As a church we are having a change of pace over the summer months.  See our calendar page for details.  We decided that we needed to change what we were doing, and many of us needed a slower pace over the time.  I am going to be having a break from writing and other ministry tasks over summer and taking some time to rest, pray, play and pull back.  Sabath rest is something that even the Lord practiced and advocated.May your Christmas be refreshing and may you see Jesus afresh…the reason for the Season.

In my friends book, Movements that change the world, Steve quotes from Philip Yancey…”As I travel, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God “moving” geographically from the Middle East, to Europe to North America to the developing world.  My theory is this: God goes where he is wanted.”    My question do you want Him?

Off to this years Vineyard pastors and leaders conference in sunny Queensland.  Joking with people about suffering for Jesus on the Sunshine Coast.  The wild thing is, it is another year gone…since the last gathering of this kind.  Time sure fly’s by. Looking forward to the theme, God’s presence.  Boy do we do that.  And as Moses said in the old testament of the Bible in Exodus 33:15, “Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”"  As God’s people we are people of the Presence of the Lord.  As Moses says following this…”How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?  What else will distinguish me and your people form all the other people on the face of the earth?”  (Exodus 33:16) A few things should mark the people of God, the church, His body: His presence and His love the foremost of these.  Look forward to sharing things that come from this time.  

On Sunday we had a retreat sunday like we have 4 times a year…a chance to stop and as church encourage each other in a different way.  We met in groups of three or so and used the below questions to answer and therefore use to share our lives.  Perhaps they can be a challenge/encouragement for you.  Find a couple of friends and share your thoughts on what is below…

Scripture thoughts

Romans 12;1 ,2 (The Message)

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.  Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.

Psalm 86:11 (NIV)

Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

Hebrews 10:24,25 (NIV)

…And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Questions for sharing and reflection

1. Above are scriptures we have reflected on in the last few weeks; share aspects that grab you from the Word of God.
2. We read from Phil 3 today about the heart to know Jesus, share on your inner relationship and journey with Jesus.  How is it going?
3. On the recent DVD Peter Fitch said the journey is, from the image of God to the likeness of Christ. What area of character growth is God stirring right now in you?
4. How would your spouse/children say you are doing in the home?
5. Why has God placed you in the work you are in? 
6. Where could you connect in more than you are now within the church?  Where could the church support you more?
7. Did you have a Sabbath in the last week to play and rest?  When did you last spend time in nature?
8. Where can you see God at work that you are involved in or could be involved in?

Prayer in groups

What image or thought comes to mind when you read that phrase?  Somewhere in the midst of that there is the idea of being a whole hearted, passionate, fully committed lover of Jesus.  As Jesus called us to Love God; with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength.  With our entirety, with all that is within us. The phrase White Hot Faith is one of the descriptions my friend Steve uses to describe the marks of a Jesus movement.  I look forward to this book coming knowing the years he has been living in this conversation. And wouldn’t it be great if the church all over the world began to discover itself again as a missionary movement and not a denomination or religious institution.  What if we began to focus more on God establishing His Kingdom rather then building a church.  

Christ is risen…He is risen indeed.

Picked up a great book the other day.  Richard Foster, “Life with God”.  The subtitle grabbed me…”A life-transforming new approach to Bible reading.”  I love thinking about soul topics; the journey of prayer, and the journey of relationship with Jesus as important parts of our faith .  But at times I have not found Scripture reading as easy.  I get in the ruts and routines of discipline and forget who is speaking through the pages of Scripture, and who authored the pages of the Bible.
Richard writes, that we often study the scripture to gain information (pg 4) or to find a formula to solve a need (pg 5).  He writes the following.  ”What we must face up to about these two common objectives for studying the Bible is that they always leave us or someone else in charge.  They are, in fact, ways of trying to control what comes out of the Bible rather then entering the process of the transformation of our whole person and of our whole life into Christlikeness.”  It is about learning to come to receive from the Bible and from the Jesus of the Bible rather then coming to it as a self help book or a text book on religion.
Good wisdom and so far a challenging and a great read.

I know the above alliteration is terrible…but did it catch your attention? Last year our then almost Prime Minister had the catch phrase of Kevin 07!  Worked for him.

Anyway back to the above.  Been a bit quiet lately.  January became both for the church and me a time of rest and doing different things.  I have written lots on this blog about the value of rest.  I keep learning about it.  Have you ever taken time away from work, family, tv, internet…just for silence and prayer.  I had a few days away in January just for that.  It is so helpful for getting perspective.  I read a book in a couple days(something I never do), I walked and realized later it had been about 12 klm.  I enjoyed the silence and quiet and prayer. God spoke. He refreshed.  And I went back to work the next week ready to face not just the day ahead but also the year.

Vision is now beginning to stir…stay tuned. 

As the year hits the time when people stop and enjoy Christmas; family, a break from work, parties, food, rest, and (in my house…cricket), it is good to remember what it is all about. Somewhere under all the wrapping, presents and decorations…lies a baby born in an animal stable. And not just any baby. According to God a perfect moment in time, yet when you read the original story it might not have always felt so perfect what with a miraculous birth that may not have looked miraculous, no place but the shed for the birth and a king out to kill you. Often life is messy like that.

The Bible says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” It also says of Jesus…that “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Yes under all the wrapping, presents and decorations…lies a baby born in an animal stable. And that baby was Jesus, come from God to help mankind. The Bible says to rescue us, in fact to save us. Not a common phrase but something worth thinking about…I welcome your comments or questions.

Check the calender for details for our church over the next month as we will be relaxing and meeting in different ways then we often do. It is a great time to slow down, enjoy the summer and rest before 2008 kicks in. One of the things we will be doing is having a 1Cor 14:26 day. Confused!!! check the blog in mid Jan and I will fill you in.

Until then have a great break and don’t forget the reason for the season.

A couple post’s ago I mentioned a verse from the letter to John in the Bible. Let me share another couple verses that we have been thinking about as we have built on that theme over the last couple Sundays.

John 5:17 Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.” He then builds on from that in verse 19, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

In a word or two. God the Father is at work. Jesus showed us the cry of His heart was to be so close to His Father that he was in tune with what He was doing and that he then would imitate and go with that flow. We do not have to try and do this thing called ministry off our own great ideas…we need to follow the Master. It is about staying so close to Jesus…and then following where we see He is and where He is going. Or as it says elsewhere in John fruit comes from remaining!