Thursday, March 26, 2015

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery



VERSE 1
Come behold the wondrous mystery
In the dawning of the King
He the theme of heaven’s praises
Robed in frail humanity

In our longing, in our darkness
Now the light of life has come
Look to Christ, who condescended
Took on flesh to ransom us

VERSE 2
Come behold the wondrous mystery
He the perfect Son of Man
In His living, in His suffering
Never trace nor stain of sin

See the true and better Adam
Come to save the hell-bound man
Christ the great and sure fulfillment
Of the law; in Him we stand

VERSE 3
Come behold the wondrous mystery
Christ the Lord upon the tree
In the stead of ruined sinners
Hangs the Lamb in victory

See the price of our redemption
See the Father’s plan unfold
Bringing many sons to glory
Grace unmeasured, love untold

VERSE 4
Come behold the wondrous mystery
Slain by death the God of life
But no grave could e’er restrain
Him Praise the Lord; He is alive!

What a foretaste of deliverance
How unwavering our hope
Christ in power resurrected
As we will be when he comes

What a foretaste of deliverance
How unwavering our hope
Christ in power resurrected
As we will be when he comes

– Matt Boswell, Michael Bleecker, Matt Papa 2013

Supreme over the Church


Below you can watch a great message from Pastor Mark Sherratt at Milton Keynes Christian Centre from last Sunday.

We are in a series looking at the supremacy of Christ, working through much of Colossians 1. This message was Supreme over the Church.

It's not your church, it's not my, it's Jesus Church - Mark Sherratt

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

SimpleDISCovery - is this really me?

So I decided to take another one of those personality and spiritual gift profile tests. Answering 92 simple questions as honestly as I could came up with this. I think it's pretty accurate but if you know me what do you think?

My SimpleDISCovery results: 

Your personality type is 'C/D' You are Compliant, Competent, Task oriented, Goal oriented, Introverted.  

“C/D”s are cautious and determined designers who are consistently task-oriented and very aware of problems. Sometimes viewed as insensitive, they do care about individual people but have a difficult time showing it. They often feel they are the only ones who can do the job the way it needs to be done, but because of their administrative skills, they are able to bring plans for change and improvements to fruition.

“C/D”s have a tendency to be serious and could benefit from being more optimistic and enthusiastic. Despite their natural drive to achieve, they should concentrate on developing healthy relationships and simply loving people.

Biblical Examples: Bezealeel (Exodus 35:30-36, 8, 37:1-9), Jochebed (Exodus 1:22-2:4), Jethro (Exodus 2,18)

Ways You Can Better Yourself: 

  • Concentrate on doing the right things – not just doing things right. 
  • Be less critical of others’ ideas and methods.
  • Respond more quickly to accomplish others goals. 
  • Strive to build relationships with other people and family members.
  • Be more decisive. 
  • Focus less on facts and more on people. 

My Spiritual Gifts:

Administration
The gift of administration is the divine strength or ability to organise multiple tasks and groups of people to accomplish these tasks. Luke 14:28-30, Acts 6:1-7, I Cor. 12:28 

Service
The gift of serving is the divine strength or ability to do small or great tasks in working for the overall good of the body of Christ. Acts 6:1-7, Romans 12:7, Galatians 6:10, II Tim. 1:16-18, Titus 3:14

Discernment 
The gift of discernment is the divine strength or ability to spiritually identify falsehood and to distinguish between right and wrong motives and situations. Matt. 16:21-23, Acts 5:1-11, 16:16-18, I Cor. 12:10, I John 4:1-6

Mercy
The gift of mercy is the divine strength or ability to feel empathy and to care for those who are hurting in any way. Matt 9:35-36, Mark 9:41, Romans 12:8, I Thess. 5:14 

Knowledge
The gift of knowledge is the divine strength or ability to bring clarity and to understand situations and circumstances often accompanied by a word from God. Acts 5:1-11, I Cor. 12:8, Col 2:2-3

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

A few reasons why churches STOP growing


Agreed with many of these suggestions from Ron Edmondson on why churches stop growing:

You get comfortable 

It’s okay to be comfortable, but when you hang out there too long, it can be dangerous, because you stop trying new things to spur growth and excitement.

You quit dreaming 

Dreams inspire, challenge, and grow people and organizations. What could the church accomplish to reach its community? You’ll never dream bigger than the dreams God has for you or your church.

You stop taking risks 

You can’t succeed at anything without a measure of risk. Playing it safe never grows anything. The call of God always involves risk-taking.

You start maintaining 

When you fall into the mode of protecting what you have, you’ll be less likely to encourage growth for fear of losing ground.

You fail to walk by faith. 

Especially for the church — we are a faith-based organisation. If you aren’t walking by faith in what you are doing it is impossible to please God. (That’s Biblical. Look it up!)

Any more?