Have you ever apologised to someone only to be given the response, "Well how are you going to make it up to me?"
Our natural response to injustice is to seek compensation in one form or another. We expect the person who has wronged us to 'do something' to fix the problem or the hurt that they have caused. This is the fundamental principle on which our justice system is built. People are either forced to repay the cost of the damage they have caused or, when no sufficient financial cost can be determined, to be removed from society until something approximating a 'fair' time of imprisonment has been completed. However, reconciliation is not the same as justice. Reconciliation really begins when we practice forgiveness which, at it's heart, is setting aside our claim to seek justice and instead handing justice and judgement over to God and resting in the assurance of His forgiveness.
#2 in our Lent series: "Wholehearted"
When Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment was to, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind", he wasn't just kidding around. Nothing less that wholehearted devotion to God, wholehearted trust and faith in Jesus His son as your saviour and wholehearted transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit can bring us the fullness of life that Jesus died in order to make available to us. That process of transformation begins with wholehearted repentance. Ash Wednesday is traditionally a time for us to reflect on our brokenness and our complete dependence on God for grace, forgiveness and life itself. And yet, repentance is so much more than confessing our wrong doing and admitting our sins to God. It's a commitment to turn from our old way of living, thinking and being, and to walk in the new life which Christ won for us on the cross. The new life that Christ invites us into as we begin the season of Lent and the journey with Christ, through the cross and into the resurrected life..
#1 in our Lent series: "Wholehearted"
Why me! We all ask this question at certain times and for various reasons. Why did this terrible thing happen to me? Why do I have to be the one to fix this? Why is everyone looking to me for an answer?
Don't worry, you are in good company. Moses asked God the same question. People questioned God when he chose David, the scrawny youngest son of Jesse to be the next king of Israel. All throughout the Bible we find people asking, "Why me?" or, "Why them?" Growing in acceptance is about changing the question from "why" to "how". Don't ask why God has called you or why he's given you a certain task. Instead, accept that you have a part to play in the Body of Christ and ask How he wants you to get it done. How has God equipped and prepared you to serve his purpose and his plan.
#5 in our vision series: "Growing Pains"
Ask your friends what you are passionate about and I'm sure they will be quick to answer.
Maybe it's your love of a particular football team or a particular sport. Maybe its cars, surfing, knitting, fishing, cooking or some other hobby that people would identify first. Maybe it would be your friends and family, your relationships, that people would know are most important to you. Whatever it is that get's your blood pumping and gets you excited and passionate, it's usually not hard for people to see it. We want to talk about those things we love, we want to share them and clear out schedules to make space for them in our lives. So why is it often different when it comes to Jesus and his invitation to experience fulness of life in him? We're going to explore this week as we talk about 'Growing in passion'.
#4 in our vision series: "Growing Pains"
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and 'they' are kind of right.
Many people know the ten commandments and the laws given to Moses by God, but many of those same people mistakenly use those laws as a means of criticising and belittling others and elevating their own status, rather than using them as the means by which God intended humans to flourish in community with himself and with one another. True wisdom, comes not only from knowing the laws of God and his decrees, but in knowing the God who made the decrees in the first place. Wisdom comes through lived experience together with academic knowledge and formal learning. It is only as we live in relationship with God and in obedience to him, that we really begin to understand the wisdom of his ways, and that's what we'll explore today.
#3 in our vision series: "Growing Pains"
'I can't wait until I'm old enough to...' Most of us had something that we wished we were old enough to do back when we were children.
Whatever it might have been for you, was it all that you had hoped for when you finally arrived? As children we don't often recognise the freedom that comes with our age or the responsibility that comes with being able to do 'grown-up' things. Being able to drive is great, but you take on the responsibility of paying the insurance and registration, and filling the car with fuel, not to mention the responsibility for the safety of those in your vehicle and all the others with whom you share the roads. Maturity as a child of God is no different. It is not just about you and your relationship with God, but also about how we relate to one another. Real Christian maturity occurs as we grow together in Christ.
#2 in our vision series: "Growing Pains"
Hinge moments. They are all around us. Those moments of transition that stretch us, challenge us, unsettle us, inspire us. These hinge moments can either open or close the door leading to very different pathways in our lives. Here at LifeWay, today is a hinge moment. A moment of transition or change that God has prepared and will use to both unsettle and refocus us at LifeWay for the vision and mission to which he has called us - a vision to live in and share the fullness of the life that he has given to us. Jesus closes the gate to all that would diminish our lives and opens the gate to a life that enables us to flourish and grow through every hinge moment we encounter, So today we will look at Growing through change.
#1 in our vision series: "Growing Pains"
Those of you who enjoy gardening and caring for plants, especially those that produce fruit and vegetables, will appreciate how important it is for those plants to have access to regular clean water, good fertile soil and deep roots that keep the plant firmly planted right where you, the gardener planted it.
The Bible describes those who delight in the Word and Law of the Lord as trees planted by streams of water. Healthy trees that bear fruit in every season.
Even when seasons change and the winds of change blow, those who remain in the Word of God are like plants with deep roots and strong healthy limbs that can get blown around but have both the strength and flexibility to endure in every season of change. That's what we'll explore today as we talk about remaining in the word, amidst the winds of change.
#4 in series: Winds of Change
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" as the saying goes. Why make something better when it is perfectly functional the way that it is now? Have you ever wondered that? Have you experienced the headache of installing an update for your phone or computer which promises to make your user experience so much easier, faster and enjoyable, only to discover that after downloading and installing the update, things now don't work like you expect and you wish you hadn't bothered.
Sometimes this is what it can feel like moving with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit brings us the "resurrection life update", some of the old programming has to go. Some of the operating system that has been directing our lives up until that point needs to be re-written. These kinds of changes can feel uncomfortable; sometimes we wish God would just leave us alone and stop 'updating' us, we believe we were fine just the way we are. But God loves us too much just to leave us where we are, especially when he knows what fulness of life really is and what it would look like if we just embraced life on his terms. So, he gives us his Holy Spirit to guide us into that new life and to help us navigate the change from death, to life in Christ. That's what we'll explore more today as we talk about moving with the Spirit.
#3 in series: Winds of Change