LOOKING BACK OVER THE PAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF OUR CHURCH'S HISTORY FROM 2222

 

As Kim and I enjoyed our weekly coffee-date this morning at Stillwater, she looked out ruminatively across the water at all of the development that has taken place over the past 200 years where the North and South Esks merge to form the Tamar River.

“I wonder if the settlers who came here two hundred years ago” she asked, “could have imagined the silos would have been built over there and then turned into a luxury hotel, or that two bridges would have been built here, or that their tiny village would grow into a large city?“

“What’s more interesting” I responded, “is if anyone today can envision what it will all look like in another two hundred years!“

And my response then got me thinking. Could it be possible to imagine what Launceston will end up looking like in another two hundred years—and, what about our church? What will our church will look like in two hundred years time? As I mused throughout the rest of the day on this question my thoughts went to the future. In 2222, Tasmania’s population on current trends will be 4.5 million. Hobart will have a population of 2 million. Launceston will have a population of 1.34 million. The Tamar River will have population centres on either side of it which will be connected by a series of bridges and tunnels. Tasmania will be connected to the mainland by a “strunnel“ similar to, but much larger than, England’s connection to France through their chunnel. Tasmania’s climate, soil conditions, and abundance of fresh water will lead to it becoming a major international food-bowl. In 200 years, after several periods of devastating natural disasters and military conflicts in various parts of the globe, Tasmania will have opened its heart wide to immigrants from all over the world. This will lead to tens of thousands of people who had also moved here after the collapse of the Islamic world a century earlier. Thousands of Indian families will have also made Tasmania their home. Added to this, there will have been a migration of thousands of Chinese families after the collapse of the formerly oppressive Communist regime. Historians will look back over this period and note that it was a series of spiritual revivals where tens of thousands of people converted to Christianity and churches all across Tasmania were burgeoning. It was the Tasmanian churches of the 23rd century that led many social and cultural reforms where prisons were largely emptied as a result of the change in the moral climate, marriage was once again considered the sacred covenant union of a man and his wife, the rate of violence against women almost unheard of, and wives who became mothers were highly honoured and supported.

Imagine the Friday Pastor’s Desk, written by Legana Christian Church’s 15th Senior Pastor, writing just before the church’s 205th Annual Thanksgiving Sunday…

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

An antique ‘photo’ of what used to be entrance to the original auditorium taken near the turn of the 21st century.

As we prepare for our 205th Annual Thanksgiving Weekend, a tradition that dates back two centuries beginning in 2017, we again pause to give thanks for the goodness of God and the sacrifices and faithful service of our forefathers and those who pioneered our church. This is why, for this week’s Pastor’s Desk, I have decided to use the ancient technology of email and the ‘internet’ to send out my Pastor’s Desk as it would have been done by the pastor in 2017. It was just five years ago (2217) that we gathered to open our last building project, our multi-storey auditorium and ministry centre complex. We all remember that Thanksgiving Sunday when 15,000 of us gathered over our five services that Sunday as the Holy Spirit moved powerfully in each service. The Text by our guest speaker was- 

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”
Psalm 50:23

 

A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS

Not only will we be continuing the tradition of setting aside the second weekend in August to give thanks to God for all that He has done for us as a church, as all of my predecessors have done, this weekend will also mark the goodness of God as I retire and we install our next Senior Pastor. And as we look forward to the future we will, as is our tradition, commission our new pastor by reading the charge written by my predecessor 200 years ago. The text for Thanksgiving services this Sunday, as selected by our guest speaker, will be Psalm 95:2-3 – 

Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
Psalm 95:2-3

Our next pastor will be our church’s 16th pastor in our two hundred and thirty-five year history. We have all had an opportunity to hear and meet him and his family. All two-hundred and eighty-three of our church’s staff have given their endorsement for his appointment, and our elders issued a statement a few weeks ago expressing their commendation of him as well noting that at the age of just 32 he has had extensive international leadership experience. We remember that the last time he shared with us, he talked about how the Lord had clearly called them to come to Tasmania and that he even had a historic connection with our church sharing that his great, great, great, great grandfather also pastored our church two centuries earlier! His grasp of being fluent in several languages will enable him to connect well with our Chinese, and Spanish congregations without the usual need for an interpreter. This was also reflected in his last message with us when he selected the text Revelation 7:9-10 –

¶ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Revelation 7:9-10

 

PRACTICALITIES

Please be praying for our guests and dignitaries who will be joining with us for Thanksgiving services this Sunday – especially our Prime Minister that she will be touched by the Holy Spirit, our State Governor, and our State Premier (even though both our Governor and Premier grew up in our church and coincidentally were baptised here as young teenagers in the same Baptism Service). Could each of our Service Attendant Teams meet 45 minutes before each of their rostered services on the fifth floor of our Ministry Centre (MC), and could our elders gather for prayer before each service in our Board Room located adjacent to my office on the sixth floor. To avoid congestion in the eastern multi-storey underground car park, please use the western multi-storey car park instead. Several dignitaries will be arriving by HV (hover vehicles) and be using the HV landing pads on the roof of the MC. Remember –

[We are] to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Ephesians 3:9-11

See you Sunday,

Your pastor.
August 9th, 2222

GOD GIVES US SECONDS

SECONDS

Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.
Second Timothy 4:11

Generally I believe that a person's past is the best indicator of their future. The general problem with generalities is that there are generally exceptions. And this one is no exception. The reason is that history reveals that nearly every person who achieved anything of note had a past which bore little resemblance to their actual futures. This is good news for people like me and perhaps it's good news for you too. If you've given up on who you one day dreamed you would become, here's some good news: God is in the business of giving people seconds - a second chance, a second wind, a second half.

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
Galatians 1:13

It seems that God loves to sovereignly change the direction of people. Saul of Tarsus is a stunning example of how a person's past bears no resemblance to their actual future (Gal. 1:13). Moses is another example. King David is another example. Each of the faithful disciples is an example. Throughout history we see this over and over. John Calvin, Count Nicolas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, John Wesley, William Wilberforce, Thomas Chalmers, F.W. Boreham, Billy Graham, Ravi Zacharias, all had moments where they got a second go at life. In modern times we see the same thing even among business leaders - Ingvar Kamprad (the founder of IKEA), and Nicolas Hayek (founder of SWATCH) - both men started off their lives in a certain direction which bore little resemblance to how they ended up living their lives. God gives seconds to people. Do you need God to give you second? 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 
Second Corinthians 5:17

God's seconds don't just begin at our conversion to Christ. To be sure, our conversion to Christ is a dramatic turning point in our lives. Some people claim to have had a conversion experience yet there doesn't always seem to be any evidence of a second in their life. Jesus described this required evidence as 'fruit' (Matt. 7:16). Here's a principle about the seconds which God gives: they are always significantly more fruitful than your pre-second past. Being converted to Christ is not necessarily about 'making a decision' or 'praying the sinner's prayer', it's about what God does in your life and the fruit that results from it. But conversion is not the only second a person can experience from God... 

YOUR SECOND

You may be stuck in life. You may by in a rut. You may have given up. You may have given up on finding happiness, on your marriage, your weight, your addiction to food, your ability to get organised, your pursuit of a job or a better career, or your spiritual progress. I understand what this feels like. I am a pastor who longs to see more people find hope and purpose through knowing Jesus the Christ and connecting in a wholesome way with the community of Christ-followers (the church). Only a pastor knows the pain of disappointment that comes from longing for this to happen and not seeing it. I'm sure I'm not the only pastor who is often overwhelmed with discouragement because our church isn't growing. The temptation that I face as a pastor under these circumstances is to quit striving, cease dreaming, theologise my lack of effectiveness, and surround myself with others who reinforce these God-dishonouring postures. After all, I have served as a pastor at Legana for twenty years and if God was going to grow our church to what I felt He put in my heart in September 1995, surely it would have happened by now? My thinking (and inner discouragement) is galvanised when I go to a Pastors' Conference and hear the amazing stories of how God has blessed some pastors with church growth where a handful of people has grown to thousands of people in just a few years. But then I wonder if God might have a second ahead for us?

I'm encouraged to think He might when I consider most of those He redeemed in the Bible. I frequently think of a man named Harland (pictured left). He had a dream. He loved to cook. His dream was crushed when he was 40 years old when a highway by-passed his small Indiana café. But he kept dreaming. The Governor of Kentucky loved his cooking so much, he made him a 'Colonel of Kentucky'. Then in 1955 at the age of 65 he began to see his long-held dream come to fruition as his business was franchised across America. In 1960 he sold his business for two million dollars, and the new owners chose to maintain Harland Sander's face in their marketing of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He died in 1980 at the ripe old age of 90 having seen his dream extend around the world and for his face to be one of the most recognised faces on the planet even to this day.

¶ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

Tasmania is yet to see the kind of church that best portrays what the New Testament describes. Tasmania is yet to see the kind of church that deeply affects and shapes our State's culture. Tasmania is yet to see the kind of church that gives hope to tens of thousands of people. Tasmania is yet to see the kind of church that it respects and deems to be beneficial, relevant, and authentic. Tasmania is yet to see the kind of church that endures hardship, persecution, and opposition and yet remains faithful to Christ, caring for the poor and oppressed, and generous toward the undeserving. Tasmania is yet to see the kind of church that gives them a glimpse of heaven - where people from every tribe, nation, skin colour, ethnicity, and language, worship the King of Kings in loving unity. Decades ago I committed my life and ministry to doing all I could to see this vision fulfilled. It's why I pastor. It's why I write. It's why I do WayFM. It's why I YouTube. It's why I Tweet. It's why I preach. It's why I get out of bed in the morning! I long for God's second for me, for us.  

¶ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands
Revelation 7:9

A major challenge to fulfilling this vision and experiencing our second is openness. Have we closed our hearts, our minds, our souls, to what God could do here in Tasmania? Do we make excuses for God and His inability to build a church and see hundreds more churches planted across our island, because it's never been done before, we're not like the mainland, we haven't got the population, we don't have the resources, or, we're just not that important to God in the scheme of things? Perhaps you do a similar thing with your life? "I've never been able to do that." "I'm not smart enough to learn how to." "I haven't got the money to do that." "I don't have the support I need." "I could, but my wife is too ...." "The economy isn't doing well."

THE SECOND THING ABOUT SECONDS

Moses was a washed-up desert goat-herder in his 40s when he remembered his dream to unite his Hebrew kin and deliver them out of Egypt. David was a teenage boy, the youngest of 7 brothers, given the lowliest job of his day - staying out nights on end looking after the family's few sheep, when he dreamed of uniting Israel's fragmented tribes and securing its borders. Saul of Tarsus had a dream of being a great Rabbi and leading Israel back to full devotion to the one true God when he was a young boy. In one sense it looked like each of these sample men had their dreams dashed by life's disappointments. It looked like their efforts in the first half of their lives was wasted effort and counted for nothing. But this was not true. God was honing Moses' leadership both in the palace of Pharaoh and the backside of the desert. God was skilling the warrior in David when he bullied by his older brothers and harangued by wolves and bears as he guarded his few sheep. God was investing into Saul wisdom, knowledge and literature so that he could become the Apostle Paul. The trials, setbacks, and disappointments in your life are not wasted years! God is preparing us for our second half! The farmer who sows his seed in Autumn might despair that Winter has destroyed his potential crops, but then Spring and harvest-time come! Life has its Winters but God also brings about our Springs! This is the second thing about seconds - the more you faithfully sow in the first half, the more fruit you'll harvest in your second! It's my hope that our church is putting as much seed in the ground as possible so that we can reap for Christ as much as possible in the seconds that God gives us!

Ps. Andrew

HOW SOME SUCCEED

How does someone become "successful"? Whatever your field, you probably know of someone doing what you're doing, who is, to your bewilderment, far more successful than you. How many of us can make a better hamburger than McDonalds? Probably most of us!

...But how come Ronald is the richest clown on earth and we're scratching for parking-meter money? In studying the successful, one thing becomes clear: Success is not the domain of the most educated, the most beautiful, or even the hardest working.

¶ I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don't always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time. 

Ecclesiastes 9:11 NLT

Success means different things. Despite what many think, attaining "success" is not merely a matter of 'luck'. Success nearly always has its reasons. The Successful know what these reasons are and how to implement them. But when the reasons and causes of success are not obvious, often survival takes precedence over success.
For example, I see this too many times with parents. They end up feeling frustrated that their kids won't do as they're told. No matter what bribes are offered or apparent levels of discipline exercised, these parents just don't seem to succeed with their kids. Similarly with some people who go into business and end up working long hours and losing money. They often blame the economy, their staff, or the government in their frustration. And we've all met people who tell us how they are trying to lose weight, but instead, put more on. These people are unsuccessful at losing weight. The difference between the successful and the unsuccessful is not simply effort.

¶ Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11

MISTAKES ABOUT SUCCESS

If you've ever attended a leadership or success seminar, you will undoubtedly hear that in order to succeed, you have to have a "Strategic Plan". A Strategic Plan is developed after a process of discovering the vision, the mission, and the goals a person or organisation has. The Successful have all done this formally (or at least informally). This includes successfully married couples and parents. This is why when I prepare a couple for marriage, I take them through a strategic plan process(although I don't call it this). But this is not the formula for success. It is one of the mistakes that people striving for elusive success make when they go through the process of Strategic Planning and think that the process itself is the formula for certain success. For a couple preparing for marriage, who want to succeed in their marriage, they need to answer the 'why' question (agree on their marriage's purpose) and the 'where' question (where is their marriage going to end up?). Parents need to do the same. But, to repeat myself, it is a mistake to think that this is all they need to do to succeed. Planning is considered by many to be "the key to success". It may be the 'key' but it only works if it's put into the right door-lock! It is a mistake to think that having the "key" is the same as being successful.

Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
Joshua 1:7

It is not uncommon for this mistake to be made even bigger when Christians are involved! Here's why…

All too often Christians generally make a simplistic series of mistakes when it comes to achieving success - thinking that they are being "faithful" Christians. Attend most Church Leadership (Success) Conferences and you'll hear why Vision is important, and Mission is equally important, and Goals are necessary. But the biggest mistake many Christians make is to think that they themselves play no part in whether they are successful or not (believing that God - and God alone - determines whether someone is successful). Of course, they don't call success: "luck" (they call it "being blessed") but they way think of "blessing" they might as well call it "luck"! The fact that Scripture commands believers, surely means that believers have the privilege to make choices and play a role in the direction of their life.

And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him.
First Samuel 18:14

The third biggest mistake that Christians often make is to think that every problem is solved by prayer. "I guess all we can do is pray about it", they say. But this is rarely "all" we can do about it. Parents might pray that their pre-schooler learns the alphabet. They might pray really long and hard. But this is not all they can do in order to see their prayer answered! Similarly, pastors who want to see their church grow, should not think, "All I can do is pray." Pastors. like everyone else need to ask and answer the "how" question. Under the Old Covenant when God told Moses to construct the Tabernacle, Moses selected skilled and intelligent men who knew how to build. No one would accuse Moses of neglecting to pray, but praying isn't all that Moses did.

¶ "Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded."
Exodus 36:1

The fourth mistake about success, that is in risk of being worn-out, is that any success can only come about with the latest technology. Bear Grylls catches fish out in the wild with a long shoelace and a paper-clip, yet our local boating/fishing store advertised a fishing rod on our local TV station last night for $499! Hollywood has at times spent millions of dollars to produce viral YouTube clips and flopped more times than they care to admit. Yet some bored bloke with his $40 flip-phone, videos himself tickling his kitten and it gets 24 million views overnight! My racquet company of choice, Babolat, has just released a tennis racquet that is WiFi connected to a player's iPhone via an app which is allegedly going to help someone to play better tennis!

HOW, THE KEY INGREDIENT TO SUCCESS

Parents need to ask the 'How?' question in order to learn the skills necessary to foster happy, disciplined, polite, teachable, cooperative children. The Bible is replete with "How" advice for parents (such as, train, teach, counsel, discipline, establish boundaries, model the fear of the Lord, demonstrate reverence for God's Word and God's House, and so on). Business people need to also ask the "Yes, but how do we do it?" question. The Bible has things to say about this as well (invest appropriately, do your research, work diligently, treat staff well, sell at a fair price, remember the poor, and so on). But the Bible does not restrict the answer to the "How?" question merely to its own pages. The Bible encourages us to find wisdom and understanding beyond its pages in nature, in others, and in the writings of others.

¶ Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
Proverbs 6:6
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
Second Timothy 4:13

'HOW' TAKES COURAGE

Discovering how to do something is a two-stage process. The first stage is learning. It involves being instructed. It takes humility. It means acknowledging and discarding poor practices and adopting new ones. Thus, answering the 'how?' question demands change and it will not negotiate our terms of surrender. As difficult as this first stage of answering the 'how?' is, it is a walk in the park compared to the second stage: implementation. To implement a correct (but different) strategy requires great courage. The person who has tried and failed to lose weight is shown how to actually lose weight and is then expected to be at a friend's birthday party that night. It takes great courage to implement the proven plan in the midst of great temptation to do other.

¶ So here's what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale.
Second Corinthians 8:10 MSG

The Pastor who learns 'how' to lead his church into growth must change what he has been doing (or what has been done), and then have the courage to wisely pastor his church through this period of change. Most pastors realise that for a church to grow past 200 people it must do several things better (AKA: "different"): train the church to care for each other, develop gifted leaders who are able to lead and exercise decision-making, connect everyone into a small group, shift the focus from 'meetings' to spiritual growth and health, phase-out insecurity and phase-in 'team' and, develop a "How" Strategy that everyone in the church knows and implements.

...we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:15b-16

For a church to grow in this manner it too must get the 'how?' answer. This is called being strategic. It's one thing to want something, but it's another entirely to know how to get it, and an utterly entirely other thing to have the courage to persist in doing it - even though in the short-term it looks like a complete failure! Parents will experience this when they introduce long-overdue boundaries for their children. Businesses will experience this when they implement new management structures and systems. Churches will experience this when they begin to implement the above list. And those trying to lose weight may even find they initially gain weight as their body-fat converts to the heavier body-muscle!

If you have ever discovered how to do something after a time of frustration in not knowing how to do something, you'll know the sheer joy and delight that comes with it. Finding out "how" comes from finding someone who does know how, and asking them to share their 'know-how'. It also comes from reading books written by people who know how. And one of the most accessible ways to discover 'how' is in a good church where teaching things relevant to living well are frequently addressed directly and modelled by many indirectly.

WE ALL SHARE THE QUEST FOR 'HOW'
TO FULFIL THE GRANDEST MISSION

There is a holy problem which causes all Christian leaders to continually ask: "How?" It is referred to as The Great Commission. Christian leaders who think deeply about this sacred problem, ask "How can we fulfil the Great Commission of discipling nations?" It soons becomes apparent that the answer is far bigger than one local church. It encompasses the health of churches in a community, the level cultural receptivity to the claims of the Bible, the way the media and arts portrays the claims of Christ and His followers, how these churches engage with the broader community, and the means used to communicate the Gospel with the world. Even the Apostle Paul asked the "How?" question about these issues. And so should we.

¶ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
Romans 10:14-15

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU
LEARN HOW TO SUCCEED

As one of these Christian leaders who does continually ponder "How?" we can fulfil our part of the Great Commission, it is my hope that more and more followers of Christ will learn how to succeed individually, in their marriages, in their families, in their careers, in their businesses, and in their churches -- so that this kind of success becomes the training ground for the realsuccess that we must somehow find when it comes to discipling the nations of the world. This is why I have always told my children they can have whatever they want - we just have to figure out how.

Ps. Andrew

NOT DREAMING, JUST SIMPLE AND NOBLE

A SIMPLE AND NOBLE DREAM

"Dream big", these popular peddlers preach, "because the bigger your dreams the bigger God will be to you!" But this idea is anti-cross. It's not your dreams for your life that give you purpose - it is God's simple plan for your life. But just because something is simple doesn't mean it isn't profound. Neither should simple be assumed to be easy. In a sense, God is simple. He simply is. He simply rules. He simply reveals Himself. Yet each of these statements are profound. God has a simple yet profound purpose for your life and it is easy to discover. The path to living it is stained with the wet crimsoned footprints of our Master. Yet there are those who peddle a message that God's purpose for your life is to help you achieve your dreams.

Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1

You don't need a "dream" to give your life purpose - you simply need to apply the teaching of the Gospel. The appeal to "use God" to "help you achieve your dreams" may sound very inspirational when stated by the nice smiling man with an American accent in an expensive suit before a vast congregation of cheering fans, but it is not the message of Christ! On the contrary, one of the crimsoned stained pavers upon which we march with Christ is engraved with this reminder-

¶ Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24

Walking with Christ is not about 'dreaming'. Following Christ is made all the more sweeter because we view our richest gains as loss and rejoice that we can pour contempt on our reasons for pride.

WHEN I SURVEY
Written by Isaac Watts
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince Of Glory died'
My richest gain, I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God.
All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His hands, His head, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine demands my heart, my soul, my all.

When we acknowledge that Christ is our Lord, we lay down our dreams - we don't baptise them! We sacrifice our ambition - we don't sanctify it! We give up our agenda - we don't gear it up! Does this mean that our lives will lack purpose, drive, meaning and fulfilment? Far from it! Instead, our lives become focused on glorifying God and enjoying Him! Rather than sitting around in the Officers' Mess awaiting our marching orders, we boot up and get marching on our pilgrimage. We don't wait for some mystical dream to discover how we might glorify God, we bloom where we are planted. We turn our work into worship. We sanctify our serving. This means that we regard so-called 'mundane' tasks as opportunities to glorify God. It is when we are proven faihful in small things that God entrusts to us greater things (Matt. 25:23; 1Tim. 3:13). But notice this principle? It isGod - not us - Who assigns those tasks/responsibilities to our lives that give us a sense of meaning and purpose. You don't need to dream it!

But some will refer to one of the million-seller paperback books by one of the television-preachers who said that because Joseph had a dream, God blessed him with its fulfilment. This type of violence to the sacred text is nearly unforgiveable for any preacher assigned their sacred task of explaining God's Great Word. Joseph did not devise a dream! His dreams were God-given! They weren't given to Joseph for Joseph to make something of himself, they were given to him as a measure of God's grace to him so that he could endure what was about to happen to him and thus fulfil the divine plan to redeem mankind!

The steps of a person are ordained by the LORD–
so how can anyone understand his own way?
Proverbs 20:24

Finding purpose and fulfilment in life is simple. God gives us each a noble path to walk that if we are truly blessed will also be simple. While tending his garden, Francis of Assissi was asked what he would do if he knew that he only had five minutes left to live. His response? "I'd finish weeding this garden!" It wasn't that he thought little of time, it was that he thought highly of doing everything for the glory of God - including weeding! Like the many millions who have found fulfilment in Christ for their lives, Francis of Assissi applied himself to whatever need God put before him.

for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Philippians 2:13

I have a good friend who recently told me that he wasted a good number of his early years following Christ by trying to apply the numerous sermons he about "Discover Your Destiny", "Pursue Your Dream" and so on. He then discovered from reading God's Word that finding God's will and purpose for his life was simple. You simply follow Jesus. Where He takes you, you go.

Of course, you may actually have a dream that is quite commendable. Many people have. They have a dream to eliminate poverty, erradicate homelessness, end wars, and help indebted nations have their national debts cancelled. You may even feel that God has given you this dream as your life work. But have you laid it down at the foot of the Cross?

As Christ sets before you a simple, perhaps menial, task: follow Him there. Are you praying for God to be glorified in your life? And yet the only opportunities you seem to be presented with are so far beneath you? Are you praying for God to give you a "dream" or "vision" for your life? Perhaps it's time to wake up and see the needs you could meet right in front of you. They may be simple, but done to God's glory they can be noble.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Ps. Andrew

You Need Motivation

Would you like to get more done? Would you like to be able look back over a twenty year period and recognise that you had achieved 125 of your 150 Life Goals? Could you do with a boost in your overall energy levels? If you answer "Yes" to these questions then I know just what we need.

Imagine you have just walked through a forest on a hot day and sat down against a tree to rest your weary legs. You say to yourself, "I can't walk another step!" Just then you notice a deadly black snake slithering its way toward your bare calves only a handbreadth away! Instantly you leap to your feet and run for your life. But what has just happened? How did you go from having "no energy" to being "full of energy"? The answer is known to all super-acheivers. It's: motivation. With motivation you can achieve your wildest dreams. With motivation you can see your big dreams fulfilled. With motivation you can turn goals into achievements.

We only do what we are motivated in some way to do. The more we are motivated, the more we do. Of course, without being motivated, nothing in our world would be done and eventually even our society would grind to a halt without it. The difference between a person succeeding and not succeeding often comes down to the amount of their motivation levels. Motivation has become such a precious commodity that the successful will pay dearly for it, since they know that the price of success is miniscule compared to the prize of success. So how is it that some people always seem to be motivated and others struggle with it?

The Apostle Paul could say that he pressed on toward the prize (Phil. 3:12). He was motivated. In fact, despite his many setbacks, he seems to have been motivated all the time. In another place he urged his readers to follow his example. If as Christians we were to become more motivated, what would we have to do? And, how could we maintain our new levels of motivation? What lessons can we learn from the Apostle Paul about becoming and maintaining motivation?

From the life of the Apostle Paul, we observe the following ingredients to his consistently high levels of motivation-

1. He had a deep sense that he was contributing to history.
2. He felt commissioned by God.
3. He felt free to set goals.
4. He fellowshiped with others of a like mind.
5. He renewed his commitment to Christ continually.

We can be more motivated to live for God by asking God to keep us motivated for His service. Pray that God gives you the desire and strength you need to do what He wants you to do (Phil. 2:13-14). We too should indeed feel that God has sovereignly called us into our station in life and live in it contently but confidently. Not enough of us realise the integral role our participation is in the overall will of God to bring redeeming grace to the world. When you sit down at your family dinner table for an evening meal with a guest who does not yet know Christ, your seemingly trivial banter among your family is making a huge impression on your guest. Your table-talk is real, wholesome, uplifting, and edifying. It can make a huge impression on your guest. You do your job with care and diligence. You start a little early and continue a little longer. Your fellow employees who do not yet know Christ certainly notice the difference that Christ has made to your life. But you do what you do with such effort because you know that God has called you to do what are doing at this time. This knowledge motivates you.

While our work is an important God-ordained purpose for lives which is designed to give us a sense of meaning, we are also divinely designed to play. We are created to laugh, sing, muse, exercise, compete, cooperate, train, explore, rest, and investigate. I recently heard of a young man who had scrape with death in his youth in the 1800s. He realised that he must be alive for a purpose and counted his life as a privilege to explore this wonderful God-given gift. As a teenager he wrote down 150 Life Goals. This included getting married, having children, climbing the world's five highest mountains, travelling to every continent, building his dream house, reading each book in a list of 100 classic books, starting a business, amassing a certain fortune to leave to his children and much more. By the age of 44 he had achieved 100 of his 150 Life Goals! Without exception, all highly motivated people set goals.

The Book of Proverbs provides some healthy universal ways to be motivated.

If you want to be (more/continually) motivated, then revisit your written goals (often)!

Motivated people pick their friends very carefully. While they build acquaintanceships with a diverse range of people who may add little to their lives, look for those like-minded people who are also motivated. This is why for the believer, Sunday Church and Mid-Week House Church become vital. All motivated believers, that is those motivated to be Christ-like and stronger followers of Christ, are without exception committed to fellowshiping with their church family. Similarly, if you want to be a more motivated salesman you should hang out with, listen to, read up on, other motivated salesmen. If you want to be one of the world's leading button collectors, apart from getting a life, you should hang out with other passionate button collectors. Increased motivation in any field of endeavour comes from deliberate fellowshiping with those who already motivated in that arena.

2Corinthians 9:2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them.

We have a wood heater. Many times when I go to it early in morning to see if I can salvage its heat and rekindle it back into a warming blaze, I have to take the rapidly cooling embers and push them together. I often think this is what a church service does. It takes lightly glowing spiritual embers, connects them with other lightly glowing spiritual embers and resets them ablaze. When we worship together we are heaping more wood onto the flames. When we pray together we fan our flames even brighter (see 2Tim. 1:6). When we give attention to the preached Word it builds up the amount of fresh wood on our fire (see Jeremiah 5:14). To be a motivated Christian you need to be a part of a motivated church. I think Legana is such a church.

Psalm 69:9 ¶ Passion for your house burns within me,
so those who insult you are also insulting me.

But if all we did was to simply attend church we would not be as spiritually motivated as we would be if we attended church AND continually renewed our commitment to Christ. Do you let Christ do a spiritual stocktake on your life? Have you got the Lord's approval on your choices, attitude, relationships, stewardship, dreams and things? In Psalm 32 David expresses the insurpassable joy of knowing sins forgiven and coming into a restored relationship with God through confession, repentance, and renewal. This is what I want for my life. As Paul the Apostle continually renewed his relationship with Christ through prayerful surrender he remained highly motivated to serve and live for the Lord.

1Corinthians 15:58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

I love being around motivated people. They are usually big dreamers. Sure, they fail a lot, but they are usually the types who attempt a lot - learn from their mistakes - and therefore end up still getting a lot done. Motivation doesn't just happen. It must be actively created and maintained through reading history and getting a perspective on how our actions can affect generations to come; having a sense of serving the Lord in whatever we do; set plenty of diverse goals; keep in fellowship with like-minded people; and continually renew our devotion to Christ. This is the recipe for staying passionate about life and the things of God.

Dear God, help me to be on fire and passionate for You and Your Cause.
Help me not to be deterred by setbacks, offences, or obstrepolous people.
Bring me into fellowship with people more passionate, excited, determined and committed than I am.
Fill me with Your joy and strength. Renew in me a love for Your Word, Your People, and Your presence.
Lead me. Grow me. Fill me. Use me.
I need You.
Amen.

THIS IS HOW WE MEASURE SUCCESS

What does "success" look like for a church? Perhaps growing attendances, or a balanced budget, or a regular number of people making 'decisions' for Christ, or even positive media coverage?

But these are not what indicate "success" for our church.

In fact, some of these 'success indicators' can actually inhibit true success (as I'll explain in a moment). Don't get me wrong though- I'd like to see each of these things happening in our church. But it is possible to have all of these things and not be truly successful because these factors can often impress the world, but fail to impress the Lord.

In his book TOO SMALL TO IGNORE, Dr. Wess Stafford says that failure is doing things really well that don't actually matter. Success can therefore be defined as doing things well that really matter. For a church then, this surely must mean that true success is doing and being what Christ has commanded - without compromise. We can therefore define "success" for our church as-

* UNITY

Ephesians 4:1b-3 walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

When we recognise that God has called us together to be a church that pools our gifts, talents, treasure, and time - even though we may disagree at times - when we are committed to the same purpose (knowing and glorifying Christ and making Him and His glory known) and we serve passionately, sacrificially, worshipfully, in joint adoration of Christ, we are successful as a church.

* SCRIPTURE
When we are reading, studying, sharing, defending, being shaped, guided, informed and inspired by Scripture, we are successful as a church. Ignorance is our blight, Scripture is our salve.

Ephesians 4:18, 20 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart...But that is not the way you learned Christ!

* CARE
When we care for each other in practical and spiritual ways, we are being a successful church. This is the essence of Romans 12:9-21. Care is not a job. Care is not a ministry. Care is what a successful church does for each other.

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

* GOSPEL
The Gospel was summed up perfectly by Dr. J.I. Packer who said- The message of the Gospel is: God saves sinners. Our Gospel is God-centred. Our Gospel says that salvation is the work of God through Christ. Our Gospel says that we are all sinners. Our Gospel says we cannot save ourselves. Our Gospel says we can be saved. Our Gospel infers that God loves us.

There is a "pop-Gospel" being preached that is Man-centred. This Gospel says that man can save himself by believing, repenting, and making a decision. This Gospel says that God meets man half-way. This is not our Gospel. We are a successful Gospel when we are committed to proclaiming the Gospel.

* PRAYER
We are a successful church when we are a prayerful church. Prayer is not a ministry that requires a special calling. All Christians are pray-ers. Prayer is what was happening when the Church was birthed (Acts 1, 2). Prayer is what the Church of Acts did whenever they met (Acts 2:42-44). We are successful as a church when we pray in our services, in our lounge rooms, with our children, with our spouse, with our friends, and with our study group (Col. 4:2).

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

* SERVING
We are successful when we serve each other with the gifts that God has given us.

1Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

I believe that these are the "goals" that will make us a healthy and therefore a successful church. In many ways we already have the seeds of these goals growing in our church. These are the goals that we are watering and cultivating. I think that if we ever exchange these goals for lesser goals like numbers or budgets, we may well be successful in the eyes of some, but I'm not so sure that we will be that successful in the eyes of the Lord.

Thank you for being a part of our church and committed to helping our church become "successful".