"When one door closes, another opens." We've heard the saying. We know the meaning. But have you ever considered that a new door opening means a door closing for someone else. We see that paradox at work today. A door to freedom opening for the female slave shut closed the door of freedom to Paul and Silas. The earthquake which unlocked the doors of the prison and unshackled the chains that bound Paul and SIlas would have closed the door on the jailor's life. Paul clearly understands that if the open door for him meant the closed door for the Philippian jailer, the door was really closed to both of them. So in an incredible bold act, Paul and SIlas stayed, moving beyond individualistic wants, comforts and even freedom so that the light of Christ would boldly open the door of the heart to bring a freedom that transforms everything for everyone. Could the aftershocks of the Covid earthquake that has rocked our lives leading to closed doors and closed borders actually be the opportunity for bold acts that God is using to open someone's heart to real life and real freedom? We'll explore that today.
#7 in series: Getting your ACTS together
Siri, Google, Alexa - your own personal voice activated assistant that can update you on your daily appointments, give you a rundown of the news, answer your burning questions or even tell you a joke. Voice activated technology has come a long way since the old clapper device helped you find your keys or switch off the lamp. From the beginning, God's kingdom has been voice activated. He spoke and the world came into being. Jesus spoke and lives were healed and restored. The Spirit-filled apostles spoke the Word of God and saw thousands of people being saved. Powerful, life-changing, culture-shaping things happen when the Church speaks and shares what God has done and will do in this world. But it requires discernment to recognise and understand the implications of where and how God is at work right now in the world today. Too often we get stuck in a way of thinking or living, trying to box God in and put obstacles in the way of others coming to know the inclusive grace of God that has conquered our hearts. The early Church shows us the discerning acts needed that will enable and deploy more voice activated, Spirit-filled human devices into the marketplace to revolutionize the world today.
#6 in series: Getting our ACTS together
Have you ever felt the urge to rearrange your bedroom, your wardrobe, your lounge room? Maybe it coincides with a new resolve to improve your life. Perhaps it's the need to convince ourselves that we have really changed. But the truth is, we can rearrange our lives as often as we like and still remain in a comfort zone where there is little change or progress in our lives. Comfort zones are simply a form of protection we erect in our lives to say we are willing to be stretched so far, but no further. We gravitate to those comfort zones because life is safe, predictable and understandable in that space. But as Peter discovered, sometimes our comfort zones become the very obstacle that the Spirit needs to remove to use us more fully and to help us see more clearly what God is doing in the world. The Spirit of God works through surprising acts to rattle, shake and stretch us beyond our comfort zones; extending boundaries, breaking conventions, changing expectations, shaking certainties and enlarging our vision to see the fullness of his kingdom plan break into this world...whether we are comfortable with it or not!
#5 in series: Getting our 'Acts' together
Every teacher has them! Little tricks to get the kids looking and listening. Teacher: 1,2,3, Look at me Students: 1,2 Look at you. The clapping game! Songs (Frere Jacques tune) "Are you listening? Are you listening? Everyone! Everyone! If you are listening, if you are listening, look at me, look at me." Hands Up, Stick em up, eyes on me. Teachers know that they students ability to follow instructions and grow in their learning first begins with attentive listening. It's no different for Christians. Obedience doesn't mean just following a command of somebody else, or doing what you're told to do, obedience is an act of love that listens deeply, responds faithfully, and acts willingly. Faithful listening precedes obedient acts and when we are willing to say 'yes' to God, we might just be take on a Spirit-led adventure where we see the power and timing of God on display in amazing ways.
#4 in series "Getting our 'Acts' Together"
You walk into a room & no one seems to notice. You work on a group project but no one asks for your input. Coffee with friends is all about them…never you. It’s like you have a cloak of invisibility that leaves you unnoticed, passed over, ignored by those around you…a painful reality when the silence speaks volumes. After Pentecost, the Spirit enabled the apostles to see other people deeply & to meet needs they didn’t even know they had. The very first act of the Church after the Spirit poured out was to heal and restore to the community someone who had been overlooked and passed by for years. To meet the need for restoration at the deepest possible level and grant new life in Christ is a work of the Spirit that fulfils the promise of Jesus: “As the Father sent me so I send you. The Spirit lives in you to make you a healing presence pointing people to restoration in Christ. The Spirit works through you to transform lives & relationships in ways you never imagined. So today we experience and are called to healing acts.
#3 in series: 'Getting your "Acts" Together'
Television producers are on the hunt for it. Recruiters and talent scouts endeavour to unearth it. Entrepreneurial leaders build it in to their business or product. Marketers just love it. And most of us secretly wish we had it. The X-factor.
The mastery of those with the X-factor leaves us in awe. They see things the rest of us don't see, they do things that defy explanation. The X-factor transforms something from run of the mill, average or ordinary into something extraordinary We live in a culture that revels in the special, and the extraordinary. We are drawn to the new and unusual like moths to a flame. But that relegates the lives we live each day to something that is ordinary, boring, bland and definitely lacking the X-factor. But today we see how it is the ordinariness of every day life that the Spirit is at work in ordinary people and ordinary acts and daily faithfulness to add to the Kingdom, the lives of those who are being saved. It may not be a life that has the X-factor, but it will be a life that is filled with the Spirit, and with a power that daily renews, restores, revitalises and recreates your life through ordinary acts.
#2 in series: "Getting our "Acts" Together
The moon landing was faked. Area 51 hides proof of extra-terrestrial life. Harold Holt was kidnapped. JFK was killed by multiple gunmen. Russia determined the winner of the 2016 US election. SARs-CoVid-2 came from eating bats. Conspiracy theories seem to find fertile ground in times of uncertainty, crisis and social upheaval. Conspiracies thrive when people feel vulnerable, powerless and a need to gain a sense of control over their lives. Conspiracies always blame, accuse, deflect responsibility & always cause hurt.
But the word "conspire" means to "breathe with" or "breathe together." Like a child nestled against its mother.
Today…Pentecost…the pouring out of the Holy Spirit…is the day when God breathes into us so that we breathe with him.
It’s the greatest conspiracy ever in the truest sense of the word. God calls us to be co-conspirators with him, sharing one breath, one life, one love as we breathe new life, new hope, and new creation into this chaotic world.
God calls us to be co-conspirators with him, so that the world can breathe freely, deeply and fully of the love and life found only in Jesus Christ. God calls us to be co-conspirators with him, in powerful acts so that all people can hear the “mighty acts of God” and be drawn into his presence forever.
#1 in series: Getting our "Acts" Together
"Free Religion Template...download here." Jesus Crown Thorns. Islamic Mosque Sunset. Monk Budhism Meditation. Take your pick...attractive templates, perfect for every presentation. A template gives you a preset mold, form, document that you can use all over again, to provide design consistency, a set overall look and feel. You just have to choose which template you want to use. So often when it comes to Church and faith, we take a cookie-cutter approach, operate in a pre-determined way to make all people look and feel the same. Just tick the boxes, add some of the components like going to church, saying grace occasionally, putting a couple of dollars on the offering plate and you will have the look, feel and benefit of being a Christian. Perhaps it is this template concept that has led to 68% of Christians here in Australia not seeing faith as important in daily life. Jesus didn't come so we could tick a couple of boxes and feel good about ourselves. Today he throws the template out the window to bring a radical change that gives an eternal relationship and life beyond religion.
#6 and final in series: Life Pulse
Have you ever watched the spin cycle on the front loader of a washing machine? It starts off slow, builds in speed and intensity as the clothes are forced to the edge of the drum, ultimately all wrung out. That's anxiety in a nutshell…or guilt…or shame. It starts with a simple thought that goes round and round, spinning faster and faster, leaving you in a tight, on edge, wrung out knot! Sometimes the weight of that anxiety is so much, the whole machine of your body begins to shake, shudder and makes noise because it is so off kilter. Whatever spin cycle you are in right now – anxiety about the state of your world/lives, shame that you aren’t who you are supposed to be according to some exacting standard, guilt that in this instance or that circumstance you messed up, let your guard down or let someone else down - Jesus wants you to know that he is not ashamed of you, disappointed in you or out to make an example of you. He knows you completely and loves you unceasingly, assuring you of his grace that is larger than your need and more abundant that all your fears. Come to Jesus and receive that life and experience that life today…a life beyond anxiety, guilt and shame.
#5 in series: Life Pulse