Sermon Tone Analysis

*INTRO*:  */Behold I’m doing a new thing/*!

I don’t know how many times in my life that I’ve heard this being sung, said, written – as a prophetic word in church.

Sometimes it’s just where a person is at and it is not for the body, other times it is God speaking clearly to watch for what he is doing and get on board.

How many know *that God is ALWAYS up to something NEW! * The issue is not that God has gone silent – but rather have we gone silent on God???

*Ec 3:** 1 **To everything /there is/ a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:**(NKJV)*

When God wants to do something new he frames it into a season of time.

We look at the *four seasons* in our calendar year – each season *establishes a purpose.*

When you’ve been going through a long season of winter – you begin to look forward to SPRING  - amen?

There are *all kinds* of seasons in our lives:

*Look at verse 3:*

*Ec 3: 3 **A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;**(NKJV)*

Friends, something’s in our lives must go through a season of *DYING*!

If you let that thing live any longer in your life it could do long term damage to you and those around you and *God may be saying* “I want you to kill that thing and put it to rest *BEFORE IT KILLS YOU!*”

*“A time to heal”*

Sometimes when you’ve been on the ‘*killing’* end of things *you receive some wounds in your life* – LIFE IS NOT FAIR – it rains on the just and the unjust – and you have a festering wound in your life that Jesus wants to heal and it is VITAL that you take TIME to HEAL in order to move forward to a time of BUILDING!

Listen friends – you can do *irrepairable damage* in your life if you *BULLDOZE* on ahead after you’ve been through a *DEATH* season in your life and you don’t take the time to get *HEALED*!

Remember – we can’t do everything *ALL at ONCE!*

You don’t go through 4 seasons in one day.

*ELIM** CITY** Seasons*

As you can see we have entered into a new season in the life of this congregation 3 years ago *(last weekend was our 3rd anniversary in Auckland).*

It has been a season of *RESCUING* and *REVIVING* that which was lost and in serious decline for a decade.

*Did good things happen in that decade*?

OF COURSE – God is always at work!  *But many out there had WRITTEN this Church off*!

There will always be *SOOTHSAYERS* prophesying DOOM and GLOOM, but when you are part of the BRIDE of CHRIST – *Jesus doesn’t just WRITE you OFF!*

*I want us to take a moment to celebrate this morning.*

Over the last three years – for the first time in a decade – we have seen God reverse the *DECLINING* trend of losing approx 100 people every year from this church!

We have had *positive growth every year* here for the last 3 years – a new season began in this church at that time!

We have 250 new people in our church!

\\ We have a $70,000 new roof over the building \\ We have a renovated auditorium \\ And we have had PEOPLE SAVED & DELIVERED!

*Let’s give God a hand clap right now! AMEN!*

Now in this season we have joined hands with East City ELIM and God has been in the process of establishing His purpose *into a MULTI-SITE church*.

*ONE CHURCH – THREE LOCATIONS* in Auckland.

It has been a season of */transitioning/* into the purposes of God.

Jesus said */“nobody likes the new wine – they prefer the old”./*

*Has it been tricky*?

YES.

*Has it been EASY* – NO!  I have been a SENIOR PASTOR for 17 of my 20 yrs in ministry and I came up here knowing I was to submit myself *under another man’s leadership*!

Do you think that has been easy for me?  NO NO NO.

But I’ve recognised the season and instead of FIGHTING it I have EMBRACED what God is doing and am positioning this congregation to INHERIT the FULLNESS of the promises of GOD.

We are *spreading a WIDE net across Auckland city* in our three locations – looking at the future of establishing more – in order to *REACH* more *LOST* people for Jesus Christ!

AMEN!

*/WARNING/*: Know what season we are in as a congregation.

Know what season we are in as individuals in our lives.

Have you ever seen anyone dressed in full antartic clothing lying on the beach trying to enjoy the SURF and SUNSHINE?

Or have you witnessed how ridiculous it is to dress in *stubbies* and a *singlet* and walk down Queen st in the middle of WINTER?

I remember once  - before I met Christ that I challenged my mates to all go to the movies in our *PJ’s and dressing gown* – only one idiot did it – me!!  I was out of sync with the season – dressed for bed walking down the main street of my city – I also happened to be stoned at the time?

Just in case your wandering if these things still happen to me!

*ELIM** City** church* – is in *a new season* and we must move with God in order to reap the blessing of God!  We can try and *stay in the past and live in the past* hoping for present realities but seasons do not work like that.

*You don’t harvest the wheat in the winter season.*

You must harvest wheat in the season it was born for – SUMMER!

*ULGY duckling*

We can look just like a little ugly duckling swimming around on our own *when we are holding onto a PAST season*, when God has moved on!

Let me illustrate: 

*Ec 3: 2 *A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck /what is/ planted;*(NKJV)*

Have you ever watched *city council workers* toiling away on the traffic islands – plucking up old plants that have lost their colour and planting beautiful VIBRANT lillies, Agapantha’s, potted colour.

\\ You can think one of two ways:

#.

That’s my taxpaying dollar and you are wasting it on pretty flowers.

Can’t you find better ways of spending tax payer dollar??

#.

Or – wow what vibrant colour.

You’ve pulled out the fading colour of a PAST season and you’ve brought in a new season of vibrant colour to affect the atmosphere.

Friends *there may be a cost* to moving into a new season and making the necessary adjustments to embrace that season in your life, *but I tell you there is a greater COST of ‘trying to do what is not in season!’*

 

*What is this new season God wants to lead ELIM city into?*

*Pr 13: 12 *Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But /when/ the desire comes, /it is/ a tree of life.*(NKJV)*

I’ve been through seasons, you’ve been through seasons of time when all the HOPES and dreams have vanished underneath our feet.

One day we were walking on a pathway filled with *POSITIVE EXPECTATION OF GOOD THINGS (HOPE)* and then we seem to be off the path and walking in the *QUICKSAND* of discouragement and disillusionment.

It can literally make you feel SICK.

Lost dreams and hopes make us feel spiritually unwell.

BUT!

When the desire comes again – *it is a tree of life.*

All of a sudden when God takes you into a season of HOPE, you begin to believe things can change.

You begin to believe the promises of God for your life.

You begin to see things from a different perspective.

*It is like a tree of life* – there were *two trees* in the Garden.

The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

This latter tree was forbidden territory but *they were encouraged to freely partake of the tree of life*.

Friends God loves LIFE – Jesus came to give LIFE.

When you are plugged into Jesus, in the right season, with HOPE filling your heart, there is LIFE!

 

*Are you feeding off the tree of LIFE?*

 

ELIM City church need to embrace a SEASON of hope.

*Faith** *is birthed out of hope

*Heb 11:* *1 *Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.*(NKJV)*

*When you have hope all of a sudden you can believe God for things again*.

You can trust God again.

You can begin to believe things will be different.

*Hope gives us new eyes to see.*

What can you see with eyes of hope?

I’m filled with HOPE to see this rising generation of *young men and women to come to Christ* and see them as ambassadors influencing their world for Christ!

I’m filled with hope to see the *older generation* putting into the younger generation.

To see a transference of *wisdom* and ‘*know how’* imparted to the next generation to be all they should be!

I believe by faith that our congregation is called by God to build a *STRONG SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERE* of faith to *change the ATMOSPHERE of our city*!

To do this we need to raise up men and women who know how to move with the HOLY SPIRIT and see God’s hand move in POWER!

 

*Hope anchors our lives to Christ and helps us enter his presence*

*Heb 6: 19 *This /hope/ we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence /behind/ the veil,*(NKJV)*

*HOPE anchors our soul in CHRIST* where we can begin to explore what is behind the veil – probing the presence of God and discovering new things about GOD!

 

*CONCLUSION*

 

*Heb 6:* *9 *But, beloved, we are confident of /better things/ concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.

*10 */For God is not unjust to forget your work/ and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, /in that/ /you have ministered to the saints/, and do minister.

*11 *And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the *full assurance of hope until the end*, *12 *that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.*(NKJV)*

*It’s time for better things.*

Friends I’m confident of ‘*better things concerning you’.*