S.P. Youth

Study: Power, Authority and Social Context

2006-11-16T10:41:00.000+11:00

As leaders it is very important for us to realize the distinct difference between power and authority and how these are relative to our social setting. Too often people confuse these areas and in turn people are hurt both spiritually and emotionally. I want to use this time to draw the distinctions between power and authority and show you how they work themselves out in our social settings.

As Christian leaders, we have been given the task of teaching Gods people and equipping them for service in His kingdom. Our job is to teach and to train them in the way of the Lord. This is done through influence, whereby we are able to maneuver a person towards an end goal that we see as being a place where that person needs to be. To do this however, it requires us to have the ability to move a person from one place to the other; the ability to do this is what we call authority.

If you are an official leader within a church, it means you have been given authority by both the people and the Pastor, it is a delegated authority given to you to lead the community. This community called the church is defined firstly by membership and secondly, a commonly held value, i.e. the word of God. In this social setting, you have been given authority to minister. You have been given a title and position within the community that allows you to have a certain amount of influence within the social setting.

A person with a formal position has been entrusted with power. They have the ability to control situations or determine outcomes. Within the church, they have the ability to tell people what to do and where to go. The person holds this power only because they have been given authority; in other words your power only exists as a result of the authority given to you. As a leader you have power and as long as you maintain the relationship whereby people are prepared to give you authority, then you will maintain your power to achieve things within the Body.

Where we go wrong, is when we confuse power and authority. You only have power to minister wherever you have been first given authority. For example, I have the power to tell a member of youth that what they are doing is wrong according to the word of God and they will (hopefully) stop doing it because they have given me the authority to speak into their life. I have this authority within the youth community because of their membership in that community and our commonly held value, i.e. the word of God. However if I was to go to a high school and do the same thing to a student who is a complete stranger, I would be politely told where to go because I have no authority there.

We see this at work in Acts 22:22-29. Paul is about to be flogged, but he remembers that he has the authority to get himself out of the situation. Notice how he doesn’t say ‘I am an apostle’ or ‘I was personally commissioned by Jesus himself’; rather, he says ‘I am a Roman citizen.’ In the churches that he started and even in other churches he had little involvement in, he had a vast amount of authority, in fact when they formed the canon, if a letter was written by Paul; it gained immediate entry by virtue of its author. So we know that as a Christian, Paul had a lot of power because of his authority as an apostle, but in this situation, his power was rendered useless as he had no authority as a Christian.

Instead what he does is use the authority given to him by his Roman citizenship. He had been given certain rights and privileges as a citizen, and in this situation, he had the authority to demand that his rights be recognized. We too must realize this in our lives. In a church we may have authority, and with this authority comes the power to do or say certain things; but this power is only ours within the social setting that gives us that authority. It would be ridiculous for us to go to work tomorrow and start bossing people around because we’re a leader in our church, unless of course you’re the boss, in which case you have authority within that setting.

Thoughts to ponder:

• Abuse of power, you see how this power has the potential to be destructive in a persons life, especially when it is given to a person with poor character.
• Understanding the limits of your authority, you only have power where you have been given authority, a position is no guarantee of total authority, and people must still give you authority in their lives. For example, being a parent is a position, but that doesn’t assure authority over a child.
• You only have power where people have given it to you and it is only valid in its setting, for example, in this meeting you have given me authority, at your house this authority is not valid, in fact I come under your authority.
• So we have a ladder of authority at work in the church. For example, Eric has total authority over all things that happen within the church, if someone isn’t happy with this they can leave. A department leader has authority within their department, but there authority is limited to this realm etc.

Spiritual authority

Therefore, if power flows from authority, and authority is determined by our position or setting, then the same principle must apply in the spiritual realm.

Eph 1:15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Paul is praying that the church will realize their position in Christ; we aren’t just saved, we have been relocated into a different spiritual kingdom. We were in the kingdom of darkness under the devils authority, which he doesn’t share; but now we are under Christ’s authority and he has given us his authority.

19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Here is the measure of the power that is available to us. We have access to the same power that raised Christ from the dead, literally.

22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church; 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
We are seated with the greatest authority, the authority above all things. He has delegated this authority to us and with it the power at work within that authority.

In other words, in the natural we are under earthly authority, eg, bosses, police, government etc; but in the spiritual realm we have all authority. That’s why when Pilate asked Jesus ‘are you a king?’ Jesus replied ‘my kingdom is not of this world’. Jesus through His death, defeated Satan in the Spiritual realm, and when he returns will finally defeat him in the natural realm.

Remember the words of Jesus, ‘don’t be afraid of the authority who can destroy the body, be afraid of the authority that can destroy both body and soul.’ In other words, there are many authorities in our life, but its Gods authority to which we are obligated to obey.

Podcast: You Are...

2006-11-16T10:32:00.000+11:00

We as Christians too often forget what God has called us to be. In this sermon we look at Ephesians 1 and discuss the true blessing of God, we look at the real person He is trying to make us into.

download

News and Events

2006-11-10T14:41:00.000+11:00

Just to let you all know whats happening in December...

December 12th: girls dinner outreach

December 19th: guys dinner outreach (combined cells on the Tuesday night) so bring your guys and use it as an outreach. At this point its gonna be at stu’s and will most likely be a bbq and swim or whatever.

December 15th: will be a big combined meeting, so I really want as many from all the youth there

December 22nd: will be a Christmas party

December 29th: will be a night off and we will return January 12th after Planetshakers

January 1-6: Planetshakers

February 1-15: Indonesia Trip

Study: Character and Leadership

2006-11-10T14:24:00.000+11:00

As Christian leaders we are trusted with the task of leading Gods people towards Him. If this is the duty of all of Gods leaders then we must ask ourselves, how we know when we’ve got there; as the verse says, without vision a man loses his way. To answer this question I believe we must look to God’s nature as we are certainly unable to lead people directly to Jesus without ourselves going to jail. We therefore realize that the destination that God wants us to move toward is locked up in His character. God desires for us to become like Him, bearing His image and reflecting His glory, in other words, God wants us to resemble His character.

The bible refers to this process as sanctification. As we have already discussed in previous lectures, sanctification is a 3 part process, positional, conditional and glorification. Positional sanctification is where by virtue of our standing in God we are made holy and righteous. This doesn’t mean we are automatically better people, in fact most of us feel very little change initially; it isn’t until we begin our new life in Christ that change takes place. This is the process of conditional sanctification; it’s where God is shaping us into His nature. Paul describes this process when he says ‘I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me,’ namely, holiness. It is my contention therefore, that our character as Christians is synonymous with Gods holiness and the process of sanctification.

One preacher said ‘Sanctification is to be approved by God’. I think this is important as leade4rs to realize, this doesn’t mean we work for salvation; rather, it means that as ministers we must first prove ourselves worthy of service to God. God is not stupid, He won’t use an unqualified person to do His work, and rather, He places us where we are best suited to serve. Having given us this position, He then observes our faithfulness in smaller tasks and tests to see if we can be trusted with more. God is fully aware of our capabilities as ministers, His plan is that in these smaller tasks we are developed and our character is refined in order for us to be able to cope with the harder and more burdensome tasks. An illustration is a person who decides they want to lift 200kg but they have never worked out a day in their lives; its not that they are incapable of it, potentially they are, but they must first develop themselves to be able to do it.

This desire of God to test us in small issues and develop us into greater ministers I believe is the purpose of trials. Paul says in Romans ‘we boast of our sufferings, because through them we develop perseverance, perseverance develops character, and character produces hope.’ In other words, we learn to hold on for longer; seeing the bigger picture and realizing that God has greater things for us, we don’t give up quickly, we hold out for the greater reward. In receiving the greater reward we learn to appreciate the greater things of God and come to realize that true blessing is found in Christ likeness and being centered in His will. This process and development produces all kinds of virtues such as integrity, patience, love, joy, faithfulness, longevity etc. but most importantly, we learn to hope. In other words we learn to trust in God.

A lot of us want to preach but we don’t have the Character to preach from a place of Strength. Too often the pulpit or places of influence are used to fill a void in the person’s life. Insecure people want to tell other people what to do, or be seen as a person of importance in order to compensate for their own lack of self worth. Obviously this has devastating consequences on not only the person, but all of those under their ministry. You are here because you want to give out but what do you have to give? What is the motive for you to be here?

When we talk about character is regards to Christian leadership, we must first look to the character of God. Paul lists the characteristics of God in the fruits of the Spirit. In other words, as we sanctify ourselves and allow God to transform us into His character, these will be the practical signs that God is changing us. His Spirit is permeating through our lives and His one true desire for all of humankind is being accomplished, that is, we are being made more and more into His nature.

Some questions to reflect on:

How big are you?
What are you growing into?
What are your reasons for wanting to be a leader?
If someone challenged you about an issue in your life, how would you respond?

Podcast: Shut up you little punk and do what you're told

2006-11-10T14:01:00.000+11:00

Too often we complain about God with no real understanding of what we are talking about. In this sermon we will look at four of the common complaints about God and Christianity and deal with them from the point of view that God is bigger, smarter, wiser and stronger than all of us put together.

download by right clicking and hit 'save as'

or check out the podcast for all our sermons

Podcast: Faith is not a Feeling

2006-10-27T15:34:00.000+10:00

This week Stu challenges us about the issue of faith. As he shares some of his own testimony he reminds us that even when we don't 'feel God', by faith we know He is still there.

Enjoy this weeks sermon from Solarpowered youth.

download sermon

check out our podcast

Podcast: The Glory of God Part 3

2006-10-15T14:54:00.000+10:00

This week we wrap up our 3 part series on the glory of God by asking the question 'who do you represent?'

In this sermon we look at 2 Corinthians 3-4 and see Paul reminding the Corinthian church about who he is in regards to his ministry there and in doing so reminds the church about who's they are and what they are called to do in this life.

I hope you enjoy this last installment of our series.

Download

Podcast: The Glory of God Part 2

2006-10-07T01:05:00.000+10:00

Hey we got this recording better this week, looks like we sorted out the recording problems, so it looks good for future recordings.

Anyways, this week we continue the topic of the Glory of God in missions. This week we look at three ways in which a non believer will know that you are a Christian.

I hope you enjoy this and are more challenged in your daily walk and mission for Jesus.

Right click here and hit save as to download

Or visit our podcast

Podcast: The Glory of God

2006-09-30T00:53:00.000+10:00

John Piper said 'Gods is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.'

This week we look at the glory of God. God says that He won't share His glory, but He allows us to be carriers of it as His temples. But what is it that stops us from properly reflecting it?

In this sermon we go through 1 John 3 and look at 3 reasons why we don't.

To download, right click and hit 'save as'
For some reason this is a massive file, so if you want to listen to it directly from the podcast, click here

Podcast: God saved me from myself.

2006-09-26T22:35:00.000+10:00

Today we have brought back an Old-School Pentecostal tradition, that of sharing a testimony of what Jesus has done in our lives. The book of Revelations shares that the Blood of the Lamb (which is Jesus), and the word of our Testimony is what overcomes Satan in his efforts against us.

Listen with us as Lisa shares her testimony of how God has transformed her life.

Right Click the link below, and hit "Save link as" to download the file.
Lisa's Testimony

News and Events: Latest Stuff

2006-09-22T12:39:00.000+10:00

Hey all,

heres a couple of things to keep in mind:

1. some of the speakers coming up at youth: on the 20th October we've got Stu speaking again, but he's keeping his topic low key cause he's afraid I'm gonna steal his stuff for one of my sermons :-).
Also on the 3rd November is Bec preaching again, her last message was so moving and no doubt this one will be as well.

Finally, I asked Mike Gugg to come up and speak some time, he's getting back to me soon.

2. Don't forget our trip to Indonesia in February. If your coming, it's gonna cost $3500 but will be totally worth it.

3. I've opened up some of our Planetshakers rego's to other youth's, so if your coming, get your deposit in to confirm your place.

Finally, here's some photos of recent nights. If you wanna see our online photo albums, check out our flicker page!

Flash Slideshow

Study: Sacraments Part 3-Communion

2006-09-22T11:24:00.000+10:00

We now turn to the second ordinance Christ instituted, that being communion. Differences occur between the views of Catholicism and some strands of Protestantism such as Lutherans, and those of the mainstream of Protestantism as to the presence of Christ at communion. Catholics believe in what they call ‘transubstantiation’ in which the bread and the wine in the Eucharist (literally ‘fellowship’) become the actual body and blood of Christ. Protestants deny this teaching, instead saying that Christ is ever present in the form of the Holy Spirit.

The meaning of communion

As we already stated, in partaking of communion, the believer is vicariously participating in the death and resurrection of Christ; in a sense, it could be said that communion is an ongoing baptism as we partake of Christ’s baptism once for all on the cross. But I don’t want to simply speak of communion as an action in and of itself, rather as a symbol of a life of communion that each of us is called to live. As Torrance says,

‘God has his being in communion. This triune God has in grace created us as male and female in His image, that we might find our true being in intimate communion with Him and with each other.’ Torrance (Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace p 72)

This is not to take away from the community sharing of the bread and wine; this act is incredibly valuable as a community celebration in remembering our Lords death and resurrection, and also as a symbol of the hope we have in His imminent return. However, to fully appreciate the significance of communion, we must look to the relationship we are called to have with each other as being an outworking of the relationship we have in Christ.

Paul calls it participation in the body of Christ and in the blood of Christ (1 Cor 10:16). This does not mean that such participation occurs only in the sacrament. The Lords Supper, at least at this point, is highlighting something that is true of our entire Christian lives. We are bound together by the fact that, wherever we are, we are sharing in the body and blood of Christ: that is, we are experiencing together the blessings of the new covenant (blessings which have been secured by the breaking of the Lords body and the shedding of His blood). As far as possible this fact should be expressed in the way we administer the sacrament. If we receive the bread from an ordinary fellow believer, and pass it on to the next, this expresses the truth that the church is a fellowship of giving and receiving, in which Gods gifts are in constant circulation and in which everyone has something to give as well as something to receive. Donald Macleod, Shared Life, (Christian Focus, UK, 1994) pp 75-76

God is Love

This is not merely a statement as to an attribute of God; rather it is an all encompassing description of His nature. The Father loves the Son and to the same degree, the Son Loves the Father. In the imminent trinity, the term ‘Father’ does not imply hierarchy as much as ‘Son’ does not imply subordination ; rather these terms are employed to describe the love and relationship they share with each other. This love is the Spirit.

The explanation as to how love can be the essence of God lies in the triune nature of God as Father, Son and Spirit. Love is a relational term, requiring both subject and object (someone loves someone else). Were God a solitary acting subject, a person apart from the Father, Son and Spirit, God would require the world as the object of His love in order to be who He is, namely, the Loving One. But because God is triune, the divine reality already comprehends both love’s subject and object. Consequently, the essence of God does indeed lie in the relationship between the Father and the Son (love) which is the Spirit. Grenz p 72

In communion we partake of this relationship; through Christs work on the cross, we are able to share in this fellowship with the divine triune God through the Spirit.

[through communion] Jesus draws men and women into His life of communion with the Father by the Spirit, putting His prayer ‘Father’ on our lips, sharing His Sonship with us…He teaches us to pray, draws us into eternal communion with the Father by uniting us in communion with Himself, and creates a reconciled community among men and women. Torrance p 83

It is this participation that God desired for us from the beginning. Because God is love, what we receive from Him is love, therefore in communion we are commanded to love one another. The sacrament serves by way of reminder of this command.

This is not to say that every believer is required to have a thorough understanding of the immanent trinity in order to partake of communion; but if we fully appreciated and understood the significance of the sacrament, we may came closer to participating in the manner in which Christ intended for it.

We must also conclude that this would impose certain restrictions as to who may partake of the sacrament. Communion is taken to represent the fellowship we have in Christ and thus to be outside of this fellowship would exclude the person from participation, if we are to hold the greater significance of the celebration. Berkhof goes further to say that not even all believers should partake, ‘the condition of their spiritual life, their conscious relation to God, and their attitude to their fellow Christian may be such as to disqualify them to engage in such a spiritual exercise as the celebration of the Lords supper. Berkhof p 657

Podcast: The Work of the Spirit

2006-09-17T22:27:00.000+10:00

At the 100th anniversary of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Azusa St in America, we stop to reflect on the work that the Spirit desires to accomplish in the world. In this sermon, we look at four works of the Spirit in the New Testament, and deal with the big issue that every Christian has faced at some point, what is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

download now by right clicking here and hit 'save as'

check out our podcast at podomatic

Podcast: Rise up Esther!

2006-09-16T01:02:00.000+10:00

So often as Christians we get so comfortable in our Christian palaces and we forget about those that we left behind in the world. In this sermon, Josh Sulaki challenges us to rise up and stand for the lost in world that we know. Get ready to be challenged and have your Christian walk shaken up to bigger things.

Download now! by right clicking here and hit 'save as'

Click on the itunes button on the side panel to subscribe to our podscast

Or check out our podcast at podomatic for all of our sermons

Study: Sacraments Part 2-Baptism

2006-09-15T12:20:00.000+10:00

We will now turn to the two ordinances of worship practiced by the community, that being baptism and communion. These practices are synonymous in that they both lead the worshiper vicariously into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But if we are to participate in either of these, we must first of all have a solid understanding of the triune work of God if they are to carry the weight in the believer’s life that Christ intended for them to carry.

The formula for baptism

In the church there exists a movement known as the Oneness Pentecostals who believe that for baptism to be valid, it must be done only in the name of Jesus. They assert that unless the believer has been baptised in this way, they are not correctly baptized and are in fact even unsaved. They teach that Matthew 28:19 states that baptism in the name (singular) of the Father, Son and Spirit must in fact refer to the name ‘Jesus’.

According to the Oneness view, “Mt.28:19 does not teach the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three separate persons. Rather it teaches the titles of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost identify one name and therefore one being . the verse expressly says in the name, not in the names.” According to Oneness claims they baptized in Jesus name only and by doing this ,”The church correctly carried out the instructions Jesus gave in Mt.28:19 when the apostles used the name of Jesus in water baptism.” Oneness claims these are all titles of modes or roles who are all the Spirit (Jesus). So they want us to believe we are baptized into a role God plays. However each time a role is used it is by a person who is according to them the one God. Since God is a person would not these titles also be persons, therefore making them three persons. When each appear in scripture they are a person, yet they insist that when all three are together, none of them are different persons, but only one person. But when they appear one at a time, they are one person also. Go figure!

This form of modalism claims that Jesus was the Father, Son and Spirit all at the same time and therefore baptism must only be in His name.In responding to this teaching of ‘Jesus only’ formula, Gregory Boyd points out that the name in which we are baptized is not so much the issue, as to what the name implies. He claims that whatever the name used, whether Jesus only or all three, what they are meant to do is to make the believer aware of the work of God accomplished in them.

Who may be baptized?

Paedobaptists such as James Torrance teach that the practice of infant baptism is an act of faith that this child will one day come to faith in Christ. He says ‘the efficacy of baptism is not in the rite or in the water, but in the faithfulness of Christ.’ Berkhof asserts that baptism is a seal; as a sign of the washing away of our sins, baptism becomes the seal that assures the recipient that they are the appointed heirs of this promise. Many scholars disagree with this position, holding that baptism is a conscious act of faith in the believer, declaring their decision to follow Christ in this lifetime. Grudem states

‘It is certainly true that baptism is the sign of entrance into the church, but this means that it should only be given to those who give evidence of membership in the church, only to those who profess faith in Christ.’

Grenz says, ‘baptism is the God given means whereby we initially declare publicly our inward faith. If this is the case, believer’s baptism is obviously superior. Infant baptism simply cannot fulfill this function. Because it cannot be an outward expression of an inward faith, infant baptism also loses its value as a day to be remembered. Believer’s baptism, in contrast, does offer the means to confess personal faith. For this reason it deserves to be the standard practice in the church.'

This would imply a prior understanding and confession of Gods triune nature.

From this position we must conclude that baptism is a conscious act of the believer, who in being baptized is declaring their understanding of the doctrine of the trinity and their personal faith in this triune work of God. We acknowledge the work of salvation that has taken place in our lives.

Next week we will look at the ongoing act of baptism, that being communion.

Study: The Sacraments

2006-09-08T10:19:00.000+10:00

Ok, so if your still keeping up with these studies, you would by now know the whole deal with redemption and what it really is to be saved. the next thing we need to look at is what happens from here. Man if you thought there was a lot in redemption, wait til we get into the Christian life.

Having received the gift of grace in our redemption, there are two practices that we undertake in order to remind us of what Christ has done, they are baptism and communion, or in other words the sacraments.

Sacraments, according to Augustine, simply means ‘the visible form of an invisible grace’ or ‘a sign of a sacred thing’. It is a visible way that we demonstrate the invisible work of God in our lives. Protestants only believe and practice baptism and communion as a sacrament; however the Catholic Church also believes in lesser sacraments such as penance, confirmation, matrimony and ordination.

These two practices are synonymous in that they both lead the worshiper vicariously into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are not simply meant to be a reminder to us, but as a form of worship, we are in fact participating in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. This is not something that just anyone can do, these are reserved solely for a born again believer who has made a genuine confession of faith and is demonstrating a life that is being changed by Christ.

Over the next two weeks we will look at the true meaning of these sacraments as too often they are just flippantly partaken of, which when you think about it is really a slap in the face of God. Paul speaks about taking communion in an unworthy manner and bringing condemnation on yourself, which alone should be reason enough to better understand these holy acts.

A Christian is a person who is being changed by the triune God; we relate to God through his Son, in the power of the Spirit and as we will see, all of these factors are at work in the sacraments.

Review: Friday Night

2006-09-05T10:46:00.000+10:00

Well friday was technically our 5th anniversary, but it's kinda around the September mark that we started so its not real specific date wise. I'm really regretting not actually noting the date we first met, so if you happen to remember when it was I'd love to know.

Anyway, the night went well as usual, we had about 60 or so come through the night and took up nearly a record offering. Josh preached an incredible message that was almost information overload at some points. The whole idea of integrity and the depth and meaning of integrity that he showed was so challenging, and i reckon if you weren't hit between the eyes by what he said, you musn't have been listening.

So next week is me preaching at last, it's been four weeks man!!!!

See yas there.

Study: Redemption part 12

2006-09-01T10:16:00.000+10:00

This is the last study in the redemption series...Hooray! next week we will start looking at the sacraments, but before we do, heres Jesus.

So we come at last to the answer to the question, why is Jesus the only way to heaven? Not just because the bible says he is. Or why is Christianity the only right religion, aren't they all the same?

So with everything we have learnt about sin and the human problem, it becomes clear that there can only be one way to get to heaven, and his name is Jesus.

The problem: sin

The cure for sin: death

What is sin? Rebellion against God, literally: missing the mark, no matter how good you try and be, you will never be up to God which is perfect.

How bad is it? you aren’t just a sinner because you did bad things, you are a sinner by virtue of your human nature. You are born with sin at work in you; from the day you were born you have been in a state of sin and in need of rescue.

So what? One day you will die and stand before the creator of the universe who will decide where you spend eternity, he will base His decision on how you lived this life.

What will he base it on? Whether or not you chose to have your sin forgiven.

How do I get my sin forgiven? Only Jesus can do that.

How? He was the perfect sacrifice on behalf of our sin, he died in our place.

Why was he perfect? Two reasons: he was born to a virgin, meaning he was not born with the sin of his parents; rather he was born with the perfection of his father, God. Second he lived a perfect life and never sinned therefore became a sacrifice without spot or blemish.

So? So he died in our place as a human sacrifice rather than merely an animal sacrifice.

What’s the difference? An animal sacrifice is only able to cover sin previously committed as it is just an animal and can never equal the value of a human. A human sacrifice on the other hand, can be offered instead of us, I.e. life for life.

So what do I do? Confess that Jesus died in your place and that He was raised from death proving that He is God and is still alive talking to God the Father on our behalf. Say to God that you want Jesus’ death to be on your behalf in order to have your sin removed and therefore accept Him as your saviour.

Then what? See what he does in you as you live with him changing you from the inside out. Finally when you die and stand before God, He will welcome you into heaven.

What’s the alternative? Refuse to be forgiven, reject Gods offer of salvation, stay in your sinful state until you die.

What then? Hell.

Mt 28 Missionaries: Infecting the world with the love of Jesus

2006-09-01T10:03:00.000+10:00

The power of the gospel

The gospel is not a book, it’s a message. It’s a story about a man who came to save us. There are 4 books that tell this story but they aren’t the gospel.

If I don’t believe in the bible, why then would I believe the gospel? If I don’t know what the bible says, then how will I know what the gospel is? If I never read the bible or have interest in it, why would I be interested in a sentence that starts with ‘well the bible says…?’

Learn the message and make it real. Talk about Jesus and what he did for you and what he did for them. On this site are 12 studies on redemption that tell the message in depth. This is the message that will save souls. Learn the gospel and proclaim it through your lifestyle and your words.

There’s no excuse for ignorance.

Review: Friday Night

2006-08-25T23:43:00.001+10:00

Phillipians 3:12

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

I don't know about you but that was an incredibly challenging message tonight. For a first time preacher, you did awesome Bek! I've never heard that scripture so well presented, and it's one of my all time favorite passages. So hats off to the preacher chick.

Only problem is it didn't record and we didn't get any photo's...which basically just sucks. But we're gonna throw some photos from last week up for ya's.

Hopefully next week it'll all be resolved for Josh to preach, who I will add did insane on the offering talk, and it better be ready for the week after cuz I'm preaching again and it's been a while and I need a preaching fix!

So see you on Friday, til then.

Love ya's

Ads

News and Events: Planetshakers Update

2006-08-25T12:09:00.000+10:00

Just an update on Planetshakers accommodation. I've booked dorm style rooms with 4 people per room, but check out the photos on the link, this place is awesome!

So remember to get your deposit in ($35) and it's $250 per person in total, but totally worth it with accommodation like this. There's 35 places left at this point so hurry up!

Mt 28 Missionaries: Infecting the world with the love of Jesus

2006-08-25T10:43:00.000+10:00

Listening

Oh man, let me repeat that...listening!!!!!

People have needs, how will you know them without listening?

People have questions, how will you answer without listening?

People are hurting, how will you help without listening?

People have something to say, how will you know without listening?

People love to talk about themselves, but they won't if your not listening!

You'll be amazed at what a person will share with a stranger, but how will you know without listening?

People who care listen! People who love listen! effective missionaries LISTEN!

Review: Friday night

2006-08-19T17:51:00.000+10:00

Hey just trying out a new segment on this blog, I wanna start doing a review of our fridays and put up some photos of the night (when they turn out that is).

So anyway, last night we had Southern Cross College trek team, come and minister and once again the night went really well (at least I thought it did, you might be thinking something different and if thats the case, keep it to yourself you Misanthropist [that actually means pessimist, I did a synonym search on the word cynic in microsoft word and that came up, so thats why its there]).

I lost my train of thought...so yeah last night was really cool, Jess was freaky convicting about the whole prayer in her school and for my own sake she'll never preach here again because I feel like a heathen hearing that kind of stuff...just kidding Jess!!

So see you Friday and don't forget next week we have a guest speaker who is still wanting to be anonymous and its really annoying because I want to tell you who it is cause I can't wait to hear this mysterious preacher (and no it's not me!)

So stay tuned and go hard for Jesus.

Study: Redemption (part eleven)

2006-08-18T10:48:00.000+10:00

Ok, so before we meet Christ and piece all this together, let’s look at the world that God entered into to redeem.

Humankind was in a bad way; we were hopelessly steeped in sin and still are today. God had made us in His image to reflect His nature in the creation. We were stewards of the earth, given the responsibility of representing God in the world and to be His mediators to all living things. We were also given a free will that allowed us to think and act for ourselves within the established boundaries of the creation, e.g. we can’t just fly around because we want to, the boundary of gravity won’t allow for this.

We sinned and this human nature that was like Gods was destroyed and corrupted beyond our own ability to restore. We were still humans by virtue of our human nature, but the holiness, righteousness (right standing before God), desire to worship and love God and each other was destroyed and we were given to our sinful desires. Humanity got worse and as they spread out in the world went further and further from God and His original plan for us.

Nations were formed and from amongst the nation of Canaan, God rose up Abram and called him to start a nation for Himself. Generations were born right down to Moses who God appeared to in the desert and gave him the law which was to reveal to us exactly why we are sinners and why God is so mad at us. He gave Moses the sacrificial system which was to atone (cover over) for our sins. He established a religious system with a tabernacle (meeting place) where God could be met with and the appropriate sacrifice could be brought. but unfortunately, like all institutions that involve humans, it became corrupted and no longer served the purpose for which it was formed.

Humanity was still in trouble, hopelessly lost in sin and because of that sin, on a one way road to hell. We needed another solution.

MT 28 Missionaries: Infecting the world with the love of Jesus

2006-08-17T18:14:00.000+10:00

Overflow

Out of the overflow of the heart... -Jesus

If we were to take your intrinsic values to there logical fullness, what would you be like?

We look at Hitlers atrocities in WW2 and say he was the pinacle of evil, which is true, however Hitler was simply outworking his humanistic values to their logical extreme.

Let me explain. Hitler was a prominent evolutionist who believed in the philosophy of 'survival of the fittest' and the emergance of the dominant species or race. This is the underlying belief in evolution as to how we came to be here and how the future of life on earth will be determined, that the strongest race will survive and the weaker race will be eradicated. For Hitler to attempt to systematically eradicate Jews, homosexuals, mentally and phyically retarded, and various other ethnic groups was simply an outworking of this belief. He was just living out what he really believed, that the white arian race will emerge as the strongest and that by attempting to eliminate these other ethnic groups was the natural order of things. Not that this in any way condones his actions, it is simply to say that he did what he believed was the way things are meant to be.

So let me ask you, if you were to become the fullness of what you really believe and value, what kind of Christian would you be? would missions even register as something you'd do? would serving Jesus even be important?

Podcast: Integrity

2006-08-16T19:28:00.000+10:00

So often our Christian lives are incongruent from Sunday to Monday. who we are at church is so often nothing like who we are on Monday.

In this weeks sermon, Stuart Jones challenges us about our integrity and the sort of person we really are from day to day. He looks at the issue of the small things in our lives, in other words, we are often so focussed on trying to deal with the big sins in our life that we over look the little things that hinder and cause to stumble.

This message reminds us that Jesus is after our whole lives, not just our weekends.

Download here

Study: Redemption (part ten)

2006-08-11T13:59:00.000+10:00

(Just so you're aware, I was looking at the lego pictures in relation to this weeks topic, oh man, scary...seriously, you gotta see it, i didn't know you could do that stuff with lego! check it out, but i warn you, its pretty full on...I'm not even joking about this either, see for yourself)

The problem with sin is that there is no natural cure. Like the disease of AIDS once its there, its there and there is no cure, except death.

In the garden, Adam and Eve were clothed in animal skins after they sinned. This was an animal that had been sacrificed on there behalf and the skins of the animal were a covering for the shame and nakedness brought about by there sin. It didn’t remove the sin, it simply covered it.

When Cane and Abel presented offerings to God, only Abel’s was sufficient to please God as it involved the sacrifice and bloodshed of an animal, therefore God accepted Abel’s offering. In other words, to deal with sin, blood must be shed, either ours or a substitutionary animal.

When God revealed the law to His people, He didn’t leave them high and dry in their sin; he offered a means of redemption through a sacrificial system of various propitiatory sacrifices, which had to be an animal, usually a lamb, that was perfect and without blemish. These did not actually remove the sin from the person; they were merely to atone for the sin. In other words, the people were still sinners but for there various sins that they had committed, God atoned, or covered over them through the sacrifice.

This involved a tabernacle, or a holy place where the people would come and the high priest would offer the sacrifice on behalf of the people. He would pray and intercede for the nation and became the mediator between the nation and God and was seen as Gods representative to the people. Within this tabernacle was a room in the centre of the tent called the holy of holies; only the high priest could enter here and that only once a year, and only with blood that was to make atonement for all the people for that year (Leviticus 16). There is so much more that can be said, but you really need to read and study this stuff deeper yourself.

All of this, the law, the Passover, the sacrificial system, the tabernacle or tent of meeting, the high priest, and the holy of holies all are represented in Christ and as we will see in the next few weeks, He is the fulfilment of everything this system set out to accomplish.

Mt 28 Missionaries: Infecting the world with the love of Jesus

2006-08-11T12:39:00.000+10:00

Part Six: Your Testimony

The person with a testimony is never at the mercy of a person with an argument.

Good thought isn't it? How many of you have had a conversation like this:

'I love so and so!'

2nd person 'how do you know?'

'I just do'

'But how do you know its real, give me evidence of the reality of your love.'

'I just know.'

'I don't believe you'

Kinda stupid huh? Remember this, you can't prove that God is real. No matter how well you can argue, unless a person is willing to exercise faith, God will never be revealed. Only God can reveal Himself.

Learn about Him; get knowledge; be able to give a reason for your faith; but more importantly, learn to share the reality of God in your life and why you love and serve Him.

The best argument I've heard against my testimony is, 'well that works for you.' But you can never deny a persons experience.

Podcast: Habakkuk, Habakkuk, Habakkuk

2006-08-07T00:15:00.000+10:00

Habakkuk 2:2-3 Reads like this:

And the LORD answered me:
"Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end--it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.

This week, Pastor Adam reflects on the last five years of our youth ministry, and the plan and general direction for the next five years.

To find our podcast, open iTunes and click on the subscription link in the sidebar.

Otherwise, you can right click on this link, and click "save target as" (or "save link as")

News and Events: Upcoming Fridays

2006-08-04T14:00:00.000+10:00

Just to let you know whats happening on our fridays over the next few weeks:

11th August: Stu is preaching about boxing and knocking people out... I'm serious! please don't sue us for whatever happens at the altar call.

18th August: Southern Cross College is coming again. At this point I'm not sure what there doing as it was a bit of late notice....stay tuned.

25th August: I can't tell you who's speaking cause this person wants to stay anonymous (oh, and its not me as if this was some stupid way of getting you excited about nothing!) but seriously I am so excited about this person speaking. And yes, you do know this person.

1st September: Josh Ballard is unleashing a whole bunch of crazy theological gear which actually coincides with our 5th anniversary of starting youth, so we might do something for it, like a cake or something totally original like that.

8th September: Me. thats all.

15th September: Josh Sulaki is heading over again. You might remember him, he's the Islander guy who is huge and I'm just glad he's saved.

So thats what you're in for over the next few fridays. See you there.

Mt 28 Missionaries: Infecting the world with the love of Jesus

2006-08-04T12:52:00.000+10:00

Part five: Know The Truth

1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect

Missionaries know the message of God. They know the truth and are able to give answers to questions. We've been doing a study on Redemption over the last ten weeks or so as a means to inform you as to why we need Christ, for the express purpose that you are able to explain to a non Christian as to why they need Christ.

Its not enough to simply yell out 'Jesus loves you' or 'Jesus saves' because the inevitable question is 'why?, from what?, Jesus who?'

So if I was to ask you what the gospel message is, what would you say?

Podcast: Holy foundations for Holy Relations

2006-08-04T12:07:00.000+10:00

We often forget what it is that contributes to a solid foundation for Holiness within Christian relationships. But, thankfully we have Pastor Adam, who shares his advice for building strong relationships within the context of Holiness.

Strong relationships is one thing. Holy relationships is another. Listen in on the latest in our weekly sermon podcast.

To subscribe to our podcast, click on the "subscribe with iTunes" button on the sidebar.

Otherwise...(right click + save link as) you can find the file HERE

Study: Redemption (part nine)

2006-08-03T22:38:00.000+10:00

Ok, so we come to the second contribution of Moses. God had released His people from slavery in Egypt which is a representation of what He has done for us from our previous way of life. He then sanctifies them through the waters of the Red Sea which is symbolic of our baptism. Having taken them into the desert He then establishes them as a nation and as a community, he does this through the law. This is where everyone starts to have problems with God.

The biggest complaint against God is the age old argument, ‘oh, Christianity is all about rules and regulations.’ They cite the Ten Commandments as being Gods way of restricting us and keeping us down. The fact is, that’s crap. God was concerned about setting His people apart from the other nations and to do that He needed to change their thinking and behaviour.

Until this point, people did as they pleased and were guided by the sinful nature, they had forgotten God and were an abomination in His sight. Not much has changed really. So God confronted them with their sin and said ‘you are evil, here’s ten reasons why!’ he revealed their sin through the law and told them what they needed to do to remedy it.

The law was established to point out why we are sinners. It still today reveals why we are sinners and why we need Christ. Romans talks all about this particularly Romans 5.

So what happens now, we’re all sinners, what is a person to do? We deal with the sacrificial system next week.

Mt 28 Missionaries: Infecting the world with the love of Jesus

2006-08-01T13:43:00.000+10:00

Part four: Your World View

So what do you see when you look at the world? Although we all look at the same world, we look at it through different glasses. A greedy person will look at a person and say 'what can i get out of this person?' a selfish person will say 'what can this person do for me?' an arrogant and proud person will look at someone and say 'I am better than you.' A jealous person will look at another and say 'I need to bring you down to size so that I can be like you.'A religious person will look at the world and say 'you are not good enough for me to give you my time and energy, when you are up to my standard, then you can have my attention.' Sound familiar?

Jesus said, 'It is the sick who need a doctor.' 'Let the children come.' 'come all you are weary and burdened and i will ease your suffering.' And to the Christian he says 'GO!'

Do you see things the way Jesus does?

Podcast: Missionaries that Love Jesus.

2006-07-29T08:50:00.000+10:00

Whether we like it or not, we are all missionaries. Through our lives and our words we all share our own gospel. Pastor Adam White encourages us to live as Missionaries that Love Jesus, and share HIS good news.

Find the Podcast here or download directly:

Missionaries that Love Jesus.mp3

Podcast: Matthew 28 Missionaries

2006-07-29T08:37:00.000+10:00

Hey Guys,

Podcasting has proven to be interesting. Just as we start to get the hang of it, things go wacky. It's all good as we have ironed out some of the wrinkles in the system and are well on the way to having the sermons regularly updated to within a couple days of preaching.

As for the latest sermon, "Matthew 28 Missionaries" It is finally up. If you haven't already...download iTunes from the apple website, install it...and then click on the link in the sidebar...this subscribes you to the auto-download of the sermons, and if you set it up right, you can have Ad's sermons delivered to your iPod. That's worth the effort in itself.

The skinny on the latest sermon taken from our Podcast page:

"Go out into the world and preach the gospel to all creation" - Jesus.

The Great commission is the Last Command Jesus gave to his followers who had seen and believed the resurrection. Pastor Adam White shares with us some practical direction for fulfilling the command handed down to us.

You can find the sermon as a direct download here. (right click + save link as) Matthew 28 Missionaries

Study: Redemption (part eight)

2006-07-28T13:06:00.000+10:00

Ok, so for you fellas, just remember, you don’t need to be circumcised to be a Christian. Let me just clear that up right now, I know you’ve had a week to meditate on it, but don’t worry, we wont be bringing any rocks to youth on Friday. Just so you know.

So lets fast track history again down a few generations to Moses. He is another pivotal figure in Gods redemptive history and for a week or two we’ll look at his contributions, starting with the Passover.

For 400 years after Jacob (Abrahams grandson) came to Egypt during the famine, the Israelites were in slavery and God was ready to get them out. Enter Moses. Moses hits the scene and tells Pharaoh how its gonna be. Pharaoh says yeah as if that’s gonna happen and so Moses in turn unleashes Gods fury in some of the craziest signs from heaven ever seen. Pharaoh is a stubborn so and so (probably to do with the fact that he thought he was god) and for nine of the worst signs against his people sticks his fingers in his ears and says ‘lalalalala not listening!’

So in exodus 12 God calls Moses to institute the Passover. Basically every house of an Israelite was marked by smearing the blood of a perfect lamb without blemish over the doorframe. The angel of death would Pass over the house and all of its occupants would survive and in turn be freed from bondage and slavery in Egypt. This became a national holiday for the Jews and was to represent Gods power to free and to save His people.

It was also the holiday on which Christ’s blood was smeared all over a wooden cross.

Events: Planetshakers update

2006-07-28T12:14:00.000+10:00

Hey guys,

Just to remind you to get your money in to reserve your spot. I'm still confirming details at this stage, the cost is still $250. If you are definiately going, bring at least $35 for a deposit asap.

Heres some photos from last conference:

Flash Slideshow

Mt 28 Missionaries: Infecting the world with the love of Jesus

2006-07-26T19:59:00.000+10:00

(part three)

In our scripture Jesus said "all authority has been given to me, therefore go!"
I believe that we don't talk about our faith because for many of us, we don't really believe what we preach. Jesus told us that He has overcome the world, sin and the devil, yet we still doubt.

My challenge for this week is simply this: you are not responsible for the salvation of anyone. If you tell someone about Jesus and they refuse to accept what you have to say, they're the ones who will have to give an account. However you ARE responsible for telling them.

Jesus saves, not you. He will confirm your words.

Event: James Green's 23rd

2006-07-22T22:41:00.000+10:00

Well, James' birthday rolled around a couple weeks ago and I must say that we who showed up had a great time.
Our fearless leader wasn't able to attend, so we missed out on opportunities give him stick.
From burping comps (which evolved into a farting comp) in the garage around the weber, to the eventual movie..with food and drinks for all, it truly was a great celebration of Jame's birthday.
Honourable mention in the burping competition goes to Bek, with the winner being declared as James himself. There was close competition from Matty and others, however, we were not able to topple the king on his own birthday.

The farting competition was won by Adam (who wasn't even there), which is testimony to the power of Adam's farts.

I stuck around long after everyone else had left, with James tutoring me on dog-fighting on xbox 360, and keeping the poor bugger up way past his bedtime.

Check out the Slideshow, there would be about triple the photos but the flash failed on the other 2/3rds of the shots. That and there were some which should never be shown to anyone.

Flash Slideshow

Study: Redemption (part seven)

2006-07-20T12:08:00.000+10:00

Ok I realise this is sounding more like a history lesson than a theology study, but I need to get some stuff established or else Jesus makes no sense. So I’ll fast track it now to Abram because what God does with Abram is both painful and relevant.

Abram is important for two reasons, he establishes a nation and he establishes a bloodline. Jesus was God, but he was also a man. In the spiritual, Jesus was the son of God, but in the natural, He was the son of Abram.

Genesis 12
God called Abram while he was in Canaan and told him to leave everything to start a nation of his own. Abram was a Canaanite, in other words, a man who lived in the world, who God called out of the world to establish a new work. He in some ways became the model of redemption that God would now use to redeem others. God made to him two promises, he would be the father of a great nation, and from this nation would come a saviour.

Genesis 17
God told him to set himself apart, and as a sign of his calling God told him and all the men in his household to circumcise themselves. I must say, this is an amazing act of faith. A 75 year old man being told to crush his thing between two big rocks and to cut off the excess with a flint knife is not the most appealing acts of worship (makes singing a few songs suddenly so much more exciting). But this is what he had to do. This was to be the physical sign of the promise of God, this was the sign that would remind its bearer of who they were and to whom they belonged.

As disturbing as this weeks study has been, it is important as this becomes a major issue right throughout the Bible, and is still representative of problems we see today in the church.

Event: Planetshakers and Indonesia trip

2006-07-20T09:18:00.000+10:00

Hey guys

This is the first one of these posts in the 'events' categories. The purpose of these will be to keep you informed of upcoming events and information. So this is to let you know of the two main events happening next year:

1. PLANETSHAKERS 2007

So far as you know its January 1-6 and we're traveling down to Melbourne as a youth group. There's 50 places that are pre booked at a $35 deposit. The total cost is $250 per person, but please hurry and book your spot on the bus.

2. INDONESIA MISSION TRIP 2007

Some of you have heard of the youth mission trip to Indonesia in mid February. Not much detail is available at this stage other than that its gonna involve the band and a whole lot of meetings.

We're gonna be busy while we're there, but I guarantee that you'll see incredible miracles there. Trips like this change lives forever. The cost will be approx $3000 per person, which is a lot of money but for two weeks of what you'll experience, it'll be money very well spent.

Mt 28 Missionaries (part two)

2006-07-17T17:16:00.000+10:00

Mt 28:17 - Mt 28:20 (NLT)
When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them still doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Before you can reach a dying world you need to care about it. To care about something other than yourself you need Jesus. When you love Jesus, you love the things He loves. Loving Jesus is called worship. It includes prayer, bible study and meditation. These are the truest signs of loving Him.

So do you love Jesus? If not I gotta ask, doesn't it get boring-just you, yourself and you?

Study: Redemption (part six)

2006-07-13T15:33:00.000+10:00

Following on from the garden and the spreading of humanity, people started to go berserk in sin to the point where God had no choice but to pull the plug on humanity and quite literally flush them down the drain in a global flood. With the exception of Noah and his family, humanity was all but completely destroyed.

After they got off the boat, they again began to spread and get full of themselves again to the point where in a place called Babel they said ‘lets build a tower up to God and make a name for ourselves.’ (interesting how quickly they learned from the flood to build a really tall building to run to in case of a repeat of the flood).

The Bible says that God came down to see what they were doing. This is one of those times were we see God's sarcasm; He says ‘Hey, look at those little folks down there; they’re building a building up to me. Maybe if I get down low enough I can see the top of what they’re building!’ Gods a funny dude!

So He did something interesting. The problem was they were all staying in one place and not spreading out as He had commanded, so He gave them all different languages and said ‘Now get out there and start some nations!’

Centuries went by and in the nation of Canaan a man was born by the name of Abram who would soon change history forever.

Pictures from: www.thebricktestament.com

Mt 28 Missionaries (part one)

2006-07-11T09:55:00.000+10:00

Hey there SolarPowerians! I felt to start a short series of posts regarding your mission and meaning in life. Besides being individually called to acts of service that God has uniquelly gifted and called you to, there is common task that EVERY Christian is required to perform, and we find it in the closing verses of Matthew 28.

I know what your thinking, 'here we go again with the evangelism stuff', well my question is 'are you doing anything about it?'

Jesus said in John 14:15 that if you love Him you will do what He tells you. so again this begs the question, are you doing what He asked you to do. If not, ask yourself this, do you love Jesus?

As Christians, we are called to love and serve Jesus. He saved us and called us to a higher calling. He redeemed us from a life of sin and gave us an infinite number of reasons to love Him. So again I ask, do you love Him? are you doing what He said to do? If you love Him you would, so if your not doing what He says, your simply rebelling, how can you then say you love Him?

So for a few weeks we'll look at what He told us to do beginning with worship, the simple act of spending time in His presence.

Love you guys

Ads

Study: The Trinity at Work; Redemption (part five)

2006-07-03T10:05:00.000+10:00

Last week we got up to the first sin and Gods means to cover over it in order that humans could again stand in His presence.

Following this, Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. At this point I want to offer my opinion. I believe that humanity knew firstly that there is a God. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes that God has set eternity in our hearts, and Romans 1 says that God has made Himself known so that people are without excuse. But I also believe that we have knowledge that we have displeased this God.

We see this demonstrated in all religions throughout history that believe in a form of deity. They teach that God or the gods are above us and are angry, or vengeful or generally ticked at us and now the only way to appease God or the gods is through a substitutionary death of something else.

As people spread out and multiplied they began to give names and a background story to what they knew was a greater power in the universe. Every developing culture had their own beliefs and practices, along with their own sacrificial system. In fact at this point in time, it would have been almost impossible to find any form of atheism. Nations began to develop and all sorts of crazy religious ideas took shape. At this point God needed to step in and remind His creation about the true nature of God.

Study: The Trinity at Work; Redemption (part four)

2006-07-03T10:02:00.000+10:00

So we left off with the results of the sin. We were in a bad way.

We were still aware of God, but we no longer had the same relationship that had God surround us and indwell us. We see this when they realised they were naked and felt ashamed, as a result they hid from God, they were unable to stand before Him, they no longer had God's protection that was their assurance of who they were.

The Bible says that God made coverings for them. We understand this as being to cover their sin and nakedness and shame and in doing so made them able to stand before God without the shame of their nakedness. While it is true to say that they would never have the right standing as they once did, at least now they didn’t need to hide from God as they had done when they first sinned.

This is the problem with sin. When we sin we are no longer able to stand confidently before God, we are ashamed because we know we are not worthy to be in the presence of holiness. It is only God who is able to make us worthy to be in His presence. Only He can cover over sin, only He is able to fully purge us of its curse. Death is the only way to completely eradicate sin from a person, but if we were to die in our sin we would be eternally separated from Him. Therefore He needed to make a way for us to cover our sins and in turn enable us to once again stand before Him with confidence.

To do this, God had to make a substitutionary death on behalf of humanity; in this case it was an animal whose skin covered the man and woman. As we will see next week, as God began to form a nation, a new system of justification and atonement needed to be implemented.

Study: The Trinity at Work; Redemption (part three)

2006-07-03T09:54:00.000+10:00

So to pick up from two weeks ago, we got to the part where the woman blew it for us all and screwed humanity as we now know it! :)

Satan lied to her and told her God was holding out on them but in reality, the tree of knowledge was simply an alternative to what was perfect.

Until this point, God ruled humanity through His Spirit within humankind. Our spirits were interwoven into His and therefore His desires were our desires. He protected us from any form of death or decay as His Spirit is in fact life (stop for a minute and think of the full implications of that). God ruled the creation vicariously (he did it through us) through humankind, therefore humanity was charged with the stewardship of creation.

We were to work the land, nurture it, name and rule over the beasts, protect it, care for it and ultimately appreciate it. As people we were created to love God and worship Him, as well as serve and love each other. Stanley Grenz at this point suggests that they were aware of the choice to disobey God, yet were not fully aware of the nature of good and evil or the consequence of sin. In eating the fruit, they were not as such vindictively defying God (you can argue that if you want) but it was most definitely self-focused. Adam was saying to God (in a sense) ‘I want something for myself’. But in the nature of God, it’s all or nothing. He’s both Lord and God or He’s not. In a sense what Satan said was true, their eyes were open and they now knew through personal experience what good and evil was. They were like gods in that in some ways they were in control of their destinies (while never fully in control-this is exclusively Gods position). They still had rule over creation, yet it would now turn into abuse of creation. And their inclination was to self fulfilment and control. The consequences were devastating and still being realised today.

When they ate the fruit several things occurred that remain today. Fellowship with God was broken; instead of being led by His Spirit to do as He desired for us, we were now given the ability to obey or disobey. Unfortunately the nature of sin is to move further and further from God into increasing sin. The ground was cursed and humans needed to work hard for it to produce what it once freely provided. We still see this in today’s society as the environment is continually destroyed for its resources. Physical death now became a reality as we were subjected to the laws of sin and death instead of the law of life (Romans 8:2-3). Disease and sickness became a reality as we had separated ourselves from the covering of God and His divine life no longer protected our physical forms.

Spiritually and physically we began to rapidly decline.

Study: The Trinity at Work; Redemption (part two)

2006-07-03T09:49:00.000+10:00

So we established last week that Jesus is the second Adam and if we want to have an idea of what we originally looked like, we must look to Him.

This week I want to focus on what happened when Adam sinned and why it had such devastating consequences on us.

Before we get into it, I want to preface this by saying that there are lots of opinions about this topic, I am not saying that I am completely correct, in fact I’m sure I’m missing plenty in this; I am therefore open to any correction or thoughts you might have on the matter and I would encourage you if it interests you to read further about the topic and perhaps add to this as you develop your own theology.

Let’s begin by first looking at two important issues in the garden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At this point it is irrelevant as to the literal nature of these features, whether they were real trees or simply metaphors describing some other divine truth; what is important is their significance in creation.

God made humans to be stewards of creation, they were made in harmony with the earth, to eat of the fruits of the ground; and to have communion with God, Genesis talks about God walking with Adam in the cool of the afternoon. God was in charge however; Adam as the highest of the creatures was the overseer of the creation but ultimately it was God ruling the creation through Adam. At this point Adam ate from the tree of life and with it enjoyed perfect health and life and most likely immortality.

Gods spirit dwelt in humans and was the source of life (possibly this is what is meant by the tree of life), and with it was the love and desires of God towards the rest of creation including other humans. It was good and perfect, the creation provided for humans as they needed and God was the ruler of the whole scene, humans were mutually submitted to each other and to God and shared a harmonious fellowship with God, each other and the creation.

Yet as much as this was good and desirable, God also allowed us a free will and as an outworking of this free will, there was put in the garden and alternative.

The serpent was aware of this alternative and so when he approached Eve, it was to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he pointed her. He told her that God was holding back from them something good and in doing so put doubts in the mind of the woman as to the goodness of God (something every person still suffers from). What he failed to tell her though, was that God wasn’t holding back from them something good, rather what was presented in that tree was an alternative to everything the garden represented.

Study: The Trinity at Work; Redemption (part one)

2006-07-03T09:43:00.000+10:00

So far we’ve looked at the trinity and attempted to understand how it all works. I think the best way to understand the trinity is to put it into a context, we may not fully understand how it all relates or works in an imminent sense, no one really can, but we can try and better understand how it all works in our lives.

I said at the start that I wanted to look at the Holy Spirit, but to do that I need to look at the whole triune nature of God in the act of redemption. Understand at this point that by redemption, I don’t just mean the moment we get saved, but the whole process, from conversion through sanctification to our ultimate glorification.

I want to give a few weeks to this topic as it is the most important subject in our whole lives. So to do it, let’s go back to the start of it all, back to the garden. What happened that brought us to where we are today, what were we like before the fall? No one really knows (at least not that I’ve read, if you find something please let me know) so for the purpose of this study, lets venture a guess based on what we are meant to look like today.

God is in the world redeeming us back to the original plan; He is trying to make us into the image of Christ. I think that if we are to know what Adam looked like pre fall, we should look at Christ as our model. The Bible speaks in 1 Corinthians 15:45 of the first man Adam and the second man Jesus. Adam was the original model of humanity made in the image of God, unspoiled by sin. We look like Adam in an ontological sense, that is, we have the same human nature that he had; but we are no longer in the perfect manner in which he was made.

In other words, God can no longer say, look to Adam as the model by which you should live, he fell, God needs a new model to look to, an Adam mk2. Adam was made by God, he was not born in the same way in which we are, he was a created being, God made him therefore he was perfect, he didn’t have the sin of his parents in him because his parent was God Himself. So for God to make a second Adam, He had to do it in the same manner, a man born not of natural means who would be contaminated with the sin of his parents, but rather a man born directly of God who would contain the righteousness of his Father.

This is maybe something of what Adam was before sin entered in and corrupted humankind. He was perfect in every way, free from the effects of sin, walking in perfect communion with God, without guilt or shame, made to love and look to God and appreciate Him through worship. Sin destroyed this, changed everything and left us how we are today.

So when God wanted to redeem us He needed to start again, not through human obliteration, but rather the creation of a new man and the potential to be made into the image and brought into the fellowship of this man. Jesus is how we should have been all along, He is the second Adam, He is what we need to become. This is the work of redemption, to make us like Christ, to make us back into what we should have been, the way we were first created, before sin entered and brought with it death and condemnation.

Next week we will look at what happened when we sinned.

Study: Understanding the Relationship of God (part two)

2006-07-03T09:29:00.000+10:00

Ok so some of you are probably confused by last week, hang in there though; it makes more sense as we go on.

We concluded that God is one and we serve one God (monotheism), who is in three persons. I want to build on last week by showing the relationship in the Godhead.

The love between the Father and the Son is the Spirit; the Spirit of God is therefore the love between the Father and the Son. They are three persons who interpenetrate each other to the degree that they eternally become one. Hence three distinct persons are seen as one and the same God.
They draw life from each other. They cannot function without the other, in the same way we humans have a mind, followed by a will, followed by an action or outworking; this process is the mind imagining, the will determining or wanting to, and the body doing. You cannot separate these three, they must all be at work for anything to happen. In the same way, God does nothing without the involvement of all three.

For example: in creation, the Father spoke the Word (Jesus) and the Spirit that hovered over the waters created. Again in redemption, the Father sent the Son to die, who then sent the Spirit to confirm the work in the believer. Yet the one Spirit who is God (because Gods substance is Spirit) is omnipresent, filling the universe doing this work in all three persons of His being all at the same time.

Perichoresis is the interpenetration seen here in the diagram that makes them one.

This is why the Bible says God is love. What is true of the Spirit is true of the Father and the Son therefore the three are love, therefore God is love. Love is not God; rather love is the nature of God because it is the term we use to describe this relationship.

Love came from God.

Hang in there, it gets better!!!

Study: Understanding the Relationship of God (part one)

2006-07-03T09:14:00.000+10:00

Note: For those of you at the empowering weekend, you already saw this, or will see for the girls, but this really serves by way of introduction to the rest of the studies, besides that, if this made sense to you first time, I hate you, I’m stealing your brain!!!!

Understanding the relationship in the Triune God part 1

The triune God is a relational trinity, this relationship is called Perichoresis. The trinity is not 3 single autonomous entities that happen to share the same universe; rather the God we serve is one God in three persons; yet He shares one and the same essence and substance (spirit).
People have assumed that the term ‘father’ and ‘son’ symbolize some form of hierarchy. J.W’s hold this position1, Mormons kind of do, but there a whole other mess of weird demonic doctrine. But this is crap, they are not a hierarchy; rather they are in perfect equality.
If ‘Son’ meant that He was subordinate to the ‘Father’, that would make the Son inferior to the Father, therefore He would become a separate God, this would be true of the Spirit and leave us with tri-theism (3 separate gods) but we are monotheistic (1 God).

Note: Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God and the Bible says that he was obedient and subordinate to the Father. This would seem to negate the previous comment. However understand at this point there are two manifestations of the trinity: the imminent and the economic. The imminent is the eternal Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit who eternally was in heaven. The economic trinity is the trinity revealed in human history, i.e. Old Testament we see Father, creator; gospels we see the Son, Jesus Christ; Acts and New Testament letters we see the Spirit. In this manifestation, the Son is subordinate or submissive to the will of the Father, and the Spirit is submissive to the Father and the Son.

In other words, in our realm of time, Jesus as the man was submissive to God the Father, yet as God He was on equal terms, and the Spirit is obedient to will of the Father and the son in doing the work of God in the world; yet in the eternal trinity, He is God on equal terms with the Father and the Son. (Confused yet?)

Picture an over arching eternal Godhead and then under that a world in the realm of time. At different points in history, God revealed Himself, first the Father, then the Son and finally the Spirit. Each had a different purpose in the redemptive work of humanity. We now see the Spirit at work in history. He does the will of the Father and the Son, and He can only do this because He is God.

So we can conclude this by saying that what is true of the Father is true of the Son and what is true of the Father and the Son is true of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit in you is God.
So what the hell is the point of all this? Does this make any difference at all to your Christian life? You can survive without knowing this, some of you have up until this point, but as we go on with these studies, they’ll build to make pretty good sense of our relationship with God and the work the Spirit is trying to accomplish in you

Bless ya,

Ads

1 They say that when Jesus was born, this was his beginning; therefore he is not God and can’t be our redeemer. We understand that He (the Son) eternally was and when Christ entered the world, the Son (the eternal Word) became a man and therefore is God and can be our savior.

Podcast: Arise and Shine

2006-06-26T17:19:00.000+10:00

Well, we finally have the second podcast edited and uploaded. For those of you that don't yet have the first podcast we've uploaded you can find it by clicking on the "Podcasts" category in the sidebar and looking for "Trees, Seasons and Shut up already!"

In this sermon, Pastor Adam offers us an insight into the continually unfolding plan of God's salvation, which is facilitated through Spirit filled believers. Believers who are not only bold, but able and capable of sharing the Faith. Missional issues such as Culture & Relevance are adressed in this continuing year-long theme of Holiness.

Direct link (right click + save link as)
Arise and Shine

Or, you can auto-subscribe by opening iTunes and clicking the "subscribe via iTunes" graphic in the syndication area of the sidebar.

Podcast: Trees, Seasons, and Shut Up already!

2006-06-26T06:00:00.000+10:00

Hey guys, you will be pleased to know that the podcast sermon that was once thought to be lost forever...is not lost forever. We were able to salvage the sermon, which is a good thing, coz I actually missed that service and found it to minister to me as I was editing it.

You will soon be able to find it on the iTunes podcast directory after our technical difficulties have been erased, which will basically mean that our podcast has a potential to reach about 40,000,000 odd people. But if it ever did get to be that big, our internet bill would be equivalent to the budget of a small developing nation.

We'll rob that bank when we get to it.

The link that I am providing on this post is the direct link to the actual file (right click + save link as), however, if you have an iPod, and use iTunes, or just use iTunes...You can click on the "subscribe via iTunes" image in the sidebar of our main page and your iTunes will automatically organize and download the files whenever we update the podcast. This means that your iPod will auto-sync with the latest of our sermons and you can have Adam yell at you through your iPod automatically.

Enjoy the first of our podcasts, many more will be coming over the weeks and months.

Trees, Seasons and Shut up!

I'll see you again Grandma

2006-06-18T23:03:00.000+10:00

My grandma died this morning of a stroke at the age of 88, but to be honest it didn't bother me all that much. It's not that I'm a heartless grandson, truth be told I loved my grandma, I grew up with her, she spoiled me rotten and loved me unconditionally. But when I found out she died, I didn't really even raise an eyebrow. Am i really a bad person?

The last few years I haven't seen much of her, not that i didn't want to, it's just that I never really had the time. Kind of sounds like an old Cat Stevens song; but at the end of the day I just didn't get to see her.

So why then the heartless response to the news of her death? I guess two things come to mind, 1. she was alone in a nursing home and 2. she was a Christian. My Grandpa died three years ago of a stroke as well, albeit not quite as suddenly, we had time to see him before he went, and in reality he was the reason she lived. after 60 myears of marriage, it must be difficult to say good bye. But more importantly she was a Christian. She may be dead, but she will only go to be with her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for eternity.

You might be thinking that seems heartless or even insane, but I realised today the reality of death, it's not the end, its the beginning of eternity. So as a Christian I am in fact comforted and even excited at the idea that i will in fact see her again.

So I guess the question remains, will you meet her one day?

Version 1.1 Now Here!

2006-06-18T02:43:00.000+10:00

Hey all... Its 2:36 AM by my watch, and I have just finished implementing some of the new features for this site, to improve the interactivity and general browsing experience. The previous template we were using was causing problems with IE (Internet Explorer) and didn't really lend itself to much modification. That problem has been solved with the latest update, and I would still appreciate comments or insights on the features of the site.

As you may have noticed, we have introduced "Categories" on the sidebar which will help you find what you are looking for that little bit quicker.

We have also introduced a function where you can search by Author; which will search the blog for your chosen Author's posts and sort them by date. These little features don't really seem like much now, but later on down the track, they will be ridiculously helpful.

As for the Podcasts, they are coming soon. Minor technical difficulties have impeded our progress, but they will be sorted out soon enough.

The Weekly studies will be up before the next one is due out.

More and more stuff is coming, as Adam and I come across more and more stuff that we can implement here, so the value of this site is going to explode in the next few weeks, as it is something that Adam and I are extremely excited about.

Well, I'm off to bed.

Enjoy the latest updates.

Podcast: It didnt record!!!

2006-06-16T21:49:00.000+10:00

You wouldn't believe it, we recorded the first sermon to go on this site and it was an awesome sermon if I do say so myself and the stupid thing didn't record!!!

ddaaaahhh!!!!!!!

I guess we'll try again next week.

love yas

First Day stats are in...

2006-06-16T01:08:00.000+10:00

Hey Guys...Josh here,

I just thought that I would pop my head in the door and note that on the first day of being up online, we have had about 165 hits to our site...most from here in Sydney, but a couple from in the States. That's pretty damn impressive, and there is no telling what could happen when we get this thing out of the driveway.

As for now, I'm working with Adam on getting some content into this space, setting up seperate sections for all kinds of things that we plan on bringing you. There will be Events, News, Photoblogs, Adam's weekly teachings, and various downloadable audio stuff that we will be squeezing into a Podcast. When that hits, all kinds of cool is going to be unleashed.

The call is still out there for the comments. I want as much feedback from you guys as possible, bring us ideas...The previous statement still stands...if you want more, I WANT you to tell us. WE WANT you to tell us.

And if you haven't yet subscribed to our email feed, make sure you get into it. We're not selling the list for Russian Mail Order spam yet...but then again, that all really depends on the offerings on Friday.

In Summary: Stay tuned, there are HUGE changes coming, much more content, and much more interactivity. It's all for you guys...so ENJOY!

p.s. I was kidding about the Russian Mail Order spam bit...

p.p.s. Well....yeah, yeah, I was kidding.

Comments, damn you!

2006-06-14T11:32:00.000+10:00

Hey guys,

Welcome to your website! Well, it's not REALLY your website, but it kinda is...this is the website for Solar-Powered Youth, and before you get into us about Pagan Sun-worship and all the rest....we know.

Seeing as we the designers don't REALLY have a designing bone in our bodies, we are recruiting YOU. Yeah, you...crazy idea, but we want YOU to contribute ideas and content for what YOU want this site to be.

This site will consist of weekly teachings, the occasional downloadable sermon, news and events, photos, random stupid stuff and links to sites that we like.

Other things that we are doing include setting pop-ups to go off all over your computer whenever you turn it on, except this time it won't be porn, but Jesus. Or something, it really depends on whether you subscribe to our spam list. We will also be adding a MySpace page, just so that we can be cool. God knows we need all the help we can get, after all, look at who we've got for our Youth Pastor.

p.s. I was just kidding about the Youth Pastor bit...

p.p.s. Well, kinda....

p.p.p.s. Well...yeah, yeah I was just kidding.