Sunday Sermon notes:-

"We have come to the end of the Forty Days of Purpose.

But what have we learned,and will it make any difference at all?

Perhaps some of the important lessons are these:-

 

ABOUT GOD?

1)That it is all about God and not about us.  (Hebrews 2:10) (Col 1:16)

2)That God still does miracles in our time.     (Psalm 77:14)

 

ABOUT LIFE?

1) That life is preparation for eternity.         (Eccl.3:11)

2) That we are put on earth for 5 purposes.(Proverbs 16:4)

 

                        WE WERE....                                                 BIBLE WORD....

 

                   Planned for God's pleasure                                Worship

                   Formed for God's family                                     Fellowship

                   Created to be come like Christ                           Discipleship

                   Shaped to servw God                                         Miinistry

                   Made for a mission                                              Evangelism

 

 

ABOUT SPIRITUAL GROWTH?

1) That we grow through making commitments.(James 2:1)

2) That we grow through fellowship.                 (Phil.4:9)

 

ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY?

That people are hungry for spiritual truth.        (John 4:35)

 

NOW WHAT?

We must START LIVING what we have learned!     

"Now that you know these things,you will be blessed if you do them"..John 13:17

And PASS IT ON!

"Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others." 2 Tim 2:2

"I thank my God through Jesus Christ for every one of you because the news of your faith is spreading throughout the whole world."Romans 1:8 "

 

On Sunday 27th after the morning service there is to be a shared lunch to mark the finish of the 40 days of purpose.It will be decided  later what we will study in the new year. 

 

 

 

 

This week it is the last meeting of our 40 days of purpose....

 

"The most important thing is that I complete my mission,

the work that the Lord jesus gave me-to tell people the Good News about God's grace."

Acts 20:24

 

OUR 5TH PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS:-

"EVANGELISM"

Theme for sundays sermon.

"Today we reach our fifth and final purpose where we discover that we were "Made for a Mission".

We have received good news about Christ's saving love for us and so we are to share that news with others.

We are to share it with those in our world,our friends and family who are closest to us.

We are to dare to reach beyond our own world and to reach out to those whom,perhaps,the rest of society might shun and we are to care about the whole world.

Christians have a global heart.In practical terms this means talking about what we believe;

Living out what we believe in our neighbourhood and supporting those who act out of faith all over the world.

This has implications for our life-style and the way we use our own wealth."

 

SHARE:-

"Go back home and tell people how much God has done for you.

So the man went all over town telling how much Jesus had done for him." Luke 8:39

"Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you." 1 Peter 3:15

 

DARE:-

"Whatever a person is like,I try to find common ground with him

 so that he will let me tell him about Christ

 and let Christ save him." 1 Corinthians 9:22

"I was hungry, and you fed Me.I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink.

I was a stranger ,and you invited Me into your home.I was naked, and you gave Me clothing.

I was sick and you cared for Me.I was in prison ,and you visited Me..."Matthew 25:35-36

 

CARE:-

 

Jesus said to His followers,"Go everywhere in the world,and tell the Good News to everyone." Mark 16:15 

"If you insist on saving your life,you will lose it.Only those who throw away their lives for My sake

and for the sake of The Good News will ever know what it means to really live." Mark 8:35

 

Tuesday evening.As this was also the last meeting we evaluated the course as a whole and talked about the benefits of meeting together in a small group.It was decided that we had all enjoyed the meetings and sermons,and felt that knowing others in the church family were also studying the same course and getting to know one another better was encouraging and would benefit us all as we were working towards the same goal of finding out our individual and corporate purposes.It was thought that further meetings in the new year would be welcomed but that they should perhaps be fortnightly or short courses so that those with other comittments were able to plan their time so as to be able to attend .

The focus for this session was to help us reach out to people who are not Christian.

The question to discuss was:-

"Describe a time when you were lost or when you temporarily lost your child.

How did you respond and how did you feel?"

Differrent experiences were shared and remembered,which once more meant we found out more about each other.

Then we shared what being a Christian meant to us and how we came to faith.As expected these were interesting, individual and unique testimonies.

  

After watching the dvd we went on to the main discussion questions.

When you hear the word "Evangelism"or think about sharing your faith,what images come to mind.

Billy Graham was one comment.

We all have a responsibility as Christians to be willing and able to share our faith with others which was agreed was not always easy to do especially within your own family.

We then went on to the story of the paraplegic from Luke 5,which was also on the dvd.The physical needs of this man were obvious,but his spiritual needs were less so.This was discussed in context with some of the needs of people in our own lives that may demonstrate a deep spiritual hunger.

After reading Colossians 4:2-5  we talked about the principles learned about sharing Christ with unbeleivers.

 

"The same mission Christ had on earth,helping people find God, He has now given to us.

Our mission is to pass on to othersthe same Good News about Gods love that someone shared with us." 

 

A list of people who we would all pray for was written out,and then we had our prayertime.

The meeting finished as usual with more sharing over refreshments.

 

This weeks memory verse:-

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;make the most of every opportunity."Col.4:

 

 

"We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Ephesians 2:10

 

OUR 4TH PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO SERVE GOD BY SERVING OTHERS

 

Sundays sermon and notes were a reminder to us all that serving others is an important part of our Christian faith.

Serving like Jesus means.......

1 )  being  AVAILABLE,

"Never tell your neighbours to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now"  Proverbs 3:28

Three barriers to this sort of serving are:

             self centeredness..."Forget yourselves for long enough to lend a helping hand "Philippians 2:4

             perfectionism ...     "If you wait for perfect conditions,you'll never get anything done" Eccl.11:4

             materialism ...No servant can servetwo masters...You cannot serve both God and money"Luke16:13

2)  being  GRATEFUL,

                  "Serve The Lord with gladness." Psalm 100:2

Two barriers ....

             comparing & criticizing   "Who are you to criticize someone else's  servant ? The Lord will determine whether His servant has been successful." Romans14:4 

              wrong motivations     "When you do good deeds,don't try to show off. Ifyou do,you won't get a reward from your Father in heaven." Matthew 6:1

3 )  being  FAITHFUL,

             "The one thing required of servants is that they be faithful..." 1 Corinthians 4:2 

             "Throw yourselves into the work of the Master,confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort"    1Cor.15:58

             "He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other Christians."  Hebrews 6:10

 

The meeting began with a question relating to the parable of the good samaritan:-

Can you share a time when a trip you took didn't go exactly to plan?

Each shared incidents of failed trips and experiences from the past and present when things  failed to go as planned.

Then the watching of the dvd.This was,as usual,followed by a discussion of the dvd content and the printed questions:-

            Why, in your opinion,do many people walk by opportunities to serve others?

Various reasons were given,and examples of times when people had offered help and been  rebuffed.Which left some feeling upset and others with guilt at not being able to meet an obvious need.It was pointed out that fear of actually being attacked could prevent help being offered in some instances.Most of all it was agreed that sensitivity was needed when offering help of any sort.

            The next topic was to try and identify our own particular talents, and decide as a group how we could serve together to meet a need in our church.After talking and thinking this over,it was decided that we were all willing to be involved in pastoral care,but that it should be properly organised.

           We then read Paul's letter to the  Philippians 2:1-7 ,about how we should serve the needs of of

others.and also Phil.2:19-30 about Timothy and Epaphroditus,and went on to talk about what we could learn from their example of service to the believers.

A time of shared prayer followed  with prayers for members who, because of prior commitments,could not be at this weeks meeting.Our evenings decisions and discussion were also prayed about.

The talk etc. carried on during our" refreshment " time.

With the number in the group nearly halved,we had a chance to talk to each other and again to get  to know one another better.There is a good "bond" building up in the group,and we were pleased to see in the notes that there will be more house groups in the new year.Which will be a good opportunity to get to know even more people!

 

This weeks memory verse:-

                      "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others..".1 Peter4:10

 

 

"From the very beginning God decided that those who came to Him-and He knew who would-

should become like His son."    Romans 8:29

 

 Our 3rd. purpose in life is to " become like Christ" ..........  Discipleship.

    "In All things God works for the good of those who love Him,

 who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

                                                                                 

Sundays sermon  was about the ways  God uses to teach us.

THREE UNEXPECTED TOOLS

  1)  God uses trouble to teach us to trust Him..."Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."2 Cor.4:17

  2)  Temptation to teach us to obey Him..."Fix your thoughts on what is trueand good and right Phil.4:8 

  3)God uses trespasses to teach us to forgive..."Jesus said, Father ,forgive these people,because they don't know what they are doing." Luke 23:34

 REMEMBER :- God has forgiven us..." Forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ."

 REMEMBER:-  God is in control........."We Go through exactly what Christ goes through.If we go through the hard times with Him,then we're certainly going to go through the good times with Him." Romans 8:17

Now tuesday evenings meeting.

We started with this question:- When you were a child whom did you want to be like when you grew up?

This was answered by some saying whom they wanted to be like ,and by others as what they wanted to be like or were expected by others to be like. It was interesting to listen to the different ways the question was answered.Then we were asked to share one thing we had learned so far from the course.This was met with an initial silence! but then different views on what each had learned.The general concensus being  that disipline had been gained  from following the course which  was good .Also that reading studying and praying each day and knowing others in the group were doing the same thing was helpful.

After watching the dvd,the main topic for discussion was Pauls reference to "working out our salvation"and how this can be compared to a physical workout.This was a good topic which brought all members to contribute to the discussion.The conclusion was that both were hard work!

We then moved on to "In what ways have you found the bible useful,and what keeps it from being more useful in our lives."? Examples of  how the bible was used for guidance,comfort ,reassurance and help( and probably more but I do not make notes during the meeting!)The group also had views on the many translations of The Bible available,some finding this helpful and others saying it could be confusing,and most had a preferable version which they used.The group then got into pairs to talk about how we could become more Christlike in our everyday life. Next  was a time of  shared  prayer with a chance to say thankyou to God for what He has done for us.

Refreshments and more"getting to know each other "was a good close to the meeting!

We really are becoming closer as a group,studying and praying together is a good way of getting to know each other.

            12  at the meeting this week.

 

Mike (our vicar) told us there are over 80 people meeting in various house groups,and that over 100 people are studying the book .Then there are others involved who are coming to listen to the sermons.So there is a lot of interest and commitment being shown from everyone,which is encouragement for each other and shows that we can all work together.....once we get someone to organise us!!!! 

 

This weeks memory verse is from Phillipians2 vs.5

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus..."

 

and a qoute from the book ;-

"Receiving,reading,researching,rememembering,and reflecting on the Word are all useless if we fail to put them into practice.We must become" doers of the word"* This is the hardest step of all,because Satan fights it so intensely.He doesn't mind you going to bible studies as long as you don't do anything with what you learn." 

 

*James 1:22 "And remember,it is a message to obey,not just to listen to.So don't fool yourselves."

2nd PURPOSE IN LIFE IS FELLOWSHIP    Fellowship is loving God's Family.

 

"Love your spiritual family!" 1Peter2:17

 "The person who loves God must love other believers."1 John 4;21 

 

 Sundays sermon outlined 4 levels of fellowship important to God's family:-

Membership,Friendship,Partnership and Kinship

 

Before listening to this weeks dvd the group discussed the following questions:-

1}what made friendships meaningful ?

2}what qualities give a church a sense of family?

This was a good start to the meeting,with examples from many of the group of friendships past and present

and positive ideas on what made a church family.

After the dvd  the discussion carried on from before,and as in past weeks with varied views both on the dvd and the discussion questions.

Everyone agreed that each person has an important and individual part in the church family,

but that we all need each other for support and encouragement and that we should love and trust each other.

After praying we enjoyed each others company with more conversation over our tea and biscuits.

As a group we are getting to know each other better by listening to individual testimony and through group discussion.The refreshment time is as valuable a part of this as the other parts of the evenings are.

 

  13 in the group this week!

 

this weeks memory verse:- Romans 12;5

 

So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

       1st. PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO WORSHIP GOD.         What is worship?   read Romans 12;1 

"So we make it our goal to please Him......"  2Cor.5:9

  

Well,after listening to Mike's sermon on Sunday, and reading the daily chapters ,

I  was looking forward to the meeting. 

After the dvd.the group were keen to get on with the discussion:

In what subtle ways are you vulnerable to accepting the values of the worlds culture?  

 

This topic  brought forth lots of differing views,but it was agreed that the media had a  large part in this.

It was also said ,and agreed ,that you cannot always trust that everything  reported by the media is true

Someone  pointed out that past generations had similar problems, but that today because of television etc.

 we are more aware of what others have which for some can lead to being disatisfied.

After much more discussion we had a time of shared prayer.

The evening finished with tea and biscuits ,and more discussion and sharing !

Once again the meeting went well with everyone taking part.

I am sure that by the end of the course we will know much more about each other.

 

There were 12 of us in the group this week,so who knows how many we could have with us next time!

 

this weeks memory verse:- Mark 12;30

 

Love The Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

 

 

The Purpose Driven Life.  written by Rick Warren .

 This weeks sermon was on "Lifes 3 Greatest Questions"

1)  Existence ,  Why am I alive?    --  I was created to be loved by God.   Eph.1:4

2) Significance, Does my life matter?-- I was made to last forever   2 Cor.5:1

3) Intention,What is my purpose? --I find MY purpose by getting to know God. Eph.1:11

 

The meetings for " 40 days of purpose "  started last night .

I went to the Victoria Road venue ,at Dennis & Maureens house .

The meeting went well , and an interesting and lively discussion followed the showing of the dvd .

There were 11 people in the group last night ,the  "see you next weeks " sounded sincere .

 

this weeks memory verse:-Eph.2;10

 

For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus

to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.

 

 

My intention is to post a report after each meeting as part of my own 40 days of purpose ----