MORE - Dec 29 2019

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Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

MORE Growth

God is in the business of mountains, not plains. God’s goal in life isn’t to build a place where we can just continue coasting where we are for the rest of our lives.

We as a church body are always growing in 2 ways. First, because our parts are always changing. I’d argue that a church instution that’s always the same people, week in week out, is unhealthy, simply because it betrays the most basic reason for the church’s existence - to spread the gospel to all the world. New people bring more strenths, more weaknesses, more challenges.

Secondly, we’re also always growing because we serve an infinite God who will never, ever be done with revealing more of Himself on this side of eternity. We confine God when we limit Him to a particular style, a particular place, or a particular time. We forget about the living God who is working through everything in all of human history to bring about His kingdom.

MORE Challenges

These are both challenges to our gathering, as well as challenges to ourselves personally

Now, I resisted using the word ‘Problems’, because I don’t mean to say these challenges are bad. They’re not hurdles. Challenges are mileposts. Things that we pass to mark the progress of our journey.

They say that every time an organized group (a team, a bible study, a church service) doubles in size, it has to rethink the way it does things. Because systems designed for 5 people won’t work the same way for 10. Or 20. Or 40. So if a something becomes dysfunctional, or inconvenient, you can take that as a loss -or you can say, hey, this is just a sign that we are growing - let’s make sure we’re doing it right.

Romans 8:18 NIV

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

MORE Movement of the Spirit

Be a movement - not a monument.

God’s progress always moves forward. And if we want to see the spirit moving, we need to move with him.

But the truth is - we’ll see God do amazing things. We’ll have these momentus times where we step back and go wow, that was great.

But there’ll be a temptation to us to simply build a monument, and stand around it and admire. ‘Look what we did! This was great’

Then when new things come, different things, we’ll wave them off and say ‘No no no, that’s not this thing. This thing is great!’

When God led Israel out of egypt, the israelites began to turn to foreign Gods in the desert. They abandoned the one who drew them out of egypt with his mighty power. They built new gods, and were content to simply worship them in the desert.

And I think one of the simplest reasons is this - they lost sight of the movement. They lost sight of the goal. And when you lose sight of the goal, challenges become threats. Changes become injuries. When you’re a movement, the spirit’s work means progress towards the goal. When you’re a monument, the spirit’s work feels like tearing down all we hold dear.

Let’s be a church that wants to see more of God’s glory

Philippians 3:12–14 NIV

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

not our own.

As we go into 2020, we face a crossroads. We face the choice to either fight for our glory, or God’s. To hold up systems and structures that lift US up, or to embrace the movement of the spirit that lifts up God.

When Jesus came, he drew his own disciples to Himself, and it was those disciples who were ALSO baptising people. And so, it was a challenge to John’s position, to john’s ‘authority’, so to speak. To John’s perceived role in life.

John’s response is amazing.

John 3:27–30 NIV

To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

It’s important to note, that Jesus wasn’t actually baptising people - it was his disciples. And John even lost some of his own disciples to Jesus. So John saw this new group, this new ‘generation’ of believers, and when he saw that they were with Jesus, he said ‘My Joy is complete because I’ve seen Christ. Now let’s let HIM become greater.’

When we see the next generation rise up in faith, with all the challenges and changes that that may bring to us, God is calling us to a great joy

So let’s all remember, that we’re a church that seeks to give GOD glory. And the more people we see glorifying God, the better. Even if it means challenges or growth on our part to accomodate - because it’s not about us. It’s about God and his kingdom.