Looking at the lid of the jigsaw

Sunday October 10 2010.

‘Looking at the lid of the jigsaw’

·         We begin with Jesus

·         We continue with Jesus

·         We Finish with Jesus

·         We Follow Jesus.- The author and the Perfector.

As a people we are committed to Following Jesus- His word, His teaching and the continued presence of His Spirit alive and work in the Church.

The spies.

The children are looking today at the story of the 12 spies Moses sent ahead of the people to spy out the land having escaped Egypt they needed to know what to do next and they came back with a story to tell of the Land. God had a plan

Let’s have a quick look at what happened.

^{Nu 13:26} They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.

 

They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which h you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.

The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

 
They went and found out that the land ahead of them was amazing and those that applied faith as well- who remembered that God HAD been with them throughout their journey so far could see that what was being spoken of was God’s gift to them.

You need to know that God has sent six spies ahead of you to look at the land God has for us.

 

 

 

What do I mean by that?

Brian & Chrissie Keith & Barbara & Sue and I have been praying and waiting on God for these weeks and months in order that we can see what God’s plan is for Living Word Community Church.

In the weeks up to Christmas, we would like to take the opportunity to share that vision we have with you.

We will begin by looking at how God brought us to the place we are today and the blessings we are receiving. We will look specifically again at the three words God spoke to us in January-

·         On our Unity together from Psalm133, 

·         How that Unity expresses itself into the Community around us looking at that passage in Isaiah 58 about being “restorers of streets with dwellings” and third

·         From Genesis 26; how God wants to lead us through desert places, unblocking the wells of disappointment and reconnecting us with the wellspring of His Holy Spirit- To a place he has prepared for us.

 

Having clearly laid a foundation in the words that God gave to us we will then look at the road ahead; at the vision and strategy of the Church for the next five years. 

 

In sharing this with you, I was concerned that we did not take a Rolf Harris kind of approach-

You know he used to do those paintings of something and it would not be clear for ages what it was and he would say

“Can you see what it is yet?”

That might be fun with a painting, but I am not interested in being obscure or complicated about this. 

God has shown us what we believe to be the priorities in the work we do together over the next five years. How we should concentrate our energies.

 

Rather than one of Rolf Harris’ paintings I want you to imagine that I am showing you the lid of the jigsaw puzzle before we start- Just like those spies brought back the grapes and the description of the giants! so they knew what was ahead. So I want you to be clear before we start to show you the whole picture. 

 

We also need your prayers and contributions- yes we are confident in what we have heard, but we know we might be missing something we know we need your minds and hearts brought to bear and most of all your faith.

 

To continue with my jigsaw picture – The problem with some jigsaws is that they have far too many pieces or are too complicated, requiring too much time and effort. It is our belief that what God has shown to us can be achieved with the resources He will release in us and through us

I have lived and worked with some of you for over 25 years and in leadership for over seven and all that I know of you, convinces me that you do share the same passions as I do for a closer relationship with God and with each other and for a changed society and a growing Church- The Kingdom of God extended-

 

First then to vision

Who are we? - Living Word Community Church

What do we do? -Following Jesus

How do we do this? . (And this is the new bit- Our vision statement)
- Following Jesus, Living according to his Word, as a Community of his people.