Living Full and Dying Empty

23 Mar 2010 | Karl Martin | Posted in Fly No Comments

So we have come to the end of a series that we have called Fly, and we closed with a number of personal testimonies to the way in which Father God has been at work in so many lives. It was so encouraging!

BUT…

I want MORE!

I know it sounds greedy, but I want more. I want more of God, more of his power, more of his love. I want to co-operate more with what God is doing in the world and represent him better. I want more. I want to walk in my inheritance, I want to live full – and because I have then given myself away so completely, to die empty.

God wants more for you! Have you ever considered that although you have so much in Jesus, God still has more for you. More for you to enjoy, more for you to participate in. More!

In the first part of Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul explains the wonderful identity of the believer, declaring them in verse 13 to be “included in Christ” and “marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit”.

In verses 15-23 he goes on to write:

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Paul prays that they might have more!

Greater knowledge - He prays that they will know the Father better. God wants you to have an increased intimacy with him. To walk with him, to operate out of the security and privilege of sonship. He helps us realize that relationship with Father God is an experience, it’s to know him with our hearts.

Greater Power – Paul prays that we might know and move in his power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in us. This power is a missional, supernatural power and it is for us – in us. This power makes it possible for ordinary believers to continue the work of Jesus.

Do you want MORE?!

Because I do!

In fact the people of this More – they are the church, the body of Christ. Paul describes the body as “the fullness of Christ”. There is nothing in Jesus that is not in us – power, calling, anointing, authority. As we know the Father, as we appropriate the power of the Son, as we are filled with his Spirit – we are the body of Christ.

And as the body of Christ, as we look increasingly like Jesus, we become the transformation that this world needs. Do you want more? He always has more for us!

He wants us to be full – full of him. To live full and to die empty.

Why don’t you ask him for more and make it your ambition to do so daily? “Father, let us live full and die empty.”

Some questions for your small group if you have time:

We cannot embrace the kingdom unless we know the King. What difference does it make to the way we live when our love for Jesus and relationship with him is strong
Jesus is indivisible from his church and he still loves it – it’s his only plan for this world. What difference should this make to how we “do’ church?

Normal

16 Mar 2010 | Kay Cathcart | Posted in Fly No Comments

We are really grateful for Mike & Cindy Riches’ ministry among us this weekend. Mike challenged us to redefine “normal” in our own lives and the life of our church.

Jesus showed us what normal is when he lived among us – he listened to his Father, relied on the power of the Holy Spirit, taught about the kingdom of God and brought healing.

In Luke 4: 18-19, Jesus read these words from the prophet Isaiah making clear they are about him:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Do we expect God to continue this work through us? The spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in us (Romans 8:11) so we can live this Jesus life. We can redefine “normal” as we seek to live as Jesus did.

Mike called us to fly, to live this kind of “normal” life. He encouraged us to look to God to heal – to restore, to save and to heal (sozo) – this world. He encouraged to pray for that healing and to step out in faith to offer it to others. He called us to:

Submission evidenced in absolute obedience
Humility that expresses dependence on God
Growing faith that trusts God to do the naturally impossible
An abandoned pursuit for God
Living life that enjoys & experiences God’s love
Just do it – in human : divine cooperation

If you have time, you may want to chat these questions through with others:

Do I really believe that I have the power which raised Jesus from the dead living in me?
Where do I find that hard to believe? Pray into those areas.
When you look at the ‘normal’ life Jesus modelled for us, do we expect us to see it realised in our experience? What would we like to see God do amongst us more?

Spend some time praying for healing for those in your group and those you know and love.

Fly together

9 Mar 2010 | Kay Cathcart | Posted in Fly No Comments

None of us when we fly, flies alone. Every plane has a pilot and a crew. The flight crew (apart from having fabulous uniforms!) have a shared purpose, are dependent on one another and know why & where they’re flying. The air crew metaphor only goes so far however. We’re not recruited by God for a job or task and there’s no selection process where only the beautiful may apply – we are his children, involved in a holy adventure together – we fly together!

In the face of spiritual attack we put on the armour of God, but as Karl pointed out previously, there is no armour for the back. We need others to protect our backs as we stand together. As Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31, we’re the body of Christ.

Jim Graham also spoke about this passage back in October saying:

“Are our limbs distorted so we can’t function? Are we limited by what we’re prepared to receive of the love of Jesus?”

He described love as the synovial fluid which means the body works, and in the same way we’re called to be a community of people amongst whom the love of God flows so we act as one and fly together.

Is this the reality at MBC?
What stops this happening amongst us?

It’s often very tempting to spend all our time with people just like us – and all too easily become disconnected to other parts of the body. Unless we’re careful, these differences (backgrounds, preferences, interests) can become divisions and instead of asking the Holy Spirit to bring unity, we focus on the things which make us different… preventing us from flying together. God treasures the diversity of the body but the question is do we?

Another danger we can fall into is by not using the gifts God has given us to build up the church – opting instead to be a spectator. Perhaps we undervalue the gift we’ve been given? or maybe we think Father God hasn’t gifted us? but in operating this way we’re operating out of an orphan spirit which, you’ve guessed it, makes it hard for us to fly.

Maybe we don’t seek or offer the kind of friendship where we might experience flying together. Do we take the initiative to pray with our friends and family who love Jesus? Do people feel spiritually refreshed after spending time with us? Do we help one another to fly together?

The grace of God which flows freely into my life because of Jesus, enables me to stand forgiven and allows me to forgive others. I need not fear the opinions of others because my Father God loves me – so i’m free to be honest before them and risk their disapproval. I can take the initiative to deepen my friendships as Christ took a risk with me.

If you have time, consider these questions:

What stops you playing as full a part in the body of Christ as you could?
Are these legitimate reasons or is fear or other unhelpful attitudes creeping in?
What steps can you take to build deeper relationships with those around you?

Wouldn’t it be great to fly together? No more solo flying!

- Kay

No Armour for the Back!

23 Feb 2010 | Karl Martin | Posted in Fly No Comments

As we have been studying together in our ‘Fly’ series we have discovered not only that Father God created us to fly in an intimate relationship with Him, not only that we are to operate out of a ‘oneness’ relationship with the Godhead, but that we have an enemy – because he has an enemy.

His name Satan, the deceiver, the opposer of God and the things of God, the ruler of the kingdom of the air and the enemy of the Kingdom of God. Part of his job is to prevent you flying, to keep you bound.

He does this by attempting to rob you of your identity – ‘You are a Son of God’, and convince you to operate out of an orphan spirit. He does it by encouraging you to step out of line with his grace and step into an arena of justice and rights. When you do so, you give him a foothold (Ephesians 4: 24-26). Eventually he wants to establish a ‘stronghold’ (2 Corinthians 10: 4-5) from which he can wreak havoc in your life and in those around you.

We give him a foothold when we operate in any way that it inconsistent with the grace, love and forgiveness of God. When we open doors, or doors are opened into our lives, permission is given for Satan to mess with us.

Knowing this helps us recognise and oppose Satan’s plans to bind us. It helps us begin to put in place strategies to continue to stand, advance and live out the kingdom in hostile territory – to fly even.

Ephesians 6: 12-13 says:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand.

Paul goes on, recognising this spiritual war we find ourselves in , to suggest that we put on and keep on armour that helps us stand and advance:

Belt of truth
Breastplate of righteousness
Boots of peace
Shield of Faith
Helmet of Salvation
Sword of the Spirit

So what Paul is saying is that Satan flees when we stand dressed and equipped, when we realise our authority and strength in Christ. When we believe and live out of truth, when we protect our heart (which gets so easily damaged), when we express the courage of faith of our forefathers (check out Hebrews 11), when we advance with the life-giving news of Jesus, when we protect our minds from the invidious thoughts that Satan would use to gain a foothold (you are insignificant, a failure, can never experience the love of God etc) walking instead in the opposite spirit as we live out the truth of the word of God as our ‘authority’ and living guide. We find not only that Satan flees, but that we fly.

Let me leave you with one thought! There is no armour for the back! Which makes me think that two things are true.

We are supposed to advance or stand – but never run (we need not be afraid – the victory belongs to the Lord and therefore to us)
We are supposed to watch each other’s backs.

My friends this is not a time for disharmony, disunity, division or to abandon one-another. In so doing we easily allow the enemy to pick us off. Rather it is a time for family, for community, for developing small groups of discipleship and care within our Missional Expressions that enable us to minister as a body, to encourage one another in this journey and to strike out and take ground.

A few questions for you to think about:

What have been the things which have preventing you flying?
Where have doors been opened by you or others which caused Satan to have a hold in your life? Pray for one another as you close doors and live knowing Satan has no authority in these areas.
What opposition do you anticipate meeting as you venture out as an ME?
Encourage one another with experiences of standing firm in the face of opposition, how has God protected you?

Let us fly!

Karl

Romans 8:1-17

28 Jan 2010 | Karl Martin | Posted in Fly No Comments

Fly….

As many of you will know, we have just begun a very exciting and important series of sermons in the church (check out the mbc website for details: www.mbc.org.uk). It has the potential to release so many of us from the chains – expectations, sin, lifestyle and culture – that keep us bound in beliefs and patterns of behavrious that are a direct denial of how Father God sees us, of who we are in Christ and the power we have in the Holy Spirit.

Over the past few weeks, we have built a strong and really exciting base from which we can stop “taxi-ing” and get “lift-off”.

We talked about the Father, and what it means that we are sons of God. Understanding that the Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of man might become the sons of God means that many of us are increasingly realising and living out of experiental sonship and not just positional sonship.

We spent some time recognising that our openness to receiving the perfect love of our heavenly Father is directly related to the way in which we have been fathered. Many took very brave steps to actively forgive our dads and ask Father God to “daddy” us.

We also opened the scriptures to Colossians 3 and worked through what it means for you and I to be “in Christ”. It is mind-frying and heart-exciting to understand that Jesus actively decided to minister and operate solely out of his humanity (See Philippians 2). Every time he healed someone, every time he spoke with prophetic authority, he did so out of his humanity, under the authority of the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Can it be true that we get to operate under the same authority – to have the same anointing and the same power? (See Ephesians 1:19-21)

We taught around “Flying with the Dove” and proposed that you and I will never fly unless ‘powered’. We just invited the Holy Spirit to come, asking the Father to give his good gift (Luke 11) - and He came!