I found myself struggling this week for a message.
Mainly due to being in the presence of really great
preachers at the ACC Conference.
Listening to all the advice they gave and testimony of
how they run their church and motivate their people.
Raising $60,000 dollars for Cancer research.
Walking into buildings of millionaire business men and
ending up being given the place for their church in one day.
Having 200 people turn up to the first prayer meeting.
I hear about the strategies that God has literally
"DOWNLOADED" to a person 20 years ago coming to fruition now.
Things that these Christian leaders have heard from
God about and listened and obeyed and are right now reaping an amazing harvest.
I was feeling extremely inspired as well as completely
out of my depth.
I wondered if everything I have heard God say to me
could turn out to be as successful as what it has for these guys?
Then I said to myself:
·
"But I am just a girl."
·
I said, " I am pretty young."
·
I said, "I have a pretty bad past."
·
I said, "I didn't finish High School."
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I said, "I don't think that much of myself so why
would others?"
And I began to get a bit discouraged...
But then I looked at the Word of God and:
IT SAYS (about me being just a girl): Galatians3:26 "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through
faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor
free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
IT SAYS (about me being too young): 1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers
an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."
IT
SAYS (about my past): Psalm 103:10 He does not
treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11For as high
as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear
him; 12as
far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from
us.
IT SAYS (about me not finishing High School): 2 Peter 1:3 His divine
power has given us everything we need for a
godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and
precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine
nature, having
escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
IT SAYS (about not having a puffed up idea of myself):
James 4:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
So now what is my excuse for having an inferiority
complex!?
Um coz I don't believe what the Word of God says?
Well I know that I believe the Word with every fibre
of my being.
There was a speaker there named, Martin Steel. He blew my mind. Although
everything he said resounded with what I already believe but just didn't have
the vocabulary to put it into words.
In a nut shell he talked about the leaders of the
church needing to start empowering there congregation to view their vocation as
their field of ministry.
He explained how many people think that working in a
church or for a church is the epitome of doing God's work, therefore being a
good Christian worker and successful Christian.
We know
that sounds wrong but it is easy to get caught up in a church that requires a
lot of commitment to all its programs and ministries. That is not The
Storehouse's call on you.
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·
Let me share with
you what our Vision is for this church again...
"To introduce people to Jesus Christ, to help them
grow to be more like him, and then to reproduce the process in others."
I know that vision cannot be completed through how
many people I can recruit to work in the building of the church.
But still we need the building of the church. We need
somewhere we can come together and be empowered to work toward the vision.
It starts to boggle my mind how big this job is when I
think about how this vision will be perpetuated.
And again I go back to the Word to encourage myself...
I am not too young, I am not just a girl, I have been called and
graced to be in this position right now.
__________________________________________________
I was at PMH on Thursday, in the outpatients waiting
room. AGAIN.
A lady with a file came to me and asked if I had heard
about the new way they were keeping medical records now. I said no. She
explained to me what it was and did I want to sign up.
Believe it or not I was saying to Steve a few years
ago now that the government should come up with a digital way of keeping
records as I was sick of telling the same medical story a million times to
different doctors.
Anyway she was filling in my details as I was
contemplating the size of the job - of converting all of peoples medical
history to a digital version. Wondering how far they would go back...
I said, "Gee this is gonna be a big job
hey!"
And she said something to me I still can't get out of
my head,
"Well
that is not my job or yours to worry about."
_____________________________________________
That was true, for that job as well as this job. Who's
job is it to build this church? Mine? Yours?
The answer to this worry came again from the ministry
of Ps Martin - at the conference.
Let's turn to Matthew 16:13
When
Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who
do people say the Son of Man is?”14 They
replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others
say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15 “But
what about you?” he
asked. “Who
do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered,
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus
replied, “Blessed
are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and
blood, but
by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and
on this rock I will
build my church, and
the gates of Hades[c] will
not overcome it.
So I said to God, so what am I supposed to do then, if
you're going to do everything?
He said, "Define the vision I have given you,
then work to the best of your ability."
"To introduce people to Jesus Christ, to help them
grow to be more like him, and then to reproduce the process in others."
Can you see how that vision is self perpetuating. It
is a never ending cycle. Once we have completed it once, it should start to
reproduce itself - gaining momentum the longer it goes on.
God has given us this vision for The Storehouse. So
how do we define our role as individuals in this grand scheme?
Another revelation through Ps Martin... we take what
is in our hand.
We look at where God has positioned us and we see that
as our mission field.
The Church Building is not every bodies mission field.
Also that a secular vocation is not everyone's calling
either.
Neither is more important that the other!
·
Think about
our vision:
We don't need to introduce people to Jesus - inside
the church. It is outside the church.
But we grow to become more like Him by attending the
church and learning His Word and being prayed for and supported in a fellowship
of other believers.
So there are INSIDE
THE CHURCH BUILDING jobs.
And there are OUTSIDE
THE CHURCH BUILDING jobs.
To achieving the full vision.
____________________________________________________
I don't want anybody here feeling like they are
obliged to work for me. You are not. You are however obliged to work with your
whole heart for the Lord.
How are we supposed to introduce Jesus to people if we
don't know Him ourselves! Our relationship with Him is of ultimate priority.
That means YOUR role is to spend time with Him.
Ladies who are not married, he is your husband. Now I
know that when you wake up, your husband is there the minute you open your
eyes. Treat the Lord like that.
Men, he is closer than a brother or a mate. He lives
with in you. Don't take on the day without connecting your heart with His.
This is MY role as your Pastor to encourage and equip
you in your relationship with Him.
I am defining my role very quickly because I want to
be effective fast. It was the reason I chose "Speed" as my drug of
choice. I wanted everything very quickly. LOL. Funny how it worked the
opposite.
I have heard many times that the Lord is going to do a
"quick" work ... or He will "quicken" something to happen
faster than usual.
I actually can't find any scripture that talks about
Him doing this... but if I draw on my personal life in Christ, I can see how
fast He can actually get things done.
Although, I think, this does depend on our level of
willingness to abide in Him.
I believe The Storehouse Church has had a
"quickening" to this point. We have moved very fast from conception,
to birth, to nurturing a living part of Christs body.
Now we must define our role (with a element of
flexibility) so that we can be effective in this vision.
I don't want to be doing a job that is better suited
to someone else, at the same time I want to do the job that Christ has CALLED
AND GRACED me to do - to the best of my ability.
I don't want you doing a job that you are not called
and graced to do.
It says in Ephesians 2:8 For it
is by grace you have been saved, through
faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by
works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we
are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
So there are actually "works" prepared - by
God - IN ADVANCE -for us to do.
Has anyone actually felt like they are smack bang in
the middle of doing the GOD prepared work? I wonder.
I heard it said, I think it was a professional cyclist
or marathon participant...
The good works that your Father has prepared you to do
in advance is like picking up the bicycle that is fit perfectly for your body -
height, weight etc. You will get on in and it will fit. You will be able to
reach the pedals and you will ride that bike like an extension of your body.
Have you ever got on a bike that was not built to your
specs? It is extremely awkward. Your back hurts and your hips hurt. You are not
comfortable and you really just wanna get off before you fall off.
This is what it feels like when you are doing the
works that have not been prepared for you.
The thing we have to remember - like cycling - it
still requires work. It still requires you to be motivated and enthusiastic and
willing.
The works God has prepared will still require
commitment and determination and an expelling of your energy. You do not get to
check out thinking that God will do it all through you.
You must pedal.
Will you pedal YOUR
BIKE - alongside me - to
work toward the introducing people to Jesus, growing to become more like Him
and then replicating that process in others?
Ps Nikki x
