We are about to embark on some real exciting weeks coming up. And its moments like this were we’re able to encounter God in an amazing, amazing way.

At our life group we shared about how we can truly be ready and positioned to hear from God and experience Him. I believe God wants to speak to us, but the question is if we are listening to Him?

Under Eli, young Samuel ministered before the Lord. And the scriptures in 1 Samuel say that the word of the Lord was rare in those day. I guess this would mean that it wasn’t common that people heard from God at that time. But for some reason (actually a pretty important one), God decided that day to speak to a boy.

Ever heard those jokes when the same thing happens to the same person a few times and its the last time is when the punch line, or joke line comes in? This is kind of what happens here. Except it wasn’t a punch line, but definately left impact on that nation.

One day minding his own buisness, Samuel was lying down in the temple when he heard someone calling him. Automatically, thinking it was someone that was near him, he went to the person he thought - Eli his mentor. But Eli didn’t call him. So he was asked to go back to bed.

After the third time, the scriptures say that then Eli realised who was speaking to him - it was God. Eil then told Samuel that when he hears the voice again to say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening”. And it worked. That day, God spoke to Samuel something that would shake that nation. And He did. All through a boy that learnt how to hear from God.

What can we learn?

We learn that God speaks, but we need to know how to respond to His voice.

It’s so simple isn’t it. Speak Lord, for I am listening.

Let’s come ready to hear from the Lord. Come and leave aside things that usually consume our focus. It is then that God can and will change our lives and leave deep imprints of His heart in ours.

This Friday we’re continuing our exponential series up until church conference. There has been some fantastic messages laying the foundations of our mission statement.

Torch will be preaching on how we can be world influencers for God. I’m really looking forward to hear what God has placed on his heart.

Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world”. Speaking to His followers over 2000 years ago, what was said then still stands for His followers today. We carry influence. If you call Jesus your saviour, He lives in you and His influence can be made known through you. It doesn’t stop there, but Jesus Himself commissions us to go being with us always. Recognise this in the Great Commission?

How amazing is it that!? Jesus calls us, resides in us and commissions us! What a partnership.

It’s a Jesus sandwich with us in the middle.

Would you be in Jesus’ sandwich today?

So much has happened in two weeks. In short as most would know, I have been facing some health problems as of late. And as of late my symptoms have increased in the severity quite exponentially, all in a short span of time. This has taken me totally by surprise.

When the opportunity arises I will share more about what God has taught me during this challenging time. But the reason for this message it to thank you for your support. I have just been overwhelmed by the amounts of care I have received from people. And thank you for your prayers. This means a lot. There are days where I feel so terrible, but with the prayer support from everyone, I have been also tremendously strengthened.

I am fine (positive tone). With medication and also Dr Jesus medication my health has become better. I don’t have as many symptoms as before and it all getting better from here on in. Praise God for that.

I know that a lot of what is happening, I have no control over, so trusting God at this time is mandatory. I can tell you I’ve learnt a lot. Thank God for His purpose and plan throughout all circumstances and situations. Truly, His will reigns sovereign and supreme.

You are the church. Thank you.

I have been so blessed to hear about the great things that have been happening in our church and especially in our groups. There’s nothing better than hearing life transforming testimonies, even more to see new people come to environments where they can experience this transformation. It’s the church, the body of Christ, that stewards the message, stewards the power to bring life transformation - its the power of Christ.

What a great sum up of the church last week in Lisa’s message. Here it is again. As you read it, let us recommit ourselves to be planted, committed, available and determined to serve Jesus through His body.

The church is the plan of God on earth, always in her Father’s eye.
Cherished, mysterious, beautiful and potent beyond measure.
She emerges triumphant, limitless with potential.
A harbour for the hopeless, and an answer for the ages.
The church resplendent, a bride for his Son.

She grows in wisdom and stature, with victory on her lips and freedom in her hands.
Hers is an unstoppable cause.
She embraces the world with dignity, honour and compassion.
She gives vision to the sightless and life to the dying.
The church is the family of God on earth.
Within her compass the hungry find sustenance and the weary strength.
She is a haven for recovering humanity. Enthralled by grace.
She invites the broken, the vulnerable and the outcast to be immersed in love.

The church is the house of heaven on earth.
Called out to serve the world. Calling out to welcome in.
Like her Master, the church is pursued and persecuted;
yet she rises with strength in her heart and fire in her soul.
She is the bride of Christ on earth,
Prepared and presented before the Lord, the Lamb for whom the world waits.
He comes like the rising sun - majestic and magnificent beyond description
while she dazzles with reflected glory.
Spotless, perfect and mature.

She bows low to cast her crowns and passionately worship Him.

She is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ

If you go to Starbucks you will probably find a card promoting career opportunities. And it should say, “Creating community. Make a difference in someone’s day. When you work at Starbucks, you can make a difference in someone’s day by creating an environment where neighbors and friends can get together and reconnect while enjoying a great coffee experience.”

People in the world, young or old, long for acceptance and crave for community. And as the church we steward the message of Christ, that can truly bring transformation to people’s lives. Creating an environment where Biblical relationships and authentic communities can be fostered should be a high priority in our lives.

This is God’s dream for us. In John 17:11, before going to the cross, Jesus prayed what was closest to His heart. He prayed for His disciples. His prayer was that His followers would, “be as one as we are one”. Jesus’ intent is for His believers is to experience the type of authentic community that He experiences with with Father and the Holy Spirit.

So… The world needs it, and God wants it. Make the decision today to be plugged into a life group. But don’t just attend, but invest, contribute, unify and share life with other Christ followers. When we do this we obey one of God’s intended purposes for our lives.

Below is a practical guide for building small groups in the church written by Brett Eastman, a former small groups pastor at Willow Creek with Bill Hybles and Saddleback Church with Rick Warren. I hope it will serve as help to build all our life groups.

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Making Your Group Real “Friends”

By Brett Eastman

Don’t we all long to be a part of something fun, exciting, and life-giving?

The sitcom Friends captured this desire. Every week 50 million people watched six actors pretending to have relationships with one another. Its popularity was fueled by the deep longing we all have to be connected in community.

The advertising world has caught on to this yearning as well. Ads like MCI’s promise to connect us with our family and friends. The “felt need” is clear. But the real need is found in the biblical word, koinonia, which means “fellowship.” God’s plan from the beginning was that each one of us would belong to a spiritual community, where we all would be known and we would know others.

How can we create a community like this? How can we connect with one another?

Here are seven principles to help you CONNECT with the people in your group and to help them connect with one another.

1. Create a one-another community. In the New Testament there are over 50 different references to “one another”: love one another, bear one another’s burdens, pray for one another, and serve one another are just a few. This can’t happen only on Sunday mornings; it needs to happen in other settings, like small groups.

Once you’ve invited your circle of friends and they show up, remember you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to create a one-another community. Your job is to ask the questions, look around the room, and wait for someone to respond. When someone voices a response, affirm them, no matter what they say. Don’t feel like you have to answer every one of the questions yourself. It’s like a ping-pong game: just get it started and keep the ball in play.

Another way to create a one-another community upfront is to schedule socials and meals together. Pull families together and get to know each other. Schedule casual gatherings, like a pizza dinner, before the meeting starts. During this time, your group has time to check in on prayer requests. Throughout the six weeks, rotate homes, so that people embrace the group as their own.

2. Open your heart. Being authentic lets your group know you don’t have it all together either. When we communicate openness, that makes it safer for everybody else to be open as well. It’s healthy to say, “You know, good question. I don’t know,” “I’m not sure,” or “I’m lost.”

You are the role model, and they’ll follow your example. When you’re authentic, your group will be more authentic.

3. Naturally group members together for deeper discussion. It’s important that every meeting permits discussion time. When your group gets larger than 7, it’s more difficult for everyone to share. So break into discussion groups of 3-4 people. The more airtime an individual has leads to greater life application; and that’s when you’ll see lives transformed.

Also, this allows time for people to share prayer requests. You don’t want to get halfway around the room during prayer request time and suddenly say, “Oops, we ran out of time.” Break into smaller groups so you have time to share prayer requests pray as well as for one another.

Remember when people feel heard, they feel loved; when they feel loved, they return; and when they return, life transformation happens.

4. Never run from challenges, questions, or even conflict in your group. Remember, the Bible says, “Iron sharpens iron.” The group that doesn’t have sparks actually doesn’t have as much life. Healthy groups have conflict.

There are practical things you can do, however, to ensure that conflict doesn’t dominate your small group. First, agree to make a small group covenant. This agreement outlines the ground rules for your group. If you write down your expectations early on, conflict will occur less later on.

Second, facilitate discussion to help evaluate the progress of your group. After a few weeks, assess how things are going and just throw out the questions: “How’s it going? What is one thing you like, one thing you think you’d change if you could?” You may want to have them do it on 3X5 cards to make it safer. Issues that arise from these responses are ones to address immediately so controversy doesn’t ensue.

5. Encourage shared ownership. When this happens, the group moves from being “your” group to “their” group. Remember to rotate the facilitation of the group at least by the 2nd or 3rd week. Get out your group calendar and record where the group will meet, who will host, who will lead worship, and who will bring refreshments. This will develop ownership on a variety of levels.

Also make sure that each group member has a responsibility. Some people may not be ready to lead worship or plan a ministry project, but everybody can take a responsibility by teaming up and doing something together. It could be planning a social, or following up on absent group members, or participating in a ministry project. Sign them up, pair them up, and follow up. If you don’t follow up, it won’t happen.

6. Cultivate a group of friends. The Bible says that early believers gathered in temple courts and house to house, week to week. This model ensured members would always connect with one another, even if they missed a meeting at the temple.

Because the early church embraced this model, they added to their numbers daily. Everyone wanted to be a part of the fellowship. Who are you going to add to your circle? If you invite friends to join the group, they’ll have a greater tendency to come back themselves because they’ll be surrounded by friends.

7. Take time to do life together. Don’t miss anniversaries, wedding parties, baby showers, job promotions, and even house closings. Celebrate one another’s lives.

I recently had a birthday, and when I got to the group they made my favorite dinner and favorite dessert. They asked how they could pray for me. Though the group isn’t supposed to be about me, on my birthday I wanted the whole night to be about me. The beauty is that they loved on me and made me feel special. This is the longing in each of our hearts.

When the Bible concludes in ‘therefore’ it usually means that something’s before. Hebrews 11, talks about the heroes of faith and what they did as they’d gone before us. People like Noah, Abraham and Moses are commended for their acts of courage and faith. The Bible even goes to mention that it would take too long to recount everyone’s faith story.

How can we have this kind of faith? Because living as a believer is tough stuff! We face the challenge all the time to do what seems hard over what is easy, to do right over what is convenient. The Bible describes sin as something that crouches before us desiring to have us. If you struggle, you’re not alone, and you’re not the first. Others have gone before us. They have run the race and won. These are the great cloud of witnesses. Their faithfulness is a consistent encouragement to us.

But would you make the list? Would you be considered as a candidate in the faith’s hall of fame in Hebrews 11?

What we all have in common is difficulties, challanges, weaknesses and struggle. But we are all invited to run the faith race, by throwing off whatever hinders our path and the sin that weighs us down. Know the race marked out for you, and run with perseverance. Start running. Don’t quit. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and don’t stop.

If you are struggling today, look to those who have gone before us. Follow their godly example. My prayer is that you are filled with hope and stirred with passion.

You can do it!!

God has called us to be His influence in this world. We learnt at our high school service that our responsibilities as believers are to preserve good in this world and permeate God influence through our lives.

Thank God for our high school groups GUM (Mansfield State High), No Limits (Brisbane State High & Macgregor State High) and Authentic (Christian Outreach College). I beleive that these groups are instrumental in seeing the lost become found.

I was really blessed last week because during Authentic we gathered around a time of sharing and encouraging one another. One of the things God spoke to the group was the need to set godly example (an authentic godly example) in the ground in which God had placed us. All of us could agree that something happen that day. It was like we were all in agreement, making a decision to allow God to use our lives in the most real way possible.

If God is going to use you to make an influence in this world, you have to be different to this world. Christ followers impact society because they are different, not weird or bizarre but distinct from this world. You are different!

See, our personal influence is lost when we fail to be different to the world’s system and try to accommodate and conform to its values. When we loose our distinctive we become like the world and we fail to preserve and our potential to impact the decay and darkness of this world will pass away.

Let us watch our life closely, as the bible instructs us. Have we become so similar to the world such that people can’t tell that we are different? Remember what makes you a Christ follower is not that you go to church, not that you attend life group, but that you follow Christ as evidence by your life, character and devotion unto God. And if we walk this path, there will be things that we don’t get involved with, things that we don’t allow to influence us, things that we will not do.

You are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. God has called us, now we must live in it!

1 Peter 1:16 says, “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Across our life groups this week, we have been discussing on the topic of our personal purity. We started the our discussion with the question, “what comes to mind when when you think of the word pure?”. Even though the last thing that might come to mind is YOU when answering this question, you know what? You are designed for purity. That’s right I’m talking to you.

Genesis 1:27 says that we were created in the image of God. And in this very image we find all goodness, holiness and purity. So that means that if we were created in the image of God, then we are positioned for purity. But maybe the reason why you think that you are far from this, is because you have bought the lie that tells you that you are always not good enough, or you have done too much wrong, or because of your past you will never become whole.

You know what? Be holy, because I am holy, says the Lord. Not be holy because, after all, you are holy. Not be holy because you are a good person. But be holy, because God himself is holy. In other words, we can live holy and pure lives because we live in, through and because of God.

We are not exempt when it comes to living in purity, because we all have God’s strength.

This is the key to living in purity.

Welcome back to school everyone! I hope that you had a great first day.

So, what’s your plans for school this year? Get better grades, meet more friends?

I believe that there is a much bigger purpose to your time in high school. What better a time to experience what God is doing in us, and though us. There is so much growth we can experience personally, and also so many people God will call us to reach.

But if any decision we make, let this be one of our top few to commit to and focus on this year.

TO BE THE HANDS AND FEET OF JESUS.

Our lives are powerful instruments in the hand of God - if we allow Him to use us.

Thought to share with you a true story about what can happen when you reach out to someone. Why not this year commit to representing Christ in your world.