Called Like Abraham

"When God calls you it will work out simply because God himself will fulfill his own words in your life"

We read in Genesis 12 the story of Abraham, commended for his complete and utter faith in God, a man who stood out in his day from others, a man who despite what the world around him was doing was willing to follow God regardless of what it meant! This was a man who was unassuming, having nothing about himself that would make him an obvious choice for God to take hold of and use. He was the son to a wealthy family, possibly well thought have, but certainly not a follower of God so it would seem.

Yet one day God calls out to him, not just a random call, but also a personal call, by his name. God knew Abraham before Abraham knew God. That is exactly how it is for you and me! There was nothing about us, in fact there still isn’t anything about us that God would want or need, yet the Bible is clear, when we were dead in our sins Christ died for us! He loves us totally, calling us all individually by name, purposely and passionately!

How cool is that?

So not only is Abraham called God then tells him how great he would become; yet at this point he has done nothing!  It seems that God not only calls him but also qualifies him at the same time! Could God be just a little presumptuous at this point maybe? Should he see if Abraham would be able to fulfill the call first? Humanly speaking we make judgments based on a persons performance and qualifications before we decide if they have met the criteria so to speak, yet here is God taking hold of a man with apparently no real background to judge him by. How could God do this? The answer is simple; God himself would be the one that would fulfill his promises in Abraham’s life, not Abraham.

When God calls you it will work out simply because God himself will fulfill his own words in your life. God is the ultimate starter and finisher. It does not mean it will be easy, but it will happen, like Abraham we are simply asked to believe!

Building a great Church – lessons from Jerusalem

What changed Jesus disciples from being doubtful and fearful to being bold evangelists and church builders? Luke tells us that on one occasion while Jesus was eating with them after his resurrection he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about”.

Jesus then takes them back three years starting with his baptism and his encounter with John the Baptist saying, “For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.” The disciples would have remembered Jesus baptism by John the Baptist and the dramatic events surrounding it. They would have remembered how the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

The result of this was that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and news about him spread through the whole countryside. Jesus was now promising his disciples the same Holy Spirit. Just before he ascended into heaven he said “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.

Building a great Church – lessons from Jerusalem

"What a dream that Manchester would be filled with the teaching of Jesus"

Nothing less than world mission was Jesus purpose for his disciples and we live in the slipstream of these words; “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” Acts 1:8.

Matthew records, that as Jesus said these words some of the disciples worshiped and others doubted. Strangely the fact that there was a mixed reaction to Jesus gives me lots of encouragement. Even after three years of quality time with Jesus and having seen Jesus do some incredible things, some of them were still struggling with doubt.

Despite this Jesus had total confidence that they would to be able to participate in this great commission. This was amply vindicated as they witnessed 3,000 and then 5,000 people saved in Jerusalem. Then this amazing statement would soon be made about these disciples, “you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” (Acts 5:28). What a dream that Manchester would be filled with the teaching of Jesus.

Our response should be one of faith, joy and hope in Jesus, and his ability to equip and use us to build a great church in Manchester, sending church planters to the farthest parts of the world.

By a prophet I shall lead them

"I am praying that the Acts of the Apostles would come alive for you"

Having just launching a new series from the Acts of the Apostles “Building a great Church – lessons from Jerusalem, I received an email from my Friend John Owen. The following is an extract –

“Colin, Strange thing just happened to me driving to KH (His office).

I Started to think about you and your preaching when we first came to Parrs Wood . You preached a lot on characters and their life journey - I particularly remember you preaching on Jacob and you being overwhelmed emotionally. You preached on other journeys David etc. Gideon was the one you were speaking on the first Sunday we came to the Church.

I just think you have a prophetic gift in focusing on a character and their journey. These things are important for you and you come alive - in that respect ACTS HAS IT ALL - the churches journey, the apostles journey , Peter’s & Paul’s especially and the HS incredibly at work - and it all starts with the Spirit and the outpouring of tongues - that thing that gripped you as a 17 year old.

I am praying that the Acts of the Apostles would come alive for you - and provoke you at the end of your sabbatical - when I was at Regents in 2004 I had a module on Mission - I came away thinking that times when I had seen the Spirit birth things in a similar pattern to Acts is when I had seen God work through you and what I had experienced in Manchester.”

Having ascertained that John had no idea about my plans to preach from Acts I found myself full of faith and energy to preach the following series from the first 6 chapters of Acts

“Building a great Church – lessons from Jerusalem
Sermon 1: Purpose
Sermon 2: Power
Sermon 3: Prayer
Sermon 4: Pentecost
Sermon 5: Preaching
Sermon 6: Passionate
Sermon 7: Possessions
Sermon 8: Potential
Sermon 9: Persecution
Sermon 10: Profile
Sermon 11: Pastoral
Sermon 12: Prize

Thoughts from last Sunday (by Seamus O’Brien)

"Our churches have be to places of welcome."

I have just come back from holiday and somebody lent me a book to read while I was away about the life of the famous evangelist George Whitefield (pictured, right).

He spent most of his life telling people about Jesus both in England and America in the early- to-mid part of the eighteenth century. What struck me about that period (nearly 300 years ago) was that you had a generation of people who had grown up who knew nothing about church or the life of Jesus. We live in similar times now, where the influence of the church on people’s lives is not as strong as it once was.

People are growing up in this country not knowing anything about the church or who Jesus was. Our challenge as a church is to present Christianity in a way that people will understand. Our churches have be to places of welcome.

Colin said on Sunday that it is very easy for Christians to become judgmental towards those who are newcomers in the Church and we try sometimes to mould them and make them like us. It is not our job to be making carbon copy Christians. Colin went on to say that it should only be the gospel itself that judges or causes people to change their lives.

I am very excited about the programme ahead, the season of praying in September and the new Eden team that will be starting in January but none of this will work unless we have a personal relationship with Jesus.

It is very easy as Christians to be busy in church with all the preparations but the most important thing is that we have a loving relationship with our Father because that is what matters.

George Whitefield had an incredible anointing and when he preached (through the power of Jesus Christ) lives were changed and people were healed. But the key to his anointing was his love for Jesus he loved to go away on his own and pray.

Waiting for the Spirit

"The modern church can easily get caught in the trap of ploughing ahead with programmes without waiting for the Holy Spirit"

We need to constantly remind ourselves about the fundamentals.

A fundamental for Christ Church Manchester is that we believe the Holy Spirit is vital to everything we do and everything that we are. In Acts 1 and 2 Jesus makes it very clear to the disciples that they need the Holy Spirit and that they must wait for the Holy Spirit before they attempt to do anything. When the Spirit turns up amazing things happen.

The events of Acts 1 and 2 are revolutionary. The Holy Spirit turned a scared, aimless and not particularly bright group of people into world changers. They started the church, saw incredible miracles, and reached Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and (eventually) the ends of the earth with the gospel.

We need to follow their example and wait for the Holy Spirit before we attempt to do anything. The modern church can easily get caught in the trap of ploughing ahead with programmes, events and strategies without waiting for the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirits prompting and anointing the church quickly becomes formulaic and irrelevant.

In short the church needs to wait for the Holy Spirit to anoint us like the disciples and then we need to follow his prompting as we try to take the gospel to Greater Manchester.

This is a brief summary of Tim Simmonds’ preach from Sunday 16 August.