7 Signs of a Healthy Church - Seeking to find out what God wants

Sermon preached by the Revd Phill Ball on Sunday 17 May 2015 

You know, sometimes we can give a wrong impression. How often do we talk to one another and speak of ‘our church’, or tell those outside the fellowship about ‘my church’. What we’re actually meaning when we say this is ‘the church that we belong to’, but what we are literally saying is ‘the church that belongs to us’.

Now, you may think I’m being a little pedantic here and I know it certainly sounds that way, but there is a serious point to it: there’s a danger that the longer we go on talking about ‘my church’ and ‘our church’, the more likely we will begin to think of it as ‘the church that belongs to me, or us’, rather than the other way around. And when that happens there is a real likelihood that our own agenda will become the agenda of the church and that would be unhealthy.

What we need to be mindful of at all times is that, fundamentally and ultimately, the Church is God’s Church – it, and we, belong to Him. Jesus Christ died for His Church – it is His much more than it is ours. Of course, I don’t want us all to stop completely talking of ‘my church’ and ‘our church’, but it is essential we remember that, first and foremost, it’s God’s Church and that it’s His agenda we must seek to discover.

At the moment, we as a church are considering the 7 signs of a healthy church and, in previous weeks, we have suggested that a healthy church is one that is ‘energised by faith’ and that has ‘an outward-looking focus’. This morning, I’m going to add a third sign: that is, a healthy church is one that seeks to find out what God wants – with the emphasis firmly upon God.

I think there are four elements to this desire to discover God’s will. First of all, it would seem that a healthy church …

seeks to explore what God wants it to be and to do.

Notice the significance of that: what you are is as important as what you do. As individuals, we can be highly motivated Christians that try to do everything: door-to-door evangelism; children’s work; welcoming at the front door on Sunday mornings; minute-taking at meetings; leading a house group; and so on; as well as looking after home and family. The only problem is we may well be so busy doing things that we have no time to think about our being – that is, about who we are before God.

If, instead, we would start off by considering who we are – that is, how God has made us, how He has gifted us, and to what He has called us – then we might find we are doing much less, yet being much more effective.

The same applies to churches: we can build up an extremely busy and impressive roster of events, groups and activities; and yet lose touch with who we are before God. Whole fellowships – just like individuals – first need to seek God’s will for their ministry and then act in accordance with what they discover. This doesn’t mean that a church should go through a period of complete inactivity, but rather that it must ensure that opportunities to listen for the voice of God are not crowded out by periods of non-stop activity.

Jesus, as ever, provides the perfect example for us. In Luke’s Gospel, we read that Jesus went up a mountain to pray by Himself and ended up praying all night – and when I say ‘praying’, I don’t mean that He just spoke out His own prayers … I’m sure He also spent lots of time listening to His Father’s voice. When He came down the mountain, look what He did:

first, He chose 12 of His many followers to be apostles, who would continue His work after His death;

then, He healed many sick people who crowded around Him;

and, after that, He delivered arguably the most important teaching session of His entire ministry.

All this is more than mere coincidence, believe me. Jesus is very focussed precisely because He has taken time out to hear God’s voice – as a result, He is sure of who He is and certain of what He is called to.

Who appoints the apostles from  (apóstolos), meaning "one who is sent away",[1] is a messenger and ambassador of God, you and me in effect- God does.

We might also remember the Mary and Martha episode, in which busy, busy, oh-so-busy Martha complains to Jesus because Mary is just sitting and listening to Him. But Jesus doesn’t agree with Martha and suggests that Mary has found the better way. The point is that there is a time for doing - indeed there’ll plenty of time to be busy with whatever we are called to do – but that time will emerge out of a willingness first to listen to what God is saying to us.

As a fellowship, we must listen for God speaking to us; we must seek to find out what God wants us to be and what He is calling us to do – through personal and corporate prayer, through conversation and consultation, in an unhurried and unpressured manner. As Robert Warren has put it, we need “the courage to seek to discover what God is calling this church at this time to be and to do in this place.”

Second, a healthy church …

has a shared vision of where it is going

In other words, in a healthy church there will be a vision of where God is calling that church, and it will be a vision which is owned by the whole fellowship.

So, first of all: that vision must come from God, and should not be of purely human invention. The King James Version of the Bible says in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”, but the word translated ‘vision’ actually means ‘following the guidance of God’. It’s God’s guidance which is critical in this.

Now, of course, vision for a Christian fellowship may first be given through a church leader – in the Bible, we see numerous examples of God using a human agent to guide His people.

Moses (Simon) is a prime example of this: God spoke through Moses (and his more flawed sidekick Aaron)(ME) in order to communicate to the Israelites the vision of a free Israel living in the Promised Land and He equipped Moses to lead them through the wilderness.

Nehemiah is another great example: God worked through Nehemiah to share the vision of rebuilt city walls with the inhabitants of Jerusalem and, when they were suitably enthused, they went ahead and got the job done.

So, vision may come through an individual, but then the really critical factor is that this vision is affirmed and owned by God’s people. If the Israelites hadn’t seen that God was in it, they wouldn’t have followed Moses into the wilderness; and if the people of Jerusalem hadn’t recognised that God was behind the project they wouldn’t have worked so effectively to rebuild the city walls. If God isn’t in St Martins, who will follow Simon Faithfully?

The healthy church, then, has a shared vision of where it is going and is able to communicate it to others. This ability to communicate vision to others is essential, because it may well attract like-minded people from outside the fellowship to come along and participate.

The third point is that the healthy church …

acts upon what God reveals

Hearing from God is one thing - putting what He says into action is another! Just think of the story of Jonah: God commissioned Jonah to go to Nineveh to deliver a prophecy of judgement and what did Jonah do? He ran away in the opposite direction. It was only later – after being thrown overboard into the sea, swallowed by a huge fish and vomited up – that he was obedient.

Now, I don’t think there are many churches around that would behave like Jonah did, but there are probably a few that are given a vision and then are slow to take it any further.

Prayer and Vision without action, and in that order is worthless.

Healthy churches receive the vision, own it and then set themselves goals to put it into action – immediate goals and long-term goals. When we are sure that God has spoken to us, we must take it seriously and take whatever steps are necessary to put His word into action.

The final point I’ll make this morning is that the healthy church …

is prepared to make sacrifices to do God’s will

Just take the church at Smyrna that Jesus addresses in Revelation, chapter 2. He tells the Christians in Smyrna, “I know about your suffering and your poverty – but you are rich.” They were willing to pay a tough price for doing God’s will – persecution, even to the point of death.

Now, it seems unlikely that any fellowship in this country will be called upon to suffer such extreme treatment in the near future, but nonetheless healthy churches will make sacrifices.

In his book, ‘The Healthy Churches’ Handbook’, Robert Warren tells the story of the church who asked God what He wanted them to be and to do and they kept on hearing the word ‘hospitality’. At first, they thought God was inviting them to enjoy His hospitality at the communion table. Then, they felt that they were called to show greater hospitality to one another and, as a result, relationships within the church grew stronger. And, finally, they realised that God was telling them to extend hospitality to their local community and they put their energies into caring for immigrants and other disadvantaged groups. Because of this, the church was criticised by some for associating with dubious characters – but then, of course, so was Jesus!

Conclusion

So, then, may we always desire to find out what it is that God wants and not merely follow our own whims:

- may we be concerned to discover what God wants us to be & to do;

- may we come to a shared vision of where we’re going;

- may we always act upon what God reveals to us;

- and may we be prepared to make sacrifices to do God’s will.

As we seek to serve God in this town, in this area, I am sure that He will bless us and open up doors to us.

The big Question is what is Gods vision for yr place and life here at St Martins.

To God be the glory.  Amen.

- - - - - - - - -

Does St Martin's seek to find out what God wants? 

1          Weak and holding us back      2%                  

2          Only a few signs                      4%      

3          Some evidence of this            14%    

4          Making progress                     30%        

5          Evidence of much of this        43%     

6          This is a strength                     7%      

Seeking to find out what God wants: what needs working on….

• Sharing our vision with the church community
• Seeking God’s ways rather than our own
• Attracting locals who do not attend church
• General spiritual awareness and pockets of consideration of personal vocation and group mission, to be developed into an understanding of St Martin’s shared goals/priorities, and the long and short plan to meet these.
• Poor strategic planning and organisation
• Communication requires improvement
• Engagement with needs outside and around the church
• More communication
• To try hard and listen to God
• The church sets its goals but seems to ignore these in the day to day life – MAP is not regularly visited by those in leadership roles.  Therefore, there is no sense of communication of where we are going and apart from a few instances it would seem to an outside that the church operates on a Sunday morning.  Where the church is going is a question for all of us to have an input – how is this achieved in St Martin’s?
• Use prophetic gifts
• Prayer
• More opportunity for whole church reflection/prayer to seek what God wants and for people to share what they feel God is making them to do within church/community
• I don’t think we have a ‘big’ enough vision of who God is.  We come to Him with ‘lists’ and spend very little time praising and worshipping Him for who He is.
• If we knew Him and His love more, we would know who we are and know His will for us
• We need to work on corporate prayer
• Our openness to the Holy Spirit.

So the clocks have gone forward...

So the clocks have gone forward, and winter is giving way to spring, dark days changing to

Lighter days. This is most apt for Lent and for Easter Winter and Lent is a time of Darkness and a journey towards that Dark Friday, and then through Jesus’s triumph on the cross, to everlasting light on Easter day, with Dark death defeated forever, and the promise of life and light living in us now and for eternity, because “Joy to the World, the Lord is come!” 

The thrill of hope within the message spools out to touch a weary world with anticipation of tasting some lasting  good! Romans 14:17 says that the kingdom of God is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." That should tell us just how valuable joy is to the believer. 

Jesus spoke about joy a lot. It was the Saviour’s desire that His disciples would be filled with joy. (John 16:22, 17:13) And, in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 ), Paul just writes, "Be joyful always."

Our joy and our praise were never intended to be kept hidden behind closed doors! Jesus is full of joy and if you are full of Jesus then you have all the joy you need. You always have a reason to rejoice. Jesus was able to look beyond the horrors of the cross because of the joy set before Him. We can rejoice that He paid the price for us. If we never had anything else to rejoice about, that would be plenty, but we have so much more to rejoice over.

This love becomes overwhelming and overflows into the lives of those around us because it is produced by a reciprocal relationship with the Living God.

We ought to expect trouble. Jesus said, "In the world you [will] have tribulation" (John 16:33). God has His own profound purpose in our afflictions, but it's never to take away our joy. When we yield to the working of His Spirit in our lives, our difficulties will not overwhelm us.

Joy comes from knowing we are never alone. Prayer is the ongoing conversation we have, Spirit to Spirit, with God. Giving thanks is the great reminder that we have been blessed no matter what the circumstances may suggest. Joy is not about our circumstances. We rejoice in spite of everything. Joy is about being with God. Forever!

"When God Brings You to Your Knees" (Genesis 42:1-38)

Sermon preached by the Revd Phill Ball at St Martin's Church in Walsall, on Sunday 2nd February 2014.

Over time God can break our independent and rebellious spirit to draw us close to Him.

God uses broken things: broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, and broken bread to give strength.

In Genesis 42, God is going to break Joseph’s brothers by awakening their sleeping consciences, this is a broken family.

They were a hard bunch. Years before, under the leadership of Simeon and Levi, they had deceived a village, slaughtered all the men, and taken the women and children captive in retaliation. Reuben, the oldest, had slept with his father’s concubine. Judah had two sons so wicked that the Lord took their lives. He himself had a fling with his daughter-in-law, Tamar. All of the brothers, except Benjamin, had sold Joseph into slavery and then crushed their father’s heart by deceiving him into thinking that his son was dead.

Now it’s 22 years later. In the process of this story, their sleeping consciences awake. Their story shows us how God uses severity and grace to awaken our consciences and bring us to repentance.

The seven years of famine that Joseph predicted are now in full force (see 41:54-57). The famine has spread throughout the entire known world (41:57), including Joseph’s family in Canaan. Therefore, (in 42:1-2) Moses writes, “Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, ‘Why are you staring at one another?’ He said, ‘Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.’”

For a while Jacob’s family was probably able to live on what they had in reserve. But the weather is not changing and the supplies are almost depleted. The situation is becoming serious. Jacob hears that there is grain in Egypt, so he starts talking it up with his sons. But every time he brings up the subject, none of his sons will look him in the eye. They just stare at one another. Reuben looks at Simeon, Simeon glances at Judah, and Judah’s eyes dart over to Levi. Jacob is getting frustrated. In a crisis situation his sons don’t seem to be doing anything.

Why don’t Jacob’s sons want to go to Egypt? For one thing, the trip to Egypt was long (250-300 miles) and dangerous, and a round trip could consume six weeks’ of time. Even after arriving in Egypt, the brothers couldn’t be certain of a friendly reception. As “foreigners” from Canaan, they would be very vulnerable and could even be arrested and enslaved. If that happened there would be no one to take care of their families and their aged father. Furthermore, the word “Egypt” went off like a bomb in their guilty consciences. The brothers could hear again the clink of the silver coins they received from the traders as they sold their brother into slavery.

They could see him begging for his life as he was being dragged off. They remembered the terrible expression of horror on his face. When a trip to Egypt was mentioned, they dreaded the possibility of passing by a gang of slaves and perhaps seeing the hollow eyes of their brother. For 22 years these brothers had tried to silence their nagging consciences. But when God applied the pressure of famine, coupled with the word “Egypt,” the sleeping giants stirred. For these ten brothers, time didn’t erase their guilty consciences.

You can brush your sin, or mistakes if you prefer, under the rug and hope that enough years will take care of it, but one day, perhaps years later, God will apply some sort of pressure in your life and your conscience will stir. Maybe it will be a single word, spoken inadvertently by someone. Like in our story   one word “Egypt!” .

Its Far better to keep short accounts and deal with your mistakes now than later. Sin and mistakes compounds with some serious interest! Better to pay up as quickly as possible.

After their father’s prodding, Joseph’s ten brothers “went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, ‘I am afraid that harm may befall him’” (42:3-4). It’s evident that Jacob is a man controlled not only by blatant favouritism but also by fear.

He had already lost his favourite wife. Then he lost his favourite son. Here he is determined to prevent the loss of Benjamin who is his final link to Rebekah. Interestingly, it appears that over the years, since the death of his eleventh son, Joseph, Jacob apparently has grown suspicious of his ten older sons regarding either the manner in which Joseph “died” or the relationship that the older sons have with Benjamin, Jacob’s youngest son. This suspicion manifests itself in 42:4, which records that Jacob does not send Benjamin with his brothers into Egypt to buy food for the family because he (Jacob) is “afraid that harm might befall him.” Of what is Jacob afraid? His own sons?

For years, Jacob and the boys lived life without having to think about God. Life went on as normal.

They got up, did their work, came home, and the next day started all over again. They were content in their routine. Their needs were met; life went on as it always had. But with this famine God gets their attention. It is easy to avoid God when we feel self-sufficient. It is easy to feel that you have no need of God’s touch when everything is running smoothly. These men were comfortable in their denial and their deceptions. As long as the status quo remained they would never change. So God provokes a crisis. This crisis would either harden them further or wake them up.

Are you going through a tough time? Is life a struggle right now? Could it be that God is trying to get your attention? Could it be that He is trying to awaken you out of your spiritual slumber? Is it possible that God loves you so much and that He wants you to be His with such intensity that He will stop at nothing to turn your heart to Him? and put your own hearts in order?

We now move from the home front to the brothers appearing before Joseph in Egypt. Moses writes, “Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground” (42:6). Back in 37:5-7, Joseph had two dreams and predicted that one day his entire family would bow before him. And here the prediction begins to come to pass.  What God says will ultimately come to pass and whatever God says in His Word, you can trust it. He is faithful to His promises (2 Cor 1:20). Today, if you are growing wearing and impatient, know that God will fulfil His Word to you. (But in his and your time this has taken 22 years remember.)

In 42:7ff, we come to the moment of truth: How would Joseph respond? He had had at least 20 years to consider what he would do if and when this moment presented itself. And now, here it was! You see the greatest test of Joseph’s life occurred not when he was laid low by injustice, but when he was given unlimited power over his wicked brothers. Would he use his God-given power to seek revenge against them? Or would he use it for the purpose of saving the nation Israel from famine? Ng As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” How are you using the authority God has given you? We all have some position of authority that God has entrusted to us (e.g., parent, disciple, supervisor, minister, Christian). Are you using your authority for selfish ends or for the glory of God?

All we have to do is admit our wrong doings, say we are sorry to God, and accept his forgiveness, we don’t have to wait 22 years for an opportunity. But, and here’s the biggie, its not enough to be repentant like the brothers, you have to forgive those who have sinned against you as well, as Joseph does.

I repeat forgive not forget just like Joseph, doesn’t forget, the consequences still remain, but it’s the here and now and the future that God puts right in our lives, its for all of us to put our past in order, like Joseph and his brothers, with and through God. Pray regularly, ask for forgiveness often, and even if it takes 22 years like in the story, forgive. Forgiveness and forgiving is in the Lords prayer every time we pray it. Amen.

Discipleship and Christian Conduct

Sermon preached by the Revd Phill Ball on Sunday 7 October 2012

Bible texts: Colossians 4:5-6 & Titus 2:11-14

Loving God , help us to hear your will for our lives, and how we live our lives in your sons kingdom, each and every day.

Today We are looking at Discipleship and Christian Conduct today… and later in this service we will celebrate God's grace. You see, it is grace that is remembered and proclaimed in the Lord's Supper. God’s Grace and Love,

At the centre of our passage from Titus lies the grace of God: "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men" (vs 11).

So what is Grace, why do we need it and how does it come to us all?

Grace is an expression of Love, a free gift to all who turn to God and walk along the path God provides for us all, it’s literally the path of salvation, for all time.

Why do we need it?

God is a holy God, and has minimum standards of how we live our lives, so we are also called to be his Holy people in how we conduct our Christian Lives.

Lets use me as an example:

On a good day, a really good day, when I'm doing really well and living my life really well, in terms of Christian conduct, and as a Christian, my Sunday best if you like, I can reach this high:

To the tip of my fingers:

Unfortunately Gods minimum standards,  even though he loves us all literally very dearly, is the apex of the roof…..

What can possibly span this gap, you should be thinking.

Through Love, God sent Jesus to us, and amongst many other things he brought us all who follow his ways, his grace, because its grace that bridges the gap between my finger tips and the apex of the roof.

The even more amazing thing is that through that Grace that Jesus offers us all, we are not just saved, we are regarded as Holy by God the Father, and as the joint heirs of the kingdom, with Jesus, literally becoming Jesus’s sisters and brothers.  I find that truly mind blowing!

But with being made Holy by that Grace, we are of course obliged to live our lives, and conduct ourselves with all the fruits of the Spirit:

The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5: 22-23)

If that doesn’t give you inspiration and a huge challenge, then with respect, you're either not  really listening, or forgive me, not doing any of the fruits of the Spirit in your everyday lives!  But as the old saying so correctly says, God loves a trier.

That’s what were called to do, to try to do what were called to do in the Fruits of the Spirit, and  if we try our best, Grace will bridge the gap to God. 

So whether its my Best Day, a normal day, or one of my bad days, as long as I was trying to conduct myself as a Christian, the grace of Jesus will bridge the Gap to the Father!  As long as you are of course genuinely trying....

And When like me you fail, and fall sort of your best efforts, say sorry to God, and pray the Lord’s prayer.  Please note:  Pray it, don’t just say it, God knows what’s in your hearts, and for that matter whether you have tried or not.

And when at the end you say Amen.  What does it mean?  It's Latin for so be it, you are asking God for it all to come true.

The Lords Prayer is just that, a prayer  Not a form of words you just say.  Like Grace, and Gods Love, its important!  If you do what the Lord's Prayer says, and then live that life, the best you can that day, with the fruits of the Spirit as your guide: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

You won’t go far wrong as a Christian, and as the sister and Brother of Jesus himself,  you will be on the path that God has set for you to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Who do you share the fruits of the Spirit with?  Look around you, at those around you today, your families, and everyone you meet, wherever life takes you! That’s who…

So give thanks for Grace everyday, and when you let Grace bridge the gap to God, you will have the Trinity of God in your daily life, God the Father looking over your journey, Jesus the son, around and within you, bridging your life to God, and God the Holy Spirit living within you, guiding you and helping you to the fruits of the Spirit;

That’s how you live a life full of Christian Conduct, you try each, and every day try to live up to what God calls you to be, the Sisters and Brothers of Jesus, and Holy heirs to the Kingdom itself.

We are called to receive God’s Grace, Gods Love, and then to share Gods love with all we meet. So You pray it, don’t merely say it!  And You live it, you don’t just think it on Sundays!

The best way to show the living Gospel to others, is for them to see you live that Christian Gospel message, sharing Gods Love and Grace with others, in your daily Christian Conduct.

Always remember, as you try each day… God’s Love wasn’t put in your heart to stay,

God’s Love isn’t Love till you share it today, because God loves a trier!

Amen.