Talks

In the last part of our series “Brave & Bold & Breakthrough” Helen talks to us about being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit empowered the apostles with the same power that rose Jesus from the dead. (Eph. 1:19-20)
How can we be empowered to be brave and bold disciples?

We need to be shaped by the things of the Kingdom
We need to have an eternal perspective. Our time on earth is short!
We need to be available to God.
How can we live in expectancy?
God does not want us to live with an attitude of “If you expect the worst, anything good is a bonus”. He wants us to live with expectancy, relying on Him, which is not the same as positive thinking or optimism because these are limited to people.

How can we believe for breakthrough?
The dictionary describes breakthrough as a sudden dramatic important development, but it could also be a shift in our perspective, an acceptance of God’s plans and an acknowledgment that He is in control.
If we’re looking for a breakthrough in our lives:

We have to persist in prayer.
We need to persist in praise. Our circumstances should not dictate our praise.
We need to persist in our purpose. The closer we walk with Jesus the more we align ourselves with Jesus’ purpose.
We need to persist in our declaration.
1 Cor 4:20: For the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk, it is living by God’s power! Let’s do it boldly!

In the second part of Brave & Bold & Breakthrough, Bob talks to us about another example in the bible: Joshua, Moses’ assistant.
Joshua took over from Moses after 40 years of wandering in the desert, led by Moses. In Joshua 1:9 we read Be strong! Don’t be afraid, don’t be discouraged!
Definition of “Strong”:
likely to succeed because of sound reasoning or convincing evidence.
Definition of “Courage”:
Courage is putting our confidence in God and stepping out in faith, despite the fears and challenges of life.
Bob illustrats this with some points taken from the story of the falling of Jericho.
God gave exact instructions on what to do with that city with closed walls: “Walk around it once for 6 days and seven times on the seventh day, followed by loud horn blasts and shouting”.
We know how it ends, Joshua didn’t. He had to trust, be strong and courageous. Joshua 6:8 tells us: And it happened. Joshua spoke, and the people moved. God delivered Jericho just as He had promised.
What does that mean for us? How can we be strong and courageous?
We need to be prepared for what lies ahead. We don’t necessarily face a big wall but we have our own difficult situations. For example in Ashwood Church, God has told us to have a new building: We need to be prepared, be bold and be brave!
We need to know whose we are: God is for us, not against us! He is with us and gives us all we need to get through stuff.
We need to trust Him and expect miracles. Bob gives the example of his own life story: he moved from being an alcoholic, drug addict and Satanist to being a fully healed Christian: a miracle! God does miracles in little and in big things. We can only sit with, pray for and love people, but God is the one who will perform the miracle!
We need to know that we are not on our own. We call each other “family”, we’re together. We are not called to do life on our own.
Joshua followed God’s command to be bold and courageous and the people of Israel thrived. Will we?

Matt starts the first part in a new series - “Brave & Bold & Breakthrough”. He sais that he believes God wants us to experience more of these things in 2024.  How Brave are you?

In the first part, Matt looks at the character of Caleb, and when Moses sent 12 spies (including Caleb and Joshua) to investigate the Promised Land.  When they reported back 10 said “We can’t take this land” and only 2 said “We can do it!”
What can we learn from this story?
Brave and Bold comes after Safe and Sound: We can only have a brave confidence if we know that we are safe. It is important to know “WHO WE ARE”, but even more important to know “WHOSE WE ARE”. Jesus’ followers are sons and daughters of God – that’s our identity! Built on the firm foundation that we are known and loved by God.
Being a “2” in a world of “10’s”. All 12 spies saw the same thing, yet Joshua and Caleb had a different perspective than the other 10. Courage is a choice. Joshua and Caleb didn’t deny the facts, but faced them, and responded with courage. They didn’t want to go back to the bad old days. Caleb stood up and closed the door to fear: “If the Lord is pleased with us, HE will give it to us.”
We are Bold and Courageous because God is with us. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the knowledge that God is with us: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8) Where do you need to be courageous at the moment? Be baptised? Talk to a friend about Jesus? Pray again for healing? Look for a different job? Caleb said: “If it is the Lord’s plan and He is with us, we can do this!” Matt encourages us to say: “Even when it hurts, when I’m broken, when it feels that God is silent, I will put my confidence in Him”?
Remaining Courageous for the long haul. Sadly, the people didn’t listen to Caleb, but instead, they went back into the desert and spent years there before going into the promised land. Caleb could have become bitter: 45 years later he’s at the same place where he was before for no fault of his own. But Caleb remained courageous and was still ready to conquer the land! Just as vigorous now as he was back then.
Are we choosing to have courage and put our confidence in God today? “Lord, keep my heart soft through the disappointments of life!”