THE POWER OF VISION

How to Have a Vision for Your Life From Start To Finish

How did Steven Spielberg direct and produce so many movies as successful as Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Jaws or even his latest War Horse? How does Adele write world-class music in an era when very few elite performers pen their own lyrics? How does Pixar keep churning out their animated blockbusters?

The answers all involve vision. The best leaders are able to see a vision and then activate it by stepping forward. In addition, they’re willing to sacrifice to see the vision come to fruition. Finally, they realize the importance of surrounding themselves and their vision with an incredible team.

1. See the Vision
Many people don’t jumpstart their lives because they don’t see anything to jump to! They plod along through life with little more than survival in mind. Visionaries dare to dream. They peer into the future and generate possibilities in their mind’s eye.

“The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes” ~Marcel Proust

The legendary sculptor, Michelangelo claimed that as he looked into the stone, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” His imagination had already created his masterpieces before his hands did the work.

2. Step Toward the Vision
Some people see the vision, but they never step toward it. They cannot seem to summon the courage to overcome their fear, or they cannot find the passion to get past their apathy. As a consequence, their vision sits on the shelf until it spoils, or until someone else takes initiative to claim it.

Let me put it this way. “Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.”

More than two months before Alexander Graham Bell submitted his patent for the telegraph, Elisha Gray had already arrived at the conclusion that voice could be transmitted over a telegraph wire. Why, then, is Elisha Gray anonymous and Alexander Bell a celebrated inventor? Because Gray procrastinated two months before putting his vision on paper. Then, when he finally finished his sketch, Gray delayed another four days before taking it to the patent office. When he finally made up his mind to go, he arrived two hours too late. Bell had already secured the patent, and Gray’s idea was worthless.

3. Sacrifice for the Vision
Visionaries give up to go up. They bypass good enough to gain at shot at better or even best. If they fail, at least they go out swinging. Visionaries don’t fear failure; they only fear losing out on opportunity.

In an effort to break into the U.S. market, Cirque Du Soleil founder, Guy Laliberte, took his entire troupe from Montreal to Los Angeles. At the time, Cirque was a budding act that was barely breaking even. As legend has it, the circus did not even have gas money to return home if the show flopped. Laliberte had leveraged every resource at his disposal for the opportunity to achieve his vision of striking it rich in the United States. Thankfully for everyone involved, the show was a smash hit. Cirque Du Soleil’s success catapulted it forward in terms of recognition on the entertainment scene.

4. Seek Help for the Vision
Teamwork makes the dream work. If you can achieve your vision by flying solo, then chances are you’re not doing anything worthwhile. A big dream requires a talented team in order to take root in reality.

Wilt Chamberlain was one of the most gifted athletes to ever set foot on a basketball court. He holds the NBA record for most points in a game (100), most rebounds in a game (55), and the highest scoring average for a season (50.4 points per game). However, Wilt was so talented that he had trouble meshing with his teammates. At one point, coaches even advised him to shoot less so that other players could be involved.

Despite his exceptional abilities, Wilt never won a championship whiles the star player of his team. However, he did eventually learn to become an unselfish player. As his point totals declined, he became better and better at setting up teammates to score. Well past the prime of his career, Wilt finally won in achieving his vision of winning a title. As a role player for the Los Angeles Lakers, he captured two NBA championships. His growth as a teammate made him an invaluable asset even though his athleticism had diminished from its peak.

“A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.”

2011 in review

Here is the WordPress annual stats report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 30,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 11 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

A REVELATION: THE BATTLE BETWEEN OUR TECHNOLOGY AND OUR HUMANITY

IS OUR TECHNOLOGY MUTING OUR PERSONAL HUMANITY?

At a specific time in history, God put on human form as we might put on an overcoat. He came in a form we can understand. He heard the cry of our heart for revelation and said, ‘This is what I’m like.’

In today’s world, however, many people are robbed of the chance to discover God even during this Christmas season. They are offered a bit of historical information about the manger scene without the glorious revelation of why He came. So often information triumphs over revelation. This gives rise to a society that is built on technology without truth.

The major claim to acceptance of any new technology is that ‘it works’. Technological development is based on pragmatism, on getting practical results. We buy into new technologies because they give us helpful new techniques for doing everyday things.

Traditionally, technologies came into existence in response to human need. Tools existed because we needed them. We accepted new technologies because they clearly made our lives better. In our time, though, many new techniques exist only because the technology is there to make them possible. In other words, the technology often runs ahead of our ability to decide if it is helpful or not!

In many cases, there is very little discussion about where technology is taking us over all, or about what specific technologies might mean to our basic humanity or our environment. At the moment, for example, there are not too many people who think that human cloning would be a good idea, but few there are very few realists who do not foresee a time when it will not be happening at some level.

Technology thrives on pragmatism and that’s fine, up to a point. We generally love it when we find gadgets that will do things better, faster and more economically. Yet pragmatism on its own can sometimes work against truth. The Bible puts it like this:

‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.’ (Proverbs 14:12)

Sometimes a man-made solution to a problem may seem to work, but it may lead to spiritual and even physical ruin down the road. Only revelation can provide the objective bedrock on which we can base healthy debates on the moral implications of technologies like cloning or gene therapy.

Of course, new technologies have brought with them some great benefits. To say, as some Christians seem to do, that we should fear technology just because it represents change is ridiculous.

Industrial technologies, for example, have enabled us to produce more. In the 1800s, one farmer could produce enough food for about four people. With machinery and fertilizers, one farmer can now produce enough food for about one hundred people.

More recently, information technology has begun to dramatically change the way we buy and sell and even the way we form relationships. Many of us have come to rely on our PDAs  (cell phones, tablets and laptops). For us, they’re more tools than toys. We’ve already seen amazing things, but information technology is still only taking its first baby steps.

With all the desirable effects of technology, though, there are obviously downsides. Environmental pollution and the depletion of natural resources are good examples. Fossil fuels are being used up at a rapid rate and freeways, factories and junkyards clutter up the landscape.

Some psychologists and sociologists are now talking about a new phenomenon they call ‘technological alienation’. The word ‘alienation’ simply means a sense of powerlessness and estrangement. The rapid growth in our reliance on technology does sometimes contribute to alienation between people groups, by, for example, boosting the advantage one group or nation has over another (the technological haves verses the have nots).

In some ways, there’s an even more dangerous kind of alienation — alienation from ourselves. At the most fundamental level, what we are facing today is, in many ways, a battle between our technology and our humanity. There’s a tug of war going on between what we feel in our conscience to be right and what is made possible by modern science.

Jacques Ellul wrote that technology has taken over from Christian faith as the most sacred thing in our western society. Once we couldn’t live without God, but today we can’t live without gadgets.

We’ve invited technology into our workplaces, then into our homes, and now even into our bodies. Before long, medicos will be able to inject tiny robots (‘nanobots’) into your blood stream, to help heal you of your ailments.

Many people today live as if they take it for granted that our technology can, at least in time, meet all our most important needs. But can it?

In the natural world, the principle of entropy says that any natural system left to itself, without any outside energy source, tends to wind down. If I take a kettle of water and plug it into an electric socket and turn it on, it will gradually come to the boil. Once I turn off the power, though, it quickly cools again. Its energy winds down.

It’s the same with us on a spiritual or moral level. Without a constant input of revelation, of truth that is based on God’s character, we tend to sink toward the lowest common denominator.

Without revelation, we will go on making the same mistakes as we have always made. Only as time goes by and our technological power grows, we will make those mistakes on an even bigger scale.

Revelation does not work against technology; it helps us keep technology in check. It helps us ensure that technology remains our servant and never becomes our master.

So as you engage in the Christmas season, giving & receiving, loving & laughing and eating & treating remember to take the time to download some biblical revelation and put your personal technologies in their proper place. Enjoy the human interaction and ponder the divine revelation of why He came and maybe you will receive something truly meaningful to text, tweet or blog about.

BUILDING BRIDGES NOT BURNING BRIDGES

Let’s Build Bridges to Reach Today’s Generation

It’s a real challenge to reach our culture today. In my 25 plus years of ministry, I have never seen greater Bible illiteracy.

There was a time when you could assume most people had a general idea of the Bible. If you were talking with someone and made a reference to Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, Noah and his ark, or even Jesus Christ, they would have a sense of what or who you were referring to.

Not anymore. People are largely oblivious to the Bible, not only as God’s Word but even as great literature. The obsession of some to implement the “separation of church and state” has contributed to this illiteracy concerning God’s Word.

When I present the gospel today—especially to younger people—I can no longer assume that they understand what I mean when I say something along the lines of, “You need to repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus and become His disciple!” They might wonder what it means to repent, or even what sin is.

Our challenge as believers in reaching this post-modern generation is to make sense without compromising our message.

By the way, I think way too much is made of the whole modern/post-modern generational issue. There are some valid things to know about each group, but let’s not forget that the essential gospel message does not change. The gospel that the apostles delivered in the first century still resonates with the twenty-first century.

But we still need to adapt and become, as Paul said, “all things to all men.” Paul said: “I have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with the Jews, I became one of them so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with the Gentiles who do not have the Jewish law, I fit in with them as much as I can. In this way I gain their confidence and bring them to Christ. Yes , I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ.” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Note that Paul says, “I fit in with them as much as I can.” There is a place to draw the line when you are around people who have differing or contrary beliefs to your own. We want to be careful to try to influence them more than they are influencing us.

Sometimes, in an attempt to “relate” to people who do not believe in Christ, Christians will make unnecessary compromises. Listen, if you become too much like them, they will never want to become like you. Let’s reach people, but let’s also stand our ground and hold to our principles as followers of Jesus.

Some may want to rationalize compromise in their life as a Christian by protesting, “Well, Jesus hung around sinners!” That is not really true. Jesus did not “hang around sinners,” for the most part. Actually, He “hung around” his disciples when He was not teaching.

When Jesus was with sinners who were separated from God, they did not stay that way for long.

He confronted the woman at the well about her sin. Sure, He loved her, but he pointed out she was living in sin with a man at present. She also came to faith after that.

Yes, Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery, but it was only after she called Him “Lord.” Even then, He said to her, “Go, and sin no more. . . “

When he went into the home of the notorious and despised tax collector named Zacchaeus, the little guy emerged transformed.

So, let’s work on building bridges to our lost world, not burning bridges.

At the same time, let’s not lower our standards in order to extend our reach.

EXCHANGE: TURN YOUR MESSES INTO MESSAGES

What Do You Mean By Turning Messes into Messages?

Sometimes people create a big mess: addiction, debt, divorce, etc. God wants good things for us. He desires to take our messes and redeem us, to make something wonderful, even out of our mistakes.

On the other hand some people today seem to believe that if they can appear successful or achieve fame or be some kind of celebrity in their world, they will lead a really significant life. Then there are others who feel that only great riches make you important. But celebrity is largely about a false image and image alone can be dangerous! It works against the power of truth.

 

John 8:32 ’Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

 

They’ve told our generation that we are children of monkeys — then they wonder why people act like animals. They’ve told us that there is no right to wrong — then they wonder why people look confused. They tell us that there is no heaven or hell — and they wonder why people just live for the moment. They tell us that there is no higher purpose in this life — and they wonder why we have a problem with suicide! The simple fact is, you and I possess something that no animal has: the drive to be significant, to be somebody, to have influence. It’s in our wiring. We were designed to change our environment more than it changes us! Don’t settle for less. Seek after God with all your heart and watch your life take on a new dimension.

Sometimes people create a big mess, sometimes people settle for less, but our God can deliver us from both and bring us into good success.

 

Isaiah 37.20 “Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

 

If you find yourself in a mess, do what Isaiah did: take it to the Lord and ask him for help and healing. Watch Him turn your life of messes into a life of true successes. That will be your personal message of redemption that others will notice.

 

Prayer: ‘Father, I don’t need fame, fortune or friends to be successful or significant. Help me not to be drawn into a life of empty role-playing. Help me to be real and honest even in my messes. Let my life not be based false pretences, on something shaky and uncertain, but on the truth of who you are and who I am meant to be.’

RUST NEVER SLEEPS

Rust never sleeps and sometimes I don’t either. We have a fairly new leased (or as Dave Ramsay says ‘fleeced’) car and it is showing signs of age already. Of all the things that could wear out on a vehicle our window frames are rusting. Now this article isn’t about the pros and cons of a new car or leasing per-say it is about how new things lose their ‘gleam’ so quickly and how easy it is to become discontent with things.

“For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”—Philippians 4:11

If we can learn how to be content in these very uncertain times we will know something very important.

Contentment, quite simply, means satisfaction, being at ease and at peace with one’s situation. We also might define it as “being comfortable in one’s own skin.”

We might think we know where contentment comes from. We may think it comes from affluence – from having plenty of money. John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men of his day, and who had a net worth of $100 million, was once asked, “How much wealth does it take to be happy?” He answered, “Another million dollars.”

A person with six kids is more content than a person with $6 million. Why? Because the person with $6 million wants more! (That was a poor attempt at humour)

Anyways, the thing about money is, no matter how much we have, we think we need more.

We may think contentment comes from achievement. If we earn one more degree, get one more promotion, then we’ll be content.

Or we may think contentment can be found in acquisitions – from getting things on our “wish list.” A new house, a new car, a new boat, a vacation home – that will make us feel content.

But contentment seldom comes from affluence, achievement, or acquisitions. Paul learned that lesson.

Paul was one of the most ambitious men in the Bible. He was driven to succeed, to excel. And he had accomplished quite a lot in his life before he met the risen Christ. He lists some of his accomplishments in the third chapter of Philippians. (Check it out)
But he had also suffered a lot as an apostle and as a follower of Jesus Christ. He had suffered vicious beatings, shipwrecks, and being thrown in prison. But he could still write these words:

“I have learned to be content.”

Paul had discovered the secret of contentment. The secret was not found in external experience. He learned that contentment is an inside job.

Paul made this discovery: Contentment is not a matter of affluence, achievement, or acquisitions. Contentment is a matter of attitude.

The translator of The Message Bible explains it this way.

Philippians 4:10-13 “I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”

I have also learned to be content. It sucks that my Jetta is rusting in weird places but really it’s just a car. When I was younger there was a band called ‘Elim Hall’ I liked their music a lot and once I met the band members I really liked them personally as well. They came out with a recording called “Things Break”. It made an impression on me that has lasted all these years. Bottom line: Stuff is temporal. When I wrap my heart and attitude around that and put my thoughts towards people and the things unseen. I find contentment, I find calm, I find the Kingdom.

I think that is why Jesus said so clearly to put treasures in the heavenly realm where moth and rust have no affect.

On earth rust may not sleep but in heaven rust is deceased.

 

IS THIS THE LAST GENERATION TO PURPOSEFULLY FOLLOW CHRIST?

The Concern

Is this the last Christian generation in North America? Mark Oestreicher of Youth Specialties stated recently in Christianity Today, “There are a lot of people who’ve had this nagging sense that we’re missing the mark somehow . . . teens seem happy and willing to attend, and engage in our ministries, but five years from now, when they’re in college or post-college, they just really aren’t connecting with real faith, let alone church.”

I know what you are thinking: “This is not new.” Of course, I agree.

However, some believe it has reached a dangerous new level. This upswing prompted Josh McDowell to co-write a new book with Dave Bellis. Josh states, “the decision to call this [book] The Last Christian Generation was not made lightly nor was it done for sensationalism. I sincerely believe unless something is done now to change the spiritual state of our young people – you will become the last Christian generation!”(1)

Is Josh’s concern justified? Will this trend correct itself or will we follow in the secular footsteps of Western Europe?

How are we doing at converting church involvement by teens into a lifelong relationship with Christ? A 2006 study indicates that over eighty percent of today’s teens attend church for a period of at least two months during their teenage years. What an opportunity! The bad news is that only one out of four of those ‘churched’ youth are still spiritually engaged by age twenty-nine;(2) that is, they are still actively attending church, reading the Bible, or praying. In comparison, roughly twice as many adults in their forties are spiritually engaged.

An earlier study looked at the beliefs of teens involved in evangelical churches. Over two-thirds of these young people believe:

• that there is no absolute moral truth
• that Christianity is about showing bad people how to live better
• that there is no way to tell which religion is true
• that Jesus is not the Son of the one true God

And, over half believe that Jesus did not rise from the dead. What?

Is it any wonder that these young people readily abandon their Christian involvement when confronted with a hostile culture?

Possible Causes

Let’s consider some potential causes why 3 out of 4 ‘churched’ teens become disengaged from Christianity during their twenties.

One cause may be the way we define and measure youth ministry. As adults abdicate their training responsibility, our youth are isolated as their own congregation. The measure of success is numerical attendance rather than instilling a life long discipline for spiritual growth. Church becomes a series of fun activities interspersed with encouragement to avoid risky behaviors.

A second factor is primarily teaching topical lessons about  the Christian faith rather than laying a strong foundation of truth. As our teens move into college, professors, peers, and the popular media all portray authentic Christianity in a negative light. It takes a strong foundation to choose to endure hostility when one can adopt a so-called “private faith” and avoid the confrontation. As you know, soldiers participate in exercises simulating the most effective tactics of their opponents before being sent onto the battlefield. Yet, in training our teens, we often avoid exposing them to the tough questions in case some of them are put off by the experience.

A third factor is allowing teens to be content with a second-hand faith. In Joshua, we learn that “Israel served the LORD . . . all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD” (24:31). After these elders who had personally experienced the Lord died, most in Israel fell away from serving God. More recently, during the Welsh revival of 1904, over 100,000 conversions were recorded in less than five months. The impact was so pervasive that police duties were reduced to providing quartets for prayer meetings. A century later, church attendance in Wales is at an all-time low. Only nineteen percent of UK teenagers say they had a religious faith. Luis Palau summed up the Welsh experience by noting, “God has no grandchildren.” Teens who attend church to live out their parents’ faith find it easy to leave the faith to conform to the expectations of their new authority figures.

A new factor, somewhat unique to today’s culture is a “distorted worldview filter” unwittingly adopted by many youth and adults. This filter tells them:

• Truth is relative, not absolute.
• Science and spirituality are at odds.
• Science confirms that I am nothing but insignificant dirt.
• An irrational, spiritual tradition can help me cope with this harsh reality.
• However, I am in no position to critically evaluate someone else’s tradition.

With this distorted filter in place, even solid biblical teaching can leave teens unprepared to stand firm in their faith.

The book “The Last Christian Generation” lists some of the concepts distorted by this filter, for example:

• Truth now means whatever is right for you.
• Tolerance means accepting that each individual’s values and lifestyles are equally valid.
• Moral judgments mean bigoted attitudes we have no right to hold.

Many teens are synthesizing Christian teaching and popular culture into a new personal religion. In their 2005 book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, (3) the authors found that religious teens tend to hold a vague group of functionally religious beliefs the authors termed “moralistic therapeutic deism.” Its key tenets are:

• God is distant and uninvolved in daily life.
• But I can call on God as a “cosmic therapist” when I have a problem.
• My purpose is to be happy and feel good about myself.
• If I avoid being an intolerant jerk, I will go to heaven.

Although these beliefs could be considered theistic, they definitely are not evangelical Christianity.

What happens when these beliefs are put to the test? I’ve known Julie (not her real name) all her life. Julie consistently attended youth group. She was also tuned into the popular culture. When her circumstances disappointed her, she turned to God as her “therapist.” When He did not change her circumstances to suit her, she decided that God was not worth her time. Instead, she chose to escape her circumstances through drugs. She had distorted the truth into a perversion that prevented her from having a solid relationship with her Creator.

Potential Solutions

How should we respond to this disturbing trend?

Historically, much of youth ministry has been about getting the crowd in the door and keeping them involved. Recent studies show we are doing a good job at this function. But we are not doing well if we measure success by how many are still actively involved through their twenties. If the problem is not getting them in the door, it must be in what is happening once they are involved.

Josh McDowell suggests that we need to readjust both what is being taught and how it is being taught.

What should we teach? Although we should not ignore behavioral issues such as sex, drugs, etc., McDowell calls us to help our teens see the reality of God. If there is a God, it is of paramount importance that we seek to know absolute Truth with a capital T. Consistent with everything the tools of modern science can observe about our universe, they have rational reasons to believe that God has revealed Himself to us through His Word.

McDowell and Bellis suggest teens must learn to know Him as the God of redemption, relationships, and restoration. A clear understanding of each of these aspects serves an important role in countering the tenets of today’s teen religion which I call “iPod faith” (choosing what we like or deleting what we don’t like based on our own preferences) which we define as “moralistic therapeutic deism”:

• Knowing the God of redemption tells them that good people don’t go to heaven; redeemed people go to heaven. Our definition of good is so shallow compared to a transcendent, holy God. We must rely on Him for redemption.
• Knowing the God of relationships tells them God is not a cosmic therapist, but a personal heavenly Father, intimately involved in all aspects of life.
• Knowing the God of restoration highlights that our earthly life is a brief precursor to eternity. This truth changes our central goal to creating eternal value in Christ.

Youth who can articulate these truths have taken a big step to repairing their distorted worldview filter.

Christianity is often communicated as a set of behavior rules covering one topic at a time, rather than as a deep relationship emulating the character of our heavenly Father. Bits of knowledge and rules for behavior are not a comprehensive worldview.

So how does this affect us in our local church setting?
The entire inter-generational community is modeling their faith and articulating their biblical worldview. For this model to work, parents and youth leaders, together, must continually express their reasons for believing that Jesus is the truth in a world that says there is no truth. Teens must experience a community of faith willing to trade in a life purpose of being happy for a life purpose of building eternal value through serving Jesus.

This may sound like a daunting task, but when I see the heart of our ‘Bethel Church’ youth ministry directors (Mike & Judy) and the other capable and committed youth leaders I say there is hope and future generations will benefit because of it.

The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet… but I believe God has called all of us to be a part of responding to this challenge. So my answer to the titled question is NO, this is not the last generation to purposefully follow Christ.

 

Notes

1. Josh McDowell & David Bellis, The Last Christian Generation (Holiday, Fla.: Green Key Books, 2006).
2. “Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years,” The Barna Update, Sept. 11, 2006, http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/16-teensnext-gen/147-most-twentysomethings-put-christianity-on-the-shelf-following-spiritually-active-teen-years.
3. Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2005).
4. Bruce Murray, “Understanding the Religious and Spiritual Lives of Teenagers,” FACSNET, www.facsnet.org/issues/faith/youth.php.

LIFE. TOGETHER

I’ve often been described as “dynamic” and a “go-getter” Mostly on my CV. Most Small Group Ministries are similar. On paper they seem like a grand idea but in reality what they promote compared to what they produce are very different.

Let’s keep it simple.

A community group is a gathering of people from the church that get together weekly to share life and support one another. Life is hard. It was never meant to be lived in isolation. Community is a gift of God intended to help us see and experience the good news of Jesus in profound and tangible ways. If you are new to the church this the perfect place for you to belong, ask questions, and wrestle with your faith in a community of people who care for you, not because your life is together, but because you are created in the image of God. It is within community that we exist as true family in a time when the concept of a loving and caring family can seem foreign. It is a place where we encourage and challenge one another in our journey to know Jesus in deeper and more personal ways. In Small Groups, people talk through life issues, eat together, pray together, laugh together, struggle together, and serve others as we are transformed by the grace of God in our lives.

WHY ARE SMALL GROUPS SO IMPORTANT?

Getting connected at our church [Bethel]  means participating in both the Sunday gathering and a community Small Group. Sundays are a time for celebrating in worship of Jesus together, hearing the preaching of the Word, and sharing in Communion. Small Groups are the place where the seeds of the preached Word take root and become real. It is the place where we build relationships with one another and live life. Together.

As well, it is within the groups within the neighbourhoods of our city, towns and villages that we can participate in the work that God has called us to as a church. Our groups are an opportunity to love and bless the our neighbours in unique ways.

We want you to identify with the mission and vision of our church in context where you worship, serve and participate in community. For most that will coincide with where you live and the small group that is the closest. We discourage people from attending our church and participating in a community of another as that disconnects community from the mission. We would like to encourage you to consider where God has called you to participate and join in the mission of Bethel Church and plant roots there in attendance, service and community.

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT WHEN I GO?

Each Group is unique as the group reflects the neighbourhood in which it exists. However, you can expect a weekly or bi-weekly gathering that involves food, conversation, prayer, discussion for applying the Bible to practical living, and service in the neighbourhood. Bethel Small Groups are an environment for building relationships with one another, which strongly emphasizes challenging one another to drive God’s Word deeply into our lives. Most Groups follow the Sunday sermon series; although some may choose to work through another book of the Bible or topic related study. Small Groups are much more than a Bible study however, they are community, a place where we can laugh, cry, work and play together for the glory of Jesus. This means you could expect BBQ’s, yard work for an elderly neighbour, bowling, working together in children’s ministry, visiting people in the hospital, birthday parties, etc. in other words “Life. Together”.

GOD WILL PROTECT YOU

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Proverbs 30:5 (NIV) Historian Stephen Ambrose says that during World War II, “The Allied bombers bristled with machine guns, in the nose, under the belly, on top, in the rear.” He reports the workhorse of the air war was the B-17 bomber, known as the “Flying Fortress” because it carried thirteen .50 caliber machine guns. Surprisingly, scientific testing suggested the B-17 would be safer without the guns. Without the weight of the guns and the crew members required to shoot them, the planes could fly faster and higher, increasing the chance of survival during daylight missions. But the pilots said there was no way they were going on a mission without guns mounted on the plane. They wanted to be able to shoot back. We make the same choice when it comes to our own battles. God tells us we don’t need the guns; we can soar higher and faster with him. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does” (2 Corinthians 10:3 NIV). God says the weapons he will give us “have divine power to demolish strongholds,” and we no longer need to use the “weapons of the world” (2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV). But we say, “No thanks. We have to shoot back!” and defend ourselves with an arsenal of angry words, demanding attitudes, manipulative maneuvers, excessive excuses, and bombs of blame. It takes faith to stop using these weapons of the flesh and instead “take up the shield of faith” and arm ourselves with the weapons of God, starting with the bomb of love (Ephesians 6:16 NIV). It’s the kind of faith David showed when he approached Goliath, saying, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45 NIV). Could God’s spiritual arsenal defend you as well? “He is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Proverbs 30:5 NIV). Proverbs 18:10 (NASB) “The name of the LORD is a strong tower;The righteous runs into it and is safe.” .

UNSTOPPABLE FAITH

The Acts of the Apostles

Act 9

Saul was on the way to destroy children of the WAY but later on God put him in the same WAY to destroy the schemes of darkness. All power has to bow down before the power from above. That’s why Acts of Apostles is also called has “The PowerBook” of the Bible.

Verses 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

It was in fact the children of God who was persecuted but if you look and see the Lord identifies himself with His people. Jesus wept when his loved ones cried, in the previous chapters we have seen that when one was stoned, Jesus stood for Him. He show kindness to the crying ones and stands for the helpless. The Psalmist says that ‘ Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered’ When the whole world stands against the saints, God stands for the saints so we conclude here that ‘ If God is with us who can be against us’ in other words if God is with us it doesn’t matter who is against us.

Verses 10-11In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

This proves that Ananias was praying man; He saw a vision while he was praying. Praying men & women will hear the voice of God, they will receive instructions from the Lord, they will receive guidance from the Lord, and a praying man or woman will obey the Lord. Prayer can do wonders. One king saw a dream but he forgot what he saw but God revealed the dream to a praying man- Daniel. God told to Ananias to go to the house of Judas and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. This was the testimony of God about Saul. God found Saul has praying. What will God testimony about us? Oh, there she is gossiping, oh there he is fighting for the chair.

Saul heard and obeyed the voice of the Lord and now he is known as praying and seeing visions. Obedience and humility are the main ingredients for growing in the Lord. The moment we obey, God starts His works in us. This is the moral of this book ‘The Acts of Apostles’. Samaritan women threw her pot and ran to the town and proclaimed Christ. She became the evangelist in the town of Samaria and many believed and came to Christ because of her. She does not have past experience with Christ but she decided to leave her old life and run towards the voice of God. Our past experience in the Lord does not count at all for the work of God but it is obeying the voice of the Lord and walking with him day by day that counts.

Verses 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel

Saul was the vessel of this world but he was broken down completely and made into a new vessel now he is no more a vessel of law but he is a vessel of God. The old vessel was broken down with its old form, now no more it is the old thing that’s why God said to Ananias “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name”. This is the message for everyone who is called according to His will. We are His vessel to carry His name…Let us not carry the things of this world but carry Him who carried us. That’s why Paul always liked him to mention as prisoner of Christ.

Verses 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized

Ananias laid his hands on Saul and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately Scales of tradition started falling from the eyes of Saul. No one can open the blind eyes by his/her effort but it is by the power of Holy Spirit the scales will be removed. Saul was zealous for the law and he would do anything for the truth he knows but when the power from above was upon him every scale that was hindering him to receive the knowledge of God started falling away. Scales of tradition, darkness or evil cannot stand before the power of Holy Spirit. All will fall.

Verses 36-40 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

Tabitha is dead so she cannot have the faith but the faith of Peter matters much here. How much faith he should have to raise this dead woman? What did peter do? I want to show 3 things out of these verses

1)Peter sent them all out of the room
2)He got down on his knees and prayed
3)Turning toward the dead woman, he said “ Tabitha Get up”

House was full of people who never expected Tabitha to come back to life. It was impossible in their eyes but here is the man of God who believes she will come back and he knows nothing is impossible for God.
So first the believing Peter cast all doubters out of the room. This is what we need to do….if you find any doubt in you first cast it out through the promise of Word. Now the house which was full of doubters is now full of faith. Secondly, Peter got down on his knees and prayed…There is nothing impossible for a person who kneels before God. Prayer is talking to God. Peter knelt before God and laid his situation before the throne of mercy. Thirdly, He turned toward the dead woman and spoke the words of unstoppable faith. He never turned toward the dead initially but he turned toward God. These verses teach us to not look at the situation first for your answer. Here is the secret key before turning toward your dead situation turn toward to God, pray and receive the miracle.