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Lawrence Kirby shared a message titled,
'Our Core in Christ' Jesus said he wouldn’t just transform our behaviour, he’d change our hearts. Our hearts being transformed, allows us to shift from being selfish and self-centered (living from our human nature) to being God-centered and others-centered. Christ is with you while you're living out your call. The Kingdom view shows us the cause of Christ. We could ask ourselves, do we idolise the call over our cause? Our call must come under the cause of Christ. Sometimes our call must submit and be laid down for the greater cause. This is like putting the wellbeing of the whole body over the function of your own part you play. Your core needs to centre around the idea that you are in Christ. This is about identity. Ezekiel 36:25 NLT ““Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” God makes us tender and responsive to his spirit. “The heart of human problem, is the problem of the human heart” (unknown) Proverbs 4:23 NIV Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. We need to allow the transformation to invade every part of who we are. Galatians 3:26-29 NLT “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” Your identity is as a child of God. You may still be maturing, yet that doesn’t change your identity as a son or daughter. We are heirs of everything good Father God has in store for us. Have you settled for something that’s less than God’s best for you and accepted “this is just my lot in life.”? There are moments of breakthrough God has for us! We are IN CHRIST.
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Philippa Kirby shared a message titled,
'What is Required?' The grace of God is with us. What does God ask of us or expect of us? It's easy for us as Believers to put too much weight or emphasis on a certain way or must-dos. Micah 6:1-8 NLT The Lord’s Case against IsraelListen to what the Lord is saying “Stand up and state your case against me. Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints. 2 And now, O mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint! He has a case against his people. He will bring charges against Israel. 3 “O my people, what have I done to you? What have I done to make you tired of me? Answer me! 4 For I brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you. 5 Don’t you remember, my people, how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead? And remember your journey from Acacia Grove[a] to Gilgal, when I, the Lord, did everything I could to teach you about my faithfulness.” 6 What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? 7 Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? 8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly. How does it look for us to do these things God requires of us? God is not a slave-driver. He gave everything for us! 1 Samuel 15:22 NLT “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Romans 12:1 NLT I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. James 2:20 NLT Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Luke 9:23 NLT “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me." [spoken by Jesus] All these verses talk about obeying, submission, doing, loving, walking, being a daily living sacrifice. Jesus was God's gift to the world, and yet so many have scorned Him and not accepted the gift. We can put musts in front of the list of things God requires of us, yet these things are really about our heart. Am I willing to give all of my heart to God? Proverbs 4:23 NIV Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Psalm 139:23-24 NLT Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. When we DO, it needs to come from our heart, so we need to look after our hearts. We do this by asking God to search our hearts. Search me - know me - test me - lead me. God doesn't ask us to do things alone, but rather to do them with Him. What areas do we need to allow God to search, know, and test us? Lawrence Kirby shared a message titled,
'The Cause of Jesus' Sometimes we look at the world and say 'God, do something!' but He turns back to us with an invitation for US to step into our cause and do something. Something like inviting those around us into our homes to eat a meal, to taste and see that God is good and there is saving grace for all! The invitation of Jesus is 'Come'. Our cause is the same, to invite people to come and know Jesus. As followers of Jesus our cause is not to be comfortable in our own blessings. Our cause is that none should perish but that all should come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. It is our privilege to invite others in to share this Good News. The cause of Jesus should underpin everything in our lives. Philippians 1:12-14 NLT And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear. Can we say that everything that has happened to us has furthered the message of Jesus to those around us? The cause of Christ can so consume us that every experience we have can further the message of Jesus. Questions to respond: How important is the cause of Christ to you? How do you live your life to fulfill the mission of the Kingdom? What consumes your prayer life - Your own needs? Or the needs of others? Where do you spend your money? What's the most important factor in your decision making? Lawrence Kirby shared a message titled,
'Saying Yes to the Call' Transformation happens from the inside - from your core. Sanctification is about continually becoming like Christ Proverbs 4:23 NIV “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” The call of God can hold us in our faith. We are all called. We need to get that call solid in our hearts If we don’t know our call we’ll flip flop all over the place when things get hard.
1 Corinthians 1:24-31 NLT “But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”” No matter who we are God wants to draw us to Salvation - Union with Christ. Romans 8:28-30 NLT “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”
Some people become more like Jesus even before they’ve trusted and believed in Him or been able to name Him because the Spirit is always at work!
2 Timothy 1:9 NLT “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” Holiness isn’t about behaviour it’s about being set apart for a purpose. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 NLT “So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:3 NLT “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” The Church is called out to live a life separate or set apart from “the world”. We’re called into the Kingdom of God. You need to give yourself to the call that God has given you faith for. Say YES to it. Your core qualification comes from God and no one else. The equipping for your call comes from the Spirit of God within you. When you’re living in the call God has given you, yes you bring glory to God but as we do that He also shares His honour with us. We don’t do it for that honour, we do it for Jesus. |
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