Good to be Back!!

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Wow our first Sunday back was brilliant!! What an extraordinary time. To me it feels like someone has hint the “reset’ button on our church and lives. We were forced to pause for a while. Made to stop and reflect.

Things may be different but God and His mission does not change. He is still at work to forgive, heal, reconcile, redeem and save. And we have experienced God’s work to heal and save in Aotearoa as we have seen Covid-19 eliminated. 

In this weeks Gospel reading (Matthew 9:35-10:8) we are given a picture of this work. We are told about the way Jesus is travelling all over engaged in this mission. He then does something strange, he sends out his disciples to do the same. This group of uneducated tradesmen. Some have questionable histories and one will even betray Jesus! There is no exam first, and he does not go with them to make sure they are doing things the “right way”. He just sends them out as they are. He tells them they have authority. He trusts them with the mission of God.

We are no different. We too are sent out with the same authority and power, not by a God breathing down our necks to micro manage us, but by a God who trusts us with His mission! Let us use this time to reset our lives on this purpose.

Prayers To Live By – Ephesians 3

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Our Christian history and tradition is just full of gold: stories, people, traditions and prayers that have inspired and nurtured peoples’ faith and helped them on their walk with Jesus through life. Here is one such prayer…

One of the things I find most fascinating about God is the way He constantly wants to include us in His plans. If what we believe about God’s omnipotence is true then surely He could click His fingers and change everything in an instant, making everything, including us, exactly the way He wants it to be. Now God does desire for things to be different – He is the God of redemption, new life and resurrection – but it seems He is not interested in forcing people todo what He wills. Rather He woos us with His love and the goodness of following in His way. And that brings us to this weeks Prayer to Live By.

St Paul is sending a letter to the church families that have been planted and grown up in and around the city of Ephesus. A group of faith communities that St Paul is so encouraged by, and so in turn wishes to encourage them with the truth of who God is and what He has called them (and us) to do. The letter is interspersed with these prayers, and here is perhaps the best: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Now here we have a prayer that confronts us with what a life surrendered to Christ looks like. God does not make anyone have a life like this, but this is what He desires for us. A life that is resilient, that has influence, is filled with love that reaches beyond understanding, a life filled with God Himself, and a life where unimaginable things happen. 

A few weeks ago we looked at the prayer of Confession. A prayer that confronts us with our failures. It is healthy to know where we need healing and repentance, but it can seem when faced with such failure and brokenness how could we ever have the kind of life that St Paul prays about here? However, this is a prayer that invites us to dare to go beyond the limitations of our own failure and brokenness, because we have a God that can do far more than we can ask or imagine.

God is not held back by our sin. He has overcome this for us. We can put it to rest and spend a life focused on God, and His love and power, knowing that He dwells within. And because of that we can have confidence to take on an epic life of discipleship. Because of these promises we can take on the tasks that seem to much for us or too foolish to take on.

Overall, this prayer is a prayer of encouragement to inspire confidence in our calling to follow Jesus. What has Jesus called you to do lately that seems impossible or overwhelming? Know that God will strengthen the foundations of your character with His power and love. And that through Him you will experience things you could never have dreamed of. This is the promise for those who follow Jesus.