4th March – Christian Hope
1 Thessalonians 4v13-5 v11
rest
Welcome to August! Some of you will be away on holiday already. Others are enjoying the sunshine at New Wine or other festivals and camps, some won’t be going anywhere. As a church we have the habit of using this month to slow down. There will be a bit less going on at the Resource Base and most our MSCs will mainly doing informal, social, things together. I want to encourage you make this a month of rest and connection. Take the time to slow down a little, but be looking at the way you connect – up, in and out.
Connect… with God.
I’ve found myself reflecting on Psalm 1 and Psalm 23 a lot this summer. Ps 1 tells us that the one who meditates on God’s word is blessed, like a tree planted by streams of water. Ps 23 reminds us that those who listen to God and stay close to him experience his protection and blessing. How can your rest time involve Jesus? How can you listen carefully to him? Over August we’re going to send out two prayer texts a week at noon. Could you (re)start the habit of pausing in the day and making sure you are listening to the Shepherd?Connect… with Kairos. Part of being family is learning to rest together. There is a little less formal activity going on among us this month, but lets stay connected to one another. Why not join us at a 9am communion or one of the Summer Gatherings? If you are doing something fun could you invite one or two people from your MSC or the wider Kairos family with you? Use (or set up) a Whatsapp or FB group for your MSC to stay in touch, or post some stories, prayer requests or holiday pictures on our Facebook Kairos Family Group.
Connect… with friends. Summer is a great time to notice and connect with those friends around you who are leaning in and wanting some of what God has given you. Be on the lookout for new people – make the most of opportunities to get to know them and share stories together. Let God suprise you with simple mission opportunities as you slow down and pay attention to him.
By Ben Askew
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.
2 Talks – Rest and Incarnation
Here are talks from the last couple of Sundays.
On the 7th December Mark talked about Rest. Mark: God Rests MP3
On 14th December Ben spoke on Incarnation. Ben: God Incarnate MP3 as a Christmas bonus, here are the slides: God Incarnate Slides
Muchness and Manyness or Rest and Trust?
In contemporary society, our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, crowds. If he can keep us engaged in “muchness” and “manyness,” he will rest satisfied. . . . Hurry is not of the Devil, it is the Devil. [Richard Foster]
That’s challenging isn’t it?!
If you are feeling engaged in ‘muchness’ and ‘manyness’- a common feeling for us in the approach to Christmas – it is worth examining what the Lord may be saying about how to live and work from the place of rest and trust.
Is your trust level high?
God was able to rest because he had a high level of trust in his own work. Isaiah 55:11 points out that God’s word will not return to him empty – God’s purposes are fulfilled. Proverbs 19:21 says that his purposes prevail. So on that basis he can rest because he knows the end…. and its good. We often don’t rest because our trust levels are low. Do you trust God to work his purpose out? Can you rest in this? Or do you need to make up for what you perceive are God’s deficiencies – in other words doing his work for him?
God’s word has gone out to our people of peace….. all those who are near to the kingdom. This means we can trust that his word will accomplish that which it has been intended for – in the case of our people of peace this means salvation.
Do you know you are trusted by God?
God trusts us. He knows our flaws and imperfections. Jesus knew that the disciples wouldn’t do a perfect work, wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as he was, yet still trusted them. He even expected that they would do greater things because they believed. God rests because he trusts us. His trust in us is as high as his trust in his own work.
Rest and Trust go together. Don’t refuse.
There is another verse in Isaiah which highlights that trust and rest go together:
“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. but you refused….” Isaiah 30:15
I guess the challenge at this time is to make sure we are not refusing God’s trust in us and to ensure we are trusting in him. And because you trust you will find rest. Mark