23, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life".
Jack's pat in the back: This week's 'pat in the back' goes to Gillian Cole for just getting up to help lead worship when sometimes it would be easier not to do so.
Stay focused; stay strong; and keep being a God-influence.
Pastor Jack (ps. look below)
The race is on for the New Life Premiership top position. This is how the Top 12 out of 27 stands at the moment:
Eat your hearts out!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment