6 Ways To Make Your Year Work

Many times the 'what' is easy to find (lose weight, go to the gym, increase income, come up with something life changing etc.), the 'how' however needs work and a lot of thought. Here are a few suggestions from my new year message 6 Ways To Make Your Year Work. Hope it will inspire you to be intentional and press on. Remember if you have a vision or a dream you have to protect it!

#1 - The majority is not always right - Many times people will convince themselves they cannot do something, then they will try to convince you that you can't either! Stay true to what you want and/or God has given you do to (Numbers 13:31-33). For more on this subject please read this post.

#2 - Be intentional -  When comes to our plans we need to be intentional and consistent otherwise circumstances, people, and/or familiarity can take us off track. (Numbers 14:1-7)

The verse above shows us 3 things that will try and steal your dreams:

1. Circumstances. They are the bad reports.
2. Doubters. They are the ones that carry the bad reports.
3. Familiarity. People got really familiar with their LORD. They would complain and even think that He didn't care about them anymore. They even forgot God's promises for them. Familiarity is a killer!

   
#3 -  The way you see yourself will affect your destination (Numbers 13:33). Romans 8:37 offers a solution for self image problem. 

#4 - Replace "I can't", with "How can I" (Philippians 4:13).

# 5 -  Be ready to sacrifice something you love for something you love even more. Nothing significant in life will ever happen without sacrifice. The potential of the effect is directly connected to the sacrifice you are willing to make. Sacrifice is meant to be hard and challenging. Suffering will stretch you but your world will get bigger and you will become stronger (1 Peter 5:10).

#6- Look for different behaviour, not different situation (2 Chronicles 26:5). Your situation might never change. The way you see your situation however might give you new perspective and insight of what to do and even turn a problem into profit. Make sure you seek God, he always know what to do.

This is one of the ways we shape the culture in our church.  

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All Night Prayer

I love our prayer nights, they are just awesome. You cannot help feeling closer to God as we refuse to move until He moves His hand on our behalf. 

Please note that at D7 we don't use prayer as an excuse to our apathy and inertia. We will intentionally find opportunities to get our hands dirty! You see without you,  God will not do what only you can. That's your duty! Without God you cannot do what only He can. That's His power! We have limits but He doesn't. He can heal that disease that has been plaguing your child, He has the power to turn your marriage around, He can set you free from the addiction that has been slowly eating up your body, He can change our community and He is powerful enough to heal our nation. Without God, you cannot. Without you, God will not. All He needs is a bunch of people that are bold enough to ask!

We believe in 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says: "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  

What about you? Do you believe that prayer can move mountains? If so refuse to stay home tonight! Talk yourself into it and find excuses not not to turn up. You will not regret it! - There is something powerful about a bunch of people gathering together to seek God.

Join us for a great night of seeking God, praying for our world, our church and our city and nation. For venue details and general information please get in touch.

The Development Session

Every now and then I go back to the basics with the men in our men's group. I call these sessions "Development Sessions". They are a great  way to monitor the new converts' growth, assess where everyone is at and engage with the real  deal of being a follower of Christ. You can even get into discussions about ideas, mindsets, misconceptions among other interesting things.

Below is an example of a development sheet.

DEVELOPMENT SESSION 1   

(2 Timothy 2:2)

1) What is so bad about sin? Romans 6:23, Isaiah 59:2.

Sin leads to death. We have all sinned (Romans 3:23). Sin is when you do something God asked you not to (James 4:17).

2) Who is Jesus? John 3:16

He is the Son of God.

3) Why Jesus? John 14:6

He made a way for us to have relationship with God.

4) Why did Jesus have to die? 1 Peter 3:18, Romans 5:17

Jesus died to take the penalty our sins deserved. He took our punishment so that we wouldn’t have to. He made a way for us to go to heaven and live with God forever.

5) How do you get to heaven? Romans 10:9-10, John 1:12

“Receiving Christ” means: 1) acknowledging your belief in Jesus, 2) inviting him into your life, 3) turning to God from your present way of living (repentance), and 4) beginning the adventure of letting God direct your life.

6) What is Church?

A body of believers.

7) What is the Church’s purpose?

1 - To bring us strength. 1 Corinthians 14:26

2 - To help us flourish. Psalm 92:12

3 - To show us the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15, John 8:32, John 14:6

8) Why is the Church so important?

1 - The Church was Jesus’ idea. Mat 16:18 , I Pet 2:4-6

2 - Jesus died for the Church. Acts 20:28, Eph 5:25

3 - Jesus is the Head of the Church. Eph 1:22, Col 1:18

9) Why Serve?

1 - Great cure for selfishness. Phil 2:3

2 - Shows us the real purpose of living. Mt. 16:25

3 - It’s part of the core of who a true disciple is. Mt. 20:32-33, Mark 16:20

4 - Leads to greatness. Mt 23:11-12

Vision Sunday 2011

The future belongs to those who plan for it. Some people spend more time planning their holidays than their life. That’s why focus is so important. We must make God’s priorities our priorities.  That’s how we will gain influence in our city. Why do we need influence as as a church? Because influence is the ability to bring change.

Gloucester is one of the most deprived places in England. As a church, D7 must go to extreme lengths to ensure that we are being God’s change agent in our city.

Everything we do at D7 Church falls within our discipleship plan. This is where our focus, priorities and influence comes from:

BELONG

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 

Matthew 25:35 

- As a church we've decided that we are not starting another city mission. In our culture it’s much easier to feed people than to invite them into our world. The best kind of ministry is the one that is not needed anymore, so they morph, they change into something else to meet a real need.

- There are way too many churches and not enough change. Churches are being ineffective because they are applying the right concept to the wrong context. The hunger that people in our culture have is relational.

- We need to be the kind of people that other people need to meet. If your gospel is not touching others is has not touched you.

BELIEVE  

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  

John 1:12

- We've been called to build a kingdom minded church culture. An effective and strong church will come out of that.

- See people through the eyes of compassion. Show people the same grace that has been shown to you. Build relationships, get to know people. 

- Why do we tithe? Because we believe what we read not read what we believe.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Malachi 3:10

SERVE  

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 

  

- Don’t be a slave of material things. You are a human being, not a human 'buying'.

- Whole-heartedly Serving is essential.

Earthly Kingdom vs. God's Kingdom

There are two different worlds and two different worldviews. You can either see yourself as part of God’s Kingdom or an earthly one. The problem sometimes is with what we see. We have to zoom out a little and see beyond the natural, we have to see beyond what we can see and touch, we have to see beyond our personal limitations and even beyond our current level of influence and size of our world.

Take the David vs. Goliath's case for instance. If David became a king by watching sheep imagine what you can become by looking after the people God has entrusted to you. What people you might ask? Look around you and beyond yourself and you will see plenty of hearts starving for  love, a place to belong and concrete answers. God's Kingdom is all about people.

Check out this interaction between Goliath, God's people and David:

Goliath (1 Samuel 17:8)  - "Aren’t you the servants of Saul...I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 

God's People (1Samuel 17:11) - When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
 
David (1 Samuel 17:45) - "I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."

we see in the above verses that:

Goliath saw servants of man, David saw the army of the living God.

Goliath saw frighted losers, David saw dead meat.

Goliath focused on the things he could see, David focused on the invisible.

Goliath had an earthly kingdom mindset, David had a God’s kingdom mindset.

Here is the punchline:

Who had victory?  

Who came out of the battle with their head still attached to their body?

A kingdom mindset will shape your perspective and your perspective will determine your destination.

What perspective do you have? What are you living for? What actions are you taking towards your decisions?

The answer to the above questions will determine the outcome of your battles.

Chose to be like David. Be kingdom minded.

Focus

This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. Titus 1:13-14

If you want to get anywhere in life you will need focus. Here is the thing about focus: it doesn't just happen, you have to be determined and intentional. Focus is selective, it takes away distractions.

Sometimes we just have to pay no attention. Pay no attention to critics, pay no attention to the economy (God is your provider not your boss), pay no attention to the million things that come our way. Even opportunities can distract you - not all opportunities will take you where you want to go.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

We can learn a lot from the apostle Paul's success. We can be more effective by being more selective.

Focus demands selection. So say no to distractions.

Kings Square

Last Sunday was awesome! In case you don't know we took our church into our community for the first time by having an outdoor service. It took us an hour and a half to get connected to a reliable source of electricity as we had problems with our generator (predictable!), we literally sung and played in the rain but I would not have it any other way!

The air was electric. We were all fighting the elements but were also pumped and everyone had a high sense of expectancy. History Maker by Delirious was playing in the Kings Square Shopping Mall, which added to the atmosphere. I prayed thanking God for the awesome encouragement, "Yes Lord, I want to be a history maker in this land!" By working together our team is writing history. Their history and the history of those involved. Yes we had a crowd, yes we connected and reconnected people to God's house. Someone even wanted to buy our band album (which by the way will be available at the end of the year!).

God is good, hell is too hot and people are dying for something fresh. Something that will not wear out the next day. Jesus is bringing them living water and we want to be part of it! So Well done team for an awesome work.

Gloucester here we come!!!

Winners And Whiners

"not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times. not one of them will ever see the land I promised..." 

- Numbers 14:22-23 

I have noticed that the world is divided into two kinds of people; the winners and the whiners. Whiners can be found on wholesale, the shelves are full of them. They come in bulk. Whiners are always ready to complain and give excuses why they “can’t”. Two million whiners did not see the promise that God gave them because of their whining. They touched God’s heart with their cry, they heard his promise, they saw his miraculous works, they tasted his goodness and smelled the fragrance of freedom. Still they complained. 

God was not exaggerating when he said that ten times they tested him:

They didn’t believe. Twice!(Ex. 14:11-12, Nm. 14:1-4)
Disobeyed Him. Twice!(Ex. 16:20, 16:27-29)
Worshipped something else other than Him. (Ex. 32:7-10)
and... They complained... FIVE TIMES!(Ex. 15:24, 16:3, 17:2-3, Nm. 11:1-2, 11:4)
This is what whiners do:
They worship themselves, something or someone other than God. They don’t think twice when facing a crucial decision, they find it easy to come up with excuses to disobey God. They don’t fully believe that he is able and that nothing is impossible to him. And, this is perhaps the most basic and loudest of them all... they whine and complain... ALL THE TIME!
Winners on the other hand are handmade, they are precious rare items found in small alley shops. They refuse to settle for the ordinary, they see opportunities instead of obstacles. Joshua and Caleb are great examples of winners. They trusted God to the core. They brought the minority report refusing to go with the majority. They saw opportunities instead of obstacles. They found reasons to move forward and take ground instead of coming up with excuses to shrink back.
Winners will not only see God’s miraculous power in action, but they will also ‘possess the land’. They may not lead a comfortable life but they will certainly lead a totally fulfilling one. They fully obey and trust God walking in total freedom as a result. And when they die they leave a legacy.
Are you a winner or a whiner?

SMART Goal Setting

What, why, how...great post on setting goals.

Platform

Great post on your platform

Deeper Series - The Church

This Sunday we'll start a new series in our church called Deeper. The series has been divided into four awesome parts. As this is also the date of our Launch Party I thought I would take the opportunity to share a little bit of the vision of D7 Church, and how life defining the house of God can be.

Reason: Jesus preached the kingdom but built the church (Mat 16:18). He died for the Church (Acts 20:28, Eph 5:25). Jesus himself is the head of the church (Eph 1:22, Col 1:18). God would not waste time and his Son's precious blood on something worthless and of no relevance to our lives and growth. Many times we have a casual relationship with the church forgetting that it has the potential to impact and change our lives (At D7 we are committed to reach, equip and empower everyone through their belonging, believing and serving in God's House).

So think twice before taking God's house for granted and even with apathy. His house is the pillar and foundation of the truth for humanity - never forget that!

Enjoying Life Together

At D7 Church great relationships are built in this way:

By Belonging (D7 Midweek Activities, Zone Café)
This is your relationship with others, where meaningful interactions occur and great friendships are built. Connecting with each other helps you with life’s challenges.

By Believing (D7 Sunday Services)
This is your relationship with God. Worship helps you focus on God while discipleship helps fortify your faith.

By Serving (D7 Teams)
This is your relationship with The House. Serving in church helps you find and develop your talents.

We are very intentional in everything we do and we go out of our way to successfully get people through all three stages. And that's all we do!

Our Discipleship Process

In our church we have designed a simple process that will allow anyone to:

BELONG (D7 Midweek, Zone Café)
Fellowship (meaningful interactions, friendships) = helps you with life’s challenges.

BELIEVE (Sunday Services)
Worship = helps you focus on God.
Discipleship = helps fortify your faith.

SERVE (Teams)
Ministry = helps you find and develop your talents.

We are very intentional in everything we do and we go out of our way to successfully get people through all 3 stages. And that's all we do!