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Sunday Gathering,Apostle Reggie Royal"A New Way Forward"111625

When we're desperate, beaten down, and broken…that's when we long for a hero to come to our rescue, restore what's been taken from us, and protect us from future harm. The true King is exactly that kind of hero, and he is coming!

Rise Up, Cross Over, Possess the Land | Brad Joss | Paradox Church Sunday Gathering

📄 Sermon Summary: Grieving and Quenching the Spirit Speaker: Nick Theme: Grieving and Quenching the Holy Spirit (Part of the "Life in the Spirit" series) Key Scripture: Ephesians 4:30 – "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live." 1. The Principle of Responsibility The sermon opens by linking the great blessing of the Holy Spirit (discussed the previous week) with great responsibility (a modified Spider-Man quote). The danger is that Christians can focus solely on the positive aspects of God's blessing and forget their responsibility to live a life that pleases the Holy Spirit, not grieves him. 2. The Danger of Passivity Active Waiting: The concept of "waiting on God" is often misunderstood as passive inaction. The speaker contrasts this with the attitude of a "waiter" in a hotel (using a personal story from Nepal and an example of the ushing ministry in Zambia). An excellent waiter is active, alert, concerned, and anticipates the needs of the person they serve. Pleasure vs. Grief: Our relationship with God should be one of active engagement and should bring pleasure to God's heart, not grief. It's not about seeing how much we can "get away with" but about actively seeking to please Him—this is the true meaning of loving God. The absence of a genuine relationship brings God grief. 3. Sin is Dealt With, But Lack of Faith is a Struggle Christianity is Obsessed with Love, not Sin: Referencing a debate between Professor Richard Dawkins (atheist) and Ayaan Hirsi Ali (new Christian), the speaker affirms that while sin is real, Jesus has broken its power on the cross ("It is finished!"). The focus of Christianity should be on love, life, and hope, not dwelling on sin. Confession and Freedom: If we sin, the solution is to confess it, receive forgiveness, and walk away from it (like Jesus telling the woman, "Go and sin no more"). Sin is dealt with. The Greater Grief: Unwillingness and Unbelief: The harder issue that grieves the Spirit is our unwillingness to enter into all God has for us, our unbelief, and our failure to actively walk in the power of the finished work of the cross. 4. Five Areas That Bring God Pleasure (and their opposites cause grief): The sermon outlines five practical ways to actively seek a life that pleases God: Faith (Hebrews 11:6): Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We must continually believe God in what He is able to do, even when we have struggled with faith in the past. Unbelief grieves Him. Love (John 13:35): We must fight for unity and love one another, valuing others even more than ourselves. It is more important to love than to "win an argument." Division and disunity grieve the Holy Spirit. Obedience (1 Samuel 15): King Saul was rejected as king because he valued his own idea of a sacrifice over simple obedience to God's command. Obeying is better than sacrificing. Self-confidence and our own "theology" are not enough; we must be attentive to exactly what God wants. Thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:18): A grateful heart pleases God. It is a simple but powerful act that opens the door to our relationship with Him. An ungrateful heart grieves Him. Perseverance in Faith (Galatians 6:9; 1 Peter 1:6-7): The "well done, good and faithful servant" is spoken at the end of the journey, after we have walked through all the trials and challenges. Jesus's prayer for Peter was not for a new car, but that his "faith won't fail." Through perseverance, our faith is proven genuine and brings God much honor. Conclusion The core question for every Christian is: "Are we resting on the fact that we wear a Christian badge, or are we active in seeking a life that pleases God in the here and now and in the in-between?" 📝 Transcript of "Nick's Sermon" I'm just processing what Mike said, that it's sad the notices are finished because Nick's coming to speak. [laughter] Uh, yeah, buckle up. Um, we are on a, we're still on the "Life in the Spirit" series, and Jonathan spoke last week about the, uh, about being filled with the Spirit and being continually filled with the Spirit. And there was a great response and people came forward, and people were touched and blessed by the Holy Spirit. And so it falls to me this morning to pick up the subject of grieving and quenching the Spirit. And, uh, yeah, we've got to, we've got to take things from all angles, haven't we? And my, my main passage that I want us to look at this morning is in Ephesians chapter 4. When I say passage, it's a verse, actually. It's Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30. And it says this: "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live." "Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption." "Do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption." And I want to slightly misquote Spider-Man by saying, "With great blessing comes great responsibility." It's essential that we are hungry for God's Spirit. It's essential, as Jonathan was saying last week, that we are continually asking him for more. And so much of what we expect is, is positive. We don't even think sometimes of the angle where God might be, might have a, have a view on how we, how we are living, or how we are thinking, or, or how we are dealing with him, because it's always blessing. The prophetic words are always, "I love you," says the Lord. Everything is so positive. And it's right, it's good that we get encouraged by things, but we have to remember the responsibility that comes on the other side of how we deal with the Holy Spirit of God. It's essential that we, we reach out to him for the times of refreshing that come from the presence of the Lord. Acts 3:20 it says, but just as we're eager to receive everything good from him, we must be eager to make sure that we don't live in a way that in any way offends him or grieves him or brings him displeasure. We don't want God to withdraw from us. Because the frightening thing is that we can continue in all that we do. You know, the way that we gather on a Sunday, and the way that we sing, and the way that we interact, and the way that we listen to the Word, we can do all of that without actually having the presence of the Spirit with us. And sometimes we, we might not even be aware if he's withdrawn himself. And so we have to be really alert and to wait on the Lord as the Word says. Now, what do you think of when it, when we talk about waiting on God? Sometimes it can be a quite a passive approach, and we sit back and we fold our arms, we say, "Well, I'm waiting for you, Lord. Waiting here. Waiting here for you. Let's see what you're going to do. Let's see what you've got." You know, and then we, we wait and we think, "Well, where is God? Where has he gone? You know, what, what's happening? Why doesn't there seem to be anything happening?" And we have this sort of passive approach to waiting. But there is another verb to wait: to be a waiter, if you like, like in a restaurant or in a hotel. We begin to see our relationship with God differently. When I was in Nepal, I stayed in a hotel, um, which was actually, it was quite cheap compared to hotels that you can stay in around the world. But what stood out in that place was the attitude and the approach of the people that worked there. Every time I stepped out of my room into the lobby, there was somebody that said, "Are you all right, sir? Can I help you with anything, sir? Is there anything I could do for you?" Any question that I had, they could answer. Apart from, um, why I was having curry for breakfast, they didn't answer that one, but they, they, [laughter] they were really there to serve me. They were like, there was, there was like a real genuine interest in my welfare, what did I want? And they were able to anticipate in advance what I wanted. In Zambia, um, there's a ministry of being an usher. You know, we have welcome people here at the door, and it's all very British, you know, we shake hands, we give a hug, "How are you doing?" whatever, and that's, and that's it, and then we go and we find our seat. But in Zambia, there's a real ushing ministry where people will actually attend to your every need, not just pastors and, and, and bigwigs, but, but everybody. I've been in situations where I've, I've had, I've had no idea that people have been aware, but I've, like I had a headache, and maybe I was showing it, maybe I was like grimacing or whatever, and somebody would turn up with, "Here's the paracetamol for you." And like, you know, there's just that, that awareness and that concern to, to be able to meet the needs that you have. And I think there's something in waiting on God that is that, that is very active, not, not passive, not sitting back with their arms folded waiting for him, but actually thinking, "What does he want from me? How does he want me to live? How does he want me to approach this situation? How does he want me to think here? How does he want me to act? How does he want me, what does he want my attitude to be? Lord, how can I bless you with my attitude, with my approach to life?" Being aware of him, considering what he wants, considering what he needs. Don't ever take him for granted. We're very British, aren't we? Where you think, oh, well, you know, we, we, we step back and we, and we become very, like I said earlier on, we become very passive and very, uh, non, non-engaged. But in actual fact, God wants us engaged with him and to live and to act and to speak and to deal with him and relate to him in a way that, that not only satisfies him so he can tick a box, but actually brings pleasure to him, rather than grief. And it affects the way we seek and respond to him every day. It's what it means to actually love God, to take care of how we live, not because we're afraid of him, not because we're afraid of punishment, but because of how much he's done for us, because of how much he has achieved in our lives. Not taking an attitude that says, "Well, I wonder how much I can get away with." You know, I think, um, it's uh, it's interesting, I'm not, not getting party political, but you know, it's interesting seeing the government sort of jumping through hoops saying, "How can we put up taxes without putting up taxes?" And, you know, "How can we, how can we say we're not going to put up income tax, but really we're going to put it up, you know, here?" And it's like, and then if we, if we spin it this way, everybody will believe us. And it's like, and it's that we can be like that with God. "How can we, how can we just get away with stuff? How can we, how can we, we, we live how we want to do, but still do it in a way that appears to be pleasing God?" Yeah, not "how can I get away with it?" but "how can I please him?" We have the opportunity to make God smile. We have the opportunity to bring pleasure to the heart of God. We talk about Christianity is not being a religion, but it's a relationship with God. A relationship is about interaction. A relationship is about bringing pleasure. A relationship is about smiling. A relationship is about laughing. A relationship is about interacting and talking and communicating and all of that. How much of that is a feature and a hallmark of our relationship with God, and how much of it is just going through the motions? And it's that relationship that brings pleasure to the heart of God, and it's that absence of that relationship that brings him grief. Because the reason that he did what he did, when you think of what Jesus went through, and how he suffered, and how he died, the reason that he went to that extent was because he loves us, and because he wants a relationship with us, and because he wants that fellowship with us, and because he wants that interaction, and because he wants to know us, not because he wants us to just sit back and try and keep our nose clean and, and hope to get to heaven at the end of it all. That's, that's a poor reflection of the quality of the relationship that God has called us to. And so the question that we ask when it comes to, uh, not grieving and not quenching the Holy Spirit is, "How can I actually make the most of my privileged relationship with him? How can I make the most of what God has made possible for me in my life?" And if we don't do that, then we can bring grief to the heart of God, and we can bring grief to the Holy Spirit. It's really important that we engage. Like we said before, in so many areas in life, there's no neutral ground. We have to actually ask ourselves, "How do we go as far as we possibly can in that relationship with him?" Because, as I've said before, a Christian life can go on perfectly well in form and function without the Holy Spirit, and without any sense of knowing what it takes to please him. He can withdraw from us and we might not even know. When we take time to ask the question, "Is God here?" You know, that, that picture of God as, as a dove, the Holy Spirit as a dove settling on his people, and how easy it is for a dove to flutter away and for us not to be aware. Last week, I saw a video on YouTube. I don't know if you follow this guy. Well, not follow him because he's not really a very positive person to follow, but there's a guy called Professor Richard Dawkins who's an atheist, who's a, like a really, uh, what's the word, like a militant atheist. He really, his atheism is his evangelism. He really wants to make sure that people don't believe in God. And uh, he had a friend or has a friend who was a colleague of his in his atheism, a lady called Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and she uh, has actually recently become a Christian. [congregation murmurs, someone says "Hallelujah"] And uh, and so the two of them are having a debate and a conversation on YouTube. It's really interesting if you look it up. And uh, and you know, and he was saying, "You know, surely you don't believe in Jesus rose from the dead." And uh, she was saying, "Well, I choose to believe that. Yes, I do believe that." And uh, and he was saying, "You know, the problem with Christianity is..." (He knows everything about everything. He's a professor.) "The problem with Christianity is, it's obsessed with sin." And she said, "Well, you might say that," she said, "but I prefer to see that it's obsessed with love." And as I thought about that, and I listened to, I thought, actually, it's not just like The Beatles, you know, "All you need is love." It's all very, it's all love, love, love, love is all you need. But what she's saying is that, yes, there, there's sin, but Jesus has done away with sin. Jesus has done away with its power, and he's opened the doors of heaven to all who will believe. And the Holy Spirit, who used to be hidden away in the temple behind a big curtain, now lives in the hearts of men and women. And so there's that opportunity that we have. And so when he says it's obsessed with sin, actually, no. Sin was there, sin was the barrier, sin was the, was the issue, sin was the thing that kept us from God, but now sin, the power of sin, is broken. Broken by the cross of Jesus. That's why Jesus, when he hung on the cross, in all that pain and all that agony, the last thing he said was to cry, "It is finished!" It's finished. Sin is finished. So, Christianity is not obsessed with sin. Christianity breaks the power of sin. Christianity opens the door to life. Christianity opens the possibility of life. And sometimes it's not Christianity or or Jesus that's obsessed with sin, it's Christians that are obsessed with sin. We are obsessed with, you know, I'm not saying sin is not important, but sin is dealt with. Sin can be put aside. In the, in the second, the second verse after the one I read, it says, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven 1you." What's he saying there? Is get rid of it. Just put it aside. Just don't live in that anymore. Why? Because we have the power to walk away from that because Jesus has declared, "It is finished!" And so there is no obsession with sin. There should be an obsession with love, with life, and with hope. And so the question is not, "Are we good enough for heaven?" I remember somebody, years and years and years ago, in one of the first services I was ever involved in, and one of the preachers was doing this interactive thing, and he was asking people, you know, "Are you, are you confident of your future, of your eternal future?" And one of these chaps called, uh, George, he said, "Well, I, I jolly well hope so." "I hope to, I hope to, I hope that everything will be all right in the end." He said, "You, you've missed it." He was very bold preacher. "You've missed the point. You've missed the point that God has given you that opportunity for life." And the question is, "How are we responding?" Our response to it, this is what gets back to our subject of grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit, our response to his grace, our response to his power, our response to his gospel and the open door that he's given us into his presence is the key to whether we bring pleasure to the heart of God or we bring grief. Our sin is not so much the issue. Grieving and quenching the Spirit is not so much about bad things that we do. We've got this whole list of, like the, gets dangerously close to Father Christmas, doesn't it? And the naughty and nice list. We've got a, a naughty list. "Well, you've got all of this stuff and all of these things against you, and uh, and these things have grieved the Holy Spirit." Well, in actual fact, it's not about the bad things that we do, but much more about the good things that we don't do and the opportunities for life that we don't step into. Because where there is sin, there is a solution. If we sin, we should confess our sin, and he's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's the key. If you sin, confess it. Get rid of it. Put it aside. Put it away. And don't live in that anymore. Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no more." That was the, that was the prescription. It wasn't, "Now you need to go through this, and you need to go through these hoops and, and pay for this, pay this penalty," or whatever. He just said, "Go, and sin no more. According to the law, you should have been stoned, but now there's a new covenant in action. Go and sin no more. Be free." And so we confess our sins, knowing he's faithful and just to, to, to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so there's everything that can be done about sin. If there's sin in your life today, put it aside. Repent of it. Get it out. Walk away from it. The power is there for you to do that. That's the opportunity that we have. But the harder thing to deal with is our unwillingness to enter into all that God has for us. Remember, somebody bringing a prophetic word saying, God saying, "I can, I can deal with your sin, I have no problem with that. I can deal with that because the, the, the cross is there, but what I can't deal with is your unbelief. What I can't deal with is your unwillingness to trust me. What I can't deal with are the things that are now still in your hands to do. I've dealt with your sin. What about your faith? What about your life?" And it's our response to God that impacts his heart, that brings him pleasure or grief. That when we stand before him, will it be the list that he's got? I saw a funny meme the other day of somebody of the, these people sat looking miserable on the steps and they said, "We're just waiting for Jesus to go through our WhatsApp feed before he lets us in." [laughter] You know, we think, is, is it our WhatsApp feed that's going to condemn us? Is it our, is it our internet search history? Is it whatever? All of those things. All those things, if they are things that are wrong, deal with it. Deal with it by the power of the, of the, of the cross. But it's not primarily those things that God's interested in because he has dealt with sin. He hasn't brought us to a point where we need to bring one sacrifice after another in order to bring ourselves to righteousness. There is one sacrifice that stands for all, for all time, and now the, the new and living way has been opened up into his presence. So that's the, that's the thing. Now the question is, what are we going to do with that? The things we have to take care of. Number one: Faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith, it's impossible to please God." Impossible. Think about that. Let that sink in. There is a difference between labeling ourselves as a Christian and living a life of faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. You can do all sorts of stuff to try and please God. You can, you can give wonderful offerings, you can pray wonderful prayers, you can, you can, you can help old people across the road. You can do anything, but without faith, it's impossible to please him. I've been amazed recently looking back over life. I don't know if, it's not like life flashing before me, I don't take it too seriously. But, you know, looking back over so many years, looking over the faithfulness of God. And we sing those songs, "All my life, you have been faithful. All my life, you have been so, so good." Used to sing when I was young, when I was very young, a young Christian, they used to sing that Ishmael song, "Father God, I wonder how I managed to exist without the knowledge of your parenthood." And I used to think, I don't know what that means, really. You know, it's like, yeah, because I, because I had no experience. Now, I can say, yeah, I do wonder how I managed to exist without the knowledge of your parenthood and your loving care. But seeing stuff, seeing the faithfulness of God doesn't equal faith. Even when we are faithless, God is faithful. And so sometimes seeing the faithfulness of God over so many years and so many miracles of kindness and love and grace and provision, brings me a little bit of regret because I know that I didn't have anything like the faith that he's worthy of. But he still did it. And I'm still worrying about things now that God proved to me that he could take care of 25 years ago. There are things like the, you know, he feeds the 5,000, and then the next day, they meet another crowd, and they say, "Where are we going to feed, where are we going to get the food to feed these people from?" It's like, it just goes from one thing to another. And I am aware that I, God has been so faithful to me over so many years, and yet some of the basic lessons of faith I still struggle with. And I'm sure you're in the same boat there as I expose myself here and, uh, my lack of faith. Because we struggle with faith. But it's faith that brings pleasure to the heart of God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Without faith that says, "Actually, I believe you, God." Not, "I believe you, but I understand the realities," or, "I believe you, God, but, you know, there's this and that problem to take into consideration." "I believe you, Lord. I believe you." Not necessarily for a particular outcome, because that, that sort of pins everything on. But we just believe God. Believe God in what he's able to do. Believe God that he will see us through. Believe God that we will not, we will not crash and burn. Believe God that he will do what he says he will do, and we will accomplish what he says he will accomplish. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, and that attitude pleases God. And the opposite grieves him. Unbelief grieves him. When we don't actually trust him, when we don't put out, when we don't try to put our faith and our, our confidence in him, then that grieves his heart and it grieves his Spirit. Secondly: Love. "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35. "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." It's so easy to bypass things that are actually so close to the Father's heart, to justify discord, hatred, and division in the name of Jesus. We feel if we're doctrinally correct, nothing else matters, does it? If we've, if we've got the absolute truth, then everybody else can just do one! Because we are God's soldiers, and we've got his, we've got his truth. And it doesn't really, and yet, meanwhile, God is saying, "Love one another." It's more important to love one another than to win an argument. That's really tough, because we love to win arguments. Believing we are God's favored ones. Everybody else is numpties, but we are God's favored ones. Just like his disciples. You know, these people, they're all pre- He said, "Well, if they're not, if they're not against us, then they're for us." Fight for love, fight for unity, value one another even more than we value ourselves. And you know what? That brings pleasure to the heart of God. Where there is unity, God commands a blessing. Where there is disunity, the opposite must be true. It grieves the heart of God. It pains his heart. He suffers with it because when his people are divided, when his people don't love one another, when his people don't care for one another, when his people don't value one another, when they don't see that he loves each and every one, the person that you are at odds with, he loves as much as he loves you, because he made, he made them in his image as much as he made you in his image. Love brings pleasure to the heart of God, and division and disunity grieves the Holy Spirit. Obedience. In 1 Samuel, King Saul was given the task of completely destroying the Amalekites. This is where our sort of ancient biblical history and modern day sort of cross over, and we think, "Oh, these, all these, uh, you know, battles and fights are fairly gruesome." But King Saul was given the task of completely destroying the Amalekites. He was told to destroy them and everything that they owned. All the cattle, the sheep, everything had to be gone. And so he said, "I'll do it," and he went. Except, they, he kept the best sheep, and he kept the best goats, and he kept the best cattle. And the Bible says they only destroyed that which didn't have any value, didn't have any worth. And when the prophet Samuel, who'd been told by the Lord what, what Saul had actually done, went to find him the next day, he was told that Saul was out building a monument to himself because of all that he'd achieved in the name of the Lord. And he'd, he'd destroyed the Amalekites. So he built this monument. And when Samuel turned up to challenge him, Saul had no idea that he, what was about to happen. And he went out, he said, "The Lord bless you, Samuel. We've carried out everything. We've done everything that the Lord commanded us to do. I've carried out the Lord's command." And then there's a some of the most devastating words in the Bible, I find it really challenging and convicting. Samuel said to him, "Then what is this bleating of sheep that I hear?" And Saul says, "Oh, oh, yeah, yeah. Well, we did keep the best of the animals, but we're going to offer them to the Lord as a sacrifice. Don't worry, everything's good." He's made up his own theology. Where God said, "Destroy everything, get rid of everything, I don't want everything, be obedient to me." He said, "Actually, well, I know what we'll do. We'll take some of them and we'll make you an offering. You'll like that." And then Samuel delivered this devastating judgment. He said to him, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than the fat of rams. Because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king." So self-confidence in ourselves is not enough. We have to be attentive to exactly what God wants of us if we're going to avoid grieving him. Saul was rejected as king because he didn't have an interest in being obedient to the heart of God. He only had an interest in doing his thing. And yet he dressed it all up. "We're going to make sacrifices. We've done the, we've done everything the Lord said." And we might have thought, "Yeah, good man." But the Holy Spirit was not pleased. Thankfulness. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18. "And he who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me." Psalm 50:23. Some of them, these things are so simple, and yet so hard. A grateful heart pleases God. An ungrateful heart grieves the heart of God. Gratitude and compassion bring him pleasure. It's so easy to accept the grace of God and never think to say, "Thank you." Like the ten lepers that were all healed and only one of them went back to say, "Thank you." There is power in gratitude. Not only power in gratitude, but it, it opens the door to our relationship with God. That's the thing that makes him smile. That's the, that's the thing that he loves when we actually look at our lives, and instead of complaining, instead of moaning on about it, we actually say, "Actually, Lord, I thank you. I thank you for what the life you've given me. I thank you for the breath that I take. I thank you for the way that you've cared for me. I thank you, Lord, and I praise you." And that brings him pleasure. Perseverance in faith. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest." Galatians 6:9. "Well done, good and faithful servant." Matthew 25:21. Much of our blessing in the future tracks back to our attitude here today, in what we and how we look at things. When God says, "Well done, good and faithful servant," at the end of all things, it is at the end of all things. It's after we've gone through everything. It's not that first time we run up to the front of the church with our arms in the air and tears running down our face, and we say, "I love you, Jesus," and he says, "Well done." He says, "Well done," after you've been through all the ups and downs, all the challenges, all the issues, all the stress, all the things that would try and attack your faith and undermine your faith, all the things that you've had to fight through and battle through. At the end of all that comes the "Well done, good and faithful servant." How are we going to respond? Jesus told Peter about all that he was going to suffer, and how he was going to die, and he was, uh, he didn't say he would save him from it. But one thing he said is, "I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith won't fail." Faith is the one commodity we can take with us from this life. Nothing else will make that journey with us. "I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith won't fail." What a prayer, what a powerful prayer for Jesus to, to be by the side of the Father saying, "I pray for Peter. I pray for MCF. I pray for those people that their faith will not fail." That we, that through our perseverance in faith, we will bring pleasure to the heart of God. One of the things that afflicts the church the world over, and we've come across it in Zambia, is a sort of a twisted sort of prosperity gospel. We know God wants to bless his people, but there's this sort of prosperity that says, you know, "If you've got, if you've got a car, if you've got a big house, if you eat meat every day, you know, you are truly blessed of God." And uh, and I remember one of the bold preachers there saying, you know, "When, when Jesus is praying for us, he's praying that our faith won't fail. He's not praying for a new Mercedes." He's not praying that you'll get everything that you've ever dreamed of. He's not Father Christmas, as I said earlier on. But he is praying that through it all, through everything that you walk through, your faith will not fail. 1 Peter 1:6-7: "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. Though your faith is far more precious than mere gold, so when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to2 the world." And so this life of bringing pleasure to the heart of God, not grieving, not, not, not stressing the Spirit, if you like, is, is all about how we live, about what we do with the wonderful gift that's been given to us, the opportunity that we have, the possibility to grow in faith, the possibility to be thankful, the possibility to persevere, the possibility to love one another against all the odds. All of those things are the things that when God looks on his people, they cause him to smile. Not just that people have ticked and said, "Yes, I believe in Jesus, so I'm going, I've got my ticket to heaven," but it's about how we live our life in the here and now and in the in-between. And so the question is, where do we stand today? Are we resting on the fact that we wear a Christian badge, or are we active in seeking a life that pleases God?

Embrace Sunday Gathering (November 9, 2025 at 11am)Embrace Church, Lexington, KYSongs:CreedCome Thou FountGoodness of GodWe Will GlorifyThe Kingdom of JesusSermon: Salvation, Now! by John GallaherNeed prayer? prayer@embraceyourcity.com

The exiles are coming from 70 years of fasting and mourning. They've been practicing all the external behaviors of mourning for their sin, and they're wondering if their return to the Promised Land means they can finally put away their mourning and sorrow. But has their fasting really been about mourning their sin? Are they truly repentant for breaking their covenant with God? If we only read chapter 7, we'd see the Lord questioning and challenging his people. Praise God for chapter 8 which highlights that God, in his kindness and mercy, would turn their fasting into feasting!

Sunday GatheringApostle Reggie Royal"A New Way Forward: Growth"101925

Sunday Gathering with Apostle Reggie1022625

Sunday GatheringApostle Reggie"What About How I Feel?"110925

Sunday Gathering with Apostle ReggieA New Way Forward110225

Set The Pace | Nicole Cameron | Paradox Church Sunday Gathering

🙏 Sermon Summary: Walking in Step with the Spirit This week, Jonathan Dunning challenged us to move beyond simply being a "nominally charismatic" church—one that sings the songs and waves the flags but "denies its power". Drawing from Galatians 5:25, "Since we're living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives", the message urged us to shift from mere information to impartation and to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. The Call to Power and Purpose Jonathan highlighted that being filled with the Holy Spirit isn't an "optional extra" but God's command and grace gift. Citing John Stott, he emphasized that what the church needs is not more eloquence or organization, but "more power from the Holy Spirit". This power enables us to be witnesses and missionaries, moving us beyond a "spirit of timidity" and into a spirit of "power and of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7). He asked challenging questions for personal reflection: When were you last filled with the Holy Spirit? When did you last stir up the spiritual gift in you? How to Walk in Step with the Spirit The core of the sermon focused on practical ways to "walk in step" with God's Spirit, using the metaphor of a journey: Put God First and Deny Self-Will: This involves living a good and righteous life, obeying God's ways, and acknowledging Him so He can direct our path (Proverbs 3:6). Listen and Obey the Nudge: Like sheep recognizing the shepherd's voice (John 10), we need to be attuned to the Spirit's inner voice, the prompt, the stirring, or the nudge. This inner voice is the same one that convicts us of wrongdoing. Keep Pace and Time: We must avoid rushing ahead and lagging behind. Timing is key. Like the vision in Habakkuk, a clear vision is "for an appointed time" and requires patient waiting. We need to keep in step to catch the Kairos moment, the divinely appointed time where heaven touches earth. The Spirit's Guidance in Jonathan's Life and MCF Jonathan shared powerful personal examples of how the Spirit has led him through his life and ministry: Inner Voice: Sensing a clear call to pastoral ministry at age 17 and later feeling the distinct nudge to step down from a role, even with no clear path ahead. Impartation: Receiving an "anointing for ministry" through the laying on of hands and prayer from others. Prophetic Words: Receiving a word in his twenties calling him to prison ministry, which unfolded years later with a job as the UK's first free minister paid by the home office to serve as a prison chaplain. Scripture: Using Ecclesiastes 3 ("a time to uproot and a time to plant") to process a difficult transition in ministry. Closed Doors: Learning to "trust the closed door" when his "dream job" didn't materialize, which ultimately led him to stumble into ministry at MCF in Sheffield. He concluded by stressing that walking in the Spirit is also for the church collectively. MCF's journey—from moving to the estate to receiving prophetic words about enlarging the place of the tent (Isaiah 54) and the river of God flowing (Ezekiel 47)—has been a result of people listening and obeying the Spirit's nudges, not simply "man's design". The final challenge: "You cannot walk with God without moving." The time to move from theory to practice is now, by seeking to be filled with the Spirit. Would you like me to find a relevant Bible verse, such as Galatians 5:25, to post with this summary? Transcript Thanks, Nick. Morning, everyone. I've been given the title, Walking in Step with the Spirit, and a passage from Galatians 5, verse 25, which says, "Since we're living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives." Now, today, I don't intend to spend a lot of time going into what this verse means. I want to talk about my experience of the Holy Spirit, the church's experience of the Holy Spirit, and how that is really, really important today. So I'm going to be a bit of an agent provocateur, a bit of a stirrer this morning. It was a week ago I was chatting to Graham Reid, and we reflected how the church we were born into in the 1970s and 1980s, he was in Sussex House in North Yorkshire, the charismatic movement which we were birthed into, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit, was front and centre of what was happening. Each service, there was opportunity for people to come forward to be filled with the Spirit, as well as for other things. Ministry was very important. And actually, it was very much part of the warp and the web of the church. So what's changed? Because I think as I look at the church in the UK today, and I travel around quite a few of them, we have become nominally charismatic, i.e., in name only. We sing the songs, we wave the flags, we stick our hands in the air, but that's often as far as it goes. And actually, to sort of like misquote Paul in his letter to Timothy, we have a form of charismatic worship, but deny its power. Thanks, we've had a few amens for that, that's good. I think it's really important that we don't just play lip service to this aspect of ministry in the Holy Spirit, but actually we're engaging in a topic over a long period of weeks, which should actually transform us as human beings and as followers of Jesus. Jesus told his disciples, his followers, to be filled with the Spirit, to give them the power to be the missionaries and the witnesses that he required them to do in this world. He'd already taught them in Luke 11, verse 3, that God is this great good Father, much better than a human father, who longs to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Interesting. The need to ask. Not automatic. Paul was keen that Christians understood that they needed to be constantly filled with God's Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5, verse 18. "Be being filled" is the actual literal translation of that, as we know. And he contrasted that with being drunk, being intoxicated. Now, you know, if you've ever known what it is to be drunk, you basically, your tongue gets loose, you start to say things, you talk in a way that you wouldn't normally be guarded. You're basically a much more kind of like, they used to call it Dutch courage, aren't you? You're much more brave about confronting things and taking things on. You know, it's Dutch courage. Hey, hey. You know, I'm going to get in there. And the contrast was, don't be intoxicated by a worldly spirit, but God's Spirit gives you the power to speak and to go beyond your fears. In fact, you know, Paul talked to Timothy and said, you had to stir up the gift that had been given to him when he'd had hands laid upon him. Stir it up. Fan it into flame. Timothy had to do something with what God had invested in his life when hands were laid on him. And he said, that's because God hasn't given you a spirit of timidity where you hold back, where you haven't got Dutch courage, where you're afraid to say anything, afraid to do anything. But he's given you a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7. This is important stuff. Barry Manson on Facebook recently had this quote from John Stott. Now, John Stott was not a charismatic or Pentecostal Christian. He was an evangelical. But it's very interesting what John Stott wrote. And all evangelicals should prick up their ears to this. "What we need is not more learning, not more eloquence, not more persuasion, not more organization, but more power from the Holy Spirit." Amen. So we need to go from information about this to impartation. From knowing about the Holy Spirit to asking God, our Heavenly Father, to fill us with His Spirit constantly. Otherwise, we're just on a paper exercise. We're just paying lip service to this. So I ask some questions of myself and I ask them of you today. When were you last filled with the Holy Spirit? When did you last ask your Heavenly Father to fill you with the Holy Spirit? When did you last stir up the spiritual gift in you? Because being filled with the Holy Spirit is not an optional extra or an add-on in our life. It's God's command and will and grace gift to you as His sons and daughters. So what does it mean to walk in step with God's Spirit? Which is the title today. I mean, the idea of walking with God is a metaphor for how life should be lived in Jewish thought. You see it at the very beginning, Adam and Eve walking with God. You know, this place of harmony, this place of perfection. In a perfect world, humanity is walking hand in hand with Father God and enjoying life in the goodness and the grace of God. Our lives were to be lived as a journey with God. This is Jewish thought, this, who leads and guides us. Now, you see that in the Old Testament played out in the wilderness wanderings where God takes them through the wilderness. Even in the patriarch's journey, Abraham, you know, journeying on to find that place of promise in God. This is a metaphor that's played out in Genesis and actually was a thought that the Jews held strongly. We kind of lost it a bit. Walking suggests we're on the move, that we're active, that we're going somewhere. Walking with the Spirit suggests that it's God that's taking us on this journey, that actually it's a walk of faith. I know sometimes it feels like a walk in the dark. It does to me. It will do to anyone who takes this seriously. We don't always know where we're going to end up. And walking in step with the Spirit suggests that we have to keep pace and time with God. We go at His pace and in His time. So how do we do this? Well, I mean, it's not easy, isn't it? It's easy to say it. It's another thing to do it. And there's some simple things that we all have to do, like put God first in our lives. Following Jesus says, we deny our own self-will, our selfishness. We take up a cross to say, that's dead to me. And we obey God's ways and will in our life. We live a good, righteous life before Him. We don't need a prophetic word or a tingle down the back of our spine to live well. We just need to follow what God's asked us to do. And in all your ways, Proverbs 3, verse 6, if we acknowledge Him, He will direct our path. So if we're living a good life, if we're living a righteous life, we are open to the possibility and should be able to walk in the paths that God has laid out for us. Secondly, we do it by listening to Him and then obeying what He tells us to do. I think it's very interesting, 1 Samuel 3, where this young child Samuel is in this place, this sanctuary, Shiloh, and he's taught by an old priest to say to God as a three-year-old or four-year-old, a very young child, speak. "Your servant is listening." What are we listening to? Who are you listening to? Are you listening to the voice of the Spirit? Because if you want to walk in the Spirit, we have to be attuned to what He is saying. Now, Jesus said in a passage in John 10 that His sheep, He's a good shepherd and we're His sheep in that sense, hear His voice. Now, I've worked on a farm. Shepherds don't know exactly what the shepherd's saying. They can't speak English. They don't understand English. They don't understand every word you're saying. But when the shepherd calls, Oi, oi, oi. Don't even use English, most of them. You know, Come by. That's the sheep dog, by the way. But, All you do, you stand by a gate and just make a noise like that. I know, I've done it. And the sheep prick up their ears and they come to the shepherd because they know the shepherd's either going to feed them or take them somewhere or look after them. They respond to a voice. We don't always clearly hear what God's saying to us, but we should be able to hear that, Oi! Over here. Oi! Like a dog, of course. We should be able to respond to his master's voice. Isaiah 30 verse 21 says these words. "When you turn to the right or to the left," and we do that at times, I get very distracted in life. Probably you do. "You're going to hear a voice behind you saying, this way. Walk in it." Now, I've never heard God speak to me audibly. But it's that inner voice. It's that prompt. It's that stirring. It's that nudge. It's that idea that's suddenly coming to your head from nowhere that you've not even thought of before. It's the same inner voice that convicts us at times that we're doing wrong because we all feel that that also is communicating with us, prompting us and nudging us into other areas. And sometimes, you know, we hear the voice of conviction and we think, oh yeah, we know that's wrong. We recognize that as maybe God's speaking to us. Why can't we recognize God communicating with us when he's nudging us to do something else? Somehow, we struggle much more with that. We walk in step with the Spirit by putting God first in our life, denying our own way, following him, by listening to him and then being obedient to that nudge of the Spirit and by keeping in step with the Spirit. Timing is key for us as Christians. Some of us hear something and we rush on ahead. We're going to make it happen. It's there and then. It's going to happen tomorrow. It's what God wants us to do there and then. And I think Habakkuk, if you read the book of Habakkuk, it gives us a really good pointer on this. He says, look, you've heard God. You've got a clear vision, but it's for an appointed time. It's not for now. Hold on to it. Wait patiently. It will happen, but not yet. The other thing we don't keep in step with the Spirit is we lag behind. And I don't think this is a judgment on any of us. But I think the truth is sometimes we might miss that moment that God has opened up for us. The Kairos moment. The moment where heaven, Kairos means a divine appointed time where heaven touches earth. There is a time, said Ecclesiastes, for every purpose under heaven. And actually, if we're too far behind, sometimes we might miss it. If we're too far ahead, we might have gone beyond God, keeping in step with the Spirit. I'm loving this camera because I'm having such fun this morning with me. Keeping in step, I should walk this way. Keeping in step with the Spirit is keeping pace with what God is asking us to do. But it transforms your life. Eric was talking about transformation last week. It changes your life's direction. It nudges you in certain things that perhaps you hadn't thought of doing. It takes you on a journey that perhaps you hadn't thought you were going to do. We need to keep and walk in step with the Spirit. I rarely talk about my experiences because it's not because they aren't that brilliant, any greater than anyone else's in this room. But I do think I want to talk to you tonight about how this has worked today, about how this has worked out in my life. Because there's various ways, the nudges, the prompts, the words, that God has taken me to the time where I stand before you now, you know, in this new chapter in my life. Whether it's that inner voice of the Spirit, whether it's impartation through the laying on of hands that Paul was talking to Timothy about, whether it's prophetic words, whether it's Scripture, whether it's closed doors, and I want to give you an example of each one of them. One of them. But they have helped nudge me. And God will speak to you and do things in your life in different ways, but you've just got to keep listening and you've just got to keep obeying. They've helped to nudge me to the place I am today, the inner voice. At my baptism at the age of 17 in a river in North Yorkshire, I sensed a clear call of God to pastoral ministry. Now I have this opinion that new Christians can hear God better. I think the older you get, bluntly, as a Christian, the more crusty you get. Frankly, you have too many filters, too many questions, too many cautions, oh that can't be God, too many negative experiences of when it's gone wrong that you basically are much harder to hear when God is asking you to do something. So I shared with an American evangelist who was over from Philadelphia, sat on a riverbank that I was called to ministry at the age of 17. I told him that him and I were going to be working together in the future. He was living in America. 18 months later he was living in North Yorkshire. We were living in a house together and we were working around the area. And I guess that I felt after 10 years of working at Hollybush, part time, well not 10 years, sorry, got this wrong. Let me go back. I was part of the youth work at Hollybush. I was going out preaching, leading worship as a teenager. But I felt disobedience because I needed to go to Bible college. Didn't have a word to go to Bible college. Never had a flashing light. Just felt it was part of the process of what I needed to do and of course that was where I met Karen. So in a sense the first word had led to me being obedient and walking through life into the second. After 10 years, after 10 years of working at Hollybush I was in a prayer meeting one night and I just knew it was time for me to let go and step down. There was no reason for that to happen. Things were going very well there in lots of ways. But I told the pastor there that I was leaving I was going to work my notice out. We were married we had a mortgage we had a baby son and I had nothing ahead of me. Didn't have a job to go to didn't know what was going to happen next. But I followed the prompt and the nudge of God. And guess what? I ended up here eventually. But it was only it was about two and a half years well more I don't know how long or two and a half three years ago that I again felt that nudge when I was here that this was the time for me to step down from here. No word no Bible no prophetic word just the inner guiding of God's spirit. Listen to the inner voice. Impartation. Again, 17, 18, stood at the front coming forward for ministry always hungry for the things of the spirit always hungry for God to meet with me. I was stood there an American who didn't know who I was never met him before had no contact with my church stood in front of me and said Jonathan that's a great name means gift of God so today tonight you're going to receive an anointing for ministry that's the last thing I remember as I lay flat on the floor but I knew with a conviction that God had called me to something else. There are many times when I've received prayer and help and ministry from other people that is really important. Don't shy away when there's an opportunity for prayer. Please do not shy away from receiving prayer ministry from others. The prophetic. These both took real time in my life. Again, early twenties, somebody at Hollybush said, "Jonathan, I believe God is calling you to prison ministry". The only prison I'd ever seen was Porridge, the TV program. I had no idea how that would happen. It was a few years later that a prisoner, sorry, somebody wrote to me about a friend of theirs who was in prison for murder. Asked me to go and visit him, a guy called Paul. He just died last year. He was in for life. He gave his life to Jesus. I ended up visiting him. Then ended up getting friends with the prison chaplain at Wakefield, who became the prison general for the whole Britain. He invited me onto the team at Wakefield. I then was the first free minister in the UK paid by the home office as a prison chaplain in full, certain maximum security prison. I took teams before I came to Sheffield into five different prisons every month. And God actually opened the door for me. But it took time. I didn't write to the home office for a job. God opened the door. I remember a couple called the Alums, who were a prophetic couple, who prayed over me maybe 25 years ago as this group connections meeting that we were at. I think Roland was there. And they prayed that I would have a ministry to work with small churches. That I would be moving around supporting them, advising them, imparting, encouraging and developing them. 25 years ago. I'm doing it now. Scripture. It was this summer trying to come to terms with the change of seasons that God is taking me through that I was at a quiet service down down the south coast in Sussex the end of August where somebody was reading asked us to reflect on Ecclesiastes chapter 3. "There is a time and a purpose for everything." And said, "I want you to go and think about this." And we got to verse 2 and was read out, "a time to uproot and a time to plant." And I just knew that God had uprooted me. And I wrote a reflection I've still got on my phone about how it is difficult for a plant that's been established for 30 years in a place to be uprooted taken out of its network of relationships and actually at the moment still in a bucket waiting for what comes next. But that's basically where I am. So God spoke to me through scripture helpfully through the prophetic through people praying for me and laying hands on me through that inner voice of the spirit. And finally through the closed door. Because the only reason I came to Sheffield was that the dream job I wanted which had been offered to me didn't turn up in time. So at that point the evangelical alliance was led by a guy called Clive Calver who wanted me to become the northern regional development officer for the whole of EA. That's 30 something years ago. I felt this was what God wanted me to do. I said I would go for this. He said Joel Edwards who eventually to go for him he was the church minister he would get back in touch with me and then would sort out what was going to happen next. Joel Edwards didn't get in touch with me but Jeff Williams did. And I had no word to come here no scripture no audible voice no prophetic word nobody laid hands on me and said go to Sheffield. I stumbled over the doorway into this church. Right. Just being obedient to God faithful to God and I ended up here. And three weeks after I arrived the EA offered me the job. But I felt it was lacking in integrity to walk away from a church to do that. And the rest as they say is history. But I remember at Bible College R.T. Kendall who was a very famous preacher. He spoke on the Macedonian call of Paul which was about closed doors and open doors. And the word that came to him was that he spoke on was "learn to trust the closed door". We don't always understand why God has done something. I hope I see now when I look behind me the grace and the goodness of God in all this. But at the time I didn't. Perhaps walking in the spirit is not always easy. It's not always clear. There are times when you don't always understand what's happening but it's true that we still listen and we still obey and we still go for those nudges. But walking in the spirit is not just for individuals. It's also for a church. Because MCF is not where it is today by accident or by man's design. This has been God's purpose and plan and who is behind it all and before it all. We're here today doing what we're doing because we've been walking with the Holy Spirit. It was never a good idea, it was God's idea. It's worth remembering I think it's not just the leadership team who have revelation and inspiration. They're not only the ones who listen to God. We should all be listening to God. And good leaders will always release the spirit of God and the genius of the gifts of the spirit in a church and listen to what's been happening. Most of the mission stuff that you see around you or certainly a lot of it didn't come from the leadership team but came from individuals who felt God was prompting them nudging them calling them to do things and the leadership got behind it at that time. Scripture says that we we collectively have the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 16. And the biggest decisions the early church had was the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 where they had to decide what criteria Gentiles or non-Jews could join the church. Would they have to keep all the law? Would they have to do everything that good Jews had done for many many years? And they came with these big decisions at the end of Acts 15. But the phrase they used, the church, I love it. Because a whole group of them were gathered together to come to this decision. They said, "it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us." Togetherness collaboration as a group of people with the Holy Spirit to discover what God was doing. Of course, the first missionary journey which eventually took us into the church into Europe with Paul and Barnabas. They were released to serve as missionaries by a group of people who had been fasting and praying but who heard the Holy Spirit together telling them to release Paul and Barnabas to get on with what they had to do. How has walking in the Spirit worked out at MCF? And all these things I'm going to tell you have come from different people as far as I remember different words and different prompts. They've not come just from me or one other person or somebody else. Firstly, before I was even thought of coming to this estate in the first place, from Millhouses, leafy suburb of Millhouses to Batemoor Jordan Thorpe. That was a big nudge and it was a sacrificial nudge that this church made. But they made it on the prompt of the Holy Spirit on the basis of people being converted off this estate. That was a huge change from a middle class church to coming on to, I hate to use that phrase, but coming on to this area. It was a big big change and some people didn't like it I guess. A bit later on before we even had any buildings at all it was a friend of mine in the church who's not in the church anymore he's went up Scotland for a period of time who had a word from Isaiah 54 which we've often said which was about enlarging the place of your tent strengthening the states lengthening the cords do not hold back. You may feel like a barren woman who's not doing a great deal but suddenly your house is going to be filled. You've gone to two services here and basically before we even had a place we had this sense of God telling us to be established in this area and to almost sing over it. And it's a word that actually helped us to think about even stretching out to get that pub. Because one other thing was spare no expense if you read the New Living Translation. I always thought it was a fantastic thought because the expense is going up isn't it everyone? When we came to this building another one of the leaders who's no longer with us serving as another church he had a vision he kept talking about the piazza out there but the precinct where he saw the image of Ezekiel the river of God flowing from this place out onto the precinct. It's Ezekiel 47 of course. That river of God Jesus says is the Holy Spirit. "Out of your innermost beings will flow." So the flow of the Holy Spirit going out onto this estate that was seen very early on when we first moved here. Read John 7 verse 37 onwards if you want to get the idea of what Jesus is saying about this. But actually you see it's not the building isn't it? Because the Holy Spirit will only flow out of unit three if it's flowing out of the church which is us in unit three. It's flowing out the people who are being filled with the Holy Spirit who are being constantly filled with the Holy Spirit whose overflow is reaching out and lapping up and causing fruitfulness out there on our estate. Andy was the one who brought the artesian well saying he got a vision of somebody working hard on a pump. You know we were working hard doing stuff. And honestly there's still a danger in any church and I would say in this church because of the efforts we all put in that we rely on our own efforts of trying to pump the water so much. But I'm referring back to a word that Andy brought. This was about something springing up a well of living water springing up the Isaiah 43 thing. Again it's the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit coming forth. It's the Holy Spirit springing forth. This is why it's so important that we're filled with the Holy Spirit. That if we don't see it as an add-on. That we don't see it as something "well that happened to me 20 years I went to an Alpha course and I had a tingle or I felt a warm feeling." I mean God help us if that's all we think this is about. This is about the work of God. This is about the purpose of God. This is about the plan of God. Don't settle for anything less. No well worn passes. But I think it was me that had this vision of skiing off piste. You know because we were thinking how do we mission on this estate? How do we reach out on this estate? And it was about not just taking pre pre ordered ideas and just you know using that "oh that's worked over there" or "that's worked over there". But actually discovering is listening again to that voice what is God asking us to do that we're not being asked to go down a course. You know skiing down the course but actually off the courses and discover what God was asking us to do not just relying on those well known methods. And the fourth thing was the values which we worked through: encountering God, getting involved, living generously, transforming community. I want to say to you the journey for MCF has been bumpy, when I was leading it anyway. Still probably is. But it has a walk keeping in step with where God's spirit is wanting to lead us. So I'm going to finish with coming back to the values. Encountering God. That wasn't just about about a once and for all salvation experience but about us as the believers in Christ seeking after him longing for him discovering him in our lives. And as an old man at my previous church in North York she used to say, "if you're seeking God and he's seeking you then you're bound to bump into each other sooner or later". I conclude we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not an option extra. Don't deny God's grace in this and don't pay lip service to this. "Since we're living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives," Galatians 5 verse 25 says. Secondly, you have to trust and have faith that God does speak to you and he will guide you. And we all get it wrong at times. Be humble and admit it when we do. That's a good learning curve for us all, isn't it? It it's always good to what you really want you often think that's what God must want too. And it can be very confusing. You convince yourself it must be God's will. But walking in step with the Spirit is taking steps of faith. As John Wimber said, "faith spelled R-I-S-K." Don't expect God to speak to you with a megaphone because he won't. He normally has this still small voice that Elijah experienced in 1 Kings 19. More likely the internal nudge, the prompt, the reminder, the sense of peace or the sense of unease or conviction or a passion rising within you. And God will speak to you by the means like scripture, through sermons, perhaps through songs, through prophetic words. And we should take note of those things also. Finally, we're not going anywhere unless we move. And I just feel really sad when I go to certain churches and I have been to certain churches and churches I used to preach at many years ago they're on the verge of closing. Because I would say to you as the people of God, churches stagnate and become stale when they stop moving. They stop walking with God. Now this series has been a bit like learning the highway code, maybe doing your driving theory. It's time to hit the road with what you've learned. There was a Scottish preacher trying to explain the Holy Spirit said, "it's better felt than tell". And you know there's something about that. I could talk as much as I like about this but actually this is your invitation opportunity to be involved yourself. The sat nav might show you the route, scripture, but you don't arrive without setting off and following the instructions. You cannot walk with God without moving. We talk about wanting a move of God. Well that starts when God starts to move us. Move us, move us. As I hand back over to Nick now, just want to encourage you. Please take every opportunity during this series that is offered to you to be filled with the spirit. Amen. God bless you.

🕊️ Sermon Summary: Transformed by the Spirit of God This week, we were blessed to hear from our speaker, Erica Lugg, as she continued our series on "Life in the Spirit" with a powerful message titled "Transformed by the Spirit of God." Erica's message focused on the profound promise of transformation found in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18. Key Scripture and Context The message centred on 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NIV): "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all who with unveiled faces, when we contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."  Erica first set the scene by explaining that the "veil" Paul refers to is no longer needed because of Jesus' sacrifice. The barrier that once separated people from God's glory, as with Moses' veiled face in Exodus 34, is now removed for all who turn to the Lord. This means everyone can freely come into God's presence and encounter His glory. Understanding Transformation Erica explored the question: What does it mean to be transformed? More than "Change": The Greek word used is metamorpho, the root of metamorphosis. This is far deeper than simply "changing clothes" or improving our appearance. The Butterfly Analogy: Transformation is likened to a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. The caterpillar doesn't just get "wings"—it dissolves into an unrecognisable form where every single cell is broken down and reformed. A New Creation: God's vision is not for us to be a "better version of ourselves" (a "caterpillar with wings") but a completely brand new creation. This transformative work is from the inside out and is done by the Holy Spirit. Why Does God Transform Us? God transforms us because He is restoring His original image in us. The Original Image: Mankind was made in the image of God to walk with Him in a relationship characterised by natural joy, peace, and freedom from shame and sin. The Broken Image: Sin broke that image, like "hot tar" thrown on the relationship, shattering the natural flow of joy and peace. Restoration, Not Improvement: The Spirit is not "improving" us but restoring, reforming, or reborning the image of Jesus in us, back to how it was meant to be. Power vs. Self-Help: This transformation is God's power at work, not "costume Christianity" or self-help. Information is not transformation. The world offers tips, but the Spirit offers transformation and freedom. The Process of Transformation Erica used the moving story of Little Ted, Liz Patton's rescue dog, to illustrate the nature of the Holy Spirit's work. It's a Process, Not a Moment: Erica's initial idea to "fix" the anxious and fearful dog in one moment by introducing him to another gentle dog was a disaster. The true transformation began only through faithful, consistent love, security, and boundaries over two years. Steady, Patient Work: The Holy Spirit's work is not a "one-time fix" or an "abracadabra" moment. It is a steady, patient transformation from the inside out. Celebrating All Progress: We are changed from "one degree of glory to another". We must celebrate the small degrees of change, as they are still the work of the Holy Spirit. Our Role: Contemplating His Glory While the Spirit sustains and completes the work, we have a role to play: Contemplate, Behold, Look Upon: The scripture says, "those who contemplate, behold, look upon, they're the ones being transformed". Renewal of the Mind: Romans 12:2 says, "be transformed by the renewal of your mind". There is no neutral ground; we are either conforming to the pattern of the world or being transformed by the Spirit. Mindsets to Surrender: We need to discern the "lean" or "posture" of our minds. Do we lean towards: Fear instead of Trust?  Grumbling instead of Gratitude?  Pride instead of Humility?  Worry instead of Worship?  Positioning Ourselves: We position ourselves for transformation by beholding or contemplating Jesus, allowing His truth to renew our minds. Erica concluded by encouraging us to listen to the words of our own hearts to discern our mind's "slant" and to surrender those worldly mindsets to God, committing to be transformed to be like Jesus. Transcript We pray. Amen. Good morning, everybody. Really good to see you all. We're continuing in our theme. My microphone is at the hem of my jumper. There's always a drama with this when I'm speaking, isn't there? There's always something I haven't done. There we go. Is that better? Great, okay. Good morning, everybody. Great. It's good to see you all again. We're following our series on being in life in the Spirit. We've looked at what it means to be led by the Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, and there'll be more of that coming as we go on in the next few weeks. But the title of my message this morning is Transformed by the Spirit of God. And we're going to be looking at 2 Corinthians 3, verses 16 to 18, if you've got your Bibles on you, or this is a great opportunity to get out your phone, and you could even pretend to be on games. And people will think you're reading the Bible. Except the Holy Spirit sees, you know. He sees everything. Just saying. So 2 Corinthians 3, verses 16 to 18, and I'm going to be using the NIV version. Karen mentioned last week about using different versions of the Bible, which I like doing, but the NIV uses a word here that I think is really important. Now, before I come to reading that scripture, I want to kind of set the scene a little bit, because we've kind of arrived at the end of, or in the middle of, Paul's thoughts to the church in Corinth. And if you want to know more about the church in Corinth, you can look that up in Acts chapter 18. So they were a vibrant church, a passionate church, but also they were a bit of an immature church. And although they loved Jesus, they were easily swayed by all the different snazzy teachings that were coming up. And so what Paul is doing is establishing a foundation, and that's where we come to. And before we get to our verse this morning, Paul is reminding the people about an encounter with God that Moses had back in Exodus 34. So those of you that will remember where Moses fits into the picture, if you don't, Exodus 34 and the chapters before will fit you in. But Moses goes up Mount Sinai, he has this incredible encounter with God, separate to the people that he's leading, and God's glory shone so brightly on him that as he comes down from Mount Sinai, that glory is radiated all over his face. And there is this veil that covers the glory of God to protect the people from the shine, but also so that the people couldn't see the glory of God fading, because that's what happened. And what Paul is saying before we come to our scripture is that that veil, that protection isn't needed anymore. That with Jesus, there isn't an elite bunch of people that can encounter God, and those that weren't elite that just got the ends of everything, but all of us, we can come freely into the presence of God and encounter his glory freely because of the sacrifice of Jesus. That when we turn to Jesus, he removes everything that blocks us from truly seeing him, and that's the work of the Holy Spirit. With me so far? Okay. Thank you, Cornelius. I'm looking out for your amens there, the rest of you. Okay. So, 2 Corinthians 3, 16 to 18 says this. Paul is saying to the people, but whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. What's the criteria? Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. This thing that separates, this barrier. Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Now, you can read it the other way on that says if the Spirit of the Lord is not involved, whatever we are experiencing is not freedom. Looks like freedom, masquerades of freedom, but where the Spirit of the Lord is, that is where there is true freedom. Good so far? Good. And we all who with unveiled faces, these are the people that have turned to the Lord. Nick, if I could have a glass of water, that would be really good. Thank you. We all who with unveiled faces, when we contemplate the Lord's glory, so contemplate means to behold, to look upon, to think upon, to be at the presence of, are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Verse 16 is the promise. Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. So if you have given your heart to Jesus, and you have opened your life to him, God removes the veil, that barrier is taken away, which means we have the opportunity not only to see God, to encounter his glory, but for that glory then to be reflected out of us to the people around. Which is great news. Paul says, we all can see and reflect the Lord's glory. This is not just for spiritual elite, this is for all of us. And then he goes on to say, the Lord is the Spirit. And I just want to... Is this yours, Roland? Yeah. It's in my space. I nearly drank it. Is there vodka in there? Just checking. The Lord is the Spirit. It's important to remember that the Holy Spirit is not an it, or a force, or a vibe, or a thing, or an emotion, or a tingle down the spine, or a moment in the church service. The Lord is the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is God himself in our presence, here with us today. He's a person. So we all, who with unveiled faces, contemplate or look upon the Lord's glory, we are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory. And that is the verse that I want us to kind of look at today. And there are four questions that I want us to ask. I want us to ask what it means to be transformed. I want us to ask the question, why are we being transformed? How does it work? And when does it happen? And then, I also want to ask the question, what does that mean for me tomorrow morning, Monday morning, at work, Tuesday morning, in the middle of all the things that I'm going through? What does this scripture mean for me? And how do I apply it to my life? So, some translations, we're going to ask the question, what does it mean to be transformed? Some translations use the word changed. We are being changed. But I feel that that is really a very weak word. Because we change clothes all the time, don't we? We change appearance all the time. Cut our hair, grow our hair, dye our hair. Some of you haven't got any hair. That's okay. But we change things all the time. I'm a different person to how I was when I was a lot younger. There's a lot about change that I can do myself. But the scripture here is talking about transformation, which is a deeper thing. In fact, the Greek word is the word metamorpho, which is the word that Paul uses in this translation, which is where we get the word metamorphosis. Is that how you pronounce it? Metamorphosis. When you say that word, what does it remind you of? Caterpillar and butterflies. Okay. Thank you very much because that's in the notes. Ten points for Jules over there. It's the same word that we use to describe what happens to a caterpillar. Now, a caterpillar starts small. It crawls around on its belly on the ground. It is incredibly limited. It has a very limited lifespan. And then there comes a moment when it spins a cocoon and then something incredible happens inside the cocoon. Any of you that have done biology before, what happens inside that cocoon to that caterpillar? It dissolves. It does what? It dissolves. It dissolves. It mulches down into an unrecognisable blob of something. It's good, isn't it? A blob of something. Very technical. Every single cell changes. Thank you. Every single cell changes. It's the same word. It's the same word in here, the transformation. And it becomes unrecognisable. And in the process of the cocoon, where every single cell is broken down, something is then reformed or reborn, and out comes... Thank you. Out of the cocoon comes a butterfly. It doesn't come and become a caterpillar with wings. Because that's what change does, isn't it? When we change ourselves, we become caterpillars with wings. But what God is speaking about here is that the old has gone, the shape of the caterpillar, all of that is gone. And out of this cocoon is reborn something completely brand new because every single cell has been broken down. And out comes this thing that we call a butterfly. And which is the thing that we ooh and ah at when we see? Do we ooh and ah at the caterpillar or do we ooh and ah at the butterfly? It's the butterfly. And it somehow becomes from this grovelling on the ground kind of creature to this beautiful, unlimited, expansive life of freedom that this butterfly has. I remember once... Was it you or was it Aidan? We went to... Oh, no. When I was a TA in a school, went to the butterfly farm in Cleethorpe. Have you ever been in there? And we walked into the butterfly house and a butterfly landed on... His name was Charlie, actually. A little boy's Charlie's head. And one of the kids said, Oh, look, Charlie, there's a butterfly on your head. And he went... That's just a bit of an aside. It's nothing to do with the scripture. No one's going to start whacking you on the head or anything like that. It's just a... Okay. So, and that's the Holy Spirit work in us. When we turn to Jesus, he begins to transform us from the inside out. He breaks down the cells. He mulches us into something, bit by bit, so that out of it comes this new creation. That's what it means to be reborn. God's vision is not that we become better versions of ourselves. I have to admit that I've used that in some of my evangelistic spiel and said, you know, what God wants to do is to make you kind of the best version of yourself. God knows. He's breaking everything down and transforming us completely, not into caterpillars with wings, but into butterflies. Isn't that amazing? Okay. So that's the first question. That's what it means to be transformed. We are not being edited or adjusted or tweaked or... improved. We are being changed. We are being transformed from one degree of glory to another. So why does God want to transform us? And to answer that question, which is point number two, we have to go back to the beginning. In the beginning, God made mankind in his own image. No other creature on the face of the earth is made in the image of God. No other creature. We are completely different to the rest of God's creation. We were made in the image of God. And you have that wonderful picture of God walking in the garden with his creation, those that were made in the image of him. And in that relationship, because of that uniqueness of it, it was shame-free and blame-free and sin-free and peace and joy were natural. Can you imagine a world where peace and joy comes naturally to us? Put your hands up this morning if peace and joy flow naturally out of you all the time. David, I'm going to ask Jen. I'm going to ask Jen. She's my friend. She'll tell me. But imagine that, where peace and joy flow naturally. That's what the relationship used to be like. And that is because we were made in the image of our creator. So there was that natural sense of relationship. and then we all know the story that a lie was told and a lie was believed and humanity, we weren't content to be like God. We wanted to be God himself and so all of that. And basically, what happened in that moment, it was as if somebody came along with hot tar and threw it up against that beautiful relationship, up against that image of God that was in us. And then that relationship, the natural flow of joy and peace, shame free, sin free, all of that was destroyed. And that is because the image of God in us became broken and damaged. Still with me? Okay. And that natural relationship was shattered and separation came. Now, before Adam and Eve ever knew how to even ask for forgiveness or ask for a way back, we already see God beginning his restoration process, process, don't you? And that's why you can see Jesus all the way through the Old Testament. So, we were made to bear God's image but sin covered the image with self and when the spirit comes along to transform us, he is not improving us, he is restoring or reforming or reborning the image of Jesus in us that was there right back at the beginning of time. because he's not changed his mind, he's actually saying I want it back the way it was, I want you to know, I want you to experience what it means to live in the natural place of joy and peace and relationship with God. Ezekiel 36, 26 says this, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you and that's the difference between costume Christianity and spirit transformation because we all can wear costumes can't we? We all do wear costumes. I know that it's a gift that I've learnt over many years how to put a costume on but that's the difference between costume Christianity and spirit transformation. We can change our image, what we look like on the outside but only God can transform the identity within us and I don't want to live from a place of costume Christianity, I want to know day by day what it means to live the identity of Christ, Jesus in me, Christ in me, the hope of glory. That's why we need power. Not self-help or how to be a better person podcast. Those things are good because they help us to manage habits but they can't make us new. They polish the outside but only the Holy Spirit can change the inside of who we are. In fact, we can't change the inside of who we are and we're arrogant if we think we can somehow change the core of who we are. You can read every book and still feel stuck because information is not transformation. That's why we need power. The world offers tips but the Spirit offers transformation. The world will give us advice but God is the only one that gives us power and the only one that gives us freedom through the Holy Spirit. Now I want to tell you a story this morning about a dog. If I could have his picture up here. Oh, I knew that would get you. Do you know who he is? Little Ted. His name is Little Ted. So I kind of want to use this story. He's really had a huge impact on me. This story to try and give us a bit of an idea of what I mean. So all of you know Liz Patton. Yes. So this is Liz Patton's dog. And by the way I have asked permission to put him up on screen this morning. He's allowed to be streamed by the way. It's all right. We've got permission. Now Little Ted was a rescue dog until about two years ago. And two years ago I had the privilege of going to the rescue center to meet him. And Liz and I took him out for a walk and immediately could see that he was an incredibly anxious and fearful dog. You could tell from his behavior. And also really reactive to other dogs. Really I've never seen anything quite like him and his response. And all you could imagine was what has he experienced in his little life to have got to the stage where he was such a distressed and sad to say trauma. So sad. Is that the word? Trauma? I can't. And when we went to the shelter and inquired about him, Liz obviously had to go away and make up her mind. And so she said to the owner of the shelter, do you mind if I let you know on Friday? I think this was probably Wednesday. And the woman said, oh don't worry about it, let me know any time because nobody wants him, he'll still be here. I know, doesn't it pull on your heart strings? And I didn't say a word to Liz, I thought I can't say anything, I can't even look at her and went to where I thought because my heart was already like well I can't leave him behind. Anyway, within just a few hours Liz had decided that she was going to have him and I don't know that whether or not at the very beginning of having him she thought maybe it had been a mistake because he was incredibly, incredibly difficult dog because of what he'd gone through. Anyway, I had this idea, I said I know what will help him and because he's reactive to other dogs and he's scared of other dogs, I'm going to introduce him to Max. Oh. He died in January. Oh. Max is like a big baluba bear, just a real big therapy dog, everybody loved him, in fact when he died in January the condolences I received were just, everybody loved Max and I thought I know what I'll do, I'm going to invite Liz and little Ted over and we're going to introduce little Ted to Max and there's going to be this huge, just like this amazing transformation as little Ted comes into contact with Max. What a brilliant idea you've had Erica and Liz was saying to me all the time, do you think it will work? And I'm going, absolutely it will work. First of all it's my idea and my ideas generally work, isn't that right Nick? Yeah. And also we're talking about Max here, I mean, and she said to me, are you sure? And all the way in the car, yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely sure. So we pulled up to the house and little Ted started barking in response to Max and then we put them out in the garden together and guess what? It was a disaster. It was an absolute disaster. It was utter chaos. With this gentle giant here ending up with little Ted's head in his mouth. And it was not friendly. And I think the only reason that Max didn't come out without any marks is because little Ted has got no teeth. But it was absolute chaos. Now I have thought about this a lot. That actually although it was kindly motivated, it was incredibly arrogant of me to think that a dog that had been through everything that little Ted had could be fixed in a moment by one of my bright ideas. Now you all know I'm a bit of a fixer. That's how I work. I like to fix. And if I can't fix, I get frustrated. Now I want you to move on two years. And Isla knows this. Two years on little Ted has been at Liz's and he's not perfect. but he's a completely different dog. And it wasn't Max that did it. It was Liz who took the long view. Faithful, consistent love, discipline, security, acceptance, boundaries, and the determination that said, and I admire her for it, she said, no matter what, you are my dog. And that has been a faithful commitment over two years. What I thought I could fix in a moment, Liz has with her faithful commitment to this dog over two years begun and is continuing a transforming work in this dog. Now he's not perfect but I tell you what, he's a million miles better than he was. And I just want to encourage you because that's what the Holy Spirit does in us. He is working Jesus in me. And it's not a one-time fix. I didn't say the sinner's prayer and suddenly all the issues that I deal with or all the issues that are as a result of my broken character, they're not dealt with in a way abracadabra but a steady, patient transformation from the inside out and out working of the Holy Spirit in me. Yes, Amen. I looked back as part of this message, I looked back and saw what God has been doing. So he goes on to say it's changed from one degree of glory to another. I want to encourage you that small degrees are still a work of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate the big jumps, don't we? Wow, look how much that person has changed. But then we often look at ourselves and yeah, but look at me, I'm really rubbish at this or what is God doing? Celebrate the small things that the Holy Spirit is doing in you and then don't despise the small things that the Holy Spirit is doing in someone else. Are you still with me? Okay, so it's the power of the Holy Spirit, aware of time. When does transformation happen? When? Well, it starts the moment the veil is removed, the moment we surrender to God. In fact, that in itself is a work of the Holy Spirit. To be able to see is a work of the Holy Spirit. But then the Bible goes on to say that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. There's the promise, he will do it. Completion, there's the fulfilment. When we stand before Jesus on that day, we will be like him in entirety. But in the process, we are being changed. The Spirit began it, he sustains it, and he completes it. Good with that. So now we know what, and we know why, and we know how, and we will know when. What does that mean? If the Spirit does it all, does that just mean we get to sit around and go, Holy Spirit, change me? No, we don't. The Bible says in that scripture, it says, those who contemplate, behold, look upon, they're the ones being transformed. In Romans 12, 2, it says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the of your mind. Paul is not talking about gaining more information. He's not saying we should all go home and read a concordance. Information is not transformation. But we do all have mindsets. We all lean towards something, and the Bible says either we are conforming to the world or we are being transformed. There is no neutral ground. So either we are leaning into the spirit and we are allowing him to change us, or we can have a lean into things of the world. And he's talking about mindsets. And so when we are thinking about the renewal of our minds, we are thinking about what position has my mind taken? What is the posture or the lean or the attitude of my mind? If it leans towards the things of the world, we will by nature be conformed to the patterns of the world. But if we, with unfilled faces, contemplate his glory, lean into the spirit, then he is faithful to begin that work within us. Still with me? Minds are never neutral. Sometimes they lean our minds towards fear or self-reliance or pride or negativity or shame. That's just some. That's the pattern of the world. But when the Holy Spirit renews our mind, he wants to straighten our lean so that we lean into him. So instead of fear, we begin to trust. I'm learning that a lot when I have one of my children on tracker. They've allowed me to have them on tracker. But when that little green thing stops flashing and it's three o'clock in the morning and and they're no longer, you know what I'm talking about, right? They're no longer live and you, last time they were connected to the internet was 20 minutes ago and it's three o'clock in the morning and they're in the middle of Luton coming out of the airport walking. My mind in the middle of the night goes down the road of fear. As natural as that. And I'm learning, last night, learning to drag it back. And say, I trust you, God. I trust you. My mind has a lean towards fear. My mind can have a lean towards grumbling if I'm not careful. But the Holy Spirit wants to lean me into an attitude of gratitude. As you can see with Max, my mind has a lean towards pride instead of humility, thinking I could fix something. It can lean towards despair instead of hope. Or rebellion instead of obedience. Or criticism instead of compassion or worry instead of worship. Am I the only person in this room? Yeah, let's be honest here. Come on. Renewal isn't about knowing more, but it is learning to think differently. And that's what the Bible says. So, we need to position ourselves. We position ourselves to contemplate him, to think about him, to look over him, to have our minds changed by his truth, and allow him to renew our minds in order that the transforming work of the Holy Spirit can continue freely. I'm going to ask the musicians if you could come back for me. Please. How do you know if your mind is leaning in the right direction? And let's say, just begin to play something. I'm going to ask us to respond. Because maybe you've realised this morning that you do have a slant towards something of a worldly pattern of thinking, a mindset, an attitude. Maybe your mind automatically goes towards fear or control. My mind goes towards control or pride or worry. And the way I think about it is, or the way I discern it in my own life is to listen to the words that I use. Because you know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And when we speak, not when we speak to our friends and we're putting on a costume, but when we speak in the privacy of our own hearts, what are the words that we use? Because that will tell us which way we are slanted. Do I talk about Jesus but really and truly I trust myself? Or maybe you can tell because peace is not the norm for you, it's the exception. We've been called to a life of peace and part of the transformation of our minds and of our lives is to recognise that we are completely safe in him. That's the truth. Maybe we go down the road of controlling everything and thinking if it's hard it mustn't be God or I need to somehow control it in order for it to work out well. You know, God is great and all that but he really needs my help. Maybe you just feel exhausted but you feel you can't stop pretending or performing. Could be an indicator of where our hearts and our minds are leaning. It might be that you know your heart is sharp about something or someone but you know that Jesus' heart is soft. well there immediately is a what do they call a disparity. It's forming him, Jesus in us. Or maybe it's living in fear so more influenced by the headlines than by scripture. Or maybe faith is tired and hope feels naive. Well it's all very well to have faith but we need to be people that live in the real world. Have you heard that before? Or maybe it's just really simply I know that Jesus, yeah he's part of my life but he's not really the centre. Those things lean us into conforming to the patterns, the mindsets, the postures of the world. And the way we recentre and lean into Jesus is by beholding or contemplating him. So I just wonder if we could stand together. Maybe we need to surrender some of these things to God and actually name them for what they are. I have recognized, and I'm being really open here today, I have recognized how easy it is for me to live in a place of fear. Not about everything, but about certain things. I live in a place of fear and see how my mind goes down that road. It's just like a light switch, it goes down that road. And I know that I have to keep bringing that to God and surrendering it to Him and saying, I trust you. And it might be that's where you're at today and you just know, you know that there's a lean and there's an imbalance. We're leaning into the logic or the understanding or the wise words of the world. Lord, as we worship, I would just love for us to respond together. Holy Spirit, thank you for the transforming work of your power within me. Thank you that you are faithful to complete that which you've started. But our Father, I also know that I have a role to play in all of this. Forgive me for believing the lies of the enemy. Forgive me for my prideful heart that thinks that somehow I can fix things. And if you feel that the Holy Spirit's been pointing something in your heart or highlighting something, just we've got a few minutes. Let's come down to the front and join me here. Let's just pray together. As we surrender our lives, Holy Spirit, we want to be transformed to be like Jesus. I don't want mindsets that don't look like Jesus in my life. I don't want that. I don't want to proclaim freedom and Jesus with my mouth and yet live in bondage in my heart because of something that I'm scared to let go of. If the Holy Spirit's been speaking to you, come and join me as we worship together.

🕊️ Sermon Summary: Transformed by the Spirit of God This week, we were blessed to hear from our speaker, Erica Lugg, as she continued our series on "Life in the Spirit" with a powerful message titled "Transformed by the Spirit of God." Erica's message focused on the profound promise of transformation found in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18. Key Scripture and Context The message centred on 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NIV): "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all who with unveiled faces, when we contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."  Erica first set the scene by explaining that the "veil" Paul refers to is no longer needed because of Jesus' sacrifice. The barrier that once separated people from God's glory, as with Moses' veiled face in Exodus 34, is now removed for all who turn to the Lord. This means everyone can freely come into God's presence and encounter His glory. Understanding Transformation Erica explored the question: What does it mean to be transformed? More than "Change": The Greek word used is metamorpho, the root of metamorphosis. This is far deeper than simply "changing clothes" or improving our appearance. The Butterfly Analogy: Transformation is likened to a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. The caterpillar doesn't just get "wings"—it dissolves into an unrecognisable form where every single cell is broken down and reformed. A New Creation: God's vision is not for us to be a "better version of ourselves" (a "caterpillar with wings") but a completely brand new creation. This transformative work is from the inside out and is done by the Holy Spirit. Why Does God Transform Us? God transforms us because He is restoring His original image in us. The Original Image: Mankind was made in the image of God to walk with Him in a relationship characterised by natural joy, peace, and freedom from shame and sin. The Broken Image: Sin broke that image, like "hot tar" thrown on the relationship, shattering the natural flow of joy and peace. Restoration, Not Improvement: The Spirit is not "improving" us but restoring, reforming, or reborning the image of Jesus in us, back to how it was meant to be. Power vs. Self-Help: This transformation is God's power at work, not "costume Christianity" or self-help. Information is not transformation. The world offers tips, but the Spirit offers transformation and freedom. The Process of Transformation Erica used the moving story of Little Ted, Liz Patton's rescue dog, to illustrate the nature of the Holy Spirit's work. It's a Process, Not a Moment: Erica's initial idea to "fix" the anxious and fearful dog in one moment by introducing him to another gentle dog was a disaster. The true transformation began only through faithful, consistent love, security, and boundaries over two years. Steady, Patient Work: The Holy Spirit's work is not a "one-time fix" or an "abracadabra" moment. It is a steady, patient transformation from the inside out. Celebrating All Progress: We are changed from "one degree of glory to another". We must celebrate the small degrees of change, as they are still the work of the Holy Spirit. Our Role: Contemplating His Glory While the Spirit sustains and completes the work, we have a role to play: Contemplate, Behold, Look Upon: The scripture says, "those who contemplate, behold, look upon, they're the ones being transformed". Renewal of the Mind: Romans 12:2 says, "be transformed by the renewal of your mind". There is no neutral ground; we are either conforming to the pattern of the world or being transformed by the Spirit. Mindsets to Surrender: We need to discern the "lean" or "posture" of our minds. Do we lean towards: Fear instead of Trust?  Grumbling instead of Gratitude?  Pride instead of Humility?  Worry instead of Worship?  Positioning Ourselves: We position ourselves for transformation by beholding or contemplating Jesus, allowing His truth to renew our minds. Erica concluded by encouraging us to listen to the words of our own hearts to discern our mind's "slant" and to surrender those worldly mindsets to God, committing to be transformed to be like Jesus. Transcript We pray. Amen. Good morning, everybody. Really good to see you all. We're continuing in our theme. My microphone is at the hem of my jumper. There's always a drama with this when I'm speaking, isn't there? There's always something I haven't done. There we go. Is that better? Great, okay. Good morning, everybody. Great. It's good to see you all again. We're following our series on being in life in the Spirit. We've looked at what it means to be led by the Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, and there'll be more of that coming as we go on in the next few weeks. But the title of my message this morning is Transformed by the Spirit of God. And we're going to be looking at 2 Corinthians 3, verses 16 to 18, if you've got your Bibles on you, or this is a great opportunity to get out your phone, and you could even pretend to be on games. And people will think you're reading the Bible. Except the Holy Spirit sees, you know. He sees everything. Just saying. So 2 Corinthians 3, verses 16 to 18, and I'm going to be using the NIV version. Karen mentioned last week about using different versions of the Bible, which I like doing, but the NIV uses a word here that I think is really important. Now, before I come to reading that scripture, I want to kind of set the scene a little bit, because we've kind of arrived at the end of, or in the middle of, Paul's thoughts to the church in Corinth. And if you want to know more about the church in Corinth, you can look that up in Acts chapter 18. So they were a vibrant church, a passionate church, but also they were a bit of an immature church. And although they loved Jesus, they were easily swayed by all the different snazzy teachings that were coming up. And so what Paul is doing is establishing a foundation, and that's where we come to. And before we get to our verse this morning, Paul is reminding the people about an encounter with God that Moses had back in Exodus 34. So those of you that will remember where Moses fits into the picture, if you don't, Exodus 34 and the chapters before will fit you in. But Moses goes up Mount Sinai, he has this incredible encounter with God, separate to the people that he's leading, and God's glory shone so brightly on him that as he comes down from Mount Sinai, that glory is radiated all over his face. And there is this veil that covers the glory of God to protect the people from the shine, but also so that the people couldn't see the glory of God fading, because that's what happened. And what Paul is saying before we come to our scripture is that that veil, that protection isn't needed anymore. That with Jesus, there isn't an elite bunch of people that can encounter God, and those that weren't elite that just got the ends of everything, but all of us, we can come freely into the presence of God and encounter his glory freely because of the sacrifice of Jesus. That when we turn to Jesus, he removes everything that blocks us from truly seeing him, and that's the work of the Holy Spirit. With me so far? Okay. Thank you, Cornelius. I'm looking out for your amens there, the rest of you. Okay. So, 2 Corinthians 3, 16 to 18 says this. Paul is saying to the people, but whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. What's the criteria? Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. This thing that separates, this barrier. Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Now, you can read it the other way on that says if the Spirit of the Lord is not involved, whatever we are experiencing is not freedom. Looks like freedom, masquerades of freedom, but where the Spirit of the Lord is, that is where there is true freedom. Good so far? Good. And we all who with unveiled faces, these are the people that have turned to the Lord. Nick, if I could have a glass of water, that would be really good. Thank you. We all who with unveiled faces, when we contemplate the Lord's glory, so contemplate means to behold, to look upon, to think upon, to be at the presence of, are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Verse 16 is the promise. Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. So if you have given your heart to Jesus, and you have opened your life to him, God removes the veil, that barrier is taken away, which means we have the opportunity not only to see God, to encounter his glory, but for that glory then to be reflected out of us to the people around. Which is great news. Paul says, we all can see and reflect the Lord's glory. This is not just for spiritual elite, this is for all of us. And then he goes on to say, the Lord is the Spirit. And I just want to... Is this yours, Roland? Yeah. It's in my space. I nearly drank it. Is there vodka in there? Just checking. The Lord is the Spirit. It's important to remember that the Holy Spirit is not an it, or a force, or a vibe, or a thing, or an emotion, or a tingle down the spine, or a moment in the church service. The Lord is the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is God himself in our presence, here with us today. He's a person. So we all, who with unveiled faces, contemplate or look upon the Lord's glory, we are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory. And that is the verse that I want us to kind of look at today. And there are four questions that I want us to ask. I want us to ask what it means to be transformed. I want us to ask the question, why are we being transformed? How does it work? And when does it happen? And then, I also want to ask the question, what does that mean for me tomorrow morning, Monday morning, at work, Tuesday morning, in the middle of all the things that I'm going through? What does this scripture mean for me? And how do I apply it to my life? So, some translations, we're going to ask the question, what does it mean to be transformed? Some translations use the word changed. We are being changed. But I feel that that is really a very weak word. Because we change clothes all the time, don't we? We change appearance all the time. Cut our hair, grow our hair, dye our hair. Some of you haven't got any hair. That's okay. But we change things all the time. I'm a different person to how I was when I was a lot younger. There's a lot about change that I can do myself. But the scripture here is talking about transformation, which is a deeper thing. In fact, the Greek word is the word metamorpho, which is the word that Paul uses in this translation, which is where we get the word metamorphosis. Is that how you pronounce it? Metamorphosis. When you say that word, what does it remind you of? Caterpillar and butterflies. Okay. Thank you very much because that's in the notes. Ten points for Jules over there. It's the same word that we use to describe what happens to a caterpillar. Now, a caterpillar starts small. It crawls around on its belly on the ground. It is incredibly limited. It has a very limited lifespan. And then there comes a moment when it spins a cocoon and then something incredible happens inside the cocoon. Any of you that have done biology before, what happens inside that cocoon to that caterpillar? It dissolves. It does what? It dissolves. It dissolves. It mulches down into an unrecognisable blob of something. It's good, isn't it? A blob of something. Very technical. Every single cell changes. Thank you. Every single cell changes. It's the same word. It's the same word in here, the transformation. And it becomes unrecognisable. And in the process of the cocoon, where every single cell is broken down, something is then reformed or reborn, and out comes... Thank you. Out of the cocoon comes a butterfly. It doesn't come and become a caterpillar with wings. Because that's what change does, isn't it? When we change ourselves, we become caterpillars with wings. But what God is speaking about here is that the old has gone, the shape of the caterpillar, all of that is gone. And out of this cocoon is reborn something completely brand new because every single cell has been broken down. And out comes this thing that we call a butterfly. And which is the thing that we ooh and ah at when we see? Do we ooh and ah at the caterpillar or do we ooh and ah at the butterfly? It's the butterfly. And it somehow becomes from this grovelling on the ground kind of creature to this beautiful, unlimited, expansive life of freedom that this butterfly has. I remember once... Was it you or was it Aidan? We went to... Oh, no. When I was a TA in a school, went to the butterfly farm in Cleethorpe. Have you ever been in there? And we walked into the butterfly house and a butterfly landed on... His name was Charlie, actually. A little boy's Charlie's head. And one of the kids said, Oh, look, Charlie, there's a butterfly on your head. And he went... That's just a bit of an aside. It's nothing to do with the scripture. No one's going to start whacking you on the head or anything like that. It's just a... Okay. So, and that's the Holy Spirit work in us. When we turn to Jesus, he begins to transform us from the inside out. He breaks down the cells. He mulches us into something, bit by bit, so that out of it comes this new creation. That's what it means to be reborn. God's vision is not that we become better versions of ourselves. I have to admit that I've used that in some of my evangelistic spiel and said, you know, what God wants to do is to make you kind of the best version of yourself. God knows. He's breaking everything down and transforming us completely, not into caterpillars with wings, but into butterflies. Isn't that amazing? Okay. So that's the first question. That's what it means to be transformed. We are not being edited or adjusted or tweaked or... improved. We are being changed. We are being transformed from one degree of glory to another. So why does God want to transform us? And to answer that question, which is point number two, we have to go back to the beginning. In the beginning, God made mankind in his own image. No other creature on the face of the earth is made in the image of God. No other creature. We are completely different to the rest of God's creation. We were made in the image of God. And you have that wonderful picture of God walking in the garden with his creation, those that were made in the image of him. And in that relationship, because of that uniqueness of it, it was shame-free and blame-free and sin-free and peace and joy were natural. Can you imagine a world where peace and joy comes naturally to us? Put your hands up this morning if peace and joy flow naturally out of you all the time. David, I'm going to ask Jen. I'm going to ask Jen. She's my friend. She'll tell me. But imagine that, where peace and joy flow naturally. That's what the relationship used to be like. And that is because we were made in the image of our creator. So there was that natural sense of relationship. and then we all know the story that a lie was told and a lie was believed and humanity, we weren't content to be like God. We wanted to be God himself and so all of that. And basically, what happened in that moment, it was as if somebody came along with hot tar and threw it up against that beautiful relationship, up against that image of God that was in us. And then that relationship, the natural flow of joy and peace, shame free, sin free, all of that was destroyed. And that is because the image of God in us became broken and damaged. Still with me? Okay. And that natural relationship was shattered and separation came. Now, before Adam and Eve ever knew how to even ask for forgiveness or ask for a way back, we already see God beginning his restoration process, process, don't you? And that's why you can see Jesus all the way through the Old Testament. So, we were made to bear God's image but sin covered the image with self and when the spirit comes along to transform us, he is not improving us, he is restoring or reforming or reborning the image of Jesus in us that was there right back at the beginning of time. because he's not changed his mind, he's actually saying I want it back the way it was, I want you to know, I want you to experience what it means to live in the natural place of joy and peace and relationship with God. Ezekiel 36, 26 says this, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you and that's the difference between costume Christianity and spirit transformation because we all can wear costumes can't we? We all do wear costumes. I know that it's a gift that I've learnt over many years how to put a costume on but that's the difference between costume Christianity and spirit transformation. We can change our image, what we look like on the outside but only God can transform the identity within us and I don't want to live from a place of costume Christianity, I want to know day by day what it means to live the identity of Christ, Jesus in me, Christ in me, the hope of glory. That's why we need power. Not self-help or how to be a better person podcast. Those things are good because they help us to manage habits but they can't make us new. They polish the outside but only the Holy Spirit can change the inside of who we are. In fact, we can't change the inside of who we are and we're arrogant if we think we can somehow change the core of who we are. You can read every book and still feel stuck because information is not transformation. That's why we need power. The world offers tips but the Spirit offers transformation. The world will give us advice but God is the only one that gives us power and the only one that gives us freedom through the Holy Spirit. Now I want to tell you a story this morning about a dog. If I could have his picture up here. Oh, I knew that would get you. Do you know who he is? Little Ted. His name is Little Ted. So I kind of want to use this story. He's really had a huge impact on me. This story to try and give us a bit of an idea of what I mean. So all of you know Liz Patton. Yes. So this is Liz Patton's dog. And by the way I have asked permission to put him up on screen this morning. He's allowed to be streamed by the way. It's all right. We've got permission. Now Little Ted was a rescue dog until about two years ago. And two years ago I had the privilege of going to the rescue center to meet him. And Liz and I took him out for a walk and immediately could see that he was an incredibly anxious and fearful dog. You could tell from his behavior. And also really reactive to other dogs. Really I've never seen anything quite like him and his response. And all you could imagine was what has he experienced in his little life to have got to the stage where he was such a distressed and sad to say trauma. So sad. Is that the word? Trauma? I can't. And when we went to the shelter and inquired about him, Liz obviously had to go away and make up her mind. And so she said to the owner of the shelter, do you mind if I let you know on Friday? I think this was probably Wednesday. And the woman said, oh don't worry about it, let me know any time because nobody wants him, he'll still be here. I know, doesn't it pull on your heart strings? And I didn't say a word to Liz, I thought I can't say anything, I can't even look at her and went to where I thought because my heart was already like well I can't leave him behind. Anyway, within just a few hours Liz had decided that she was going to have him and I don't know that whether or not at the very beginning of having him she thought maybe it had been a mistake because he was incredibly, incredibly difficult dog because of what he'd gone through. Anyway, I had this idea, I said I know what will help him and because he's reactive to other dogs and he's scared of other dogs, I'm going to introduce him to Max. Oh. He died in January. Oh. Max is like a big baluba bear, just a real big therapy dog, everybody loved him, in fact when he died in January the condolences I received were just, everybody loved Max and I thought I know what I'll do, I'm going to invite Liz and little Ted over and we're going to introduce little Ted to Max and there's going to be this huge, just like this amazing transformation as little Ted comes into contact with Max. What a brilliant idea you've had Erica and Liz was saying to me all the time, do you think it will work? And I'm going, absolutely it will work. First of all it's my idea and my ideas generally work, isn't that right Nick? Yeah. And also we're talking about Max here, I mean, and she said to me, are you sure? And all the way in the car, yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely sure. So we pulled up to the house and little Ted started barking in response to Max and then we put them out in the garden together and guess what? It was a disaster. It was an absolute disaster. It was utter chaos. With this gentle giant here ending up with little Ted's head in his mouth. And it was not friendly. And I think the only reason that Max didn't come out without any marks is because little Ted has got no teeth. But it was absolute chaos. Now I have thought about this a lot. That actually although it was kindly motivated, it was incredibly arrogant of me to think that a dog that had been through everything that little Ted had could be fixed in a moment by one of my bright ideas. Now you all know I'm a bit of a fixer. That's how I work. I like to fix. And if I can't fix, I get frustrated. Now I want you to move on two years. And Isla knows this. Two years on little Ted has been at Liz's and he's not perfect. but he's a completely different dog. And it wasn't Max that did it. It was Liz who took the long view. Faithful, consistent love, discipline, security, acceptance, boundaries, and the determination that said, and I admire her for it, she said, no matter what, you are my dog. And that has been a faithful commitment over two years. What I thought I could fix in a moment, Liz has with her faithful commitment to this dog over two years begun and is continuing a transforming work in this dog. Now he's not perfect but I tell you what, he's a million miles better than he was. And I just want to encourage you because that's what the Holy Spirit does in us. He is working Jesus in me. And it's not a one-time fix. I didn't say the sinner's prayer and suddenly all the issues that I deal with or all the issues that are as a result of my broken character, they're not dealt with in a way abracadabra but a steady, patient transformation from the inside out and out working of the Holy Spirit in me. Yes, Amen. I looked back as part of this message, I looked back and saw what God has been doing. So he goes on to say it's changed from one degree of glory to another. I want to encourage you that small degrees are still a work of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate the big jumps, don't we? Wow, look how much that person has changed. But then we often look at ourselves and yeah, but look at me, I'm really rubbish at this or what is God doing? Celebrate the small things that the Holy Spirit is doing in you and then don't despise the small things that the Holy Spirit is doing in someone else. Are you still with me? Okay, so it's the power of the Holy Spirit, aware of time. When does transformation happen? When? Well, it starts the moment the veil is removed, the moment we surrender to God. In fact, that in itself is a work of the Holy Spirit. To be able to see is a work of the Holy Spirit. But then the Bible goes on to say that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. There's the promise, he will do it. Completion, there's the fulfilment. When we stand before Jesus on that day, we will be like him in entirety. But in the process, we are being changed. The Spirit began it, he sustains it, and he completes it. Good with that. So now we know what, and we know why, and we know how, and we will know when. What does that mean? If the Spirit does it all, does that just mean we get to sit around and go, Holy Spirit, change me? No, we don't. The Bible says in that scripture, it says, those who contemplate, behold, look upon, they're the ones being transformed. In Romans 12, 2, it says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the of your mind. Paul is not talking about gaining more information. He's not saying we should all go home and read a concordance. Information is not transformation. But we do all have mindsets. We all lean towards something, and the Bible says either we are conforming to the world or we are being transformed. There is no neutral ground. So either we are leaning into the spirit and we are allowing him to change us, or we can have a lean into things of the world. And he's talking about mindsets. And so when we are thinking about the renewal of our minds, we are thinking about what position has my mind taken? What is the posture or the lean or the attitude of my mind? If it leans towards the things of the world, we will by nature be conformed to the patterns of the world. But if we, with unfilled faces, contemplate his glory, lean into the spirit, then he is faithful to begin that work within us. Still with me? Minds are never neutral. Sometimes they lean our minds towards fear or self-reliance or pride or negativity or shame. That's just some. That's the pattern of the world. But when the Holy Spirit renews our mind, he wants to straighten our lean so that we lean into him. So instead of fear, we begin to trust. I'm learning that a lot when I have one of my children on tracker. They've allowed me to have them on tracker. But when that little green thing stops flashing and it's three o'clock in the morning and and they're no longer, you know what I'm talking about, right? They're no longer live and you, last time they were connected to the internet was 20 minutes ago and it's three o'clock in the morning and they're in the middle of Luton coming out of the airport walking. My mind in the middle of the night goes down the road of fear. As natural as that. And I'm learning, last night, learning to drag it back. And say, I trust you, God. I trust you. My mind has a lean towards fear. My mind can have a lean towards grumbling if I'm not careful. But the Holy Spirit wants to lean me into an attitude of gratitude. As you can see with Max, my mind has a lean towards pride instead of humility, thinking I could fix something. It can lean towards despair instead of hope. Or rebellion instead of obedience. Or criticism instead of compassion or worry instead of worship. Am I the only person in this room? Yeah, let's be honest here. Come on. Renewal isn't about knowing more, but it is learning to think differently. And that's what the Bible says. So, we need to position ourselves. We position ourselves to contemplate him, to think about him, to look over him, to have our minds changed by his truth, and allow him to renew our minds in order that the transforming work of the Holy Spirit can continue freely. I'm going to ask the musicians if you could come back for me. Please. How do you know if your mind is leaning in the right direction? And let's say, just begin to play something. I'm going to ask us to respond. Because maybe you've realised this morning that you do have a slant towards something of a worldly pattern of thinking, a mindset, an attitude. Maybe your mind automatically goes towards fear or control. My mind goes towards control or pride or worry. And the way I think about it is, or the way I discern it in my own life is to listen to the words that I use. Because you know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And when we speak, not when we speak to our friends and we're putting on a costume, but when we speak in the privacy of our own hearts, what are the words that we use? Because that will tell us which way we are slanted. Do I talk about Jesus but really and truly I trust myself? Or maybe you can tell because peace is not the norm for you, it's the exception. We've been called to a life of peace and part of the transformation of our minds and of our lives is to recognise that we are completely safe in him. That's the truth. Maybe we go down the road of controlling everything and thinking if it's hard it mustn't be God or I need to somehow control it in order for it to work out well. You know, God is great and all that but he really needs my help. Maybe you just feel exhausted but you feel you can't stop pretending or performing. Could be an indicator of where our hearts and our minds are leaning. It might be that you know your heart is sharp about something or someone but you know that Jesus' heart is soft. well there immediately is a what do they call a disparity. It's forming him, Jesus in us. Or maybe it's living in fear so more influenced by the headlines than by scripture. Or maybe faith is tired and hope feels naive. Well it's all very well to have faith but we need to be people that live in the real world. Have you heard that before? Or maybe it's just really simply I know that Jesus, yeah he's part of my life but he's not really the centre. Those things lean us into conforming to the patterns, the mindsets, the postures of the world. And the way we recentre and lean into Jesus is by beholding or contemplating him. So I just wonder if we could stand together. Maybe we need to surrender some of these things to God and actually name them for what they are. I have recognized, and I'm being really open here today, I have recognized how easy it is for me to live in a place of fear. Not about everything, but about certain things. I live in a place of fear and see how my mind goes down that road. It's just like a light switch, it goes down that road. And I know that I have to keep bringing that to God and surrendering it to Him and saying, I trust you. And it might be that's where you're at today and you just know, you know that there's a lean and there's an imbalance. We're leaning into the logic or the understanding or the wise words of the world. Lord, as we worship, I would just love for us to respond together. Holy Spirit, thank you for the transforming work of your power within me. Thank you that you are faithful to complete that which you've started. But our Father, I also know that I have a role to play in all of this. Forgive me for believing the lies of the enemy. Forgive me for my prideful heart that thinks that somehow I can fix things. And if you feel that the Holy Spirit's been pointing something in your heart or highlighting something, just we've got a few minutes. Let's come down to the front and join me here. Let's just pray together. As we surrender our lives, Holy Spirit, we want to be transformed to be like Jesus. I don't want mindsets that don't look like Jesus in my life. I don't want that. I don't want to proclaim freedom and Jesus with my mouth and yet live in bondage in my heart because of something that I'm scared to let go of. If the Holy Spirit's been speaking to you, come and join me as we worship together.

Get Out Of The Boat | Brad Joss | Paradox Church Sunday Gathering

Life Point Sunday Gathering | Danny Rivers | Forgiveness | Week 1 by Life Point SA

In our November 2 Sunday Gathering we continue our series about what Christians believe and what the Bible is all about. This week's discussion questions are below: When you hear that “God became human in order to be with us,” what emotions or questions come to mind? Why do you think the incarnation — God taking on flesh — is such a central belief of Christianity? How does the idea that God “tabernacled” or “pitched his tent” among us help you understand God's character? How would you describe the Trinity in simple terms to a friend who's never heard of it before? Why do you think God's triune nature is meant to be mysterious rather than fully explainable? What does it mean that “at the heart of the universe there is a community of love”? How does that reshape how you think about God? How does the incarnation change the way we understand God's empathy for human suffering? In what ways does Jesus' humanity make Him more approachable or relatable to you personally? Think of a time when God felt distant — how might remembering that He “became flesh” change your perspective in that moment?

Embrace Sunday Gathering (November 2, 2025 at 11am)Embrace Church, Lexington, KYSongs:All Creatures of Our God and KingRevelation SongIs He WorthyWhen the SaintsSermon: The Cloud of Witnesses by John GallaherNeed prayer? prayer@embraceyourcity.com

In this excerpt from our Sunday Gathering, we hear from Sarah and Brenda a few ways that we can come prepared for Commitment Sunday next week.

Life Point Sunday Gathering | Danny Rivers | Hey Jude | Week 4 by Life Point SA

As we explore Zechariah's final vision (corresponding to the first vision of God's reconnaissance riders among the myrtle trees), we once again have the curtain pulled back to see the heavenly realm. While there are similarities between the two visions, there are also several distinct contrasts between them. And those contrasts actually give us a better sense of what is going on in the original context as well as how this applies to us in 2025!

Preparing and Positioning - Part 2 | Brad Joss & Aimee Talbot | Paradox Church Sunday Gathering

Preparing and Positioning - Part 1 | Brad Joss & Aimee Talbot | Paradox Church Sunday Gathering

Life Point Sunday Gathering | Danny Rivers | Hey Jude | Week 3 by Life Point SA

Life Point Sunday Gathering | Danny Rivers | Hey Jude | Week 2 by Life Point SA

What if A Course in Miracles really does give us the meaning of love—just not in the way we expect? In this message, Robert Perry shows how the Course offers a lived recognition of love as purely giving—changeless and equal for everyone. You'll learn the subtle ways we confuse love with attack, specialness, taking, and guilt, and then trace the Course's remedy: not manufacturing love, but removing the blocks through forgiveness and holy instants where judgment falls away. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the “CE”), which is available as a paperback*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email info@circleofa.org. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links  

Sunday Gathering, The ReturnApostle Reggie Royal"New Way Forward"101225

This week's night vision gets really complicated. Four times Zechariah asks the angel for understanding about what he is seeing. But don't forget to consider that this vision is likely tied to the amazing message that we just heard last week about God stopping the enemy's accusations against us, removing our filthy and defiled garments (our unworthiness through sin) and giving us pure vestments (righteousness). We'll continue to delight in that!

Getting Ready for War | Brad, Nicole, Aimee & Greg | Paradox Church Sunday Gathering

Life Point Sunday Gathering | Danny Rivers | Hey Jude | Week 1 by Life Point SA

Do you ever feel like you're broken? Do you sin and then you're filled with regret? Do you wonder, "How can I believe I'm righteous – just look at my actions, thoughts, and words?" This week we arrive at the first of the two middle night visions in the book of Zechariah (and remember, the middle part of a chiasm is where biblical authors put the most important part). In this incredibly hopeful chapter, may we find hope for ourselves as we long for righteousness.

Pastors Tyler, Devin, and Jon gather on the Fairview Church Podcast to reflect on recent Q&A sessions, member feedback, and the convictions shaping our Sunday gatherings. They share the biblical principles, cultural values, and pastoral insights shaping the path ahead for Fairview.

Pastors Tyler, Devin, and Jon gather on the Fairview Church Podcast to reflect on recent Q&A sessions, member feedback, and the convictions shaping our Sunday gatherings. They share the biblical principles, cultural values, and pastoral insights shaping the path ahead for Fairview.

Life Point Sunday Gathering | Danny Rivers | Way Maker | Jesus Feed the 5000 by Life Point SA

Sunday GatheringApostle Reggie Royal"The Return to the Lord's Church"092825

Sunday GatheringApostle Reggie RoyalThe Return of the Lord's Church091425

Sunday GatheringApostle Reggie Royal"The Return of the Lord's Church"092125

When we're in a discouraging moment, isn't it easy to struggle to believe God is with us? Even more, we might believe he's near, but do we have the faith to believe he might do something immeasurably great? Are we willing to trust him to protect and provide for us or are we expending more energy trying to do that for ourselves? We can live full of vision and trust because the Lord of hosts promises to be present (dwell) with us!

In this Sunday Gathering sermon, Emily Perry explores what A Course In Miracles says about our God-given power and how to reclaim it. If you've ever wondered whether you can truly change more than just your outlook—if you can help change the world itself—this message is for you. Discover how the holiness within you can reverse the laws of the world and bring real healing where it's needed most. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the “CE”), which is available as a paperback*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email info@circleofa.org. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links  

Life Point Sunday Gathering | Danny Rivers | Way Maker | Water into Wine by Life Point SA