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Overdone Success

Peter Pollock spoke at the Church on the weekend and he said "I came to realise that man will always get drunk on the work of his hands!" He referenced Noah's decision to plant a vineyard on the land as soon as he got off of the ark and from that he made wine, and off of that wine he got drunk.

We strive so much for success and meaning, that we actually get drunk off of our own accomplishments. We take the place of God in our own lives and worship our selves. In short without God we don't do a great job of handling the success he gives us.

Peter Pollock at Newlife

On Sunday Peter Pollock, the South African Cricketing legend, came and spoke at Newlife Uniting Church, Robina. First at the men's breakfast then in our two morning services. He posed the question: Where is your relationship with Jesus at? It was a powerful message which I'd strongly encourage you to hear:

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: Peter Pollock

Part 5 of the Missing Piece: Repentance

To repent is to change your priorities and thus change your allegiance to something.

When Jesus calls us to "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near" he is saying, give me your allegiance for my restoration is to follow.

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 5: Repentance

Part 4 of the Missing Piece: Sanctification

Jesus said "I am the Way and the truth and the Life." (John 14:6) 

So what did this mean to his listeners? What does this mean for us? And what does it mean for a hurting world? Take a listen to discover how Jesus cleans, frees and guides us, meeting us where we're at and restoring us.

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 4: Sanctification

Do Not Worry (Mat 6:25-34)

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: Do Not Worry: Matthew 6:25-34

Only 8% of that which we worry about is both real and legitimate.

Worrying is an issue of faith...

Worry is all about who or what we do or don’t put our faith in...

"Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered on anything short of God and his will for us." – Billy Graham

"All worry is caused by calculating without God." - Oswald Chambers

From the Greek: To worry leaves us split, cut, torn, divided into pieces within ourselves.

Who we hope in and what we fear, correlates allot with the things that Jesus has said. Like when he says... “do not worry about your life.”

Worrying is actually a decision we make. The ‘Do not’ implies that it’s possible for us not to do such a thing. That if we set our minds to it we can choose a different path.

There is a pattern of God’s providence that becomes available to us when we are true to ourselves.

When we only concern ourselves with that which is within our sphere of responsibility, Jesus assures us that God will take care of the rest.

Jesus instructs us not to worry, because he cares for us. He wants us to know that care and value. The overflow of that is that we are transformed if we set our focus on him.

Which means we can get a grip on not worrying when we decide to focus on what he can do and not on what we can’t do.

Worrying doesn’t empower anyone to live life. Living by faith is empowering, Living by worry is disempowering.

It has been well said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength. —Charles H. Spurgeon

We own concern but Worry owns us.

Concern empowers us to make a difference but if that concern turns to worry, it becomes debilitating.

Jesus creates a comparison between people who don’t know God and people who do. People who don’t know God, Jesus says, pursue what they can see. People who do know God wait for that which they cannot see.

Which maybe why Jesus is so matter of fact about worrying: If you know God, you have no reason to worry, so don’t!

Following Christ and defusing worry is about not pursuing the wrong things and waiting for the right things.

^{1 Peter 5:7} Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

That word Cast is the same word that Peter would have used when he spoke about casting as a fisherman. Not casting how we might these days with a rod but letting out into the sea these giant nets to be carried by the current. What a picture that is,  of how we might handle anxiety. Gradually letting go of it and giving it up to God who will gently relieve you of it.

^{Psalm 94:19} When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Jesus says, don’t have your focus on these things, because these things will cause you to worry, and they will cause you to lose strength, they will distract you from important matters of God’s kingdom.

³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

God’s kingdom, is a kingdom that when we fully belong to it we will not have anything to worry about it, because our focus will be on God’s matters not on our own. That life is a life that can be lived now. We can live with our focus on God’s kingdom now, in seeking first God’s kingdom, in shifting our focus toward the ongoing work of God, we defeat worry,

Worry is an issue of faith. If our faith is in Christ, then worry becomes obsolete.

Twelve Steps to Personal Empowerment for Anxiety Sufferers

Arch Heart provides in his book "The Anxiety Cure" 12 steps people who struggle with anxiety might be helped and empowered by:

 

1. Claim your strength in Christ. Claim promises from God’s Word.
2. Feel the power that Christ gives you. Move beyond the cognitive. Let Christ’s power seep into your bones and lift your courage.
3. Take control of your fear. The difference between panic and recovery is that recovered sufferers have overcome their fear of panic.
4. Drop the “what-ifs” in your life. Change your attitude to “So what?”
5. Overcome your personal passivity. Anxiety doesn’t take your control away; you surrender it.
6. Increase your power by finding out all you can about your disorder. Knowledge and understanding are your allies. This is true of medications too. You know your body than anyone. Don’t let “experts” push you around. You be the expert.
7. Don’t be demoralised by helplessness. Remember, knowledge is the key to overcoming feelings of helplessness, so learn all you can about anxiety disorder.
8. Be compassionate towards yourself. Too many suffers are their own worst enemies. Don’t self-accuse (“I’m stupid” etc).
9. don’t let your problem dominate your life. Relegate it to a secondary position and give priority to living.
10. Beware of the pitfalls of self-pity. Instead of saying, “Woe is me!” try saying, “What can I do about it?”
11. Find a good support group. A group of understanding peers can help build your personal power. Isolation frets.
12. Never, never, never, never give up. Remember sir Winston Churchill’s call to people of Britain at the height of their despair under Hitler’s air attacks: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never.”

Get yourself ready (Jeremiah 1:17)

It occurred to me today as I read Jeremiah that God said "Get yourself ready" just before he was to go and stand before the people and say to them what God wanted to say, which as it turns out wasn't all to pretty. What I find interesting is that God asked Jeremiah to get himself ready before he engaged. I imagine Jeremiah would have centered himself in God, he would have gathered his thoughts and set his mind to what was ahead, he would have plugged into the passion that was growing within him for the people, he would have sat and waited upon the Lord. How important it is that we follow the same discipline "Get yourself ready!"

Part 3 of the Missing Piece: Sin

Craig spoke of the powerful grip sin can have on us and what God's response to that was.

DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE: The Missing Piece Part 3: Sin

Hardwired for compassion

I recently heard Daniel Goleman speaking about compassion. He says that in the science of social neurology (studying the part of our brain that is responsible for our social interaction) that researchers have discovered that the human brain is hardwired to be compassionate. The reason therefore we aren't (although it is fighting against our natural tendency) is because of extenuating circumstances: we're too tired, don't have enough time, are blind to the needs, are not emotionally connected to the cause of people's distress. Which means there is no excuse for our lack of compassion, it's just that our lives aren't necessarily focused toward that, and we therefore miss out on the joy that being compassionate offers. Maybe Jesus knew what he was on about after all, it just took science 2000 years to catch up!

Creative Beatboxing

This dude is awesome - check him out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiInBOVHpO8&feature=fvw