1. Comfort.

The call of God on our lives will always take us outside of our comfort zone. It will take us through new experiences and challenges.
If you’re not sure about what I’ve just said, think of people in the Bible and what they were called to and what they went through to get there - Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Jonah, Jeremiah, Nehemiah. What God called each of these people to was way beyond what they’d experienced before….although He prepared them for it. God does new and greater things in our lives if we let Him.

‘Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,…according to His power that is at work within us,….to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever, amen !’ Ephesians 3:20,21.

Don’t try to work out what God wants to do through you, just be willing and obey.
Because what He has for you is always better, and will stretch you further than you would choose for yourself.
Let God do new things in your life, don’t limit Him by the past.

But the journey, the training ground,…. can be hard, as it was for Joseph.
If you’re joining the armed forces, what would you rather do – your basic training,…. or fly planes and driver tanks, and make a difference somewhere. Sometimes the preparation God puts us through, primarily to shape our character….can be really hard work and a struggle.

This is important. Some people say don’t do anything which isn’t your main life’s calling. Not Biblical. Once you move into the fullness of your calling, there’s some truth in that….but you might have decades before that happens. People in the Bible had some long waits, and they just got on with life and served God in whatever way they could. In Potapher’s household, in the prison, and so on.

My calling is not as a children’s worker, but that was one of my first learning grounds in ministry. My calling is not primarily to homeless alcoholic men, but I probably leant more about myself and God in that year than in any other year of my life.
Yes seek an ultimate calling or vision for your life, but more importantly, be obedient to God today, ….where you are God wants to bring His Kingdom to others through you.
We’re all on a journey, and nothing is wasted…unless that’s what we’re doing…nothing.
(Parable of the talents).

2. Calling.

So how do a recognise a calling ? How do I know the direction God might be taking me in the long term ?
Okay, here’s 6 P’s in helping us recognising God’s call :

i) Prompted – what does God prompt you to do regularly, whether you listen or not ?

ii) Passion – what excites you in the Christian life and gets you going ? What thrills you in God’s work ?

iii) Prophetic – what probable prophetic words have been spoken over your life ?
Be very cautious here, lives can be derailed through false prophecy. They should be consistent with God’s word and character, and not be appealing to our sinful nature. Test them and hold them lightly, until you’ve had plenty of confirmation.
The next three are applicable if you’ve stepped out and started experimenting,

iv) Power – what do you experience power in doing, God’s power moving through you ?

v) Proofs – what evidence is there in the lives of others of God using you in a particular way ?

vi) Praise – what do you more often receive thanks or praise for ?

Someone once said to me that you can’t steer a stationary vehicle, it has to be moving.
God will better steer you if you’re stepping out in faith, sincerely wanting to serve Him.

Don’t get hung up over calling.
Seek God with all your heart, stay close to Him, and He will make things clear as time goes on. It often comes when we don’t expect it, quite often it seems when we’re looking after sheep ! – Moses and David. Maybe that’s because both of those people had pastoral roles caring for God’s people. Out in the wilds, solitude away from others, amongst His creation, is often when God speaks significant words into our lives.

Seek God first, …not a calling, not gifts of the Spirit, not healing, not prosperity….the Lord.
Listen to Him without pre conceived ideas about what He might say. That’s very important, don’t come to God with an agenda of your own, if you want to hear His voice clearly – God usually says things we don’t expect.
Die to selfish ambitions and to pride.

3. Commitment.

The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to keep going over a long period of time to reach the goal at the end. And it’s important in a marathon to finish well, so don’t think of winding down spiritually as you get older. The best may be yet to come.
In a marathon you need 3 P’s :

a) Passion – If you’re going to run a marathon, you’ve got to really want to do it. A word used a lot in Christian circles today, is passion, but it doesn’t appear in many Bible translations, and can be a bit confusing if you associate it with sexual desire and being somewhat out of control. If it helps, think of it as zealous commitment. If you have strong feelings of gratitude and love towards the Lord, you’re passionate.
Think of some films, about figures like : William Wallace, Joan of Arc, King Arthur, Robin Hood - People are attracted to and respond to passion.
Inspiration, longing, hope, determination, being hot for God, on fire with His word and Spirit. Wanting more of Him, more than anything else in the world. Passion.

b) Perseverance – Whatever happens, in the race, you determine to keep going.
If you’ve run long distances you’ll know - Pain will come. Tiredness will come. Distractions and temptations will come ….but you keep going, focused on the goal.

Read Hebrews 12:1-3.

c) Plenty of Water – if you run a marathon, you know you need plenty of water, or you dehydrate and fail to run well or even finish. We need God’s living water, the Holy Spirit. He is our strength and power for the race. Without Him we can do nothing. With Him filling us all things become possible. Our constant companion, an ever present help in times of trouble, our counsellor, teacher, encourager.

‘I can do everything through Him who gives me strength’ – Phil. 4:13.

Keep drinking as you run, don’t let yourself dry out. It’s sometimes even worth slowing down to take a drink sometimes, to be better able to run afterwards.

That’s what we need for the race.
But God gives us even more P’s in the race of life :

I) His provision – ‘everything we need for life and godliness’ (2 Peter 1:3),
‘My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 4:19),
‘Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’ (Matthew 6:33),
‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you’ (John 15:7).
God will provide all that you need, both spiritually and physically.

II) His power – ‘Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father’ (John 14:12).
‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses…’ (Acts 1:8).
‘His incomparably great power for those who believe’. ‘The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us’. The power of God, power that transforms.

III) His Peace – in a world that has lost it’s way and is confused, stressed, and at war with others and with God….God gives us His peace.

‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid’ (John 14:27).

We have a restored relationship with God, we are forgiven, we have eternal life, we have His constant presence. We have been given His love for others. We are in God’s hands, He’ll never leave us, we cannot be separated from His love.
These are the things that calm a troubled mind and heart. Assurance that only the Holy Spirit can give. Wonderful !

Isn’t God good ?

I do believe as I stand before you now that the battle is coming to an end. We haven’t won Lostwithiel yet but we will have victory soon. However, before that happens, it seems to me that God must remove from our midst, more of the members of this fellowship. I am sad that you will go but the Lord’s will be done. God will reduce us to a remnant before He will give us victory. Listen to what the Spirit will say this morning as you decide whether to stay or go. Whether you are part of this battle for Lostwithiel or whether you are simply a bystander.

The Parable of the Good Soil

As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.
“Are you listening to this? Really listening?”
Luke 8:5-9 (The Message)

I believe that our aim in winning souls is currently wrong. We need to examine once again why we want to see souls won for Christ. Why do I say this? We are doing an evangelism course. But to what end are we choosing to evangelise? I believe God has shown me that some of us want to win souls so the church membership will be bigger. So we can have more musicians. Maybe so we can have more money in. However, whilst these might be wrong, Paul said in Philippians 1:15-18

“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.[a] But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”

So Paul said that even if we are preaching Christ for wrong motives, at least Christ is preached. However, what I find even more deplorable is when folks don’t want to preach Christ at all. Why? Well maybe quite simply because they like out little family as it is. It is a nice select gathering, isn’t it. We’re all friends here. I will say this as simply as possible, we’re not called to be friends here, we’re called to be brothers and sisters. A family but a unique family because we should be electing to grow this family. God’s will is to have a family in Lostwithiel. God is preparing a remnant to have victory in Lostwithiel. Remember as well that the course is a tool. It is one way to preach the gospel, there are others. But the goal must be to preach the gospel.

But does this victory simply focus on preaching the gospel. When we hear about the good soil it is nearly always in terms of winning the lost. But have you thought about what else the good soil could be? Have you thought that the good soil might be character, money, gifts, service to others. If we see the good soil simply as winning souls, then that is all we need to do, but if the good soil is character say, then we would be obliged to improve out character! This is quite a bit harder. What about the good soil being about how we use our money? Ouch that has got to hurt. If was for a reason that J John once said, “the last thing to be converted is our wallets”.

So how can we produce good soil? Jesus this morning wants us to examine out motives, examine our lives, He wants us to listen to His Holy Spirit and hear what the Spirit has to say. Jesus wants to kill us this morning in order that He might live greater in us. As the seed falls to the ground and dies so that it becomes what it is meant to be, so must we.

You must be prepared to die

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
Luke 9:23-25 (New International Version)

Or as The Message puts it:

Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:23-25 (The Message)

There is a current trend to self-help groups. Positive thinking gurus. We are currently being given multiple methods for improvements. Methods to change character, marriages, attitudes, make you less self-reliant and God say, “Forget methods, look at my Son”.

Have you died to self yet? When you asked Jesus in, you gave your life to Christ but you probably did not fully die. It takes time to die to self and I am asking you this morning to start dying for Christ. Now what do I mean? Well a small and simple death that I am currently contemplating is in driving. God’s will I confidently declare and then I get in my car. I speed, I don’t like others over-taking me, I want the journey to end. I hate stopping for anything. As I was driving along just over a week ago the Holy Spirit said to me, “Are you prepared to die?” Now when you are driving that is quite a funny thing to ask but I knew what the Spirit meant and to be honest, “I said no.” And carried on driving as I always do. But God will have victory, I declare today that I am ready to die when it comes to driving. I want Christ to be the master at the wheel of my car. No more speeding and driving like a fool. Wise driving for me. Is it that simple? No I wish it was. I will need to pray that I die and Jesus lives in me in respect of driving. It will take time but Jesus will have the victory. He will answer my prayer and kill Richard Brown in respect of driving but then there will be another area in which my will be done rather than His will be done and God wants the whole of me.
So this morning when I ask have you died, I mean start dying now. Let me list some areas that I believe the Holy Spirit has brought before me. Money, children, laziness, tiredness, illness, school, ministry, work, family, husband, ownership, possessions, property both house and land, animals, desires, gifts.
It is a start. Because those are specifics but what about driving for instance. It is a challenge to me to drive within the speed limit and laws. What thing is God saying to you this morning, “You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am.”?
The amazing thing about this letting go and letting God in, is that once done, life changes. Not easier, but more peaceful, contentment comes. It won’t be easier, Jesus never said, “take up your mattrice”! He said take up your cross. It is a nasty, painful and ultimately deadly thing the cross. Why the cross? It is the same path Jesus took and He calls us to take the same path.
As I die to self I am becoming more aware of the lies the devil is choosing to feed me. I am more aware of my own vulnerabilities. I am also more aware of the strength of the Holy Spirit in my life. I am more aware of the inconsistencies, of the things that God is desiring of me. It is hard work but that is why the Holy Spirit will come.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:25-27 (New International Version)

We need the Holy Spirit to come and teach us what the Father wants. Our lives are often simply that - our lives - my life - your life - but they shouldn’t be, they should be His life. His life to do as He pleases, not as we please. This morning I believe Jesus wants to kill us, to change us, to lead us into new things. It will be costly are you prepared to pay the price because Jesus wants your whole life.

As we come to the end of the sermon I want to leave you with joy. The joy of service, the joy of salvation and the joy of sovereignty.
“All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s Authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you - that’s the agenda for rejoicing.” Luke 10 v 20
We are going to find joy as we report our victories. Both in our own changed lives and in the changed lives of others. Particularly when those changed lives mean salvation in Christ.
But our greatest joy is not found in service or even in our salvation, but in being submitted to the sovereign will of the Heavenly Father, because this is our foundation for both service and salvation.

We are indeed in a privileged position.

When I became a Christian at 16 I fell in love with the Lord, and wanted all I could get of Him, so I went to many Christian services and events and took it all in.
Unfortunately, as time has gone on and I have studied the Scriptures, I have had to unlearn much of what I picked up in those early years.
We can so easily be deceived and pass on that deception to others without realising it. And nearly always it’s because of a doctrine or practice built on a verse or few verses of the Bible, rather than looking at the whole. Or on verses taken out of context.

One of the areas that has been challenged in my life, is about what happens after death ?
I had been taught basically, if you pray a prayer of commitment, you are then saved and will go to heaven to be with God when you die. Sounds good, but is it true, is it Biblical ?

There are so many different views on what happens after death in society :
Reincarnation.
Ghosts.
Peter at the gate.
Everyone goes to heaven.
Fear of dying and the unknown.

Where do we get our beliefs from – our parents, our experiences, films….or the Bible ?

That something of us lives on after death seems clear, especially in the New Testament. Eternal life is spoken of many times, particularly of those who believe in Jesus.

Read John 3:16.

The Apostles creed says ‘the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting’, the Nicene creed ‘the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come’ – these creeds sum up the key doctrinal beliefs of the early church - no mention of us going to heaven you note.

Life that goes on forever, but not like the existence we have now…..that wouldn’t be very encouraging. Eternity with God. Whether a person thinks that’s good or not, will depend on their view of God.

So what does happen after death ?

Read Hebrews 9:27.

So does that happen right away ?
Does each person come before Jesus individually and then either get let into heaven or sent to hell ? Or is there a final judgement when all will be before Jesus at once ?

There is an apparent contradiction in the Bible, a paradox that needs some exploration.

Jesus said to the thief on the cross, ‘today you will be with me in paradise’. But we know from Scripture that Jesus didn’t return to heaven for some time…for example after He’s risen, He says to Mary Magdalene, ‘Don’t hang on to me, I haven’t yet returned to the Father’. So how can these two things be true ?
The reason is this – when you die, as far as you are concerned, you fall asleep and you wake up with Jesus. You pass out of time and the physical world.
But it could be that hundreds of years have passed.
Why do I say that ?
Paul talks about death on many occasions, as sleep – falling asleep and being asleep.
Not dead one instant and then floating off your bed down a dark tunnel towards the light.
And the Bible says that we are raised from that sleep…when ?

At the last trumpet, when Jesus returns with His holy angels.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49-53.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Otherwise known as the rapture…..we’re going to fly one day…exciting huh ?

The angels will gather us from across the earth – Matthew 24:30,31 & Luke 17.

You, your’ spirit, is going to get a new, eternal, spiritual body.

But this spirit is asleep until that point, in what the Bible calls the grave, not hell, but the place of the dead. The original words used are different. We don’t know ‘where that is’ because it’s spiritual not a physical thing.
It’s because of this belief that Christians and believing Jews have buried their dead rather than cremating them – although it’s more symbolic probably, than literal.

Ghosts generally, I don’t believe are people’s spirits floating around.
Most are hoaxes and people’s imagination, some are the deceptions of demons that want to further enslave people. I should know because as a child, myself and members of my family were heavily into that stuff. It is highly destructive, don’t touch spiritism at all.
This idea of someone’s ghost being cursed to roam the earth and not be at rest, is not Biblical. Punishment follows the judgement, and the Bible’s clear about what that
punishment is.

Read 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10.

At the resurrection we are raised, everyone. There is a judgement, a separation of those who belong to the Lord and have lived His way, and those who don’t and haven’t – wheat and the weeds, sheep and the goats, wise and foolish virgins, etc.
All the pictures God gives suggest that it all happens at once – there is a judgement day or time, when we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.
Those who have received Christ and followed Him, go to be with Him for ever. Those who haven’t go into the lake of fire (what we think of as hell). It is not satan’s ‘home’ as such, it is the place of final judgement.

The old heaven and earth will pass away, destroyed by fire, and there will be ‘a new heaven and earth, the home of the righteous’ according to 2 Peter 3:13.
But this is where it gets potentially complicated, because for what happens at this point we need to turn to Revelation, which is very symbolic and so on.
How does the thousand years rule of Christ on earth fit into this timescale, ….some it seems are raised before hand and the rest afterwards.
And how symbolic or literal is the new Jerusalem, the bride – is there going to be a city, or are we God’s people, that city ?
Either way the city comes from heaven to earth and God dwells in the midst of His people – there is a coming together of heaven and earth, just as there is a coming together of God and believing mankind. A unity for eternity.

Okay, there is one potential spanner in the works - The rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
If you take it as a parable, rather than a statement of doctrine, ….a story teaching a lesson, about Jews and signs, and their lack of belief…then there isn’t an issue.
But if you believe it is a literal true story, then it does seem to be saying something different from all the other verses we have looked at. You could argue that this is pre Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, and so a different context. I don’t know. My own feeling from what Jesus says at the end of it, is that it’s a parable.
Look at these Scriptures for yourself before God.

Don’t get caught up with the place – whether we go to heaven, and whether it happens straight away or not.
What matters is that if you believe in Jesus Christ, and confess Him as your Lord, you will have eternal life with God. Heaven is not special, it’s the God who made heaven and earth who is special. It’s eternity with the God who loves us that we want.
It’s a sure and certain hope, so that death is not something to fear, but to look forwards to.
Paul said, ‘to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Phil. 1:21).

‘Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints’ – Psalm 116:15.
No matter what form it may take, be assured that God is with you at the point of death, because you are precious to Him, and so is your’ passing on to eternity.

But be warned that if you’re not following Jesus, the alternative is the lake of fire, there’s no middle place – either you’re the Lord’s or you’re not, either you’ll spend eternity with Him, or eternity suffering in hell.

Let’s make sure we’re trusting in Jesus and living His way, and let’s do all that we can in God’s power to bring the Gospel to those we meet.

Jesus is judge….but He is also Saviour.

The Christian Message Simply Put
God exists, and is the supreme eternal being who created the universe.
God made us to be like Him, e.g. Creative, capable of love, with freewill to make choices, etc.
God also made us to be in a loving relationship with Him and each other.
Satan, originally an angel, became proud and rebelled against God. He became evil. He tempted the first human beings to rebel against God, and they did. This brought death, sickness, and suffering into the world.
Most importantly, it broke humankind’s friendship with God and we were separated from Him.
We’ve been rebelling against God ever since, being selfish, self-centred, greedy, envious, lustful, violent, and so on. We’ve messed up ourselves, each other, and the world. This is what the Bible calls sin.
Because God is holy and just, He cannot leave our sin unpunished. But God loves us and doesn’t want to punish us. A dilemma?
The solution we find in Jesus Christ. The Son of God came to earth as a man and died for our sin, taking our place and receiving the punishment we deserve.
After preaching, healing, exorcising, and loving people, He was betrayed, severely beaten, and crucified.
He died.
But, because He was God, and had done nothing wrong, death couldn’t hold Him, and on the third day He rose from the dead. He was seen and heard by many over a period of several weeks before He returned to Heaven, having defeated sin, death, and Satan.
Now if you believe in Him, accept that you are sinful and that He died for your sin, and follow Jesus as Lord of your life, you will have that love relationship with God restored. You can know God in a real, personal way, and experience His forgiveness, love, and power, in your life.
As we turn away from our self focused life and believe in Jesus, He comes and lives within us by His Spirit, to help us and empower us to live for Him.
Jesus said that the two most important things in life were to love God with all that we are and have, and to love each other as ourselves. That’s what He helps us to do.
The easiest way we can discover more about what Jesus has done is by reading the Bible. If you want find out more about Jesus, I recommend you find a modern English translation, and start by reading Luke or John.
Also, pray. Prayer is simply talking with God.
Maybe pray something like God, I don’t know if your real. But if you are, I want to know you. Please reveal yourself to me as I search for you.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12 v 2
Being into sports is tough. The training, the diet, the training, the diet, the training, the diet and then maybe the disappointments. Jesus knows about being tough. Jesus fixed His eye on the goal and went for it. He knew the disappointments and the difficulties but still He pressed on and now he has His crown.
Next Saturday when you go out to kick that ball to win, remember Jesus. Play to honour Him and bring Him glory through not only winning but playing to be the best.

The Fundamental Beliefs of Elim Pentecostal Churches.

The Bible
We believe the Bible, as originally given, to be without error, the fully inspired and infallible Word of God and the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

The Trinity
We believe that the Godhead exists co-equally and co-eternally in three persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that these three are one God, sovereign in creation, providence and redemption.

The Saviour
We believe in the true and proper deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His real and complete humanity, in His sinless life, in His authoritative teaching, in His substitutionary and atoning sacrifice through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His heavenly intercession and in His second advent to receive His Church.

The Holy Spirit
We believe in the deity of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son and the necessity of His work in conviction of sin, repentance, regeneration and sanctification, and that the believer is also promised an enduement of power as the gift of Christ through the baptism in the Holy Spirit with signs following. Through this enduement the believer is empowered for fuller participation in the ministry of the Church, its worship, evangelism and service.

Mankind
We believe in the universal sinfulness of all men since the Fall, rendering man subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.

Salvation
We believe in the necessity for salvation of the repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by which the sinner is pardoned and accepted as righteous in God’s sight. This justification is imputed by the grace of God because of the atoning work of Christ, is received by faith alone and is evidenced by the Fruit of the Spirit and a holy life.

The Church
We believe in the spiritual unity and the priesthood of all believers in Christ and these comprise the universal Church, the Body of Christ.

The Ministry
We believe in the ministries that Christ has set in His Church, namely, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, and in the present operation of the manifold Gifts of the Holy Spirit according to the New Testament.

The Ordinances
We believe in the baptism of believers by immersion in water in obedience to the command of Christ and in the commemoration of Christ’s death by the observance of the Lord’s Supper until His return.

The Commission
We believe that the gospel embraces the needs of the whole man and that the Church is therefore commissioned to preach the gospel to the world and to fulfil a ministry of healing and deliverance to the spiritual and physical needs of mankind.

The Coming King
We believe in the personal, physical and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to reign in power and glory.

The Future State
We believe in the resurrection of the dead and in the final judgement of the world, the eternal conscious bliss of the righteous and the eternal conscious punishment of the wicked.

I bet you find it funny to see a page titled sex on a church website. Well do you know who was the first person ever to declare, sex is good?
Well the answer I think might surprise you for it is God. Christians believe that it was God that made man and woman and 27 verses into the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, God says,
Be fruitful and increase in number. Genesis 1 v 27. God was telling Adam and Eve to have sex. Four verses later it says that, God saw all that He had made and it was very good. God was including sex in this.
Of course, God encourages us to understand that sex used in the wrong way can become bad, just like anything else really. That is why God calls us to keep sex within marriage. He says sex is best enjoyed that way.

Did you know that chocolate was a health food and should be part of a balanced diet? Chocolate is made of Coco beans and sugar beat, which are vegetables and fruit. Chocolate also contains milk which is dairy. It is a health food!
Of course not!
We all know that chocolate is nice but I do not think too many of us would consider it a health food and part of a balanced diet.
In the Psalms, we are asked to:
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
I would encourage you to include God as a part of your daily lives. Taste and see rather than listen to others. Experience God rather than just assume.
If you want to find out more about how good God tastes, then contact us and we will be glad to talk to you.

What happens at the Cell meeting?
There is a normal structure for each Cell meeting but this is also flexible.
These elements are often referred to as the 4 W’s.
* Welcome
* Worship
* Word
* Witness or Works

What happens during the Welcome?
It may just be chat with tea and coffee, but usually this takes the form of an icebreaker. Sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious. The aim of this time is to get to know one another better, and build relationships. It generally lasts about 15 minutes.

What happens during the Worship?
Don’t panic, this doesn’t necessarily mean half an hour of singing, though sung praise and worship may be part of it.
All sorts of creative forms of worshipping God are used :- Scripture, prayer, silence, meditation, taped music, artistic expression, etc. Generally this lasts about 20 - 30 minutes.
The basic objective is to open ourselves to God, to focus on Him, and to express our love for Him.

What happens during the Word?
This is not a teaching session or Bible study as such, but a time to work through a Biblical and relevant topic together, and seek to apply the Word to our lives both as individuals and as a body.
Application rather than theory, is the emphasis, often picking up on the theme of the talk at the last Main Worship Meeting. It generally lasts about 45 minutes.

What happens during Witness/Works?
This is where we ask ourselves “What are we going to do about it ?”
It may mean for example, praying for each other, praying for people we are seeking to reach out with the love of God to, planning an outreach event or strategy for the Cell group, or setting ourselves goals for the coming week. This time should generally have an outward focus, and lasts about 15 minutes.

So what is Cell really all about?
Our aim is that through Cells we will be committed to Biblical values of what it means to be Church, and thereby glorify the head of the Church, Jesus Christ .
* Jesus at the centre
* Honesty
* Every member ministry
* Every member growing
* Sacrificial love
* Multiplication
These 6 just listed, are the core values of Cell church, and as each member is committed to these values and does their part, so the Cells will grow.
Cells are indeed expected to grow, both spiritually and in numbers, and when they get to about 12 regular members, to multiply into two new cells
Where possible a Cell will meet in the general locality of it’s members, usually in someone’s home, this becoming much easier as the number of Cells grows.