Seasons

 

            Why are we so afraid?

 

Why indeed, in the light of the resurrection triumph of Jesus Christ and the pouring out of his Spirit.

Picture this: a short term mission team of young people with a good leadership team,

            leaving their own city to go to Lima, Peru to learn and serve among street kids.

            The team had amazing experiences of God's grace and kingdom growth,

            and so successful the church repeats the exercise every two years.

Now, you assumed (and so did I) that all the team were committed Christians.

            Wrong! Several of the team were non-Christians - tough street kids actually.

Think about Jesus and his kingdom approach:

            Sure, in synagogues and with good people, but also at home on the streets with wounded people and sinners.

            And with disciples of few kingdom clues, who at one point even suggested wiping out a Samaritan village.

Is this mission team saying something significant about our future?

            About feeling there is much to fear out there in the world. (think, ghetto mentality)

            About thinking the kingdom has to invade from the outside, (think, warfare) rather than rising from within (think, yeast).

 

 re-forming church -    preaching

Think 'preaching' and the immediate image is a Sunday service, a pulpit and a preacher.

But is this not the imprisonment of an amazing gift by the church in the church?

The book of Acts gives a different picture of preaching.

            Sometimes the proclamation of the good news was in religious settings.

            But at other times it was in political settings, in market places, in universities, and in homes.

Recent times have seen preaching change within churches - in style, in presentation, in interaction.

            Our greatest need is to set preaching free from its imprisonment in the church.

 

 recession budgets -

Budgets in the midst of recession are always a tough call, and it's not just a Government exercise. And the exercise takes us beyond dollars to values.  Graham Redding, Moderator of the PCANZ recently said, 'From a faith perspective, the current economic order fails to account for significant truths about our humanity.  The first is the possibility that our humanity might have a higher purpose than the pursuit of individual happiness. The second  is the possibility that freedom might consist of something more than the freedom to acquire and consume.'

 

As we do our budgets, may God help us to factor in first the knowing of him.

Seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be yours as well. Matthew 6:33

Amen and amen. So be it Lord.

 

 sunday @Discovery - celebrating Pentecost, and wondering "What is the Spirit saying to the church?"

 

 sunday@Oaks - celebrating Pentecost, and a testimony service

            Welcome to the people from 'Oaks Christian Centre' who have joined Seasons. If others have not caught up - this is the new name for Gordonton Presbyterian Church.

 

SIGN OFF

My plate is full at the moment - with a few bits falling off the edge! Two key mission presentations, helping drive significant change at the Presbytery level, meetings most nights of the week, some urgent pastoral matters and the usual. Whew! But God is good, his Spirit my constant companion, and knowing there is no alternative to the kingdom hope for the world.

Blessings to you all.

Garry

            End quote: 'Words without deeds are empty - deeds without words are dumb' Leslie Newbegin.

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