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Good morning welcome to the stevenage Vineyard Church lovely to have you if you can hear my voice and you’re outside uh if you’d like to come on in and find a seat TW try and squidge up to the middle if possible just so we can make
Room for people that are are coming in good to see you uh those who are watching us online or catching up uh always a pleasure never a chore uh my name is Daniel I’m the lead Pastor here at the Steven vineard Church uh if I
Don’t have a chance to to meet you say hi now but I’ll try and sort of say hi before you before you get off if you’re new here if you are new here um the the setup is we know have about 20 25 minutes of worship there’ll be a break
In the Middle where the kids can go off to children’s church and then there’ll be about 30 minutes or so uh with a message and then we’ll s of just we tend to just wait a bit and just see what God wants to speak to us either respond to
What’s been said or or so on but as you’re coming in uh do grab a seat um and but as you pick out your seat and you shuffle along the line don’t sit down just stand where you are and the rest of you that have come early and a
Sitting down if you could now stand uh that’d be great when we’re just going to to pray we’re just going to refocus our mind maybe if they had a busy morning or kids wouldn’t put their shoes on or the alarm clock didn’t go off or or something like
That sometimes it’s good just to take a a second and just to focus our hearts and our attention on Jesus and it’s a good discipline to do throughout the week as well uh hopefully some of the things that we do here on a Sunday morning you can catch and replicate
Throughout the throughout your busy lives no doubt so let’s just let’s just take a minute Lord we thank you for who you are and we just take a moment just to to turn our attention towards you thank you God that in spite of everything that we that goes on in our
Lives Jesus you are Lord of it all and we give you that place of lordship in our lives we come here to worship you now in Jesus name Amen we will welcome you with praise we welcome you with praise almighty god of love be welcomed in this place let every heart adore let every soul awake almighty god of love be welcome in this place you welcome in this Place be welcome in this Place we welcome you with praise we welcome you with praise almighty god of love be welcom in this place let every heart adore let every soul awake almighty god of love be welcome in this Place be welcome welome in this place you’re welcome in this praise and we can see that God you’re moving a mighty river through the Nations and young and old will turn to Jesus wide you Heavenly Gates prare the way of the Risen Lord and we can see that God you’re moving
A mighty Riv through the Nations and your and old will turn to Jesus bring why you Heavenly Gates prepare the way of the RIS Lord open up the doors and let the you take place let the streets raise down with singing songs that bring your oh songs that bring your joy down who Dan upon in Justice did you feel the mountains tremble did you hear the oce r when the people Ro to sing Jesus Christ the R did you feel the people TR did you hear the sa when the Lost we to sing Jesus Christ the saving world and we can see that God you’re moving a mighty river through the Nations and young and old turn to Jesus sing why to Heavenly Gates prare the way of the Risen Lordy open up the doors and let The Music Play Let the street ra and with singing songs that bring your songs that bring your joy daners who dance upon Injustice do you feel the darkness tremble when all the saints join in one song and all the streams blow as one River to wash away our Brokenness and we can see that God you’re moving and time the juilee is com when young and old return to Jesus fling wide you Heavenly Gates prare the way of the ren Lord open up the doors and let the music L let the street raise our songs that bring your home songs that
Bring your joy daners who dance upon in Justice open up the doors up the doors and let the music play let the streets sound with singing Lord songs that bring your hope songs that bring your joy dancers who dance upon in Justice and we can sense that God your
Mov a mighty river through the Nations and young and old will turn to Jesus fling wide you Heavenly Gates prepare the way of the RIS Lord Oh I will trust you though I walk theth you P me through when I’m falling down it’s your love I claim to my trust is in You I will trust you I the when I’m falling down it’s your love I to my trust is in You so I make your Hand you will lead me to water falls my grace and mercy flow and whenever you call me I go my trust is in you my trust is in you I Trust you are with me through every high and low stum I will never be alone my trust is in you so I take your hand you will lead me to all CA when grace and mercy flow and whenever you call me I go I trust is in you my trust is in You in the shadow you’re my light and I will trust you in the Darkness you’re my guide and I will follow in the shadows your my light and I will trust you in the darkness you’re my gu and I will follow so I’ll take your hand you will lead me to all my grace and Mercyful and when let call me I go my trust is in you so I take your hand you will lead me to water falls my grace and mercy Flow and wherever you call me I know my trust is in You my trust is in you my trust is in you my trust is in you So I’ll take your hand and you lead me to waterfalls where grace and mercy flows wherever you call me I go my trust is in You my trust is in you my trust is in you yes my trust is in You H Your face can move the mountains let the mountains move we come with expectation we’re waiting here for you Waiting here for you you’re the God of all creation and still you know my heart the author of Salvation love loved me from the Start we’re waiting here for You with our hands lifted High PR and it’s you we adore Sing you are everything you promised your faithfulness is true and for your presence all we need is You the lady lifted high in pra and You we adore Singing Hallu Halu Sing waiting here for you with a hand lifted high in praise and you we adore Singing Waiting Here For You Waiting For You Waiting For You what have I in this Life The in your eyes This empty World one day and only your Truth will Jesus all I have is you you’re the hope I’m holding to I might we but still my facei rests in you as the heavens hold the spies it’s your hand that holds my life and Your Love Will Lead Me come when all else is gone what have I in This in your eyes this empty world will one Day and only your truth Will Jesus you’re the I but still my rest as the heaven the strong and love me all else is God Jesus Jesus I have is you you’re The I might still my fa rests in you the the SK it’s your head that holds my and your love will me when all as the heavens as the heavens hold the it’s your hand that holds my life and your love will me home all else Is yes Your Love Will Lead me when all else is gone and all else is good do you know sometimes as we come into church we put our not our best clothes on anym I can see that but we put on our best life we put
On our best face and we put our best foot forward but that song reminds us that in life there are ups and downs and weeping does come and there is darkness and there are storms and there are difficult times and even as I’ve mingled a little bit this
Morning before church I’ve spoken to people who are grieving all kinds of losses loss that perhaps they wouldn’t talk to you about or loss that is really really tough at the moment and they’re walking through and maybe that’s you loss that perhaps is something that is part of life but nevertheless is extremely
Painful you don’t have to put your your best face on or put your best foot forward because we have a God who suffers with us a God who identifies completely with us so much so that he doesn’t call us to a happy life but he
Calls us to a life of faith and a life where he holds our hand and he walks with us so you don’t need to put a face on but even in these few minutes just as the music plays open your heart to your father God and tell him tell him that stuff tell
Him what you’re angry about tell him what you’re grieving tell him what troubles you tell him the Injustice that you feel or the fear that you have in your heart or the regret that you feel or the sadness that you experience and let his Holy Spirit Come
And come com Fort you and where repentance is necessary for goodness sake repent quickly because he Longs he longs to draw close to You oh Lord we come in our Brokenness we come with our fears we come with our sadness we come with our anger with our incredulity with our frustrations with our shame Lord with regrets and there’s only one place to bring all that stuff oh God it’s to the
Foot of the cross on which Our Savior your son Jesus died taking on the sin of the world conquering death and promising hope Lord It’s Your hope we’re clinging to Lord It’s your hand that we’re reaching out for trusting you father we’re sorry Father we need you father would you come and soothe
Our damaged hearts and would you heal our Brokenness thank you that you walk with us that you are close and that your love is greater and deeper and wider and longer than anything we can imagine and that you welcome us home Come Holy Spirit Come Lord Jesus and bring your
Peace and your healing and your Joy Lord we thank you that our joy doesn’t uh depend on our circumstances but rather is a gift of your spirit a fruit of your spirit Lord would you grow that in us even in the most trying and difficult of circumstances that we have joy because we have
Hope and you are the s of that hope we’re clinging Lord clinging to you and grateful for the Cross Amen amen please take your seats lovely to welcome you here today into the presence of God and into the family of God I’m Nicola Watson bird I’m one of the assistant pastors here and it’s my privilege and joy to see the guys here in the room together
Worshiping our great and glorious God if you’re watching us from afar you’re very welcome indeed too and we pray that spending time with us as family but also as I say in the presence of God will bring you hope and joy and peace and a reassurance of how precious and special
You are to God we have some notices that we need to share with you but before we do that I want to remind you that we have a giving station over to my left if you’re a visitor here you can uh just be here and enjoy all the generosity of the church
If you’re a member of the church perhaps you will already give by direct debit or you um give regularly in another way but if you still like to uh give in a kind of practical sense there’s all that you need over there um to uh enable that to
Happen it’s part of our worship and we’re grateful that you worship outside of just the singing in so many other ways in your giving in your serving in your sharing uh in your being Salt and Light in your communities and we appreciate all that you do by way of
Worship every day that’s a great it’s a lifestyle isn’t it not just something we put on on a Sunday some uh notices have come up behind me the ones that I want to highlight particularly are that uh small groups are starting this week and some of you are signed up which is
Fabulous some of you are yet to sign up I didn’t hear any whoops at all which must mean it’s usually me in charge of the whooping small groups an opportunity to together there’s a whole range of them if you haven’t seen the little leaflet um if you’re new to the concept of
Meeting midweek with a small group of people um possibly the interest ones or the focused ones will suit you better as a gentle gentle introduction just Gathering people in the middle of the week to have some fun to share some interests um but we do of course have
Also those groups where we come together to worship to pray to meet together around God’s word to grow in our discipleship and we hope that there will be elements of that even in the interest and the focus groups so um if you need prayer and you’re off on a cycle ride
That doesn’t mean to say you can’t it just means you have to keep your eyes open while cycling it’s not difficult to do I don’t think we’re offering a cycle ride this time not the right time of year but I think you get my drift so uh
Please if you haven’t done so yet please do sign up online find a group that will suit you and then commit to do that because that’s where you will grow and make friends uh it’s more than just walking across the room which is what we’re going to do in a little while so
Small groups please uh take notice of those and make the most of those opportunities and then we’re having a culture lunch on the 11th of February so after church uh we will all gather and um feed around a shared table and we are so blessed in this church to have so
Many people from so many different backgrounds um and cultures and so whatever it is whether you’re a lover of noodles or pasta whether it is a jacket potato chips or whatever that you can bring and keep hot that’s a a bit of a uh challenge or if you like a nice old you
Know ham sandwich with mustard on it um well bring a plate of ham sandwiches with mustard on but whatever floats your boat and you think this is something I would like to share we’ll need a mixture of sweet and savory dishes and we’re going to um share all that together hang
Around and um have a nice time together there will be special um provision made for the children as usual we will expect uh parents to take responsib for the safety of their own children um but we’ll work all that out on the day some of you know how that works so please uh
Put that in your Diaries and be ready to stay and enjoy that with us on the 11th of February uh we are going to encourage the children and the children’s uh Team to leave and go to their groups and uh we pray and hope that you have a Simply
Fabulous time and uh in the meantime those of you that remain behind if you’re used to this you’ll know this is is the time to walk across the room find someone you haven’t spoken to yet or you haven’t seen for a while check out they are and uh maybe return back to your
Seats that’d be great hopefully you’ve checked out your checked out checked off checked in your children by now um that’d be great fantastic thank you very much well welcome uh if you come in since we started uh my name is Daniel nice to to meet you if you were here
Last week or haven’t had the chance to catch up yet we we talked a bit about preparation and the need for preparation of why it’s so important and how the Bible and God Made made space for a time of preparation and we looked at a little
Bit about John the Baptist and how his role was in preparing the way for the Lord and we we looked at the the scripture in Isaiah that’s repeated throughout the gospels about uh that John the Baptist did specifically in terms of preparing the way for the Lord
And you know we we touched on various points about how sometimes we neglect preparation we neglect that process and we have whole rhythms of our of the Church calendar that are dedicated to it in ter we’re about to go into lent for example uh we’ve just come out of Advent and the whole
Uh that whole period of time is about preparing for the Lord and the importance of that uh and John the Baptist his is scripture that he was sort of basing his ministry on uh for those of you that remember from last week is in Isaiah chapter 40 verse three
And he said um a voice of one calling in the desert prepare the way for the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God every Valley shall be raised up every mountain and Hill shall be made low and rough ground shall have become
Level the rugged places are plain and we talked about the importance of making those ways straight of making the past where they were crooked or or or needed leveling about straightening straightening those out and I wanted I want to follow on from that a little bit
This morning and I want to sort of ask a question are we open to to that preparation we’ve learned how important it is are we open to it in our in our hearts in our ourselves in our lives and what that means maybe there are some barriers that prevent that prep
Preparation and prepare it for what exactly if the Bible and and God made such a an allowance for it what are we preparing for necessarily are you open to different answers from God that we’re preparing with an expectation for something what if it is something else
What if it looks different to what we initially expected it to be I love that quote that Martin Luther has and I often sort of say it um it seems like the things that we this what Martin Luther said the things that I I Hold On To
Those are the things things I seem to lose the things I open my hand up and give to God those things still remain and and in the time of pre preparation sometimes that leads to something different than than what looks like in our lives when we get to that point my
Life is not where I thought it would be it’s h it’s vastly different when I was 1920 I was going to change the world believe it or not um and my life looks very different to what I expected it to to be when I was 20 if You’ ask me what
My life would have looked like looked like apart from driving red Ferrari it would uh it would be very sort of uh well I don’t drive red Ferrari it would be very different to what it is now but I would also say that I am equally
Content in where I am as well there’s a I’m perfectly at peace with where I am and it’s that that verse that that Jesus says that we all kind of know to an extent or I’ve heard of pick up your cross and follow me what does that mean
Does that does that mean things could look different and in that time of preparation do we lay that down as Martin Luther said do we open our hand and give it to God and as a community uh individually um are we making those straight paths in our lives is your life
Set up to give God space to make those make those paths straight is God preparing you at the moment what is your posture in life are you open to that are you leaning into that because sometimes we’re prepared and we don’t know what the destination is sometimes you don’t we’re we’re in a
Period of our life where we don’t know where we are going but we just need to know who we’re following and my question is is that Jesus today are we look in God’s Sovereign Mercy sometimes that he will sort of show up with his miraculous power and
And that does happen and we see uh elements of that but Jesus also said go and make disciples discipling the root word of that is discipline that’s a process that’s something that happens as we persevere as we walk it out as that preparation is made in us
And more often I find in my life that God is in the process rather than the event God is in is in the leading up to as I’m opening myself I find God does a much greater work when I get to the destination than actually in arriving at
The destination itself and that’s what Jesus meant by go and make disciples uh of those and I find that the kingdom tends to follow those who open themselves up to him who don’t have a a separate room in the the house of their heart that they they keep closed off
That that God seems to God’s presence seems to follow those that open themselves up that Let Jesus in that prayer more of you and less of me the ones that pray that and live that and their posture is that I find that the presence of God tends to follow those
People around and who you are how you react what you do speaks much louder than what you say isn’t that true sometimes you you what people’s inoc what people’s true self is communicated by how they react by how how they respond by how they carry themselves you see the presence of
God rather than what they say we come across many people haven’t we who uh walk uh talk the talk but don’t walk the walk uh that’s the phrase isn’t it who who who whose voice and his words don’t match up with the life that they are living and we interestingly we’ve
Already touched on it this morning and there questions we can ask yourself does your front match who you really are and I think think to an extent we can all probably say to some degree or other that it doesn’t we come to church or we go and to work into our life and
Our front doesn’t match what’s really going on the the the sincerity of who we are if you’re a cut open what do you bleed what what is it that comes out of you when you are arguing who are you really if you don’t know ask the person that you’re arguing with
Uncomfortable after right now because it’s true isn’t it that that that’s in those moments that who we are and what we do come out when we are tired how do you respond and how do you react to people are you Snappy does your patience sort of go out the
Window how are you when no one knows what you’re doing how are your Rea what do you do then when there’s no accountability what do things look look like for you and in that we we come back to does your front match who you really are we come back to
Character and the more we make paths and prepare God’s presence God’s kingdom to come in us the more God seems to follow us around the more God is seen in Us by other people and it’s that difference between character and gifting character is who we’ve evolved
Who who we mature who who we’re becoming gifting is just those things that you have just divinely been made good at the Bible says that the gifts of God without repentance which means that we have been given gifts we are we are naturally good at things sometimes we don’t have to
Work at them quite as much but boy do we have to work on character boy do we have to work on those things that are that that should be that are not whereas gifting is given character evolves and it evolves in many sort of different uh
Grounds of and and streams uh it evolves in Trials it it evolves in preparation it evolves in humility in hunger in a desire for God and it it it produces hope it produces God’s kingdom when I was uh when I was younger and I was dreaming about changing the
World uh we went I went to uh a Bible College and one of the classes was called roots of character and we we all dreaded this class it was uh taught by uh what I can only describe as probably the most fiery teacher that I’ve ever
Sort of come across and you didn’t cross her and the the idea was the idea was very much what I’ve just said is does what you present to others does it match who you really are and this may come across as a bit crazy a bit weird but
One of the is a smaller sort of college wasn’t quite so academic but one of the it was part of the class that there would be a timetable of uh of people in the class and they would come to our houses and they would check to see if we
Were making our bed they would check to see if we had cleaned they would check to see uh what in America you had a checkbook and you had to match up your checkbook you were you and I know I told you it sounds crazy didn’t I and it was
A little bit hardcore but the the idea was it does who you are match who you’re presenting to be because there’s a well trodden path in gifting and relying on what you’re good at relying on what you do relying on what you like doing gets you so far but
It’s character it’s those disciplines it’s those uh those the nature the culture of God’s kingdom that carries you on through life it carries you through those arguments it carries you through those hard times it carries you through those difficult situations when your instinct is to stop because
Everything you know to do has has just not worked or is just there’s come a a wall down character is what keeps you walking on character is what keeps you putting step in front of a step and it’s what God is often preparing in us so what prevents that preparation
What is it that maybe sort of stops God’s work taking place in our lives sometimes it’s Comfort sometimes it’s just easy just carrying on the way we are and ignoring those little as we talked about last week when God sort of pointing saying this this look out for this sometimes
It’s comfortable it is easy just to stay there and to ignore it sometimes we just don’t see it and sometimes uh one of the the best prayers you can pray is God open my eyes and if if you if you if you are hungry and you’re brave and you want to know what
Those areas are in your life ask someone ask someone in your family ask your spouse ask a good friend ask someone who knows knows who you really are blindness can be uh and I said a few weeks ago Hosea 46 says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge if you
Don’t see it if you don’t know it’s there it can be an Avenue where you can be the destruction can come into your life pride is another thing that prevents preparation God taking his preparation in our life and that comes in the form of hardness of stubbornness
Of uh again reacting a way that is just not loving and and not listening apathy is a huge one in this culture in this Society yeah I find it’s a wash uh with just sort of things are so bad things are so difficult what can
I possibly do we just sort of carry on it it’s always going to happen life is always going to be so or sometimes we wait for something kse we wait for something miraculous to to come on to come to fix everything and then we we neglect that per that time of
Preparation we neglect that stepping that continuing to walk through that very often is what God works through but in the same sense what are the some of the practices that that pursue preparation that open the doors for it sometimes it’s it’s having a rhythm in your life having space for for God
For any of those who have been in relationships sometimes it’s helpful to make have a date night anyone have a date night or or do something or intend to have a date night is maybe what I should say it’s sort slightly more accurate but I think that that’s because
There’s an understanding there’s a knowledge that sometimes you need to book time in to get stuff done if you have a project or something at work you have to set aside time in order to do it otherwise if you like me it’s very easy to procrastinate it’s very easy to put
Up and therefore it doesn’t happen and how to prce practice that takes that pursues preparation the work of preparation in your life is action is doing something about it in a book of James he talks about having a faith but having a faith is worthless without action and the two that mold together
Lean into God’s pres leading into God’s kingdom and Paul talks about the milk as we come into contact with with Jesus and his Saving Grace and having a relationship with him the milk of being fed but how as we grow grow we need to evolve into meat and being able to feed
Ourselves what does that look like for you that feeding of yourselves how do you do it what happens in your own life is there action and how to practice is sometimes being imp patient is sometimes letting God and time do its work and being open for that to happen and that
Comes patience and comes listening to who God is how good are we at listening to God and and sometimes that voice comes through other people sometimes that voice comes through conflict how good are you at listening in Conflict really do you get defensive do you want
To say what you want to say or are you listening to maybe what God is saying in this situation consistency showing up keeping on keep keep on keeping on humility these are all qualities and practices that pursue preparation that allow for that that in our lives so what what is it we’re being
Prepared for exactly what I love we talked about John the Baptist last week and there’s a part in the gospels where John the Baptist disciples having sat under the message of prepare the way of the Lord make straight his path they come to Jesus the who they you know with
The benefit of hindsight we can look read the Bible and look at now they come to Jesus the very person they were preparing for and they come to him and say are you the person that we’re talking about is it you that we’re preparing for and sometimes we don’t
Know exactly what we’re preparing for and that that warms me that encourages me if John the Baptist is John the Baptist disciples can ask that question in The Life and Times of Jesus they say are you the one we are preparing for then there is hope for me then when I
Miss it then I can look back at back and at that and read that think God maybe there is some Grace for me maybe there is some space for me to learn on my journey of discipleship on my journey of becoming more like him and sometimes we don’t know what we’re being prepared
For sometimes it is a step of Faith it’s an act of walking out into the abyss and not knowing what’s going to happen and maybe looking at the situation around us and and we we try and read what’s going on to give us an idea about what we
Could be stepping into but that may be completely not what is in God’s plan that may be not what’s going to happen and it’s the Act of Faith is that stepping into the abyss that God wants us to do and Jesus understood this to an extent the um John the Baptist prepared
The way for Jesus and Jesus set the model and the the format for for reestablishing intimacy and relationship with God the Father Again but he also said that I must go so that another one may come in my place and in Acts chapter 1 uh verse 8 you may have read
This he said to his disciples go and wait go and prepare go and wait for the one that is going to be coming that I must go so that so the other one may come which he’s talking about the Holy Spirit but he he says uh to the
Disciples in Acts chap 1:8 you may be familiar with this verse if not not you can read it or or come back to it later he said to them it is not for you to know the times or dates the father has set by his own authority he talking
About where they come back but verse eight says but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you you will be my Witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth you will receive power this is what Jesus was prepare was wanting his
Disciples to prepare for now growing up here in this verse very much when I hear the word sort of power I think of uh this explosive power um the Greek of the word in this in this section here is dunamis and that comes from that’s one
Of the root words for for Dynamite and very very often when uh we look at that we that’s how we sort of interpret it but it’s also the root word of dynamic it’s also the root word for Dynamo and a definition of the word uh Dynamic is Excellence of
Soul uh I found one inherent power residing In A Thing by virtue of its nature see this Dynamic power that that God promised us that that that he wants us to prepare for to open our our our hearts to was a process characterized by constant change uh a progression of
Activity a power that relied upon the presence of God a power that doesn’t leave us burnt out a power that doesn’t leave us disillusion something that continues and that sustains something that’s set apart something that’s different Jesus had to leave so this power could come apart and we the
Disciples didn’t know what they were waiting for they didn’t know what they were preparing for and sometimes we look for the answer that’s outside of us don’t we and our whole culture and marketing sector is sort of set up on this you need this pair of shoes because then you’ll be cool uh
The whole cosmetic industry and the fashion industry came upon this realization that if they change Styles every season they create a need of people to need the next season of clothes you can tell I’d have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to clothes that they need next SE season of
Cloth so they can be relevant and cool they can fit in and be some leaders in terms of what sort of looks good Henry Ford when he started Mak make his Motor Cars he I think they made them in black or some sort of standard color until
Someone had a realization that if you change the color you could cater to people’s uh desires and what they wanted and you had different brought out different models you create a need and that there’s something very much in our culture that we look for the solution we
Look for the answer the whole podcast industry is looking for answers to our our Solutions which is not inherently is not a bad thing but it’s this thing in us that looks for an answer to us and we neglect the the time of preparation that
God wants to do in US we neglect the the work of character that sometimes can lead to those solutions that can lead to that way of living that circumstance that we sort of longing for we see it in I worked in social work and it’s oh if
Only someone would do this and we see it in our politics if the right candidate comes up and the right party gets in then they’re going to fix everything and you know I’m not the oldest guy in the world I like to say but I’ve been around
Long enough to realize that life keeps on going and whatever political system is in people are still people people still carry on there’s still the same sort of issues s of keep rumbling on and we look for this answer outside ourselves and it’s a different kind of
Power that God has set apart for us we look at Moses as as an example of this for those of you who know the story of Moses CH hon Ten Commandments all that sort of stuff um the Red Sea sort of parting uh but he grew up in the
Palaces of power he grew up as a kid seeing this uh seeing this author authoritarian you know what I’m trying to say uh this this uh system of government that that ruled and that reigned and could take power where it wanted to it it asserted itself and it
Took the resources from everything that was around uh around it and Moses grew up as a as a a person within the system of government with an understanding of knowing what power was and then there came a moment in his life where he lost all of that and all got taken away from
Him and we see in Exodus uh you can read the story you can go back to it it’s in Exodus I would encourage you to read it if you haven’t read it before but he comes essentially he’s having a a second career and he’s he finds himself from
Living in the Palaces of power to suddenly living amongst the sheep and and and hering the sheeper around and he comes across a burning bush anyone ever heard of this story or remember it from the films on at Christmas time or whatever and he comes across this
Burning Bush and he’s taken back and he’s startled and Exodus chapter 3 verse um verse two says that an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a Bush Moses saw that though the Bush was on fire it did not burn up so
Moses thought I will go over and see the strange sight why the bush does not burn up when the Lord saw that he had gone over to look God Called to him from within the Bush Moses Moses and Moses said here I am do not come any closer
God said take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is Holy now I understood the miracle to be this fire that was in the bush now when you when you watch the film or see it’s sort of the fire that’s that’s sort of the the the supernatural sign but Moses
Understood and he saw said what kind of power is this I’ve come from an environment where the power is is all consuming it it burns out it needs resources it takes but here is a fire that is sustained here is a fire that keeps on going and God said this is Holy
This is set apart this is something that’s different this is something that can’t be explained and moses’ first reaction was what is this what is this power what is this power that sustains itself that I cannot see and we look at the word holy holy doesn’t really have
Any meaning does it it’s sort of connected to something Divine but it’s it’s sort of it’s almost it relates to something that you can’t explain it relates to something that’s different it relates to something that’s set apart in the Book of Revelation it says uh when this Heaven and Earth pass
Away the angels will will circle around the kingdom of God and they’ll just sing Holy Holy Holy and it’s almost like holy holy there aren’t words to describe this and that was the first reaction when Moses came across this fire this presence this energy this sustaining power is related to something different
Something that wasn’t the norm that didn’t drain and what was God’s first reaction when Moses came across he says I see the oppressed I see others and that’s what happens when you come across the power of God the power across the power of the kingdom of God
Is where can I be that need where others have need there’s a dissolution of that power there’s uh a decentralization of that power and we come back to the book of Acts they were waiting in in that room for this they were being prepared for this power that
They didn’t know what they were being prepared for this Dynamic power this power that that God that Jesus had to leave so it could come to them and for those of you who are familiar with W with uh Acts chapter 1 and chapter two this power came on in tongues of fire
But it wasn’t where did the power come in those tongues of fire it came on all of them it it dissipated upon all of them that power was decentralized now for those of you who know much about sort of power and Emperors Empires and government and so
On often the first thing you do when you want when you have power is you consolidate that power is you want to you want to consolidate the financial system the economy you consolidate the language that way you can control uh the narrative and the propaganda of sort of
What’s been going on but as the the disciples went to prepare for this power this power was given to each and every one of them the first thing that happened was this power was decentralized it’s given so that it could be given and what happened they all spoke in different
Languages that power was made unique to all of them so they could go their different ways and they could that power was made unique to them so they could then go and serve others they could uh that so they could relate to who God was
In them and they could move on from that situation and that’s what God has given us he’s wanted he wants us to prepare the way for him he wants us to make straight paths for who he is and my question here this morning is are you
Preparing the way for God are you making straight paths even if you don’t know what the answer is where is your posture where are you in terms of allowing that work work of God to happen in you is your character being developed or you just sort of hanging in there waiting
For something to happen waiting for the World to Change where are you right now I’m just going to ask the the worship team to come up Jesus said that in the rest of this verse it says when you receive my power you will receive the power to be my Witnesses now
Again if we go back to the Greek that word witness means Marty we we we miss that that’s not all sort of picked up in the translation and again that comes back to laying our life down comes back to picking up our cross what Jesus said at the
Beginning giving up our life and when where are we in ter do we pick up our cross daily and follow him do we hold on to it do we want to keep it because it’s easier more convenient or we don’t know what the outcome may look
Like so what we preparing for it’s the power of God it’s a dynamic presence and power of God it’s explosive it’s sustaining it doesn’t drain it’s it has a sustainability that will keep us uh on the track and keep us on the journey that God has been gracious enough to
Begin leading us on it’s a power that doesn’t consume it it provides the kingdom it provides the the characteristics it provides the blueprint for us to live our life it doesn’t exhaust or drain but it’s sustained and it leaves you content wherever you may be if you are in the
Presence of God if you’re in the will of God though it may look different you can hold on you can hang on and it’s there there so take this hold this sometimes these uh lessons are sort of life lessons that we we had call to hold on to these
Are disciplines that we are called to live out and to hold on to because God we are called to be disciples and that’s a life time of discipline of being transformed into his likeness so I encourage you today catch this live it and where ask yourself
Where is your post and is there a way you can live it is there a way that your front can meet the back what’s inside of you is reflected on what’s what’s on the inside of you is reflected what’s on the outside of you so we’re going to finish in our song
If you like to stand with me we’re just going to pray the worship team are going to lead us out in a in a song but if anything’s touched you if anything’s uh had an impact on you there is a Ministry team here that would love to pray for
You if you’re struggling with anything else with healing with circumstances there are prayer coordinators that will be around turn to someone and ask them to to pray for you and the coordinator will be watching out and they can come in and join in or you can come down to
The front they’d be more than happy to pray and to minister to you Lord make us more like you Lord make us who you are God we want to be where you are we prepare Lord we want to prepare a way for you let us be a faithful people
Jesus that preparing the way for you in our community in our lives and in our hearts God give us the awareness to to make those paths straight give us the the eyesight and the hearing God to to move those things out of the way so you can come on in
Jesus and we invite you in here this morning and if that’s what you need to do just invite God in here this morning maybe opening it open up your hands in an act of surrender God we invite you in this morning and if you’ve never done it
Before now is the time just simply say Jesus come on into my life come on into my life and as a church as a community we stand here before you this morning and we say come on in make straight our paths God thank you Jesus thank you Lord you I walk the when it’s your I CL my is in You I will try P when I’m it’s your I my In so I’ll take your oh hand you will lead me to waterfalls where grace and mercy flow and whereever you call me I go my trust is in You my trust is in you I will trust in you you are me through every high and low I I will alone my so I take your hand you will lead me TOS where grace and mercy flow and whever you call me I go my trust is in you my Christ is in
You in the Sh you’re my and I will trust you in the darkness you’re my guide and I will follow in the shadows you’re my light and I will trust you in the darkness you’re my guide and I will follow so I take your hand you will lead me to Falls with grace and mercy
Flow andever you call me I know my trust is in You so I’ll take your hand you will Le me to water falls with grace and mercy and whenever you call me I go my trust is in you my trust is in you my trust is in You my trust is in you So if there’s anything you want prayer for uh maybe to ask the person next to you as we break up is there anything you’d like prayer for if you’re not there’s a that if you come down to your left we got Sheila and gazelle here our prayer our prayer coordinators today
That I would vouch for them they’re fantastic people uh but also they’ll be looking around if if you need to help out or you’re struggling or anything like that but don’t leave here if you need some some sort of prayer you want to respond to what God is saying this
Morning so the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace and give that away this week so God bless you don’t rush off have a quick
Chat with the person next to you and thank you for coming and we will see you next week God bless