We had a great time on Mothering Sunday, with Abi being brought before the Lord to be dedicated to Him. The message of God’s love for us in Jesus was proclaimed, and there was an atmosphere of thankfulness for Abi and new life.

You won’t succeed in anything in this life without what we’re going to look at now.
It is one of those things that runs throughout Scripture.
As a parent, as a husband or wife, as an employee or employer, as a leader of any kind – God will not be able to achieve all that He wants to through you unless you have this quality.

Joseph would not have been Prime Minister of Egypt, Moses would not have led the people out of slavery in Egypt, Joshua would not have taken them into the promised land, David would not have become king, Paul would not have taken the Gospel to the Gentiles of Europe, and so on.

Perseverance…….coming out of commitment.
The Lord’s commitment to me, and my response to Him.
Commitment to the Lord, recognising that my life is not my own, I belong to Him.
Not just as my Creator, but as my Redeemer. He has bought me back.
I once was a slave to sin, trapped by a cruel and evil master. But Jesus came to the slave market and bought me, and set me free. But I now chose to bind myself to serve Him, as a bond slave. And what a cost, what a price Jesus has paid for you and me……His own life.
I belong to Jesus, I am not my own, I was bought by His blood. Jesus gave everything for us.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:14,15.

Jesus’ Lordship is one of life’s bottom lines….a foundation. If your life is not built on Jesus Christ and following Him, you are building on a shaky foundation that will crumble when the going gets tough.
That’s a test of your faith. When life’s storms come…as they will to all of us…does your life start to crumble and fall apart.
What is your foundation ?

Putting it another way.
Who would you rather trust in ?…..Almighty God who is all powerful, loves you perfectly and totally, and is so faithful that He’ll never let you down…..or someone who is limited, weak, foolish, makes mistakes every day, and constantly will let you down….i.e. yourself ?

Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength, …blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him (Jeremiah 17).

Again, we must die to self. Not just the obvious sins of greed, lust, jealousy, and so on.
But also pride, and self reliance.
You can be a leader in your own strength, have natural leadership ability….but you’ll not be the leader God wants you to be, if you try to do things yourself - your way, and in your own strength. It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.

Gideon had to learn that didn’t he. He had to trust that God had called Him and wanted to use him. And after that struggle, he then had to trust that God would do it, not through 32,000 men, but through 300.
It’s God who does great things…..and yes He could do it without us…..but because He loves us He choose to use us, to include us in carrying out His purposes.
It’s really important that we fully believe these things before we look at perseverance, otherwise we’ll be tempted to think perseverance is all about us….and it’s not.
It is persistent, tenacious faith in an all powerful and loving God.

Matthew 24:12,13 ‘Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved’ Standing firm in love.

Luke 8:15 ‘The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by perseverance produce a crop’
You may realise from John 15, that you need to remain in Jesus and let His word remain in you to produce God’s fruit in your life….but had you realised how strong that
word ‘remain’, is ?
‘By perseverance produce a crop’. In other words if you give up and don’t persevere, you won’t produce a crop.
We need to persevere, but look at what we need to persevere in….being in Christ and retaining the word of God in our hearts.
We so often associate perseverance with ‘doing’, being active, busy, striving.
We’ve looked briefly at three Scriptures of Jesus to do with perseverance…and what have they said to persevere in – love, being in Christ, retaining His Word in our hearts.

Let’s move on to another aspect of perseverance, ……to persevering under trial, in suffering, when persecuted.

In any sort of leadership, you will face struggles, resource issues, opposition – sometimes from outside sources, sometimes from within the church, family, or organisation.
Nehemiah is an example of someone who persevered even though the devil attacked him through all different means, ……but he hung on to God, and was obedient to what he had been called to do. God had called him out of exile to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
He was undermined from within, he was opposed, threatened, and slandered by enemies from outside his people. But he was determined to see it through, to see beyond present circumstances to the vision God had given him.
Jesus, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning it’s shame.
Look beyond – to Jesus and what He is doing.

Read Hebrews 10:22-25, 35-39.

Keep on going, and let’s encourage each other to keep on going. But what is the first in this list that the writer encourages us to keep on doing – draw near to God.
If there’s one thing to go away and persevere in today…..it’s to draw near to God, to seek Him with all that you are…..because everything else comes from that relationship with Him.

And don’t forget the race of life is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to keep going.

Read James 1:2-4,12.

Perseverance under trial is the route to maturity. If we co-operate with God, we grow through suffering and adversity. It’s not automatic though, we can become bitter or doubting. We still have the choice whether to trust God in our struggles or not.
But trials are opportunities to grow (repeat).

But there’s no quick route to Christian maturity, whether in general, in marriage and family life, in Church. Maturity comes through persevering in faith under trial, and that can take time. How much time largely depends on how much we’re prepared to submit to God in it and to trust Him.
To ‘trust and obey’ as the hymn says.

And here’s a key for Christian living. James says consider it pure joy when you suffer trials.
What is he, a masochist ? Well if he is, so is Paul. So perhaps there’s something important here.

Read Romans 5:1-5.

And Paul practised what he preached. In Acts 16, we have him and Silas, severely flogged, put in the stocks, locked in the inner prison cell…..praising God.
And don’t you dare think they were different to us…they were human beings like you and me with human weakness.
In others words God also calls you and me to rejoice in our sufferings, to have our hearts and minds set on Jesus and be praising Him….when it’s the last thing that our flesh feels like doing. Rejoice in the Lord always. Give thanks in ALL circumstances.
Hear this - This is a key that unlocks prison doors.

Read Acts 16:25-26.

Looking beyond your trials and suffering to Jesus. Having Him as your focus. Praising Him and rejoicing when your going through it, is powerful and brings release. It enables God to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.
I’m sure Paul and Silas trusted God to get them out of the situation, and they showed that by their praise, …..but an earthquake, then all the doors coming open, all the chains coming loose, the jailer and his family all coming the Christ ?

Rejoicing and praising under trial, brings release.

Read John 13:1-17 & Mark 9:33-35.

This morning we start a new sermon series on leadership.
The River Church is moving into a new phase, growing, developing, becoming. As we grow we will need more leaders – Elders, Deacons, Small Group leaders, and so on.
As He builds His Church, the Lord will gift, call, and anoint people for these tasks.
So what sort of person is the Lord looking for ?

If you believe you are leadership material and should be a leader soon…….….then you are probably a long way off being one.
If you’re sitting there thinking, ‘not me, I couldn’t be a leader’……….…then you’re a lot closer than you think.

I would not generally make anyone a leader who really wanted it. At least not until they have begun dying to self and the desire to be a leader.
Experience can be helpful,…gifting God can give,… but essentially I would be looking for two things in a possible leader – God’s call and direction, and CHARACTER.
The sort of things we’re going to be looking at in the coming weeks - Integrity, Honesty, Trust, Commitment, Love, and so on. Someone who loves Jesus and wants to give their all in His service.

If you want to be first, …to be a leader in the Church, then Jesus says become the servant of all. A leader is primarily a servant. Someone who dies to self, and lives for Jesus, and as a result lives for others too.

You may not think of yourself as a leader in any way, but there are many kinds of leadership, not just Church leadership.
If you are a mother, you are a leader of your children, if you are a father and husband, you are a leader to your children and wife. At work or college if you have responsibility for others, or are someone others look to in some way, then you are a leader. Perhaps you play a role in a community organisation. Most people are leaders of some kind at some point in their life. And even if you’re not, the principles and characteristics of leadership are important for all of us. For example today we’re looking at humility and servant-hood. And they’re important for anyone who would follow Jesus.
Galatians 5:13 says, ‘You were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love’.

So what is leadership ?

There are very wide views in the world about leadership and how to lead. Some we may think of as more positive role models than others.

Is leadership about power, about a title someone is given, about their status among others ?
Is it telling others what to do, getting them to do what you want ?

The sort of leadership God wants from you, in marriage, in family, at church, at work, is NOT about telling other people what to do. It’s not about pushing yourself forwards, and others around. God hates arrogance, oppression, and people lording it over others.
That’s why when the Lord says that husbands are the head of their wives, He doesn’t say so make sure you tell them what you want them to do, and make sure they do it………He tells them to love their wives as Christ loves the Church and gave Himself for her. Husbands are you giving yourself for your wives, sacrificing yourselves for them.

Godly leadership is a giving of self to another. Loving someone, wanting the very best for them and working towards it.
That’s not always easy. The best for someone sometimes may be discipline.
A parent to a child for example. Paul when having someone put out of the Church for immorality, says that it is for that person’s good (1 Corinthians 5:5).
Leading others means dying to ourselves, to our wants and desires. And often walking a very costly path.
You certainly need to do that in marriage and parenthood, but it’s the same in any form of leadership.
Jesus said to be a leader, you are primarily a servant, and He showed us what He meant by that, both by His life and His death.

A leader has vision, goals, determination, passion, yes….but they are not for self elevation or selfish ambition. The motivation must be love, and God’s best for others.
His agenda, not our own.
‘Unless the Lord builds the house, it’s builders labour in vain’ – Psalm 127:1.
Jesus, the Son of God, prays ‘ not my will, but yours be done’. This is our example.
To listen to the Father and to do HIS will.

Jesus came into the world because He loves us……that was His motivation.
His vision was our salvation and reconciliation to God.
His goals : to teach us and show us God’s Way, and to die on the cross for our sins.
In other words selfless. He served His Father, and He served us.
That’s servant-hood, that’s leadership God’s way.

Read Philippians 2:1-13.

Is that your attitude ?
Do you consider others better than yourself ? Really.
Or do you think you can do better than them ?
Your attitude should be like that of Christ. Love, obedience, sacrifice, service, giving.
It’s His Spirit within the believer, who is working that out in you.
- If indeed you have been filled with the Spirit, and are co-operating with Him.

Think of some of the people God chose and their reaction when God called them.
Moses, Gideon, Isaiah, Peter.

Humility, recognising what and who we are before a mighty and holy God, is vital to being the sort of leader God wants you to become, and the person God wants you to be generally.
Recognise who God is, and that in His universe we are like a grain of sand, dust in comparison, in fact that’s what we’re make of, dust… (and a splosh of water).

I am nothing without God, I wouldn’t exist without God, I wouldn’t be alive now unless He aloud it, I wouldn’t be in relationship with Him if it wasn’t for what He has done through Jesus’ death and resurrection. I can’t be fruitful for Him without His Word and Spirit.
I am completely dependant on God. God is God. He is Lord.
That’s humility.…if we believe it and mean it.

Anyone who would be a leader, anyone who would follow Christ, needs to recognise who He is…..and your complete dependence on Him….’Trust in the Lord with all your heart’.
You are serving Jesus, the all powerful, risen Lord of all, King of the Universe.
‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord’

There is a principle that runs through the Bible that we would do well to heed.
‘Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought’ – Romans 12:3.
‘Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall’ – Proverbs 16:18.
The Lord hates pride and arrogance.
If you are proud, ….arrogant, ….self centred, you will be humbled and brought down. And that can be very painful.
But if we humble ourselves before Him and others, then God will raise us up.

Recognising how small you are, and how big….and loving….God is.
Humility like this brings peace, contentment, security, because of who we put our trust in.

The disciples during their three years with Jesus argued on several occasions as to who was the best, who was most important. But Jesus challenged them, then look how God used them after Pentecost. When they had died to self and been filled with the Spirit….then the Lord used them powerfully…..and in leadership.

Choose the way of service, the way of humility, the way of Jesus, and obedience to the Father. And see what GOD will do in you and through you.

David, when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, was not acting honestly or with integrity. He had listened to the enemies lies, allowed his own passions, his sinful nature, to take control, and was utterly deceitful.
Sin, if not repented of, will always bring deceit…..to hide the crime.
But listen to Psalm 51, which David spoke or sang when challenged with his sin. Listen to the honesty.

Read Psalm 51.

God can do what He wants to do in you, making you like Jesus,….only when your being honest and real.
No deception, no pretence, no masks, no hiding like Adam and Eve in the Garden.
Total honesty.

For there to be that honesty with God, there needs to be a desire for holiness. If you don’t want to be wholly the Lord’s, living for Him, you won’t know that intimacy with God. If you want to run life your way, do things in your own strength, not let go of control,…..you won’t know that intimacy with God. Because you will always be holding something back. The door to that room of your life, is shut on Jesus and everyone else.

Honesty is the starting point for what God wants to do in you. Some of you are already on that journey of complete honesty with the Lord, others of you are starting, …but some of you are resisting the Holy Spirit……as if your life depended on it…….IT DOES…..carry on resisting Jesus and you will die, turn to the Lord and submit to Him and you will live.

What good is it to hang on to self, to hang on to control, to hang on to pain, if you lose your very soul. It is in dying to self that we live, that we know the life of God….and that starts with honesty.

I hope you can already see that honesty with the Lord is essential to not only leadership, but to everyone.

But what about honesty with others ?

In terms of what you say to whom, there are obviously confidences, not everyone needs to know everything. Jesus had the three, the twelve, the seventy two and so on.

Everybody has different levels of relationship with different people.

Level 5 – Cliché conversation.
Level 4 – Reporting facts or information about others.
Level 3 – My ideas and judgements.
Level 2 – My feelings
Level 1 – Self revelation – nothing hidden.

It’s not appropriate to share how you feel a failure because of what your father told you as a child…with the postman…unless they’re your husband of course.
Verbal communication varies according to who we’re speaking to and the situation.

But who we are….shouldn’t change.
Be yourself…..be real…..but be yourself in Christ.
If by being yourself you go around all the time moaning, complaining, criticising, and wallowing in self pity….then you might be being yourself, but your not being in Christ.
The Lord wants us to be honest with Him so that He can deal with things.
Be real……but also be in Christ.
Be who you are….don’t try to be somebody else.
You are a unique person and have a unique role to carry out in God’s plans.
Don’t try to be someone your not.

Read Romans 12:1-8.

It’s as you die to self and offer yourself to God that things become clear and your gifting will become clear.
We are a body together, as each does it’s part.
What happens if a hand tries to be a foot, or a shoulder tries to be a finger ?
You have a role in the Church. Something God wants you to do which contributes to the success of the whole. It might be small or big. Obvious or in the background. But there is a way God wants you to be serving, which is important.
The way to discover that thing ?……yes you can try things out, explore, ask others, but ultimately it comes down to offering yourself completely to God, not conforming to this world and allowing God to transform your thinking. Then you’ll hear God’s voice, know God’s heart, and have the mind of Christ.
It comes back to surrender and service, giving yourself completely, not for God, but to God.
We can do lots of things for God, but if it isn’t what God has told us to do, we’re wasting time and actually in danger of judgement.

Integrity is being yourself in Christ. Being consistent, real.

A lot of teachers, just to survive at school, put on an act. They are different in class to what they are away from school….quite understandably.
But did you know a lot of Church Leaders do the same thing ?

Years back I did some itinerant work for a while helping struggling churches into growth.
As part of that I became confident to several Pastors as I was someone outside of their situation. Many Pastors, to protect themselves from people in their churches, pretend.
I’ve been in Church Leadership for long enough, that if I wanted to, I could come across as superpastor, superspiritual, always confident and together, with a superior air about me.
I know the words and tricks to use. But who gets the glory God or the leader ?
It’s not real……and it’s setting people up to failure and frustration.
If you try to emulate a Pastor doing that, you might as well try to be superman. It’s not real. Life is hard, walking Jesus way is hard, people have struggles…..and so do Pastors and leaders, because guess what…they’re people too.
If anytime I appear to be struggling, then I’m struggling. If I appear to be walking in faith and victory, then I probably am. What you see and hear is what you get.

Leaders need to be who they are and not try to be someone else.

Christians of the past were not perfect, although some books about them would almost give you that impression. Don’t continue to read a book that doesn’t have a ring of authenticity, of reality about it. Such books exalt man, not God.
Martin Luther for example wanted parts of the Bible removed and was anti-Semitic. Wesley had a wife who berated him and even on occasion heckled him when preaching. Francis of Assisi misunderstood a vision God gave him, and at the end of his life recognised that the way he had treated his body, his asceticism, was wrong.
Leaders are not special people, they are simply called by God to fulfil a particular role. Yes it’s a high calling to be a teacher or Pastor, and we will be judged more severely because of it…..but Leaders are human beings who want to serve God.
But a lot more would continue in leadership and succeed in what God has called them to, if they were honest before Him and behaved with integrity before others.
Part of being honest and real is recognising the need to be accountable, to handle any finances honestly and have checks in place, and so on.
Your actions and lifestyle obviously need to reflect what you believe. Leaders need to have a high standard of morality. But it is not the outward which is most important here, but rather what is inside.
Hypocrisy was one of the things Jesus accused the leaders of his day of.
Were they outwardly immoral, or inwardly corrupt ? Again it’s character that’s the priority.

Christian teaching is hard, because sometimes you teach something which you know you haven’t fully sorted out yet, and it’s important in the preparation to let God speak to you….before you speak to others.
If ever you’re preparing a sermon, talk, Sunday School, Bible Study, family devotions, whatever…..let God speak the message to your heart first, and respond.
But even though leaders aren’t perfect, God does expect a high standard from those who lead, because you are an example to others – husbands, parents, Church Leaders, government, police, teachers, and so on.
Any leadership role carries with it responsibility.
For the Christian that essentially means walking with God, close to Him.
Not seeking to live up to others expectations, a mistake easily made, but seeking to live listening to and being obedient to God.

I want to finish with us thinking about a most unlikely leader.
Why oh why did Jesus chose someone like Peter ?
Someone with foot in mouth disease - Impulsive, emotional, violent, outspoken.
And yet the name Jesus gave Him means ‘Rock’ – probably the opposite of what he felt like.
God knows best. God knows what we can become, He sees the potential in us that nobody else can see. God looks at the heart.

David’s brothers, all strapping and capable lads…..but God doesn’t look at the outward appearance, He looks at the heart. God’s not after natural leaders, He’s after those who recognise they need to lead supernaturally. It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.

Going back to Peter.
What could be said to be two of the few visible virtues of Peter when he began to follow Jesus.
‘Away from me Lord for I am a sinful man’……I bet Jesus heart leapt within Him when He heard those words and He knew this was a good choice of His Father……….here was humility, and honesty….and that’s where it starts.

For you, today, and this week.

Love is a funny word isn’t it. We love chocolate, we love that Ferrari, we make love, we’d love you to be there, we love our children, our parents, our husband or wife…..but what does it really mean ?

Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a.

That’s true love…..not infatuation, not lust, not desire, ….but a total selfless, commitment to another person. Not looking for reward or payback. The sort of love that as parents we hope to give our children, but often struggle to.
I don’t know about you, but I know, that I need help to love in that way, it doesn’t come naturally. I’d like to think I can, but in reality part of me wants something in return.

If I told you that I know someone who loves you selflessly, completely, and is totally committed to you, wouldn’t you want to know about it ?
Who is this person ?
Why do they care about me so much, I’ve done nothing for them ?

Well, there is a love talked about and demonstrated in the Bible that is stronger and more powerful than any love you can experience from another human being. There is someone who loves you so much, they’re prepared to die for you.
We’re moved by stories of sacrifice aren’t we ? Rescue workers who risk their lives to save another.
But what if someone did that knowing that they were going to die…..not just risking their life but giving their life as a conscious planned decision.
That’s what Jesus, the Son of God, has done for you and me.
His love for you is not just a feeling, it’s a choice, a commitment. We simply have to believe and receive it.

Most people have the right idea about God….that He is a God of love…the Bible tells us that. But where we go wrong is that we don’t really understand what love means. You only have to look around you, or even look at your own life…..divorce, broken homes, abuse, violence and aggression. The very people closest to us, that we should love the most, it seems we have so much trouble actually loving. ………Basically because we’re selfish.
You know, I thought I was a fairly generous giving person…then I got married…and found I was in reality still quite a self centred, selfish person. Then we had children and that challenged me even further to let go of what I want, and to serve my family.

God made us for love. Jesus said the two most important commands of God are to love God with all that you are, and to love your neighbour as yourself. Remembering of course what the Bible says love is. That’s what life is all about, that’s the goal. It’s not complicated, simple. But you know what, I can’t even do that without God’s help.

Part of us wants to love, part of us is utterly selfish. It’s what the Bible calls the sinful nature, or in the old King James version….the ‘flesh’.
Our sinfulness damages us, it damages others, and hurts and angers God who made us.
It’s a barrier to that love relationship with God, and our relationships with others.
The Bible says, ‘the wages of sin is death’. Ultimately, it leads to death.

But God, because He loves us, has not abandoned us and left us to destruction and death.
‘Whilst we were still sinners Christ died for us’ Jesus isn’t for goody goody people, He’s for everyone who recognises who He is and their need of Him.
Jesus has died for us. He has paid the price for all the bad things we have ever done, said, or thought….He has suffered and died on the cross for our selfishness and self-centredness.
Why ? So that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God. So that the barrier I mentioned earlier might be removed. So that we can love Him and others in the way He intended.
Jesus is not just an example of giving and sacrifice…..He is the sacrifice….for you and me.
Jesus has died for you. And He has risen from the dead as evidence of who He was, God in human form.
God’s forgiveness, a personal relationship with Him in which you can experience His love, the assurance of eternal life with God when your body dies, are offered as love gifts from God, gifts of grace that aren’t deserved by us.

The question then for all of us, is what are we going to do about it ?
‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life’ John 3:16.
Accept Him or reject Him ?
Receive His love or push it away ?
It is the most important decision of our lives.

I’m not perfect as my wife and those who know me, will testify. But I’m a different person to who I was before I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and my Lord. Before I didn’t have a clue how to love. It was all about desire, manipulation, and so on. But when I experienced the love of God through Jesus suffering and death for me, and when the Holy Spirit came to live within me….things started to change. I knew real love for the first time, and could start to give it away too. It is as we experience the love of God, that we begin to love others as we were meant to. Makes sense if God made us in such a way as to be in loving relationship with Him.
In God we can reach our potential, become the child, parent, husband, wife, friend, neighbour, work colleague….that we were meant to be.
It comes by putting our trust completely in God and acknowledging that He’s the boss.

Obviously, if we’ve lived life our own way, it means that we need to say we’re sorry to God.
For the blaspheming, the jealousy, the bitterness, the deceit and lies, the lust, immorality, greed and so on that messes up our lives.
To turn away from our selfishness and self-centred lives, and turn to God and go His way – it’s what the Bible calls repentance. A complete turn around, a change of heart and mind.
It’s not just for ‘really bad’ people, it’s something that every person needs to do, because in some way or other we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s standard. (exam, eggs in cake)

It’s hard because it challenges our pride. We have to let go of control, and let God in.
But you let in someone who loves you perfectly and completely.

Nobodies going to force you, I’m not going to give an alter call or anything too alien like that, but in a moment I will give the opportunity for quiet personal prayer, just to talk in your heart to God.
When faced with the truth about God’s love and Jesus Christ who died for you…..you’re intelligent people and know this is a big deal.
If this is false then of course it’s irrelevant. But if it’s true, then it’s lifechanging and vitally important to respond. Either what I have said this morning is true or it isn’t, what you do with it is up to you.
The one thing I ask you not to contemplate, is to ignore it. I can think of nothing more insulting to Jesus, when He has given Himself for you. We all have deal with the consequences of our decisions in life. Please take Jesus seriously.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, that He has died on the cross for your forgiveness and redemption….if you have received Him as the Lord of you life,…then you have been adopted as a child of God.
Chosen…..called……set apart… by the love of God.
God initiates.
Because even though you have made that choice and decision to follow Jesus, it was Him who suffered and died for you, who drew you, who initiated the reconciliation and made it possible. When we begin to realise this, we start to have a sense of our responsibility to present the whole of our lives as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
For to be holy, is to be set apart for God, dedicated wholly to Him.
When Jesus called the first disciples, and said follow me, think about what He was doing.
Leave the false security of your job and trust me. Leave the past behind and come with me to a better future. No longer live for yourself but live for me.
They left everything to follow Him, it was a total commitment……a risk, for at that point they didn’t fully know who Jesus was.
We do.
We have the Bible telling us of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and so on. 2000 years of testimony, of lives transformed by the Lord – murders, rapists, thieves, thugs, drug addicts, rich and poor, men and women, from every nation, …..transformed by the living God.
The evidence is overwhelming of who Jesus is.
So yes there is a step of faith……but it’s not quite the risk it was for the first disciples when they left their nets, Matthew his desk, or whatever.

Read Luke 9:57-62.

We have to die to the ‘yes buts’.

‘I’ll follow you, but I expect riches, material security, healing for my body, to sort out all my problems’.
We want something in return for our allegiance. But it’s arrogance.
What we forget is that God has already given to us…..we are responding to His abundant grace and love. God has made us and sustains our lives. He made us to live in a loving relationship with Him and each other, but we have rebelled against Him and gone our own way. We hurt ourselves, we hurt each other, and sadden and anger God.
We deserve hell (I had no doubt).
But God the Father sent Jesus His only Son, to humble himself and become a human being, to suffer a terrible death in our place…..so that we could be forgiven and have the opportunity to know that loving relationship with God.

Read 1 John 4:7-16.

God has taken the initiative and calls for us to respond to Him.
Unreservedly, no buts, no negotiation, no game playing…..YES LORD !
A servant should not demand certain conditions of service. They have given up their rights to serve another. As we grow older it’s easy to slip into the worlds expectations – more money, more status, more respect, and so on.
Where does it say that in the Bible ?
In human terms Jesus’ life ended in humiliation. Documents and tradition has it that except for Judas and John, all the original disciples were martyred, often having been imprisoned and tortured previously. They didn’t have big houses, flash cars, prestige, status, earthly security.
In fact Paul uses a very strong word for some of these things that were important to him before he met with Jesus Christ (Phil. 3).

If anyone would come after me, they must deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me. Whoever wants to save, to hang on to, their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for me will save it.

As we look forward to the year ahead, I encourage you to aim for a year of :
Discipleship – becoming like Him - In character, by power of His Spirit. Think of what discipleship involves – learning, listening, copying and following.
Aim for a year of Growth – we are in a process of change. Don’t settle for anything less than growth. If you don’t think you need to grow, then your either incredibly proud, or ready to go and be with the Lord….praise God. But most of us need to grow and develop. Why ?
Because the Lord wants us to be the best that we can be, to be like Him, and to be fruitful. We’re not just called to be disciples but to make disciples. Fruitfulness. You can’t make the fruit come, but you can do what is needed for God to grow fruit through you. He does it by His Spirit – but we can either let Him do it or hinder it.

Read John 15:4,5.

Aim for a year of Movement – Stepping forwards in faith. Trusting God. Stretching your tent pegs wide. Taking risks in the Spirit.
They’re not risks of course, because you can trust God completely……but humanly speaking they appear to be – risk of failure, risk of lack of resources, risk of looking foolish.
But if the Lord has said it…we obey.
And there’s the hardest risk of all…how do we know it’s the Lord ?
You won’t like the answer, but most of you know it already……if you seek the Lord, spend time with Him in His word and in prayer, if you listen, if you surrender yourself….in Jesus words….if you remain in me and my word remains in you…..then you will have the mind of Christ, you’ll be in such close fellowship with His Spirit that you’ll know His will.
Jesus said, ‘I know my sheep and my sheep know me’.
Make it a year of moving forward…..not with your own ideas…not in your own strength….but in the will and purposes of God for your life. Move forward with Jesus.

What can hold you back ? – only you, only your sin.
Satan, evil spirits, sin, …Biblically have no power over a true Christian, unless you give it to them. Christ has set you free, don’t LET yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Don’t LET sin reign in your mortal body. It’s a choice.

The main enemies - pride, fear, doubt – most sinful actions can be traced back to these at the source. Lust, bitterness, jealousy….behind them are usually fears and insecurities. Pride and doubt then compete to stop us letting God deal with these things.
Recognise these enemies, recognise the root sin and not just the symptoms, …confess them without excuse, bring them to God and let Him deal with them.
Because you will never know the fullness of God in your life if you knowingly hang on to them.

Humility, love, courage, faith, self control, power – these are the things to seek from the Lord.

There has been a lot of talk in the past 10 years or so of tolerance, …..but also of zero tolerance, usually referring to crime in some way.
Don’t tolerate sin in your life. Don’t get used to it, don’t get comfortable with it’s presence.
I’m not talking about the occasional slip up….I mean ongoing specific sin.
Ongoing sin, and the guilt and despair usually associated with it will always drag you down, and the people around you.
It can cloud your judgement and thinking.
It can sap your physical strength and damage your health.
It can cause you to focus on yourself rather than God.
It effects your relationships.

You think your sin doesn’t effect others ? – the body of Christ, Achan (36 people died as a result of his sin).

If you’re making excuses for your sin let go of those excuses – it’s inherited, it’s my circumstances, it’s illness.
But it’s the same with any sin, sin enslaves, it is by nature addictive – lust, jealousy, pride, gluttony. Confess it, let go of it, accept the truth that Jesus has dealt with it.

Jesus will set us free…no problem. But we need to want it with all our heart, not just part.
To want Jesus, and have nothing more to do with sin. He has the power…but the choice is ours.
There is following our sinful desires which leads to death, or following Jesus that is life – eternal life and life in all it’s fullness now. No middle ground, a simple choice.

We live in a culture that blames others and other things as a matter of course.
Excuses for everything - It’s my genes, it was the way my parent’s treated me, it’s an illness over which I have no control. They may be the reason why you have a tendancy to a particular sin, but not one of these are given as an excuse for sin in Scripture.
So what are you going to believe – the world, or God’s word ?

You are a child of God. Live like one. God has called and chosen you. Live a life worthy of that calling. Live for Jesus.

Your sin effects others yes, so sort it, …..but positively, so does your obedience to Jesus.
Whether you like it or not, if you’re a follower of Jesus, then you are part of the Church of Jesus Christ.
There’s no option when you come to Christ. An angel doesn’t appear with a questionnaire – ‘tick here if you want to be part of the church, and here if you want to go it alone’.
You are a child of God, so is every other believer, you are brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus is building His church – a people, a temple of living stones, a body with parts all working together, a bride. These are pictures of relationship, of unity, of each person playing their part for the whole, of joint purpose.

What is His purpose for His Church ?

The purpose of Church is to :
- love God – glorify Him
- love others, esp. each other
- make disciples, preach Gospel – that’s why the world continues and why we’re still here and not in heaven now.

We the Church, as Israel was called to, are to display to world what God is like and what He requires. It is both by our lifestyle, actions, the way we behave, ….and proclaiming, praising God, declaring His Word. Both are essential.

So what does our corporate life together communicate ? - love, compassion, grace, holiness, truth, justice, righteousness – the qualities of God ?

The advantage we have now under the new covenant, is that God has empowered all believers by His Spirit to do it. We have the power of God within us, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. It’s not pie in the sky, a hopeless dream…..the Lord is doing it.

His bride will be beautiful and radiant on her wedding day. But that may mean a purging has to take place, a purifying, a separation. The way that usually happens in industry is by heat or pressure. Persecution more than anything else separates true from false believers, the challenge to stand up and be counted as His, or to deny Him.
Don’t wait to be forced to choose. Choose Him now.

This purpose for the Church to display and glorify God is the same for the Church in every generation, wherever it is in the world.
But specifically we ask God how He wants us to do that here…in Lostwithiel and this area of Cornwall. And we seek to be obedient to what He reveals.

I shared last week some of what I believe God is doing and saying. The words I used earlier express some of that – discipleship, growth, movement .
Isaiah 54 - Enlarging the place of our tent - the stretching of tent curtains, cords, and pegs – personally stretched, taken farther, ….and as a Church.

Putting things in place that God can use. But these only serve the vision and purposes of God.

It’s all about Jesus, Him being glorified, His Kingdom expanding, His Church being built.
We need to keep focussed not on things and structures, but on Jesus.
The best preparation of all, is the preparation of ourselves, offered wholly to Him.