Thankfulness has the potential to release something supernatural in our lives…

We need to stop looking at our circumstances and keep our eyes FIXED on Him because He is FAITHFUL to fulfil ALL His promises to you and He will not fail us

Pastor Andy’s message this week is titled “Where Next”? After

discussing the shape of things to come for both the previously established

congregations (pre Covid) and also the newly established online congregation, he

speaks about the very definition of a Christian or more usefully a Disciple, or

a Believer. Are we called something yet our attributes do not confirm the name

we give ourselves? If we are a follower of Jesus do we properly purpose in our

hearts to follow Him? Do we dedicate in our hearts to follow Jesus in all His

steps, placing our attention in Him? Jesus called people to become followers

and disciples in the Gospels and He does the same today – to have a daily experience

of Him in their world. Jesus calls us

into a daily relational walk with Him now just as He did in the Gospels. All

Jesus disciples in the gospels had security in what they did and left this and

at some cost started to follow Jesus in a new journey. They did not look back.

They needed to leave their previous security to join Him and follow Him into

something much better. Will we lay down our comforts and put Him first in all

things advancing with Him?

There are times in our walk with God that we need to “put our heart on our road” and trust Him in the journey ahead.

Today is the last in the current series by Pastor Andy Elmes

‘Commissioned’, with this week’s message being about Kingdom Lifestyle. We've

been looking at Matthew 28 verses 19-20. God says go into all the world and

make disciples baptizing them teaching them to obey. People get really carried

away with loving the word grace and love and mercy, but obedience is equally a

powerful word. Matthew 28, 20 does say “teaching

them to obey everything”….this means, training people to abide, to walk, in

obedience to all that Jesus commanded.

Jesus taught about Kingdom living, a new higher way of conducting

ourselves. If we look at the teachings of Jesus in the gospels He often says to

his disciples “go and declare the kingdom”. When Jesus walked the Earth, He

didn't preach a gospel of atonement - He was the Gospel of atonement! He spoke

of a kingdom, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven that was present now,

on earth. In Matthew 5 and 6 Jesus talks

about Kingdom life and how to live it. In this message Jesus suddenly begins to

redefine so much of what people thought was normal, but he brings fresh

definition to it and says, no, that's not how you live. This is how you live to

me. That's what the Lord is asking us to do when he says “ …teach people to obey my Commandments”, - the ways that I've taught you to live. He

talks about being Salt and Light and so much more in these two chapters.

Romans 12:2 (NIV) says “Do not conform to the pattern of

this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be

able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.

This is the Holy and best possible way for us to live beyond

anything we ever imagined. In those moments in the battlefield of our minds we

need to make sure the way He's taught us to live overcomes any previous way we

may have lived before. This is when the victory that's contained in the word breaks

into our daily lives.

When the zeal of God truly captures our hearts, it will ignite within us a great passion to walk with Him and to be His friend, therefore Consider Your Ways...

Pastor Andy continues his series on Commissioned, this week his title is Walking it Out. This series has been based on the incredible verses from Matthew 28:19 -20 known as the Great Commission. Andy speaks more about discipleship where we provoke each other to grow and develop a more intimate walk with the Lord than we've ever known before. We hear about each believer having a discipleship role……..being surrendered to someone so we have our own lives challenged and mentored and then also being able to help others as well. This richness gives us strength and daily growth in Christ which we need in order to prevent us stagnating in our relationship with Jesus. There are two experiences to being a Christian - we can go for a crowd experience or a disciple experience. If we go for a crowd experience, we will watch miracles. However if we go for a disciple experience, we get to handle them!

Andy gives scripture references regarding how Paul speaks to the church in Corinth and elsewhere about still giving the people milk rather than solid food because they had not yet moved from being carnal Christians to spirit led ones. He warns us about not being offended regarding the purpose of the church in our lives – its easy to be led into a false sense of understanding here regarding the culture of Israel during biblical times.

Andy speaks about how we want to help people to navigate their new life, the New Birth, the transformation of God that's happening in their world. So in Family Church, moving forward in regard to those who are be are giving their life to Christ in our services or in our in times when we meet each other, we want to be relational in our discipleship rather than purely educational. Andy gives a lot of details to some of the practical and exciting steps we shall be taking to outwork this vision. Next week is the final part to this series Commissioned.

Have we allowed the limitations of our natural thinking to reduce us to only believing in natural possibilities…

Today Pastor Andy preached the next message in his series ‘Commissioned’. The title is literally ‘The Next Step’! This amazing message is another of those absolutely must hear messages in the exciting time leading up to the regathering and rebuilding of the physical church as we move out of the lockdown we have been in this past year.

Andy speaks in a captivating manner to further unwind the meaning of the scriptures in Matthew 28 where Jesus gives the great commission. Making disciples has to be part of the culture of whom and what we are as a church, daily not just Sundays. Andy speaks of disciples being ‘learners’ - everything that God could do for us is given us at the moment of salvation but we spend our lives ‘learning’ what that means and living in the reality of it. Christianity is simply a walk with Jesus.

Andy speaks of the heart changing moments of conversion giving rise to the born again experience, he mentions Matthew 11 where Jesus is saying to people to come to him all who are laden with their past and effectively be learners in a new life. We commit to walk with Him all the days of our lives. Andy speaks significantly of the two baptisms – of water and also of the Holy Spirit. Our water baptism representing our own death, burial and resurrection with Jesus in newness of life and the then infilling by The Holy Spirit to guide us, empower us and lead us on our way henceforth. These are two necessary experiences for us in our life of discipleship!

This is indeed a most challenging and exciting message!

Way back in the history of Israel God spoke and said… “It’s Time to Consider your Ways…” This simple little phrase is equally relevant to us as Christians in the Church today. They were to consider their ways if they were to be blessed. We are to consider our ways because we have already been blessed.