Sunday Summary, 23/3/14

Seven years plus one week! That was Ps Ed’s main starting point yesterday, in what was another great day at Valley Church. We are now one week into our eighth year as a church. We’ve had seven years of growing, learning, celebrating, seeing people find Christ, seeing leaders develop and seeing the name of Jesus made more famous in this region. It’s been quite a journey!

I personally remember a significant series of messages where Ps Ed spoke about an important transition from being a “church plant” to being an established church. The mindset is different. The outlook is different. The need for longevity, consistency, and sustained passion can become a bit more of a battle.

And yesterday, Ps Ed addressed that so well. In our eighth year, it may be easy to sit back, relax, and look back at a weekend of over 300 people, with 10 decisions to follow Christ and say “we’ve done it. We’ve built a church.” But how small would our faith be if that’s where we were stay!

So where do we go from here?

Ps Ed talked about a divine/human partnership. A great co-mission, where God, in all His infinite certainty loves to partner with the efforts of human beings.

Ps Ed reminded us of some promises of God that we should remind ourselves and each other of as often as we can… Some Bible verse for you to look up (or else how will you be able to continually remind yourself of them?):

• Lk 10:2
• Mt 16:18
• 2 Pt 3:9
• Ac 1:9
• Mt 10:19
• 2 Co 3:16
• Mt 28:20
• Ro 8:31-39
• Mt 6:25-30
• Ro 10:12

And then in the evening, he brought a challenge. We looked at the book of 2 Timothy and we began looking at eight different images Paul uses to instruct and encourage Timothy in his personal discipleship and leadership. We got through the first three, and Ps Ed will finish the other five this coming Sunday night.

• A teacher that reproduces themselves in others. Great teachers do not just teach information, they inspire change and action because of the information. Paul wasn’t hoping Timothy himself would be a good teacher only, but that Timothy would raise up a whole bunch of people under him who could do likewise.
• A soldier intent on pleasing his commanding officer. A soldier is a soldier even when off duty. He represents his country and he represents the commanding authorities over him. Jesus is our commanding officer. The Kingdom of God is our country. We should live to please Him in every area of our lives.
• An athlete who competes according to the rules. Success is one thing, but doing it God’s way can sometimes be another. Many people experience success in this life. They work hard, train well, they are diligent, but if we do it our own way rather than God’s it can be all for naught. Live according to God’s commands, to God’s law, to God’s best-practice-for-life and just see if He doesn’t bless you in unexpected ways.

If you missed either of yesterdays messages, catch up on the podcast and let’s get ready for next week’s finalé!

– Dave