Talks

This Sunday morning, Matt finishes “the Church I see…” Series.  He inspires us to have the same perspective as Jesus has for His church.  He talks about 5 more qualities that we want to be part of our future. (Starting now!)

The Church we see is an Honouring Church.  The Bible teaches us to:
Honour God
Honour Parents
Honour Those in authority
Honour One Another
Honour Church Leaders
We Honour people because it’s a spiritual principle, but because it also builds people up and releases them to go to the next level.

The church we see is a Responsible Church: Our Broken world faces many challenges. We live in a climate emergency with many injustices in the world.  We are called to “Shine Bright”.  Practically, we can give, we can pray, we can partner with other organisations and sometimes we can go! “To act justly and responsibly and be Heaven’s change agents here on earth!”

The church we see is a Faithful Church: “Faithfulness is making the right choices, consistently, day after day after day!”

The church we see is Family!: God’s original design and plan is that everyone should be part of family. He said “It’s not good for man/woman to live alone.”  We want our church to be a place where all backgrounds, all ages, all races can be family together.  Paul saw no segregation and that’s what we want too.

The church we see is a United Church: Leonard Ravenhill said: “Church Unity comes from corporate humility“ To be united is what Jesus prays for us in John 17: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”

This week we continue our series on “The Church I See”
Bob reminds us that God is gracious to us. Ashwood is thriving because of what God is doing, but there is more for him to do and for us to see!
We see:
A generous church
We are generous financially with our giving. Not just for us, but for the community and to bless others around the world, so his will can be done. Giving includes our time as well as stewarding our money to see God’s kingdom come.
A grateful and supportive church
Bob reads Galatians 6:7-10 and encourages us to be grateful for everything. Even small things, like a smile or encouraging word are important to be grateful for.
When we are grateful for what people have done for us, it can spur us into action to serve others.
A powerful, serving church
1 Peter 4:7-11 reminds us that we serve in the power of Christ. When we spot a need and step into it, God gives us the power to bring about change!

Bob challenges us think about:
What are we sharing?
What are we using?
What are we giving?

In the fourth talk in our series “The Church I see”, Gill reminds us that it is also the church God wants to see:
A Church that is missional and in the Community motivated by love and compassion.
Reading the story from Luke 7:11-17, where Jesus met a funeral procession in Nain and resurrected the son of a widow, Gill points out a few things that we can learn:

Jesus was in the community, out on the street, speaking and acting into a situation. Where are we positioned to connect with people God wants to love through us? It’s not just in the volunteering roles we do in Church (which are great!) but also in our everyday life with neighbours, work colleague and people we’re queuing with in a supermarket. What a great encouragement Zoe Jones shared with us to illustrate that point!

Jesus was moved by compassion and love. He could see the desperate situation of the widow who lost her only son and with him, her only source of income and potentially the chance of survival. And his heart went out to her: “Don’t cry”.

Jesus was unafraid to intervene, to speak up, to introduce change, to say and do the unexpected. Are we?

We love hearing Helen continue the Series “The Church We See” with some more great characteristics of a Godly Church:
The Church is relational: We have a relation with God that strengthens us to have a trusting, respecting relationship with each other that fosters a sense of belonging.
Welcoming and Hospitable: We have a great welcome team, but let’s all support each other in making people feel welcome and at ease.
Kind
Forgiving
The Church is praying: The apostle Paul is a brilliant example of how to pray for our Church and the worldwide Church in quite a few of his letters. We are encouraged to pray for families, friends, authorities and to expect miracles. Please get in touch with admin@ashwoodchurch.org.uk to find out how you can join in praying with the church. Let’s pray together!
The Church is growing
Growing Faith and Expectations: If we remember the good things God has done in the past, we can trust that He will do it again and more!
Growing Spiritual Maturity: We can help each other to do that in LifeGroups
Outreach: Each of the areas where we serve the community can grow and reach more people.
Growing in Numbers: Growth in numbers should only happen alongside the other growths listed above. But we want Ashwood to be a place where we feel comfortable to bring family and friends along.

After our wonderful baptism Sunday, Claire continues with our series “The Church I see”, emphasising four further ways to describe a godly church:
1) A worshipping Church
We are designed to worship and are encouraged in the bible again and again to worship: So wether you eat or drink or whatever you do, we do it for the Glory of God!
2) A battling, but not striving Church
Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of the dark world, BUT God has not only given us an armour to equip us, but He’s also with us every step of the way!
3) A celebrating Church
We’ve only just celebrated the baptism of four people, and we are encouraged in the bible to celebrate God in many different ways.
Richard Foster says: “Celebration is central to all the Spiritual Disciplines. Without a joyful spirit of festivity, the Disciplines become dull, death-breathing tools in the hands of modern Pharisees.” What are you celebrating?
4) A life bringing and joyful Church
To live in God’s abundant kingdom means to flourish and thrive with meaning, purpose, devotion, delight, service, and accomplishment that is for the Glory of God.

After Matt set the scene for this current series last Sunday, THIS Sunday Bob brings us part 1 of “The Church I see….”
He explains that over the next 7 weeks we will look ahead to the different characteristics, qualities and attributes that we see in our church now, but long to see grow and increase in our future as a church.  He starts with 3 areas:

The Church I see is ….. a JESUS CENTRED Church
Which means that Jesus comes first and everything we do points to Him! It’s the foundation for everything else.
The Church I see is ….. a SPIRIT FILLED & PASSIONATE Church
Which means He has the Power to change lives and we have God’s Power to do all the things He wants us to do!  And we’re passionate about living for Jesus!
The Church I see is ….. a BOLD & COURAGOUS Church
Which means we’re not afraid to make a difference, not afraid to shine bright and speak out and we can be Bold in stepping out!

Looking back to the 50 year celebrations Matt explains that he sensed, that as well as being a joyful celebration of thanksgiving – it was also an “Altar Building Moment” for the Ashwood. Why?
In the Old Testament Altars were a sacred place, a religious monument – marked out as a holy place for worship to God, and often a place where God had revealed Himself in some way to His people. For us our 50 year celebration weekend was like that too.  And serves as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and kindness to the church.
We also looked forward: What should our church look like now?
Some answers are found directly from the New Testament in the Bible:
The church is a body (not a building - buildings are only facilitating the body to operate), and Jesus is the head.  (1 Corinthians 12)
The church is the bride of Christ.  (Ephesians 5 / Revelation 19)
The church is an army (Ephesians 6)
Plus some other potentially helpful images:
The church is a hospital where healing, (physical, emotional, spiritual, relational) and restoration can take place.
The church is moving from an ocean liner to a battle ship.
The church we see for the future could be described in many ways! (And you may have more descriptions too!). To close his message, Matt shared 50 expressions of “the church we see…..”  In the coming weeks we’ll hear from some of the members of our Leadership Core team, paint the picture more clearly.