When the world around you changes

Most changes happen unnoticed because they happen gradually, be it the crows feet, the middle aged spread, the gradual decrease in speed and agility on the football field, or the growth of a child that we haven't spotted but the grandparents do.  It's no different in the areas in which we live.  We live in the Hayfield area of Auckley, near Doncaster, and have done for 11 years.  When we came it was less than 600 houses, mostly comprised of former RAF base housing.  The local school was not the school of choice.  And the area had lots of social needs.

Fast forward 11 years and things are markedly different.  As I walked the dog earlier there are now well over a thousand homes.  And the vast majority that have been built are expensive family homes available to buy, not rent, rather than affordable housing or social housing.

The airport has taken off (pun intended) and so have the businesses around it with a couple of new office parks having been built bringing jobs into the area and more warehousing and office space planned for the future.  A brand new sixth form college has been built, which come September will have over a thousand students.  The local Primary School is expanding and when complete will have changed from a small local school with less than 200 pupils in it to a 2 form entry school with over 450 pupils in the school and nursery.  And it has become the school of choice, with lots of parents travelling and in and fighting appeals to get a place rather than not to.  Since we've been here a private school has relocated from Bessacarr to buildings near the airport.

And these changes are only the beginning.  Yorkshire Wildlife Park are expanding and their main entrance will be less than a mile from where we meet as a church, with shops and a hotel planned as part of the development.  The long term airport expansion plan includes plans for hotels, further business and warehousing development, a railway station, and a new residential build of over 3000 new homes.

As I walked I was reminded again that the world has changed around us.  The populace has more than doubled in size, the age demographic has changed, the socio-economic demographic has shifted, but the same needs that were there are still there, they are just less obvious and there are also a whole raft of additional ones.  And the challenge for us is to be praying for God's wisdom to take the gospel to everyone.  Not to prejudice some, but to favour all.  The gospel is the only hope to unite and bridge the divides of a community that has suddenly grown and thrown very different people with different aspirations, chips on their shoulders and outlooks together.

Every so often we need to look up, challenge our assumptions and examine the place where we find ourselves.  What things did I know which are no longer true of my community?  What assumptions were true but are no longer valid?  What different dreams and aspirations, hopes and stories do people have and how has that changed?  And how do we connect with these people as a church?  Do programmes need scraping, adapting, or beginning?  How is the gospel good news for these people?

Change is...

Sometimes in the evangelical church it can feel intimidating trying something new.  We feel a little bit like Oliver as he embarks on the long walk to the front and asks for more as we present something new or tweak something existing.  I am very grateful to God that Grace Church has bought into the idea of change as a good thing and as the norm, that people are willing to try something different.  As churches gospel flexibility is a must if we are to grow and reach those around us.

So what's the change?  Nothing earth shattering.  But we are going to be adding an extra service to Sunday's from September.  Not because we've grown and now need two Sunday morning services, that's not problem we have to face, though it is one we'd love to face at some point in the future.  We are going to be launching a Sunday afternoon service from 4-5pm.  At a time when many churches are only having one service and as a small church this feels counter intuitive but we want to try it for a number of reasons:

1. It will provide us with another opportunity to meet, hear God's word and one another one another.  We need one another and one of the fruits of our Gospel Group series on the one another's has been a growing conviction I've had that we just need to be spending more time together to help us do this well.  So as part of the service on Sunday afternoon we'll be eating together to facilitate that as well as singing together, reading together, praying together, and listening and applying God's word together.

2. It provides an opportunity for those who teach the children to be taught.  Our Sunday School teachers work incredibly hard to teach the Bible faithfully, interactively, and innovatively to the young people we have coming along on a Sunday morning.  Often at the expense of being taught themselves.  We want to provide an opportunity for them to be taught as a way of honouring their sacrificial service.

3. It opens up a new avenue into church.  Many of the families in our local area are heavily involved in Sunday morning sport and so an invitation to church is often met with 'Sorry, but I've got...'  Hopefully this second service opens up an opportunity for those involved there to come along.  I'm not naive enough to think we'll be inundated, but God willing it removes another barrier for a few.

4. It flies in the face of consumer culture.  In our consumer culture we take what we want when we want it, that is a danger for the way we approach church.  Hopefully by having this second service people will think come along not just because they want to but to support others.  It provides a very practical expression of love for others, I will go to support those who couldn't get there this morning, or who were teaching my children and so on.

5. It provides a way for our children to see their parents engage with the Bible.  The Sunday afternoon will see everyone in together for the whole service.  Our children will get to see their parents engage with the Bible, discuss it with others and pray through its implications.  This will be messier and noisier and a bit more chaotic.  But our prayer is that as the children see it modelled they will better transition into church themselves and that God would be at work by his Spirit through his word that is as applicable and relevant to an 8 year old as to an 88 year old..

Those are just some of the reasons why we're giving Sunday afternoons a go, there are others, but I'll leave it at that.  We'd love your prayers as we begin in September, for the preparation of the book of James, for unity in the church, for outreach in the community.  But above all for God to be at work through his word in his people by his Spirit to bring himself glory.

When life throws you a curve ball, trusting in the sovereignty of God means we aren't thrown by it

God is sovereign.  That absolute fact matters.  Nothing that I face today will take God by surprise.  Whereas life may, and frequently does, spring surprises on me all the time.  Just when you thought things were settled and you knew what the future looked like along comes a surprise.  That would be unsettling were it not for the sovereignty of God and the conviction that God is working all things for good.

The latest curve ball has come in the shape of issues with the building we meet in.  Hiring a school inevitably means that we have to make compromises, compromise over what and when and how, compromise over what we can and can't do, when and how we meet and so on.  We have been incredibly blessed with the generosity of the school and the incredible support of the headteacher, office and cleaning staff who have repeatedly gone out of their way to make us welcome.

But there have been growing pressures in terms of building use.  The area we have for Sunday school is not ideal, especially with large number of children, and we can only use the facilities as and when they are available which largely rules out the day time.  There is also a new and pressing issue, when a child is excluded from school they are excluded from the premises both during and outside of school hours.  Last week sadly this happened which means effectively we have family who are part of our wider church family who are excluded from church as one of their children is excluded from school.  So suddenly the need to find new premises becomes more urgent.  But what is reassuring is that God new even though I didn't that this issue would present itself last Thursday.  God knows even though where don't where we will meet in the future.

And so this week alongside all the usual sermon preparation, visits, assemblies, bible studies, 1-2-1's, admin and making the church family aware of this issue I'm spending time looking for a new home for Grace Church.  There are no obvious venues, the secondary school don't want to do Sunday lettings, there is no community hall in the area, not even a pub with a function room.  But still God knows and is good.  There are some available office units and commercial premises though they are a bit set apart from the residential community and they are expensive but available to buy or to let.

So whilst the future is once again somewhat uncertain our trust is that God knows and he is with us.  Someone from church text me reminding me of our first memory verse of the year this morning: "Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and be not dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."  Again God's timing that one of the verses we have learnt is so relevant at this time.

So we'd value your prayers.  Prayers for quickly finding venue.  Prayers for wisdom as to whether to buy or rent and where to buy or rent.  Prayers for finance whether we buy or rent as realistically our rent needs to be as cheap as it is at the minute and if we buy we need to find external sources of finance.  And lastly prayers for unity within the church family over this issue as we move forward so that others watching on are won for the gospel.

Helping your pastor keep going in ministry: 2 Timothy 4v1-8

I recently was asked to speak at the induction of a minister into the pastorate at another church.  Here are the notes of my sermon drawn from 2 Timothy 4:1-8:

A survey of pastors asked; ‘what the best thing about their job was?’ What do you think was number 1? It wasn’t only working one day a week. It was seeing people change. Pastors love to see people trust Jesus, then seeing people go on and grow as they’re changed by the gospel.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy we see Paul facing death for his faith calling Timothy to share his convictions and passion and continue in ministry. These are convictions we need in ministry and which churches need their ministers to have. Things you should be praying for your leaders and ministers and encouraging them in, as well as things they need to routinely return to, especially when ministry is tough.

Minister aware your Kingdom Context

Paul, as he writes to Timothy, is in a Roman prison. It wasn’t like our prisons. Roman prisons were dirty, dark, and damp, there were no rights, there was often torture and mistreatment, little food or water, and little hope.

But how does Paul describe where he is(1)? “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus...” Paul is not just a prisoner in a Roman jail awaiting his trial and death. That’s not his defining reality. Paul is in the presence of God and of Jesus. Isn’t that a different take on his reality? Paul lives out his life in the presence of God and exhorts Timothy to remember that he too lives and ministers in the presence of God. Does that change how we think of our reality? We live and minister in the presence of God and of Jesus.

The kingdom of God is now, but it is also coming. This section is bookended by a focus on the coming of the kingdom when Jesus returns as judge, it’s here in(1) as he gives Timothy this solemn charge but also in(8) as Paul anticipates Christ’s coming and his reward.

The most important thing Timothy must realise is that this world is not the most important thing, it’s not the enduring reality, it is not even what determines how you live. Don’t live life for now live life in the light of Christ’s coming kingdom.

Don’t let visible circumstances determine how you serve Christ but serve in light of his kingdom, which is now and not yet. We have a glorious future when Christ will judge the living and the dead. That’s the reality which must determine how you live.

Timothy needs to know this because he’s labouring in a church infected by false teaching, where people don’t want bible teaching, preaching the truth is unwelcome, results are slow growing, or look insignificant, and where he experiences opposition. But that isn’t the only reality, if you focus on that reality you will give up. Serve your saviour, live out your kingdom context.

We must keep our kingdom context in focus as we engage in gospel ministry. Often church looks unimpressive, our evangelism looks insignificant, we feel weak, sometimes congregations shrink before they grow, and we’re tempted to despair as we look around. But remember your kingdom context, we minister in the presence of God and Jesus and his kingdom and victory are certain.

Fulfil your Kingdom Commission

What is the thing Paul tells Timothy to do? “preach the word”. His dying charge to Timothy is keep on preaching the bible, don’t give up on it; it’s the most important thing you can do, give your life to it, die for it. And Paul doesn’t just tell Timothy what to do but how to do it;

a. Urgently – Timothy is to preach the bible when and wherever opportunity arises, when you feel like it and when you don’t, on duty and off duty, when people want to listen and when they don’t. There’s an urgency to preaching the bible because (3:16-17)it is God’s word, it alone brings us salvation and produces change.

b. Relevantly – Paul uses three words to describe different uses of God’s word; “Correct, rebuke, encourage...” Some of those we naturally don’t like to hear or give? In our society we don’t like correcting or rebuking but we like encouragement. But preaching the bible exposes our sin both before we trust in Jesus and afterwards, it warns us of its consequences, and it comforts us not by saying a therapeutic ‘there, there’ but by pointing us to Jesus. Timothy must preach the bible in a way that is relevant to his hearers as he points to Jesus. He must correct, rebuke and encourage in Christ as and when necessary.

c. Faithfully – Timothy needs two characteristics in his preaching, “great patience and careful instruction”. There’s a danger in preaching the bible – it is that you get frustrated when people don’t get it, or don’t change, or their hearts aren’t lit up by it. If it is the best thing about being a pastor, then the most frustrating thing is when it isn’t happening. But Timothy is called to preach the bible with great patience, in other words keep on preaching. Don’t give up and go somewhere else keep on preaching the bible. But he is also to preach carefully in terms of content, this is about what he teaches - teach sound doctrine, preach the bible.

The thing this church needs is to hear the bible taught, applied to them as it is; God’s word. It reveals salvation, points to Jesus, convicts, and changes us. Preach it and keep preaching it, be patient and careful in your teaching.

Understand the threat to Preaching the Word(3-5)

Why does Timothy need this exhortation to preach? Because there is a time coming when people won’t want to hear the truth, they won’t want to hear sound teaching, but instead will find teachers willing to teach what they want to hear. No correction, no rebuke, no real comfort just teaching that suits their desires. The truth of the bible substituted for myths.

How might we see that today?

a. A desire to be entertained –One church in America tried to stop dwindling numbers by having church staff wrestling as part of their service! But it doesn’t have to be that extreme, it can simply be that jokes, anecdotes or stories or self can dominate instead of the bible.

b. A desire not be challenged – It can be not wanting to hear the bibles correction or rebuke. Wanting false comfort not biblical comfort that shows us our sin, warns us of its consequences and comforts us by pointing to our salvation in Christ as the answer and calling us to live out our new identity in Christ. False comfort is powerless.

c. A desire not to be stretched – The bible taught properly will stretch us, it will require us to engage, to think about it, to weigh our hearts, thinking and motives. It is not like watching TV; it requires participation.

d. A pressure to be short – How long will you commit to listening to the bible for in a week? The pressure is on to be short, 20mins is thought to be a long time – our attention spans to some extent are moulded by TV. But teaching the bible takes time, to explain the text, to work it into our lives and to apply it well.

How is Timothy, and how are we, to respond to this? (5)"But you...” Be countercultural, fight against the prevailing trends and desires. People won’t want to listen to the truth so what is Timothy to do? Keep on preaching. He is to think clearly about these trends and keep teaching the bible, as he experiences opposition he is to keep teaching the bible, as people reject and confront him he is to do the work of an evangelist. That isn’t going door to door, or doing open air but proclaiming the truth of Jesus – in other words teach the bible, he is to complete the task – preach the bible.

Pass on the baton

Paul gives one final reason for Timothy to preach the word, to fulfil this commission. Paul has done it(6-7), he has laboured, sweated and endured in gospel ministry committed to his saviour and now is excited about going home.

Notice how he speaks of his death(6), it is his departure not the end, simply time to leave this sphere of service and hear his masters well done! Paul has lived for the kingdom, preached the truth, fought the fight, finished the race, kept the faith and he considers it worth it. All of those words contain the idea of contending, striving, battling towards a goal.

Timothy preach the word, pick up the baton I’m passing to you because it is worth it. And Timothy is to pass this on to others(2:2), pass on what, a conviction and passion for teaching God’s word.

We must share those convictions; teach the truth and encourage others to teach the truth. These must remain our convictions.

But as a church how do you encourage your pastor to do that?

1. Pray for his preparation and preaching. In 2 Tim 2v15 Paul tells Timothy to "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." Pray that for your pastor.

2. Come ready. Nothing encourages a pastor like teaching people who are keen to learn, read the passage before you come, engage during the talk, and ask questions of him and one another. Don’t want entertaining, don’t want easy listening, don’t settle for less than the gospel.

3. Resource your pastor. Encourage him to work hard and preach well by providing him with the means to study well, to buy commentaries, to be taught and trained. Resource him time wise, not crowding out preparation time with expectations to be at or doing other things (Acts 6 - provides a good model).

4. Question your pastor. If the pastor’s greatest joy is seeing people change, then show him you are by asking questions about the passage, or challenging something that was said, or simply telling him when something has changed you or made you think. Because it’s thrilling to be part of someone grappling with and seeking to understand and apply more of the character, plan and power of God through his word.

5. Treat your pastor as a person. Don’t put your pastor on a pedestal, none of us are infallible and it doesn’t help us to be treated as such. Treat him and his family as people you trust and love in Christ.

6. Remember ministry is not about the minister. Pastors prepare people to engage in ministry. The fruit of teaching the bible is changed lives among the congregation, it is the congregation increasingly teaching one another and becoming ministers themselves.

When isn't Christian maturity Christian maturity?

The discussion of what a mature christian is can be either helpful or unhelpful depending on the baggage people come with.  There is no doubting that the bible calls us to grow in maturity.  Ephesians 4:12-14, Philippians 3:15, Col 1:28, Col 4:12, Heb 5:14, James 1:4 are just a few of the passages that aim at or talk about christian maturity.  Christian maturity is vital, it is what enables us not to run from one set of teaching to another set of teaching, it is becoming more like Christ.

But one thing christian maturity is not is impatient or judgmental of others who it feels are not maturing quickly enough.  Because christian maturity does not happen apart from the fruits of the spirit; "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."  The mature follower of Jesus will lovingly want people to change and understand more of what it means to be in Jesus but will joyfully, patiently, faithfully and gently encourage that change in others.  Praying for it, discussing it, building others up and so on.

Yet we are naturally impatient people, we long to see people change and become more like Christ.  But our thoughts on christian maturity must not be divorced from the fruit of the Spirit, they are the fruit of the mature.  If we don't have them we are not mature!

That doesn't mean that we don't encourage people to change, that doesn't mean that we accept that life is the way it is and will never change and give up aiming for change, or that we just allow people to coast.  But it does mean we patiently wait as we aim for change as we teach the bible and apply it to others and ourselves.  It means we model change in light of God's word, we talk about what God is teaching us and how we are struggling to apply it to ours lives as enabled and empowered by the Spirit.

It's interesting how often we are impatient with others because we forget how long change has taken in us.  We expect others to grasp ideas the first time they hear them forgetting that God has graciously, lovingly and slowly taught us, shown us our need and repeatedly prompted us to change at a pace at which we could handle.  We expect people to grasp the big idea of a talk and apply it in their lives when they first hear it whereas we have taken hours in the study thinking it and its implications through.

We need to long for change, to aim for change, to teach for a realisation of the gospel in practice whilst praying that God would work in his time.  We need to do everything we can to foster and encourage growing christian maturity whilst not becoming frustrated at the way in which God works that change.

Trusting God through change

I like change, well perhaps I should rephrase that; I like the idea of change, the reality and its accompanying uncertainties is a bit more testing.  As a Church we have enjoyed five and a half years being based on a Sunday morning at a local primary school, where we have been very well looked after and where we are comfortable and everything is familiar.  However, God has been opening doors for us elsewhere, in another school elsewhere in our patch as we think about it.

And so this Sunday sees us hold our last service before we move.  But we aren't just moving our Sunday morning service, if you are going to change you might as well change lots of things at once.  So we will be launching with a new name, because people in the new area don't see themselves as Doncaster and particularly not South Doncaster, and launching a new toddler group to be run out of the school where we will be meeting on a Monday afternoon.  We are also looking to get involved in this area in other ways which weren't open to us where we were before.

This change brings with it a profound sense of gratefulness to God for his provision for the past 5 years and for his clear guidance of us to this point.  But it also brings a renewed need for us to pray as we effectively relaunch, needing workers, needing wisdom, needing God to move by his spirit to save those who are our neighbours and friends.

Managing Change

Do you like change?  I have to confess to being a bit of a change junkie, I love trying new stuff even knowing that a significant chunk of it won't work.  I love the fact that I am saved by Jesus Christ not by whether what I try or do succeeds of fails.  But as we think about change what are some of the things which ought to temper our thinking (notice that it tempers our thinking it doesn't paralyse us into not changing!!!)

The People we have
As churches and as leaders people need to drive what we do.  Every change we make will in some way affect people and loving my neighbour will mean that I do not want change to harm others.  Take for example the hypothetical of a church changing the venue in which it meets.  It is right and good to be thinking carefully about pastorally caring for people in change - who will this affect the most, who may be genuinely in difficult if we do this, or move here?  For whom does this make it very difficult to attend church?  And how can we counter that?  What do we need to do to ensure transition is good and we take people with us?

The People we don't have
The danger is that in thinking about the people we have we don't think about the people we don't have yet.  Again take the hypothetical of a church moving meeting venue.  Maybe there is an area they could move to which has no gospel presence in which case the great commission and Paul's approach to planting churches would seem to suggest such a need should make us pray about it and seriously consider it?  Perhaps the area they are meeting in is already reached by another church or has a church or churches close to it.  Then there is a both a drive out and a pull in to another area.

There are lots of other factors we may want to take into account, but I think people need to be our primary factors as we think about change.  What difference would it make to our programmes if we thought about people first and foremost and built everything around them?  What risks would it lead us to take?  What changes would love compel us to make?

Have you been robbed of a valuable tool!

There are somethings which the bible encourages us to do which we find easy, or mostly easy.  But there are others which we do not, in fact which we make excuses to avoid doing.  In preparing both 2 Timothy 1 for Sunday and Gospel Groups on our commitment to One Another two things have come up which I think are hard but are interelated; love and rebuke.

The world thinks of love as something nice, complementary and gentle and this has robbed us of the robust and really life changing capabilities of the love the bible talks about evidenced in the gospel and which is to be at work amonst believers.  Our love for each other is not seen in saying nice things to each other but in saying what needs to be said to each other in love.  Because we love each other we will help one another confront sin and fight sin pointing each other and leading one another back to the glorious freedom we find in grace.

Rebuke or warn are key terms in the New Testament, we see Paul doing this to both the churches he writes to and to the young pastors (Timothy and Titus) he leaves behind as a lasting gospel legacy.  And, lest we think it is just Paul, he exhorts Timothy that he is to continue that same work.  Elsewhere we see the whole church encouraged to love each other enough to help one another fight sin.

It poses the questions how much do I love my brothers and sisters in Christ, when did I last in love warn or rebuke someone?  When was I last warned or rebuked?  How did I accept that warning or rebuke?

Because it doesn't even take love to say something nice to someone but only real gospel love will give and accept rebuke knowing it is for our good, designed to drive us back to the cross and the liberating grace and freedom we find their in Christ our Saviour.

Never stopping

I have been reminded again and again over the last few weeks through articles, books and Bible reading and preparation of the need to be changing. Not just to change once but to ongoing in changing. That is what God is looking for, that is what brings him glory, it is what the gospel calls us to and it is what the Spirit works in us to produce.

It means that every so often it is helpful to stop and think about what God is calling us to change now, what facet of my character is he challenging as he makes me more aware of the gospel and its height, depth and breadth.

Conversely if I am not changing then I am not apprecaiting the gospel and its call to be repent and live repenting, its call to be re-born and therefore to be being changed into a new creation.

The question we need to answer?

How do I know that I am not coasting in the Christian life? Helpfully someone pointed out yesterday that the way to know that you are not coasting is by answering this question about the word of God: When did it last change me?

When was the last time I changed my thinking as a result of what I read? When was the last time it changed the way I acted? When was the last time having heard the word preached that I acted on it?

It is always encouraging to see people engaging with those sorts of questions. But we also must be asking that question and answering it for ourselves.

A Barrier

One of the barriers to growth is that we automatically drift into a maintaining the status quo mentality. We don't mean to do it; we want to see people join the church and see those in the church mature in their faith, but we just like things the way they are. Why do we need to try it this way when it has always worked so well doing... The young tend to think this is a failing of the old, but actually its a failing of all of us - sometimes the young are most trenchant because they have always aspired to be in a certain group. We like what we like and we do not relish change. We like to feel comfortable and sometimes growth unsettles us and brings change with it.

Say you are in a church of about 40 people, you will know everybody by name and the church is built on those relationships. What happens when 10 new people join? It's great the growth we have prayed for is realised, but what if those ten have different ideas and ways of doing things? What about the changes in dynamics it brings, will I know everyone in the same way, will it alter existing relationships?

What about the additional pressure it puts on the church leaders meaning they spend less time with those who were there originally? All these are consequences of growth, and I am not saying growth is a bad thing, but that our attitudes can be a barrier to growth.

We need to be prepared to pray for and welcome growth both as a result of mission and maturity and the changes that it brings.

Concentration

I am always reading in the news papers about peoples declining concentration span, people site evidence such as shorter adverts, shorter scenes in soap operas, fewer people reading as a pass time. My question is what does this mean for the church?

Does it mean the church should pander to the prevailing trend in culture? Or should it buck the trend and encourage people to "stop being so lazy and pay attention"?

The irony is that amidst all this talk of shorter concentration spans, films haven't got any shorter and my hunch is that actually today people watch more films. Yes the scenes chop and change but the storyline remains and we manage to concentrate on it. The challenge for churches and those leading and preaching is not to bemoan the culture or berate the people it is to innovate the service.

The Bible is the inspired word of God and is the thing which "equips his [God's] people for works of service..." (Eph 4:12). It must be the focus of our meeting together or we fail to do what church is designed to do. The issue is over how we do it. Does it have to be a 30 minute monologue? Could it not be interactive and involve congregation participation at least on easy observation questions? Could you break into groups to discuss personal application, either during the service or in groups over coffee? Could you use physical objects, sights, smells, pictures as effective school teachers do? Or use video clips or song lyrics - though do so with care? If we want people to be devoted to the word our job as preachers is to get them engaged with the word.

What about the service itself. Familiarity is great it makes people feel at easy, it makes them comfortable. But it can also make them lazy, they don't have to engage their brain because they know what is coming next, so why not freshen up the service, innovate, CHANGE. Why not introduce a slot about something cultural and the gospel, the latest TV sensation, or a internet phenomenon like Facebook, or break the gospel talk in 2 to do communion in the middle... It may shake a few people but if you explain that it is so that we engage with the Bible, so that we can better devote ourselves to it I don't think many would complain for too long.

Change

How are you with change? Do you look forward to it? Do you dread it? Or do you take the ostrich approach and bury your head in the sand until the change has happened. This next couple of weeks is a time of lasts. Yesterday was my last morning preach at BEC before we start South Doncaster Community Church. This Tuesday is the last home group before we relaunch as an SDCC home group on a different night with some different people. Then next Sunday is our last Sunday at BEC.

It is exciting to be involved in starting a new church as well as scary, talk about taking risks is fine when everything is a long way away but now we are well into the reality. Leaving a church of 180-200 to go with about 30 adults to start a new church, leaving youth work our youngsters all love for something new, which I'm sure will be good, leaving friends and family you see every Sunday, leaving the comfort and support network that has built up over 4 and a bit years.

But God is good and the uncertainty is to drive us to pray, not Father God make it a success, though that would be nice, but Father may we bring you glory and make the good news about Jesus known. There are loads of encouragements and things to praise God for and well as people we have met and come to know better.

The last passage I am preaching on at BEC next Sunday evening is all about seeking God's kingdom first above comfort, security, and wealth. God is good even in the terms of preparation he knows what we need to be thinking about and putting into practice.