God's Spiritual House

God’s spiritual house 1 Peter 2:1-10 WBC 27/6/4am

Thought you might appreciate some clips from church service sheets & notice boards:

1. Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

3. The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."

5. "Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands."

7. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.

8. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "hell" to someone who doesn’t care much about you.

9. Don’t let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

10. Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

11. For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

12. Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

15. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

23. Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM- prayer and medication to follow.

24. The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

28. Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

13. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons.

16. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice. .

IT’S ALIVE- LIVING STONES

It’s a marvellous thing watching the reality of what church is dawn on people.

As it so often does in Alpha, for example.

- brainstorming of ‘perceptions of church’

- before Alpha: Sunday suits. Stuffy. No fun. Guilt. Well meaning but powerless. At times irrelevant. Smelly. Cold. Hymns

- halfway through the course: (as I read the summary, stunned at how often power & people came through) welcome. Power of prayer. Power of unity. Warmth. Colour. Friends. Belonging. Atmosphere. God’s presence. Family fun. Place to be yourself. Support. Growth. Enthusiasm. Change. Sharing. Power. JESUS

Their summary was: the church is the People, not the building.

This is a living thing… made up of living stones

- and so it’s something that changes and adapts

o as the people who make it up, do

 WE are the genes of a living entity. As we change- the church changes, too

o as the Lord leads us on to new things. As we ‘keep in step with the Spirit’ (Gal 5:25), are led by the Spirit through God’s people… and as God does new things among us

ISA 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the desert

and streams in the wasteland.

In fact- change… listen to where God wants to take us… WE MUST. Or we’ll die, today

- by this I’m not saying what we’re doing is always new and innovative… trendy

o often God has us re-visiting previous priorities and values that have just got a bit neglected!

 1 Jn: I’m writing you a new command, but it’s not a new one: love one another!”

o no! We never lose these key principles and priorities: in fact they never change

 just the way we express it in and to our culture does

 the Edge is an example of this

And so- God leads His spiritual living house on to new things.

- can’t advance on all fronts at once… but He leads us

o Special needs people. children and youth. Stable now.

 Not surprised that almost 3 years ago- God starts saying to us about reaching ‘older folk’

• A window of opportunity (that we hadn’t seen). Feel like the breath of God has caught us

In a few years… when that’s stabilised- He’ll say “behold I do a new thing”

- doesn’t mean what was built is knocked down! It’s built ONTO!

Friends: listen. Where do you want to go back to?

- I want to go back to 1987-92! Or you may want to go back to Canada. Or the early 70s with the Fisherfolk. Or 10 years ago with church planting

- There IS NO going back. There is only going forward

o Into God’s blessing TODAY. (it’s never found in yesterday or tomorrow. Now is the day of God’s favour)

Keeps you flexible, eh?