E100: 46 – ISAIAH 53

Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the lord will prosper in his hand.

After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53

First Things First

 

 

 

This year as a church we’re going to look at finding out who God has made us to be and how He has gifted us and how to get activated in using those gifts.

BUT before you get activated – and even if you’re on the journey of finding out who you are and what you’re called to – you need to have your own authentic real connected in love fired up passionate full on committed relationship with God.

It’s a what came first, the chicken or the egg?

It has to be real and it has to be your heart motivation to know and love Him and make Him known.

You may be uber talented but if you have no relationship with God you will not be serving His kingdom and prob will not get picked for promotion and adventure.

Disclaimer: we’re all flawed and we’re all human and we’re all sinners but a consecrated committed disciple is different from a oh yeah whatever Christian.

But we want to be a person who embrace the call and purposes of God, who believe He is real and that He is the hope of the world

A person who pursue Him and find Him

A person who will dream and live and be marked for eternity, not just breathing and living but living with purpose and destiny

Determined to know Him

Determined to keep knowing Him

Determined to live to please Him

 

Life is a journey and we’re all at different places spiritually and all that but THIS – housegroup – is a place where we have fun, make friends, eat a lot and where we press in and press through, into something greater than just hanging out and having a good time, where we learn and step out and are challenged and encouraged, and are ignited by a very real personal alive mighty God.

 

In the face of seemingly impossible odds God is up in heaven, not stressed at all. God is confident of His work in and through us.

 

I have to confess, I don’t want you to live ordinary lives.

I want you to be used by God so that you have the greatest adventure and so that you experience the greatest love and greatest satisfaction.

Ordinary is not enough.

Any ministry and service and adventure you have with God needs to come out of the overflow – out of the heart and core of who we are… otherwise its not sustainable.

Or pleasing in the sight of God.

 

First love: in revelation 2: 2-5 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

 

The Ephesians were doing plenty of work and using their giftings. They were pursuing the call of God and active in their church and community.

But it wasn’t been done from a place of overflow in their lives. It wasn’t originating from love for God.

You see, God isn’t after your behaviour. He is after your heart.

Behaviour and change and transformation and obedience flows out of love from God and love towards, love for God.

Those that are in love with God and know His love for them respond with love.

You see the most important thing to realize in the world is that God loves you.

 

“God loves you simply because he has chosen to do so. He loves you when you don’t feel lovely. He loves you when no one else loves you. While we may theologically and intellectually understand the transaction, motivated by love, that took place at Calvary, the reality must reach our hearts in order to complete its course. We are loved. Let the words linger in our ears. We are loved.” ~ Max Lucado

 

Out of knowing that everything else will flow.

Security instead of insecurity

Peace instead of fear and worry

Hope instead of hopelessness

Righteousness by love instead of compromise

Vision instead of disorientation

You are loved. Loved.

 

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 john 3:1

 

My prayer for you all for this year is that you will encounter God like never before, that you will know that He loves you and has done everything needed to save you and that His promise is that He will complete the good work He has begun in you and that nothing can separate you from His love, that He will never leave or forsake you and that you are created and called to draw near to God.

 

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right) , and all these things will be given to you as well.

 

We’re going to spend some time worshipping now and I encourage you to join in and participate, even if you don’t know the songs.

When I became a Christian I was 16 and had gone to youth group to meet the boys – and when I was there they had some worship and at the start a guy prayed, a real simple prayer, and at that moment I knew God was real. It was like my heart and eyes were opened and all of a sudden I knew that God was real and I could know Him.

Worship is a great opportunity for us to turn ourselves towards God, to ask Him to reveal Himself and for us to thank Him and honour Him and surrender ourselves to Him, so we’re going to take this moment to draw near to God. And His promise…that He will draw near to us. I believe that amazing things can happen in worship, that life can change in worship… because we’re not just singing songs but we are drawing near to our Heavenly Father who loves us and created us for this very purpose.

 

WORSHIP SET:

one thing remains – the loft sessions

came to my rescue – hillsong united

fall afresh – the loft sessions

the stand – hillsong live in miami

 

 

 

housegroup notes from Wednesday 15th Feb 2012