Are we too afraid to ask?

     Why am I so afraid to ask people to come to church? Why do I simply expect them to say no?  What makes me think they’ll be offended or judged by my asking? What if me asking someone to church results in a ‘religious’ argument that goes so bad the person is even more anti-Christian than before?

      I wonder how many of us have had these fearful thoughts when thinking about asking people to church…?  But then, what of the even more fearful prospect of your friend actually turning up to church? Does that thought put us off as well? So we end up saying to ourselves….

"No they’ll never connect with the way our church works."

"No they’ll find it too weird and uncomfortable."

"No I’ve got a long term friendship strategy in place and coming to church now would be too soon for them."

"No they are too smart and would find intellectual holes that our pastors couldn’t deal with or won’t address."

"No they are not intellectual at all and will find a 30 minute monologue too boring."

"No there are too many people at church and they will find it overwhelming."

"No there are not enough people at church and they will find it too intense."

"No they only sing when drunk at the footy, so being sober in church won’t work."

      I’m sure we can have some fun and you could add any number of creative reasons why not to invite people to come and join you at church. And I’m sure we could all reel off some horror story of how a church experience was really terrible for someone. But I wonder how many of these fears really stack up?

      Perhaps it is more likely that we keep forgetting that God does actually want to save people and bring them into His church. 

      Perhaps we fail to remember that Jesus promises never to leave nor forsake us and will be with us to the end of the age. 

      Perhaps we ‘under-estimate’ people assuming they just wouldn’t really be interested in spiritual things and considering Jesus’ take on the world. 

      Perhaps we fail to remember that God does the miracle work of conversion and it’s through the proclamation of the truth that most people come to know it and love it.

      Looking back at my own experiences it seems very few of my fears have been grounded in reality. Very few of the scenarios I muse over come to pass…indeed even if church hasn’t gone as well as it could on the night my friend or family member shows up, there’s always been helpful discussion as a result anyway.

      I think I’m becoming more convinced that people hearing the truth and wonder of Jesus in the midst of a group of people who love Jesus and love each other is a very powerful and effective witness. What a gospel driven and gospel loving church offers is very compelling and my hope is that every week at church is an opportunity to invite someone else along.

After all, we are asking people to come and hear news that is better than any other. 

      Yes the Gospel is humbling.

      Yes the Gospel may be offensive.

      Yes the Gospel is exclusive. 

But:

      Yes the Gospel is the power of salvation.

      Yes the Gospel is far better than all your Christmases at once.

      Yes the Gospel makes you fully alive! 

I dearly want people to know that and see it and taste it. I long for our church to be a place where that’s exactly the discoveries people make…the very ones you and I have made thanks to the mercy and wonder of Jesus....at church.

      An inviting, opportunistic and gracious people who work together so as many as possible can hear the Gospel....that sounds like the kind of church we should be. I'd be more afraid if we really didn't want to be.  

      Which reminds me of one final truth I’ve been convinced of for a long time. That is, people will and can say "no" to our invitations to join us at church. Sad, but true, it will happen. However they certainly can never say "yes", indeed they don’t ever have the option of saying "yes"….unless we ask.

      Is that a "yes" or a "no" from you?

Focal Point wrap

Truly Focal Point has got to be about the best thing FOCUS does each year. The word 'intense' is the one that traditionally comes up to describe what happens. But even with hours and hours in the Bible and discussion each day for many people the enthusiasm and desire for God increases all the more as the week goes on. 

    This year the theme of 'church' was the one we tackled. Not perhaps the most marketable or exciting topic we could have picked...but one that catches you by surprise because it's so important. 

    Jesus said in Matthew 16 that he would build his church and the gates of death itself would not stop it. I can't imagine how Jesus could have more bluntly pointed out the significance of the church and by the end of Focal Point I can't recall seeing a more enthusiastic group keen to get involved in the task of serving Jesus and building his church.

    Please pray for those who were able to attend that the week of learning will turn into a life of fruitful church living. There was plenty of excitement and indeed plenty of repentance as people were more and more gripped by God's agenda. Let's pray it's followed up and lived out.

    Please also ask those who were able to attend not just what they may have learnt and enjoyed about the week, but what it now means for them. I hope we find their answers encouraging and I hope together as a congregation we can work together more and more to see Jesus' church built in number and maturity for God's glory. 

    

Put them out of my misery! Psalm 35

How do you apply a Psalm to your life about God’s chosen king experiencing a serious diplomatic incident? Not only that, how are we to respond to his undiplomatic and brutal call for God to sort it out? Asking to hit the ejector seat on our enemies (when and if we get them) seems pretty intolerant and extreme. But it is a big issue. How can persecution and evil exist in a world where God is good and promises to bless? Why do we or anyone else suffer at the hands of others? What if we are the cause of suffering?

King David has no doubt that God can handle evil. This might explain his outrageous and comprehensive ‘to do’ list for the LORD. He knew that God will do it properly and not like him. He asks God to punish those who seek his life in a way that the punishment fits the crime. The crime in this case is a nation that is breaking a treaty with Israel but making David look like the bad guy. Ancient treaties were signed with consequences. Blessings for abiding by the covenant and curses for a failure to deliver.

David is confident that God will do this as he has already started thinking about how he will praise God. But that won’t happen until it is done. The readers of the psalm are to have the same confidence and to rejoice in David’s vindication.

So, do you have that confidence in God dealing with evil? Can you make outrageous demands of God regarding evil?

Since David there are 3 key outrageous demands that reflect this Psalm.

Outrageous Demand #1 - Crucify him! The treachery not only of the nations but of God’s chosen people in betraying their king unjustly. All of humanity is guilty of wishing God were dead (many times we think and act wishing God were not there to enjoy life with us).

Outrageous Demand #2 – Father Forgive them! Jesus response to the world’s rebelion? 

Outrageous Demand #3 – Vindicate me! Jesus is vindicated because he was innocent. Through Jesus we can be right with God. Vindicated through Jesus’ righteousness and not our own. You can ask that of God. Trust in Jesus and you benefit from his righteousness. Even though you are wrong, God can declare you right as a free gift through Jesus.  This is worth rejoicing in.

Ps 33 Holy Power Ballad

When it comes to over the top singers, there are many who screech or wail at the top of their lungs - Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Steve Tyler… (OK so I don’t know any recent ones). And when people do a karaoke version of these songs they often fall short because the big voice is not part of their style and they probably don’t feel as passionate about the subject matter. So it is a big ask when Psalm 33 asks you to praise so powerfully.
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

What is praise? What makes it powerful? Praise is a heartfelt endorsement. In this case the endorsement is for Yahweh (The LORD). It is divine advertising. There are two things that make the Psalmist want to praise God like this.
• Yahweh’s character – his faithful steadfast love
• What Yahweh has done – creation of the world, Israel and each person

The loving God who made the cosmos, who created the nation of Israel also creates every heart with the same attention. He spoke and the world came to be. He breaths life into us. To know Yahweh’s hand in your life personally will help you to rejoice in his creation and in his King who brings the kingdom of heaven into the world.

Praise is our response to Yahweh’s word with our words. Through our words we tell others about how great Yahweh is. Our response is to praise him. It is an expression of our relationship and trust in him.

The Psalm ends on a confident but a dependent note.
Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

Show us some more love. We want the next chapter. There is more love to be experienced from Yahweh and with that will come more praise – a new song.

Certainly the major event in salvation history is Jesus delivering us from sin, death and Satan. We’ve seen so much more of God’s character and actions through Jesus. Yet our praise seems weak and we feel oppressed to tell it in a world that does not want to hear about Jesus.

Rev 5 shows heaven erupting at the good news about Jesus - elders, angels a multitude of people praising through song. But it doesn’t feel like that here. Often it is like the decaf of praise. John, in Revelation, shows us the heavenly reality of the praise that happens in heaven even though we are in a world that wants to suck God out of our lives. Jesus is the King where heaven and earth intersect and through him a new creation will come for every heart that trusts in him. Each time we tell others the gospel we are singing this same song of ultimate praise. It may not look like an over the top power ballad but it is an intense and personal song.

We sing this new song but we also ask God to show us the love that Jesus has secured when we will meet him face to face in heaven. We praise the God that has the power to transform us and our praise. It is in his power that our praise has power.
• Power to bring us joy as we express our gratitude to God.
• Power to encourage Christians with true words of hope.
• Power to save lives as people have a chance to place their trust in Jesus.

Why am I so popular!!! Psalm 32

Ever wanted your time in the spotlight? Ever wanted to walk down the red carpet? Ever want the praise of the elite and the lifestyle that goes with it? It would be nice but it seems to out of reach. The good life or the blessed life is for those at the top of the tree but not for me. The bar seems too high to get over. Or it is to fickle to find out how to get it.

But listen to what King David says Ps 32 says:

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (32:1-2)

This head of state believes Blessed are the wicked forgiven. This is the blessed life. Do you think you could live up to that?

Many a PR officer has been enrolled to lift the profile of people chasing lasting popularity and the perks that come with it. Regularly we see Politicians, rocks stars, sports heroes and others that seem to have a charmed life try to distance themselves from events at a nightclub, bad behaviour, words ‘misquoted’, women ‘they’ve never met’ or ‘heard of’, men they've not had sexual relations with.

What was King David’s strategy to attain the blessed life?

I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (32:5-6)

Why don’t you do the same? Say sorry to God and you have God’s approval. He already knows who you are and what you need. Turn to him. You are a real person not some media liaison officer’s airbrushed and packaged stooge who is scared the rest of the world is going to find them out as a fake. God knows (and deep down you may well know too) that you need to be reconnected with him. He is the one who holds life, death and riches of life and relationships in his hand.

True popularity comes from the approval of the Lord of the universe. This popularity is secured through Jesus who died for our sin and rose again to put us right with God. He did this so we might live the full life. Live it for eternity and live it in the presence of the God who blesses us and longs to give us every good thing.

Escape 08 ... a month on...

Even though it's been a month now since some of us workers found our way to that gorgeous campsite at Canyonleigh I still feel quite refreshed thinking back on it! It was a fantastic weekend away - retreatful, relaxing, refreshing - & I was meant to be organising everything!!! I enjoyed having some chilled out hours to get to talk to people over cups of steaming tea at breakfast, & on our bushwalk climbing mountains to the most spectacular views. The massive bonfire was such a winner & sharing the Lord's supper next to the heat & huge flames - especially after learning about God's gracious act of salvation in the Exodus. It was really special to reflect on the completion of that salvation for us in Jesus under the stars there together...

I thought it'd be good to share some other comments that I've received back...


'relaxed yet we achieved a lot, and had plenty of bonding time with people. '

'The "casualness" was a real winner I think. The talks fit in well with the atmosphere of the weekend and created a deep appreciation of God's salvation.'

'it was important to think about escaping the 'working world' and reflect on the link between escaping and the Exodus!'

'I loved the relaxed timetable! Late starts, and plenty of free time... it made it way better than when you have a strict schedule and go home feeling like you need a weekend to get over your weekend!'

'the site was peaceful, and the spa was wonderful''

I really hope many of you other workers were encouraged by our time away! Encouraged by meeting and getting to know our brothers and sisters, encouraged by God's word which helps us know & understand what it means to be saved & encouraged by the peace and beauty of parts of God's creation! I know I certainly was!!