The Good Samaritan
If you want to listen to David speaking on the parable of the Good Samaritan from 10th July, then you can do so here.
Ben Askew
About Ben Askew
Posts by Ben Askew:
Took, Thanked, Broke, Gave
If you missed Mark speaking on Luke 9 at the end of July, then you can listen to it here.
Rest with God
We’ve hit August! Some of us will be heading off on holiday or to a conference or two, others will be carrying with our every-day commitments as usual and looking forward to a break later in the year. Others will be wondering how to occupy the kids while we carry on with as much of our work as possible!
Summer means different things to lots of us, but as a church we tend to use August as a time to slow down and rest with one another, this is especially true for those who lead MSCs, we want to encourage each other to clear some of the usual community activity and have some fun together.
This year round we’re getting into August with considerable change: Allsorts has come to an end, at least one other community is moving towards multiplication, there is all sorts of movement involving people and team. Some of us will feel like we want this to all be resolved before we rest, we may not get what we want. We may need to slowdown, wait and accept a bit of uncertainty.
All of this makes making sure that we stay connected with each other all the more important. There are lots of ways to keep in relationship with Kairos people – phones, texts, social media, gatherings, and good old conversations! In particular there are the 9am Communions and Summer Gatherings – great opportunities to keep in touch.
As Autumn goes on I think things will look clearer and a number of MSCs may well emerge, we want to be ready for this and so are once again creating space for prayer. During Launch Week (30th August – 2nd September) we’ll gather to pray at 7am, 9am, 12noon, 4pm and 8pm, we’d love you to join us.
Enjoy the next few weeks! Rest, connect with one another and with God.
Have a good Summer!
Ben
What I’ve learned about – leadership
The first, and maybe obvious thing I have noted more over recent times, is that everyone has an opinion on leadership, whether it be politics, sport, community or church, everyone has an opinion on what a leader should be, and even more what they should do.
Expectation is often a key influence upon any leader, but the challenge/question is, where does that expectation come from? People’s expectations are often different from God’s, but do we make space/time to hear god’s voice and hear his expectations above others?
When we look at the incident where Jesus was with Mary and Martha, Luke 10.38 to end, Martha reacted out of her own perspective, where Mary was putting herself at the feet and listening to Jesus.
Leadership is often about having the ability not to react, to stop, have a sense of peace, listen and then respond. Responding is different to reacting.
Our Kairos questions are always what is God saying and what is our response, because God wants a response and not a reaction.
Summer can be that time where we have space to stop, reflect, gain some peace, and listen, enabling us to move to a place of response.
So let’s be people who don’t react simply out of what they see, as Martha did, but people who respond out of all that God is saying to us, and demonstrate a leadership model that the world could certainly do with right now.
by AndyWilson. You can read more of Andy’s thoughts on the Roll The Rock site.
What I’ve learned about – handling times of change
It’s a bit of a cliche to say that change is a constant, but it is true. Change is not a Church thing, a Kairos thing, or a mission thing. Change is part of life. Having said that, there do seem to be seasons where the rate of change quickens, for some of us and our MSCs this is one of those moments.
Some of us tend to see change as exciting, an opportunity for adventure. Others of us will see it more in terms of a threat or a loss. In truth, most changes are a bit of both.
So how do we handle times of change well as leaders? Well, change creates a kairos moment and we have the opportunity to respond through repentance and belief.
Here are four things I’ve realised I do, and where I think they fit on the learning circle.
Observe – Look Back
Dan H reminded those of us at 9am prayers yesterday morning to remember the good things God has done in the past (you can read more of his thoughts on this here). Joshua had the people of Israel place 12 stones by the Jordan to remind them of God’s goodness. What has He done in your MSC that you can look back at and gain courage for the new season?
We’ve led several MSCs (I think our current score is 7) in different places over the years. None of them were perfect (looking back involves learning from mistakes), some of them ended messily, but in each there was fruit, growth and discipleship. As we think about change and movement in our lives I’m finding that remembering those communities and the friends who were part of them has been very encouraging.
Reflect – Wait
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7
When change hits it can be so easy to go into default modes of panic, fix or fret. Resist these and wait. Take the time to listen to God, to reflect and pray.
Waiting doesn’t need to be passive, it can be about asking God – what about this? It can be quite active (think about a waiter). Waiting can involve seeking – looking for where God is and listening carefully to discern what He is saying.
Discuss and Account – Connect
Change can lead people to be isolated, especially if they don’t really like or understand what is going on. When an MSC changes that can lead some to drop off the radar.
Make sure you connect with others, make sure you keep your connection with God. Keep an eye out for each other.
Plan and Act – Decide
Too much change can be bewildering; which way do we go, how do we respond? As I’ve thought about some of the changes we are facing as a family I found it easy to get stuck, to worry so much about the right decision that I don’t do anything.
So often the stories of change in the bible involve an encouragement to choose. Think about Joshua asking the people who they will serve before he dies (Joshua 23), or Jesus commissioning the disciples at the end of Matthew. There are decisions to be made and things to do. Encourage one another to make confident decisions for discipleship and for God.
Central Gathering Sermon – James Reed
It was brilliant to have James Reed from Joshua Project Harrogate at our Central Gathering on the 3rd July.
You can download the sermon here.
If you want to find out a bit more about the Joshua Project head over to their FB page.
Where do we place our Security?
If you missed Andy Wilson preaching at our 9am Gathering on 12 June then you can listen to him here. The readings were Luke 7:36-8:3 & Galatians 2:15-end
John 21 – Catching Fish
Listen Here to Mark speaking at our Central Gathering in May, on John 21.
Do you know about the Harrogate Hub?
Do you know about the Harrogate Hub?
Watch the video above to find out a bit more (and look out for some familiar faces)
To find out more, and learn how you could get involved, go to http://smch.org.uk/harrogate-hub/
or email harrogatehub@gmail.com
What I’ve learned about: God’s Pruning Work
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful…I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:1-2,5
John 15 might be familiar to you. The picture is of Jesus the gardener who comes to prune off branches – both those that bear fruit and those that do not. Things don’t always grow in God’s Kingdom. We shouldn’t expect that the things of God will just keep on getting bigger and better – it’s not biblical!
In fact Jesus taught the opposite, that there are seasons of growth, and we should also expect that there will be seasons of pruning. This can feel like failure to us – and we don’t like to fail, we don’t like the things we lead to be seen to be shrinking or in decline. It’s tempting to ask the question ‘what’s gone wrong?’ and then try to come up with a reason that takes the blame off us, or try to fix the ‘problem’ in some way, striving and pushing to keep things going when what we’re actually doing is going against what God is wanting to do – it’s exhausting!
We need to remember that it’s quite normal for God to bring things to a close, for Him to ‘prune’ us and the things we lead, and to lead us into a place of ‘abiding’ in Him (John 15:4-7). Every good gardener prunes plants because they know the truth of ‘so that they will bear even more fruit’ in the next season.
I recently had a picture for someone whilst praying; it was of a sheep being sheared, of having its thick winter coat removed for the summer season. Sheep don’t need their thick coat in the summer, and the shepherd removes the fleece so that the sheep is more comfortable and so they don’t get maggots laying eggs on them. It’s a kind of pruning for sheep and it’s necessary – imagine a sheep who was never sheared!
What feels to you like it’s failing right now, or at least is less fruitful and harder work than it used to be? Is God pruning you? If so that’s good news! Because Jesus’ promise is that He prunes in order that there might be more fruit in the future. Our best response is to draw close to Jesus, to spend time coming near to Him, to ‘eat’ with Him and others, listen and obey, and trust that at the right time He will bring new things and growth again.
The word that God has given me for this time is from Psalm 27:14 ‘Wait for the Lord; Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’ I am trying to keep reminding myself of what God has said every time I’m tempted to rush ahead in my own strength right now.
The Father is the gardener! We can trust Him. We need not rely on ourselves and our own abilities.
Want to think about pruning a bit more? To read an excellent blog article on embracing pruning click here.
Helen