I preached today in Church…Luke 24 – The Resurrection of Jesus…

‘He is not here…he is risen.’  What amazing words.  The resurrection of Jesus lies at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian.  In fact, without the resurrection there would be no Christianity!  But…JESUS IS ALIVE.  I’ll not go into the detail of what I preached on this morning but instead I want to post something up here that  has been floating around Facebook and the Radiant Youth forum…it’s about preaching.  I love preaching…I myself find this hard to believe because growing up I had a genuine fear of speaking in public, I really did (just ask my mum!).   I hated the thought of getting up and having to say anything in public…let alone preach a message!!  Long story…but I believe God changed that and that he continually enables me to overcome those fears…

ANYWAY…here is what I wanted to post up.  Worth reading:

Why I shout when I Preach

Just looking at that it’s actually a pretty horrible picture!  I’m sitting here…preparing to preach on Sunday morning…and I’m reflecting on the last few days…

I signed up yesterday to Facebook.  Yes, only yesterday…you’ve probably been on it for a long time.  Most people have!  I’ve been really trying hard to avoid it…I really have.  I know it’s good for networking and keeping in touch and all that, and that’s what I hope it helps me with.  But it can also be very, very time consuming if you let it be (especially if you’ve easy Internet access through the day – I’ve become aware since joing FB that that’s actually quite a lot of us)…and let’s be honest…we can become very nosey…

The truth is – the Internet can get a real good grip on us – whether it’s Facebook, iTunes or whatever – we dip in and out of this stuff so much that without really knowing it we are slowly becoming an internet junkie – we need our wee hits!

So as I said, I’m getting my head into preparing for Sunday.  In light of what I’ve said about the lure of the Internet I found these words in Isaiah very refreshing this morning:  ‘The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever’ (Isaiah 40:8)

Hey, the challenge is to spend less time on the Internet and more time in the Word, more time with God…for me anyway…maybe, just for blogging purposes I can change the words…‘Facebook withers and iTunes fall, but the word of our God stands forever’

Right, I’m off and getting into the Word:)

‘Real life.  Real God’.  This is the theme of our Youth Summer Mission this year.

I’ve been thinking all week about those four words.  The life we live is real…we have been given this one life.  But how do we experience real life, fullness of life, abundant life, life of purpose and meaning??

So much of what the world wants us to think is real life sadly isn’t.  We get bombarded with images, stories, TV programs, adverts…all sorts of things that try to point us towards living a real, full life.  Their recommendations point us in the direction of improving our image, exploring our sexuality, keeping up with the fashion, making more money, pursuing endless pleasures.  It’s not always negative either.  There are endless people out there who can do a good job helping you out with the many everyday pressures of life…and they do this well…but the reality of it all is that even these things do not lead to a discovery of real life…

Real life.  Real God.  Real life is found in the one true, real God.

Real life is discovered in what God has done and is doing.  Real life is found in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  This is life to me.  Real life.  I love the fact that I’m not ‘searching’…I’m really not!   I hate when something goes missing – wallet, pen drive (with all my work on it), keys, books…anything!  When something is missing I am uneasy, I’m unsettled, I’m constantly wondering where it is!

In Jesus I have real life.  I’m not uneasy, I’m not unsettled, I’m not wondering about what life is all about.  The ‘ultimate’ question of life has been answered for me.  When Jesus rescued me he opened my eyes and showed me life in all it’s fulness.  A life of purpose, destiny and calling; a life of deep peace, forgiveness, grace, mercy and love; a life of serving, giving, planting and growing; a life of thanking, praying, asking and recieving; a life of dreaming, blessing, seeing and believing; a life waiting…and hoping…and longing…and striving…and uniting…and standing…and committing…

This is a life of seeing myself for who I really am – a sinner – who still falls but get’s picked back up to stand – SAVED BY GRACE.  Saved by grace.  And despite all my fears and failures I can be who God has called me to be…an agent of His grace in our world.  I guess I could go on and on here…I’ll not.  REAL LIFE.  REAL GOD.

I read a devotional this morning that was encouraging us to pray for our children…it’s encouraged me to pray more specifically for Caleb (and also our wee unborn one:))

These points are good to pray for your children if you’re a parent like me…but as many of you won’t be, these points are great for praying for friends and family too.  Maybe this week we could pray through these points for those on our heart…

Jesus said, “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given me, for they are Yours” (John 17:9) 

Pray that they will live for Christ joyfully (John 17:13)

Pray that they will grow strong spiritually (John 17:15)

Pray that they will serve Christ effectively (John 17:17 NCV)

Pray that they will experience fellowship personally (John 17:21)

Pray that they will bring others to Christ regularly (John 17:20)

PRAY THESE POINTS FOR YOURSELF THIS WEEK TOO!!

I’ve had an interesting couple of days.  I’m just back from a planning night and day in Portballintrae with the Year Out guys from church…good craic and we did get some stuff done!  We also played that game last night where you have the name of a famous person stuck to your forehead…the object being that you ask one question each time it’s your turn to try and narrow down who it might be.   Well…we aren’t the quickest at working these things out…and so it was about 2am before we finally got tkinking about bed!!…although I was pretty quick at guessing I was McCauley Culkin…remember the skinny wee kid from Home Alone who I don’t think has acted since…he has had the right idea…make your fortune and retire at age 10…

Anyways…

On Wednesday, thanks to the good work of the Evangelical Alliance, I had the joy of meeting up again with the guys who had been on the church leaders retreat back in Feb…I’d a great wee time with them again.  I came away encouraged and challenged.  We were able to talk together about loads of stuff…personal struggles and victories were shared, stories of churches engaging with local community/culture inspired me, listening to thoughts on ‘calling’ and ministry really made me think freshly again about where God has placed me…I just heard lot’s of exciting stuff spoken from the hearts of people really seeking to out the Kingdom…again, my heart was stirred with a desire to give my life serving Jesus…all about him, all for him…in my heart I really belive God wants to do amazing things through his people who are truly and unashamedly living out Christ in the world around them, empowered by his Spirit.  People who are willing to die to self so that Jesus might be seen and glorified ever more clearly…I want to live like this and be part of something that seeks this…in doing this new ground must be broken and that might be a ‘messier’ road than just sitting tight in church doing the tried and tested…but I believe God doesn’t want us to play safe in any way…

Yeah…so I’ve been challenged…and I’m getting myself ready to be challenged even more.

Just to finish – please take a miute or two to read this – it’s an extract from Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias (2000).  It’s about Emperor Napoleon who apparently was often quoted as not really believing in the existence of Jesus…these are very interesting words that suggest otherwise…

Napoleon expressed the following thoughts while he was exiled on the rock of St. Helena. There, the conqueror of civilized Europe had time to reflect on the measure of his accomplishments. He called Count Montholon to his side and asked him, “Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?” The count declined to respond. Napoleon countered:

“Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him. . . . I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man; none else is like Him: Jesus Christ was more than a man. . . . I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me . . . but to do this is was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lightened up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts. . . . Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man’s creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.”

I want to share something that has been really on my heart recently…

Sometimes we just seem to clutter ourselve up as Christians with a whole lot of ‘stuff’…and often the stuff just distracts us and takes our minds away from the central focus of who we realy are.   Recently, I believe God has been drawing my heart back to a place of deep love for and devotion to Jesus.  We can get away from this.  As followers of Jesus we can spend so much of our time doing so many things, being at so many places…we spend time around Christian friend…we mix in Christian circles…but somehow in all of this, we can lose what should be our first love – Jesus.  Our identity is in Christ – first and foremost.  We should be all about him.

The Apostle Paul said ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Phil 1:21)

‘For me to live is Christ…’

Paul lived in such a way that for him, life itself was all about Jesus.  He lived out of a place of sins forgiven.  He lived out grace – he knew of the grace God had poured out upon him and he too lived out this grace before others.  Paul was living for a cause much greater than himself.  He was living for the Kingdom.  He was living for Jesus.  He was consumed by Jesus.  His life just oozed Christ.  For Paul to live, it was Christ. 

‘…to die is gain’

What an amazing thing to say.  Think about it now.  To say that ‘to live is Christ’ is one thing but to then say that ‘to die is gain’ is another.  Paul is saying that in death it will be far better!  He says that through dying he will be better off…in death he will be richer…because then, he knows he will be in the presence of Jesus.  He will be there.  He will recieve his reward.  Sin-filled earth left behind.  He will be in paradise.  Continuous worship will consume him.  No more tears.  No more pain.  No more mourning.  No more hurting.  No more death.  When you think of it this way…we have everything to gain in death!

We can’t get our head around these things.  We just can’t…but God is faithful and his word is true.

I want my life to count for the Kingdom.  Really count.  Today, I’m pausing and looking ahead.  I want to live the rest of my life centred around Jesus.  I want to be all about Jesus.  I want to spend time (well, some time anyway lol) with other people who are all about Jesus and I want to reach out to the lost with the only real source of hope I have or know of – Jesus.  You see, it really is all about him.  We have to stop substituting other things for Jesus.  We need to get those things out of the place in our lives that must be occupied by Jesus…

I want to say everyday I get up – ‘For me to live is Christ…’  And I want to live this out…or rather…let him live through me…

But add to that the words ‘…to die is gain’ and we will add the ‘long view’ to who we are.  We will see beyond this life.  I want to live  for Jesus each day but I so want to have the long view as well…I want to look towards the glory of heaven.

Wouldn’t it be great to have this as a verse for life – ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Phil 1:21).  I guess this is where I’m at.  I want my life and ministry to be be based around this.  Whatever God decides to use me in and for I just want it to be all about Jesus…

You really can be whoever you want…check me out below!

Zoolander..or is it Stulander?!

…and the muscles I’ve always wanted…

 …I’ve always felt I could cut it in the WWE…

…or act in one of my all time favourite movies…the Karate Kid…

…you really can be whoever you want to be!