With all that God is doing in Church at the moment I'm so glad that it doesn't depend on me! This video sums up what God does for us.
A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?'
The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'. They went on to complete the marathon together.
Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together.
One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes' to.
For those who didn't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island ..
Father and son went on to complete the race together.
Thursday 10 July 2008
Tuesday 1 July 2008
AND GOD TURNED UP!
We've been having a great year at St Andrew's this year. There has been a growing sense of expectancy and hunger. We've seen more people healed this year than any other year and we've seen people come to faith. This last Sunday though was something else!
I knew all week that it was going to be a good Sunday. I'd had a sense that God was up to something. The main service started off with a real sense of the presence of God in the place that just grew throughout the service. I always enjoy preaching but that day it just seemed so easy and comfortable. The sermon was part of a series on 'When Heaven Invades Earth' and the theme was exploring what it means to have the presence of God in us and whether that internal reality should effect our external reality (to use a phrase from Bill Johnson).
After the sermon we moved into ministry and I invited anyone who wanted ministry to the front. Probably 2/3 of the congregation came forward. That's when God really seemed to turn up. I had never before seen a response like it in just and ordinary church service. These people were desperate for more of God. The presence of the Holy Spirit was manifesting in more powerful ways than we had seen before in Church. I was awesome to be in the middle of it praying for people.
My colleague, Mike, was leading the service and it was one of those times that just seem hard to bring to an end. Afterwards there were people praying for each other all over the place. It is always hard to 'encourage' people to go home at St Andrew's, after this service it was even harder.
As they were leaving someone asked me 'What do we do now?' Someone close by said 'Yeah, what's next Sunday going to be like?' For me the answer is really what is Monday going to be like because that is what really matters. But then again it does raise expectations for next sunday - what a downer though, I have to preach elsewhere that day.
I knew all week that it was going to be a good Sunday. I'd had a sense that God was up to something. The main service started off with a real sense of the presence of God in the place that just grew throughout the service. I always enjoy preaching but that day it just seemed so easy and comfortable. The sermon was part of a series on 'When Heaven Invades Earth' and the theme was exploring what it means to have the presence of God in us and whether that internal reality should effect our external reality (to use a phrase from Bill Johnson).
After the sermon we moved into ministry and I invited anyone who wanted ministry to the front. Probably 2/3 of the congregation came forward. That's when God really seemed to turn up. I had never before seen a response like it in just and ordinary church service. These people were desperate for more of God. The presence of the Holy Spirit was manifesting in more powerful ways than we had seen before in Church. I was awesome to be in the middle of it praying for people.
My colleague, Mike, was leading the service and it was one of those times that just seem hard to bring to an end. Afterwards there were people praying for each other all over the place. It is always hard to 'encourage' people to go home at St Andrew's, after this service it was even harder.
As they were leaving someone asked me 'What do we do now?' Someone close by said 'Yeah, what's next Sunday going to be like?' For me the answer is really what is Monday going to be like because that is what really matters. But then again it does raise expectations for next sunday - what a downer though, I have to preach elsewhere that day.
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