One of the last things Jesus did in His earthly ministry was to give his disciples and, after them, the church a mission. The great mission to tell people of His glorious saving work, so that He would be honoured and many would be saved. We know this. Many, if not all, of us feel convicted to do this, but we don't always do it. Why not? What stops us from pursuing this mission the way we should, and want to? This morning we will take some time to look at Paul, the great evangelist, and try to discover what drove Him. So that we, even if we are not evangelists, can take on this great mission with greater enthusiasm and consistency.

This Sunday we are looking at our fourth G…Giving. The main idea is that God has graciously given so much to us that our response is to give ourselves by loving and serving God and others as we gather and grow. ON the surface, we are going to talk about money and what the Bible says about giving, but the issue actually goes a whole lot deeper. When Paul wrote his letter, he was concerned that, not only would they give, he wanted to see their hearts changed as they gave; to see them grow. The motivation for this willingness to give is the infinite generosity of God, who: did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, [so] how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 Our radical generosity springs from the source of God’s radical generosity. It’s not a work we do to earn God’s favour. It’s not a penance we pay to atone for our sins. Generosity is our joyful response to the one who was rich, yet for our sake became poor, so that by his poverty, we might become rich.

Over the last few weeks we have begun to examine our values here at RCRC. We began with looking at the way the Gospel shapes and transforms everything and then we looked at the fact that God gathers us together for our good and His glory. This week we consider what it means to grow as followers of Christ. Why would we want to grow in godliness of Christlikeness? How can we do that as broken sinful people? Often it seems so hard to change. In 2 Peter 1 we will find great encouragement to grow as we look forward to our glorious future with Christ.

Over the last few weeks we have begun to examine our values here at RCRC. We began with looking at the way the Gospel shapes and transforms everything and then we looked at the fact that God gathers us together for our good and His glory. This week we consider what it means to grow as followers of Christ. Why would we want to grow in godliness of Christlikeness? How can we do that as broken sinful people? Often it seems so hard to change. In 2 Peter 1 we will find great encouragement to grow as we look forward to our glorious future with Christ.

Bible Reading: 2 Peter 1:3 - 11

Last week we began exploring our values as a Church. We started with the Gospel and Pastor Jim showed us that the truth of the gospel transforms every area of our life. One of those areas, is our life together as a church. The gospel shapes how we see ourselves as we gather and how we should treat one another and care for one another. It's not that we are trying to make ourselves something as a church but live up to what God has made us. And in the process we have the opportunity to display the manifold wisdom of God.

Last week we began exploring our values as a Church. We started with the Gospel and Pastor Jim showed us that the truth of the gospel transforms every area of our life. One of those areas, is our life together as a church. The gospel shapes how we see ourselves as we gather and how we should treat one another and care for one another. It's not that we are trying to make ourselves something as a church but live up to what God has made us. And in the process we have the opportunity to display the manifold wisdom of God.

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:1-13

Over the next few weeks we will be thinking over the core values of our church, reminding ourselves of who we are and what we do as followers of Jesus Christ. Our first value is, GOSPEL: The Gospel is at the heart of all we say and do’. What do we mean by this? We tend to think ‘the gospel’ is a message we share with others; something we believe in order to be saved. But the gospel is more than that. It wasn’t meant to just change your eternity, but your everyday life. It’s not just about getting into heaven, but about growing more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. In other words, it shapes your everyday life. But, how does it impact your daily life? How does the gospel help you deal with everyday life?

Over the next few weeks we will be thinking over the core values of our church, reminding ourselves of who we are and what we do as followers of Jesus Christ. Our first value is, GOSPEL: The Gospel is at the heart of all we say and do’. What do we mean by this? We tend to think ‘the gospel’ is a message we share with others; something we believe in order to be saved. But the gospel is more than that. It wasn’t meant to just change your eternity, but your everyday life. It’s not just about getting into heaven, but about growing more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. In other words, it shapes your everyday life. But, how does it impact your daily life? How does the gospel help you deal with everyday life?

Bible Reading:

Colossians 1:1-14

Psalm 134 is the last of the psalms of ascent, the songs the Israelites sang as they went up to the various festivals in Jerusalem. As the final psalm in the collection, it seems to play the part of a farewell from the people to the priests who presided over the festivals and then a blessing from those priests. That all seems a long way removed from our experience, but if we think about it there are some great lessons on how to support our church and ministry leaders. We will also see why that is so important for the health of Jesus Church and His mission in this world.

Psalm 134 is the last of the psalms of ascent, the songs the Israelites sang as they went up to the various festivals in Jerusalem. As the final psalm in the collection, it seems to play the part of a farewell from the people to the priests who presided over the festivals and then a blessing from those priests. That all seems a long way removed from our experience, but if we think about it there are some great lessons on how to support our church and ministry leaders. We will also see why that is so important for the health of Jesus Church and His mission in this world.

Bible Reading: Psalm 134