Tuesday 31st of January 2012 | Posted by Dave Taylor Questions To Ask Yourself
Before we head into February and completely off the beaten track of ''year start' thoughts, here are some questions for your consideration. Courtesy of Don Whitney, they are designed to help us kick off the year...
I'm a limited guy and so with 30 questions to answer, seriously, that's intense! But by picking a handful, chewing on them and then putting some answers into action... That's a happy new year! Enjoy!
1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual disciplines do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from the last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?
11. What's the most important decision you need to make this year?
12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?
13. What's the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?
14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?
15. Who is the person you most want to encourage this year?
16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?
17. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?
18. What's one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?
19. What's one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?
20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?
21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?
22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?
23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?
24. What's the most important trip you want to take this year?
25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve in this year?
26. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?
27. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?
28. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?
29. What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?
30. In what area of your life do you most need to change, and what will you do about it?
Two weeks ago today we opened the doors of our school hall to welcome kids and parents into our first ever holiday club. Now that the balloons are down and the music has faded I thought I’d take a few moments to reflect on what was an amazing week!
For the uninitiated Showstoppers holiday club is all about mission. As a church we want to be a people that not only know and apply the gospel but take it out into our community. Events like Showstoppers help us to do this in two ways: Firstly,through the preaching of the gospel to the kids, and secondly, as a means of building relationships with non-Christian families in our community. The amazing thing about the week was that both of these aims were achieved beyond what any of us expected!!
Take a brief step back in time to only a few weeks before the beginning of Showstoppers and I had a few serious doubts in my mind. Would we have enough volunteers? Would we be able to organise the week in time? With next to no registrations… should we even go ahead with the program?? Or should we call it off? Now that Showstoppers is over and having had nearly 40 kids attend, it’s clear that God was faithful beyond belief! With this in mind,let’s look at a few of the highlights from the week.
Firstly, the kids. Not only did we have nearly 40 kids, but more than half of these were from non-Christian families! And these kids had so much fun!! Parent after parent would come to pick up their children the next day and ask, “What are you doing with them? They can’t stop talking about Showstoppers!” We even had one child on the first day proclaim, “This is more fun than Lunar Park!” and another bring their neighbours along the following day because they’d had such fun! The best bit about all of this is that nearly all of the activities for every day revolved around the gospel. From the crafts, to the videos, games and personal testimonies it all tied into the big idea for the day which was some aspect of the gospel. Likewise, as the week progressed the kids were increasingly showing they understood the message. One boy from an unchurched family after hearing his group leader share about putting faith in Jesus asked, ‘What should I do next?’. I overheard another girl from a non-Christian family explaining to her friend how one of the stories we had just told related to the gospel, ‘It’s just like a mini version of what Jesus did for us!’ she remarked.
Secondly, the parents. I can’t mention enough how much the parents absolutely loved the week! Not only did every parent repeatedly express their thanks but nearly every parent attended our Friday evening finale! On the Friday night we had organised a jumping castle, a magician, balloons and a BBQ with the hope that we might be able to welcome some of these folks into our church and invite them along to our next Reason for God Sunday (5th of February). There was a real buzz around the room with parents chatting away and the kids going wild on the jumping castle! During this time, not only did we have several chats with parents interested in our church but the most repeated comment was, “Thank you so much for this week… we’ll be back next year!
This brings us to my last highlight: The opportunity! The Lord was so faithful in connecting us as a church with many families in our area and allowing us to share the gospel with many kids throughout the week.Next year we’re expecting to have substantially more kids as the kids from this year invite their friends. Would you join with me in praying for both parents and kids, that the Lord would be at work in their hearts, connecting them with our church, leading them to faith in Jesus and through them reaching even more of the lost in our area.
So you want to read the Bible more in 2012? Great!
Perhaps like me, this isn't a new desire. You've started the year before with grand aspirations to read the Bible and they've slowly (or quickly!) fizzled out. Take heart from Noel Piper, who explains how she saw through a year of reading her Bible - all 66 books!
Here are some resources to make 2012 a year of reading the Bible and growing in your love for God. There's something for everyone - reading plans (beginner to advanced!), devotional resources for individuals and families, questions to ask as you read, as well as tips for memorising and journaling.
Christmas is such a good time to get out and into the community. There's so much going on and so for 2011, we've decided as a Church to run a stall at the Wahroonga Village Fair on Sunday 4th December (9.00am-4.00pm)...
...And the Hornsby Christmas Spectacular on Saturday 10th December (5.00pm-10.00pm).
We'll be providing free balloons and face painting for the children, and giving out copious amounts of candy canes and leaflets to any adults who walks past. If you're in the area then please drop by, we'd love to meet you!!
Recorded live at WorshipGod11, 'The Gathering' contains 15 songs that progressively tell the story of the gospel and our appropriate response to it. It's a story God's people have been celebrating together for thousands of years. Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead, and will come back one day to live forever with those he redeemed. These songs help us to remember and rejoice in this good news over and over again and accordingly, I love this CD. In my opinion, this is the best album that Sovereign Grace have ever produced!!
Send Comment | Share on Facebook Thursday 24th of November 2011 | Posted by Dave Taylor Visitor Sundays - Starting December 2011
With 85 folk now signed up for the Gingerbread House making night on December 2nd, here's the next event that is starting to come into view on our Church radar...
Please see this as a great opportunity to invite folk along. Let's spread the rumour folks!!
One guy that has had a very big impact on me in all things mission, is Mark Driscoll. It was when I was reading his book 'Radical Reformission' in 2006 that God opened my eyes to importance and priority of local mission, and since then God has used Mark to challenge, provoke and encourage me in this area on numerous occassions.
In preparing for our current 'In it 2 win it' series I returned to some interviews that Mark did at the 2006 Desiring God National Conference. They provoked and sharpened me afresh, I couldn't help therefore but want to share them here on our blog. As we continue to move forward with our 'In it 2 win it' series, may these short interviews provoke, encourage and sharpen us all. Enjoy!
1. THE NEED FOR CULTURAL IMMERSION
2. BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES & CULTURAL METHODS
3. RELATING TO SINNERS
4. WORLDLINESS AND CULTURE
5. THE MESSINESS OF THE CHURCH
Send Comment | Share on Facebook Tuesday 18th of October 2011 | Posted by Dave Taylor The Radical Reformission... Here We Go!
This week marks the beginning of our new 'INVEST' series. Having concluded 'The Enemy Within', we're now going to be studying Mark Driscoll's book 'The Radical Reformission', a book I highly recommend and which had a profound affect on my life when I first read it back in 2006.
'Today's mission field starts just outside our door', Driscoll writes. 'Since the mid-1990s, the conversation among young pastors has evolved from reaching Generation X, to ministering in a post-modern culture, to a more mature and profitable investigation of what a movement of missionaries would look like, missionaries sent not from America to another nation, but from America to America. This "reformission" is a radical call to reform the church's traditionally flawed view of missions as something carried out only in foreign lands and to focus instead on the urgent need in our own neighbourhoods, which are filled with diverse cultures who desperately need the gospel of Jesus and life in his church. Most significantly, they need a gospel and a church that are faithful both to the scriptural texts and to the cultural contexts of America. The timing of this reformission is critical.'
Today's mission field really does start just outside out door. If you believe that, and are keen to make a difference in our sin-sick world then I really do want to encourage you to grab this book, start reading it, and come along to INVEST. We'll be kicking things off this Wednesday and Thursday night at our place, think-tanking around the question of 'Effective Local Mission'.
How good was it to have Bob Kauflin in town! Big thank you to all those who prayed for Bob over the past ten days. His visit has proven to be everything I had hoped for... It seems that Bob's visit has not only been encouraging and strategic for our own local Church, but for a whole load of other brothers and sisters in our city too.
If you missed out on hearing Bob at Sovereign Grace Church then you can download his messages here. If you haven't heard them then please do take a listen. So much to consider, be encouraged and challenged about, and apply: Living Before The King Of Glory - Psalm 24
Likewise, if you'd like to read some of the talk that's going on in Sydney regarding things that Bob shared at Moore College, TWIST, RICE, and so forth, then here's a few links for you to follow: