Talks

Joshua Beighton and Esther Bell talk about “Unstoppable Team” and “Unstoppable Prayer” in part 5 of our “Unstoppable” Series!
Joshua reminds us that Paul not only encourages us to appreciate those who work for us, but also those who “admonish” us (warn, reprimand us or make us aware of something that is to be avoided).
The main goal of a team in church is to serve others, just like when (in Exodus) Joshua fought the Amalekites: Joshua and his army did the fighting, Moses served the army by lifting his arms to God in prayer and when Moses’s arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur served Moses by holding his hands up.
Our team leader (God) is unstoppable, and if we work together as a team following this leader, we will be unstoppable too!

Esther continues with the follow on verses in 1 Thessalonians 5 where Paul tells us to rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances.
We keep praying because then things change, even though we don’t always see the exact answer we are looking for!
Esther encourages us to be an unstoppable team in prayer and to keep doing it until we see the answers. This will raise our faith and bring breakthroughs!

Molly Bell brings us part 4 in our “Unstoppable” Series!
Inspired by Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians Molly doesn’t just speak about “Unstoppable Domestos” (watch the video to understand!) but about “Unstoppable HOPE!”:
Specifically “We do not grieve like people who have no hope!”
This is not the type of hope that simply wishes for good weather, but the type of hope for something that we know will definitely happen, a certain and solid hope that cannot be destroyed by anything!
Molly says for those who are Christians: “We don’t “lose” our loved ones, we know where they will be: They are in heaven!”

Lots of people wonder about what heaven will be like.  There is much that we don’t know but these things we DO know:
•        God is in heaven
•        God reigns from his throne in heaven
•        There are no more tears or sickness in heaven
•        There is no sin in heaven
But we can’t earn the right to enter heaven; no one is good enough, only by accepting Jesus’ forgiveness can we have this unstoppable hope!
A hope that is grief changing, life changing and death changing!
If you know you don’t have this hope today – please speak to someone – and accept the gift of eternal hope and eternal life with Jesus!

Gill speaks from 1 Thessalonians 3 on Unstoppable Love.  Paul wasn’t sure what he would find when he returned to the church in Thessalonica - what would the church look like.  He was delighted to find a group of believers solid in their faith and being full of LOVE for one another, and for their neighbour. Unstoppable Love. A great quote Gill shared….“Every time you show love, you show off the signature of the artist who designed you.”

Rich takes us through the second part of our Unstoppable Series from 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 2 on Unstoppable Truth.

Based on the first chapter of the letter to the Thessalonian Church, Bob encourages us to:
Set a reminder on our phones to pray for people and really be interested when we ask the question “How are you?”
Not to strive just about growth in church as in numbers, but to value growth in faith, love and hope
To be great examples to people in our surroundings so that if people imitated us, the world and the church would be a better place
To look at the life of Jesus and seek to model our lives on Him
In Spite of ______________ (fill in the blank for you) I can be unstoppable!
“Because of who God is, I am unstoppable!”

We always love Baptism Sunday!
Matt explains shortly what Baptism is all about, starting with the question: Are you thirsty or hungry this morning? A long time ago, God invited us through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 55 to be part of a banquet that feeds beyond our physical hunger. 2500 years later, Jesus follows this up by declaring to the women at the well that he is the water that will not leave you thirsty. We need to seek him, believe in him and repent, recognise that we need a saviour. He loves to forgive generously and to give us life in its fullness.
1) Baptism points backwards to the decision we’ve made to accept Jesus into our lives and to follow him.
2) Baptism points to Jesus, we identify with Jesus himself: Going into the water signifies the death to our old self and we rise as a new creation.
3) Baptism points forward to the family of God, the church.
Those being baptised have come to that conclusion and want to declare this before God and the world. Four wonderful testimonies are included in this talk.

Claire Bell reminds us that we are created for worship. Not to worship creation, however beautiful it may be, but to look at it in awe and worship the creator, God.  We look at idolatry and how that is worship of an unworthy object, and how easy it is to centre our attentions and adoration towards created things rather than our Creator God.
In Romans 1:21, Paul provided the root of idolatry; “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him”. Their lives and loves had got out of order.

Claire also gives us three practical points to keep our focus on worship:
1) Choose to worship what is worthy - Jesus!
2) Get hold of what God really thinks about you! (If you are not sure, sign up for the Freedom in Christ course)
3) Live in Kingdom priorities

Let’s actively put Worship into every part of our lives because as we sang on Sunday: “Lord, there is nothing better than you!”

We are a family, living in community!
Paul Bell reminds us of that beautifully in the next part of our Spiritual Practices Series.

He says whilst Sunday mornings are great, we need to adopt the life style of Jesus during the week if we want to become more like Him – which is our goal.

Here are Paul’s 7 points from Sunday:

1) Community is non-optional for discipleship to Jesus
You can’t do it on your own! When you are adopted into a family, siblings, aunties and cousins are part of the package!
2) Community is non-optional for a well lived life
We all need people around us.
3) Community is the context where we are transformed
We are both exposed and encouraged in community. The only way we can get healed from relational hurt is in relationship.
4) Community is not necessarily the same thing as a group of friends
In community we are challenged to share more of ourselves.
5) Community is the by-product of commitment
6) Community takes time and intentionality
Embrace interdependence
7) Community is attractive to others

Did you ever think about the difference between “stopping” and “resting”?
Zoe explains in her talk about Sabbath that stopping is just “not working”, whereas resting includes stopping to think about work! Taking that into account, some of us might not have properly rested for a long time!
The contents of a godly Sabbath are stopping, resting, delight and contemplation. Doing that gives us a foretaste of heaven and totally goes against our culture that tells us that our worth is in our work.

Zoe challenges us with a number of questions and quotes:
Stop: We should be empowered to do good work out of rest, not need the rest as a result of overworking.
Rest: What kind of rest refreshes you spiritually, physically, emotionally, intellectually and socially like the Lord was refreshed on the seventh day after he created the heavens and the earth (Ex 31:17)?
Delight: “On the sabbath we are reminded that Christians are called to order desserts and laugh until it hurts.” Jon Tyson
Contemplate: “Sabbath is a time to experience God’s pleasure and approval, knowing it’s nothing to do with my work-related accomplishments.” Pete Scazzero

“God is always trying to give us good things but our hands are too full to receive them”. St Augustine

Zoe goes on to explain that there is a journey between being aware of something and owning it. The journey starts with pondering, then valuing it. Now comes the difficult bit: an action gap that many never cross before we get to prioritising it. Where are you in your journey?

Do you want to get excited about the practice of Fasting? If so, we recommend you listen to Matts talk!
Just after Jesus was baptised he was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where he fasted for 40 days. After this time the devil tempted him. Jesus could resist the temptation because he was STRONGER, not weaker after that long time of fasting. How can that be?
Fasting is linked to accessing power, it has a physical element but also a spiritual element.

Fasting is not just abstaining from food or other things or following a restricted diet. Fasting is simply not eating food in order to feed on the Holy Spirit. “Fasting is feasting on our Lord and doing His will!  (Dallas Willard) 
For the Jews and the early church fasting was a regular practice. Learning how to resist our “Flesh” and feed our “Spirit”.
Matt also quotes some very insightful and challenging thoughts on fasting from great men of God of the past and present. Well worth a listen to get inspired!

Practical Tips on Fasting:

If you’ve never tried fasting before, start with one meal or two meals and take it from there
When you’re fasting, drink plenty of fluid (the body can last a long time without food, but not water)
Don’t try and do too much physical exercise at the same time as fasting (especially when you are starting)
If you have any health issues – be careful and speak to someone first
If you know you have issues with food – speak to someone first to get help
Be kind to yourself! Jesus seemed to expect his followers to sometimes make mistakes while learning – so we can too!