Sunday 7th January 2018 - Simon Benham
Don't hold
back
-Isaiah 54 vs 2-3
‘“Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to
the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.”
Introduction
Simon commenced by reminding us of the
need to make space and to slow down to hear God this year.
Isaiah
The verses above need to be in the context of
the first the ten verses of Isaiah 54.
The bible has the Old Testament and
New Testament. Of the prophets Isiah was the most influential and the book of
Isiah is the second most quoted book in the New Testament.
In this book we get the ‘whole story’ the
God is telling us. It covers:
Creation: telling us that we are not a fluke or an
accident. The message from creation tells us that every human is created for God
and by God to live a life with purpose and meaning. We were all created for a
relationship with God.
The Fall: The second part of the Isiah story is the
fall and leads to and pain and suffering. Our rebellion against God.
Rescue: The third part is the rescue. God came in
human flesh to pay the price of our rebellion and sin. The aim being to get us back
to being a friend of God, a child of the King. For heaven to come to earth
Restoration: The final part of the story is restoration,
where Jesus Christ paid the price on the cross. There is still some work to be
done, however we are part of God’s rescue plan for this world.
The above four phrases covered are the
meta narrative; the over arching main points of Gods story. We need to
understand how we fit in the mini narrative: our part of the gospel.
Interesting Fact: There are 66 chapter
in Isaiah. The first 39 cover judgement and last 27 chapters cover compassion.
There are 39 books in the old testament and 27 books in the new testament.
Isaiah 54
Isaiah 53 talks about the suffering and
that Jesus has died for our sin.
In Isaiah 54, it is the moment when Jesus
has come into the world and the blockade of sin is suddenly removed. The opportunities occur.
It starts by telling the barren woman to
burst into song and shout for joy, because Jesus Christ is coming. He is
telling a woman who has bore no children that she will have an overflow of supernatural children. It is
telling her to get excited, even though she cannot see it in the natural.
V 2 goes onto encourage us to get
ready, to enlarge the place of your tent. To not hold back. To strengthen your
stakes. He is telling us to get ready. He is using the analogy of tents as
there were a tent dwelling people.
God is saying they need a bigger tent,
they need to stretch the material wider. They need to get ready before the
supernatural children arrive.
We are in the same place. We as a church
need to expect great things from God. We need to expect the overflow of the
harvest. However we also need to prepare.
Simon encouraged us to attempt great
things for God and to expect great things of God. As a church and as
individuals we need to
Enlarge -make more space for more people. 30 years
ago we build Bracknell as needed more space. Now we fill this space
To stretch - take risk attempt things that seem far. Go
beyond what is the norm.
Lengthen -spear out into Sandhurst . 120 people in Sandhurst
Christmas morn. New to Windsor we are lengthening
Strengthen - go deeper. Small tents little legs. Circus
tents big pegs.. we need to start by going deeper with him.
Conclusion
We need to go deeper in God as a church
and as individuals in 2018. We need to make time and slow down so that we can
make time to be with Jesus.
What is our part.? Initially we all individual
need to go deeper in Him. In John we are reminded to ‘Remain in Him and you
will bear fruit’. We need to be connected to Jesus, as everything flows from Him.
If at the end of 2018 you r closer to God,
that's a successful year. Know him better at the end of the year. Slow down to
be with him.
Simon also encouraged us to examine
2017 so that we can learn and move on. He challenged us to take time out this
week to:
Replay 2017. Examine 2017 and look at what occurred
in your life. What happened in 2017? Who did I meet? What did I feel? Where did
I go? Reflect and take time out. Look through your diary if you can’t remember.
Rejoice: Looking at what you did and where and who
you met? Examine where God moved in your
life? Give thanks for those things? What were your answers to prayer? Where did
God break into your situation?
Repent: for what you did wrong. Things that you said
or didn't should have said? Examine who hurt us and forgive them? Who do you
need to ask for forgiveness from?
Resolve Look at 2017 and see how you can do things
differently in 2018. Learn from the past and change for the future. Enlarge ad
strengthen in 2018.
Challenge and Questions
Simon challenged us to be closer to
Him. What do you need to do be closer to him?
What causes us to be so busy and what
do we need to do to slow down?
Do you make time out for God
regularly? If so, what benefits does it bring. If not, what hinders you from
doing this?
What are your commitments to God this
year? What do you need to do differently?
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