“Building the Kingdom of God: within, among, beyond”. This is the Grainery church mission statement and today Sue outlines the “within”. The presence of God within us, by his Spirit, can change the atmosphere of a room when we walk into that room.

That presence will bring righteousness, joy, peace and power - as long as the “master” that you are seeking and serving is God himself, not your own needs.

Matthew 6 contains the “Lord’s Prayer “. Our church vision and mission statements come from that prayer. What would planet earth look like if it, and we, became like heaven, if God’s will was done here, in people, and in creation?

Pastor Sue’s message to us is this: God wants only good for his world and he desires that we experience his goodness and become like him in his goodness, creativity, love and kingship.

There is a call of God on your life - you are here for a purpose. Age. Appearance. Education. Wealth. Whoever we are, whatever we have, God has a vision for our lives.

Firstly, God wants to restore to us a sense of wonder. Cynicism is running wild in our society and

even in parts of the western church. We need to feel the wonder of God’s person and his unifying love for us.

Secondly, God is restoring to us a sense of compassion - going with others to where they are weak and vulnerable, lonely and broken. We need to sit in the dust and the dirt of life with people and just be their comfort.

These are the themes that Pastor Sue unravels, encouraging us to get rid of “religion” and to embrace a personal relationship with Jesus that attracts people to the life of Christ within us and leads to us dying to our old self.

Sue breathes grace into life for those who are willing to follow Jesus and die to self.

Bringing things into the light by confessing hidden wrongdoing can help to clear our conscience and draw us towards thriving within.

But, confessing our fears and failures, sins and shortcomings, is not often easy. Teaching from Psalm 32, Matt delivers three points for us to consider...

Firstly, what it means to cover over your sin by not telling, and the withering, drying effects of that coverup

Secondly, what it means for God to cover our sin with forgiveness, when we come clean and confess to him

Thirdly, the beautiful results of making a regular habit of confessing to God and even occasionally confessing our faults to other Christians - especially to those we may have wronged. Confession may be messy and needs to be done with wisdom in order not to cause trouble.

Nature. It can be a place of silence to hear God better and a place which inspires awe and creativity. Jesus chose natural places to teach and preach over and above man made settings.

Nature is a reminder of God’s care seen in its utility and beauty. Jesus often preached using parables of nature to explain spiritual realities. Nature exemplifies God’s love of community? Have you heard of “the hidden life of trees”? John explains how they are an example of the Eden like community which is God’s desire for mankind.

In this beautiful and unique message, we learn the spirituality of Gods presence in his creation, facilitating our growth into channels of living water to the communities around us.

Matt gives eight reasons or benefits or outcomes for entering into times of silence and solitude:

1. Rest and recovery

2. Respite from the demands and expectations of others

3. Reconnecting with the greatness of God

4. Reorientation with his mission and purpose

5. Refuelling in order to continue loving others

6. Wisdom prior to making big decisions

7. De-escalation in separating from situations that are heating up

8. Being commanded by the Holy Spirit

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Pastor Paul outlines the differences between mindfulness, Buddhist style meditation and meditation on the Bible - God’s word.

As well as studying and reading God’s word in attempt to form a correct exegesis, he explains a more devotional approach to engaging with the Bible which opens the way for God to speak a living word into our lives.

Finally he recommends some phone aps which can help those who find the discipline of engaging with God’s word difficult.

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Humans are wired to reach out to the transcendent dimension- usually by prayer. Christians are encouraged to pray about everything and to pray at all times. Prayer begins with rejoicing and thanksgiving - both are transformative to our inner life. There is special power in gathering together to worship as a live church, with Jesus’ presence right in our midst.

Jesus’ presence brings a stillness which allows God to speak his will to us and brings us to live in his love. Sue makes three important points about God and people in the context of our rejoicing in him and being still before him - he will never leave us or forsake us, he will cause all things to work together for his purpose and our benefit, and thirdly that he is for us, not against us.

Prayer is so much more than crying out to God in times of crisis. Learn about powerful “crafted prayer” in this seminal, visionary message.