Ministers Desk 2 September 2012

What are some marks of a growing disciple of Jesus Christ?  The answer to this is essentially an inner attitude of surrender and transformation to the work of the Holy Spirit.  However, this inner reality can be indicated through some outward signs.  For the past two weeks I have been sharing with you twelve of these signs, as they have been expressed by author and pastor Gordon MacDonald.  If you have not read these, or would like a complete copy of the twelve, please contact the church office.  This week I offer a further two signs as written by Gordon MacDonald.

“Builds healthy, reciprocal human relationships. He is faithful to friends, and (if married) affectionate, attentive, and servant-like to a spouse, and (if a parent) patient and nurturing to his children.

“Such a one is swift to admit when he is wrong, to forgive when offended, to offer support when another is in need. Perhaps the bottom line is simply this: we are talking about a person in whom others delight because, wherever he goes, he brings "loads of Christ" with him.

 “Can I personalise this? Once, someone said to me, "Imagine standing before your Maker and hearing this question: 'Have you supported your wife's efforts to become the woman God meant her to be?' For the transformed Christian, this question is relevant to all key relationships. The fact is that most people grow a bit whenever they are in the company of a transformed Christ-follower.”

“Knows how to engage the larger world where faith is not necessarily understood. Some of his personal choices and convictions on living may not appeal to those outside the edges of his faith, but those who know him usually accept his "peculiarities" because this Christ-follower brings cheer, stability, and energy. Admittedly, there are times when a person of faith will be despised, but hopefully there are more times when he is valued as an asset (not a parasite) to his "world."

“It has not gone unnoticed that the temptation of modern church life is to draw its people into the church's programs and away from influential contact with the community.

“A transforming Christian is likely to resist this gravitational pull. He will pursue friendships with people who walk in other spiritual pathways. He will make contributions to the greater community, especially those that bring equity and relief to struggling people.

“In short he will not be absorbed into religious institutionalism.

“Could I also add here that the transformed Christian does not allow the beauty and the stimulus of the larger world. He is mindful of artistic and cultural experiences. He maintains an informed, even prayerful, view of local and national affairs.

“And he is aware of where history is going and what it takes to hand on a new and improved world to the generation that will replace him.”

Please forgive the non-inclusive writing, it’s his not mine.

Ministers Desk 26 August 2012

Last week I started to share with you twelve signs of a transformed Christian life.  These have been written by Gordon MacDonald, a Pastor and author from the United States.  I encourage you to read all twelve of these signs and use them to reflect on your life and the ways you are demonstrating the ongoing transforming work of the Spirit in you.  Growing Disciples seek to align their lives more with the kingdom of God and experience more of the work of the Spirit within them.

“Is intentional and disciplined in seeking God's direction in life. Eugene Peterson employs the term responsive obedience when he paraphrases Paul's challenge to the Philippians to push themselves toward increasing Christian maturity. Interestingly, he is writing to a church heavily populated by retired Roman military personnel. So Paul's letter is packed with military terms, "responsive obedience" being an example. As a soldier conditioned himself for battle, so the Christian, Paul said, was to "work out" his role in facing a morally dangerous world.

“No transforming Christ-follower would ever be comfortable with spiritual passivity. Rather, a transforming follower of Jesus expects a battle. There will be choices, opportunities, opposition. And he prepares for all of it diligently. This is sometimes referred to as self-discipline. It means living by intention and commitment, developing life-habits in alignment with Jesus and replacing those that are not.

“Worships, and has a spirit of continuous repentance. As in all other personal relationships, there is an appropriate rhythm in routines in order to refresh one's relationship to God. Worship is an appropriate description for this.

“The transforming believer recognises that these are the moments to elevate life to an eternal perspective, to experience interior cleansing, to rekindle a satisfying joy and hope in life. Like Isaiah, he gains a sense of his own true size and his need to acknowledge his unique forms of brokenness. In other words, he does not find it difficult to repent of his sins, to God or to others.

“In such worship, we are reminded of God's purposes and concerns. And, finally, we are likely to come away redirected, renewed in our efforts to live and serve the Everlasting One who has made us in his image.

“Our differing temperaments lead each of us to worship in different forms. Whether our worship is loud and extemporary or somewhat formal and carefully scripted is not the issue. The important thing for the transforming Christian is to exit the place of worship knowing that he is once more at peace with Jesus the redeemer. Not entertained, but energised.”

Ministers Desk 19th August 2012

Gordon MacDonald is a Pastor and writer in his seventies.  I’ve read his books and heard him speak and continue to be inspired by his passion for Jesus and his commitment to disicpling others.  In a recent journal article he wrote he identified twelve ways to spot a transformed Christian.  Over the coming weeks I’m going to include them here for you to read and reflect on.  As you read ask yourself how each point is reflected in your life and what you need to do to continue to grow in each aspect.

1.      Has an undiluted devotion to Jesus.

“Personally, I am drawn to the word devotion rather than love for Jesus. It is difficult to escape the sentimental flavouring in the word love.  And I do not find sentimental love in that follow-me relationship Jesus initiated with his disciples.”

“For me devotion suggests something more deliberate, even calculated. It’s not absent emotion but not defined by it either. Devotion infers determination that one will organise his/her life around Jesus: his quality of character, his summons to know God as Jesus knows him, his unique grace and forgiveness for sins.”

“I, for one, believe that a transforming disciple renews his intention to be faithful to Jesus’ influence on a regular basis, not because he is unsure but because he doesn’t want to lose that ‘edge’ of proactive commitment.”

“As the years of my own Christian life have passed I’ve become more diligent in doing this, just as I have become more intentional about remarrying (in spirit) my wife, Gail, again each day. I know she and I posses a piece of paper that says we were married a long time ago. But my heart says, Why not re-declare your desire to marry her again today? She’ll love you for it. I have come to feel the same way about my devotion to Jesus as my Saviour and rabbi leader as I retool my life around what I see and hear of him.”

2.      Pursues a biblically informed view of the world.

“This means aiming to know the Bible well: its content and its imperatives.”

“There seems to be a universal concern in the Christian movement concerning biblical illiteracy. Blame it on busyness, technology, too many translations, the demise of Sunday School, or something else. But one thing is sure: we seem to be losing a working knowledge of our sacred literature. We think it okay to outsource Bible knowledge to preachers, writers and instructors.”

“The transforming Christ-follower understands that he cannot simply live off the monologues of a favourite preacher. He must-to reflect the Psalmist-hide God’s Word in his own heart so that it becomes a lamp to his feet, a light to his path.”

Ministers Desk Aug 12 2012

The church in the twenty-first century needs to be firstly a disciple-forming community.  This means that our practices need to be orientated toward helping each person grow more into the relationship God wants with them.  This applies equally to those who are already members of God’s kingdom and those who are yet to come to faith.  Discipleship is something that needs to be lived and experienced.  Through our living discipleship we will understand more deeply what it means to be a Christ follower and we will be able to express that more often.  In worship we have been talking about the practice of evangelism.  This can be a practice that is about us as much as it is about the person we engage with.

Growing disciples are people who surrender their will to that of Jesus Christ, but we need to grow in our capacity to surrender.  For too long we have been taught by this world that to surrender our will and independence is a sign of weakness.  Yet in Christ it is a strength that leads to the fullness of the blessings that God can offer.   Through the practice of evangelism we learn to surrender our desire to control the people we spend time with, the things that we do with our time and the preferences we have in how we share our faith, or don’t share it.

Growing disciples are people who are have a growing obedience to Christ in all things, but our rebelliousness holds us back from being obedient.  Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations.  This command is unambiguous and direct, yet too often we ignore that in the pursuit of other activities which have a less clear biblical command.  I tend to ignore the command to evangelism because I don’t like its implications.  However, my growing discipleship to Jesus means that I cannot live with integrity and not do anything about it.

Growing disciples are people who are living a life that is attractive to others, so that they too will want this type of life for themselves.  Growing in our capacity to show unconditional love to others, serve without counting the cost, to honour others above self, offer forgiveness without reservation and seek reconciliation are all signs of the movement of the Spirit in us.  As we receive more of the Spirit in us these characteristics will be more prevalent in our lives.

Growing disciples are people who are alert and responsive to the leading of the Spirit.  It is he who provides the opportunities for us to have faith sharing conversations and provides the words and inspiration for what we say.   As we practice being responsive to the Spirit, we will find that it comes more naturally and more often and we will experience his leading in our lives more often.

Our purpose as a church is to facilitate each one of us growing as disciples of Christ.  He has so much more in store for us, more than we can ever contemplate experiencing.  To be led to this life we need to give ourselves to practices that will continue to develop our heart for God, one of this is through engaging with another in the belief that God will draw them into a living relationship with him.

Minster's Desk 5 August 2012

In my sermon this morning I touch on three biblical reasons why we should “do the work of an evangelist”.  To support this I provide a few bible readings, below are some more.  Please take some time to read and pray over these passages.  Through them allow the Holy Spirit to stir your heart for the lost of this world.

Humanity is inherently sinful

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son” John 3:18.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

“As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one’” Romans 3:10

                      
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23

We are unable to save ourselves, that’s why we need Jesus

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” Luke 19:10.

“In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’” John 3:3.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” Acts 4:12.

“They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household’” Acts 16:31.

 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.

We are commanded to share the gospel with those who haven’t heard it yet

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’” Matthew 9:37-38.

"’All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matt 28:6 – 20).