Blog - Latest Posts
Crestwood Church Blog
We're Moving!
After prayer and careful thought, the Elders have decided that the church will move into the Dingle Community Centre for our Sunday morning service. The 4th of February will be our last at the Crestwood School.
A Rich Harvest of Life
By Janet Shackleton.
You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance
Psalm 65:11 (NLT)
As Jesus called his disciples to follow him, he promised to make them from ordinary fishermen into "fishers of men". And as they walked and lived with him, they learned who he was and saw his almighty power change the most impossible situations and transform lives.
We saw that same power among us last year as lives were changed when people met Jesus. In this next year let us continue to pray and trust him for an even more abundant harvest, of God's fruitfulness in our own lives and in the local community. We are called to work in the harvest field, and the Lord promises to "drench the ploughed ground with rain, melting the clods and levelling the ridges" (Psalm 65:10) and to bring in the harvest.
Though at times it seems our lives follow a difficult pathway, even then he promises abundant blessing and fruitfulness. And when those around us seem hard and unreceptive to the message, let us continue to pray for the rain of the Holy Spirit to bring softness and fertile ground, for a rich harvest of life in Jesus.
You Cannot Serve Two Masters
You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our saviour. You are the hope of everyone on earth...You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength. You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations.
Psalm 65:5-7 (NLT)
Many of us, if not all of us are fighting constant battles in our spiritual lives. Sometimes wounds and weaknesses in our lives never seem to go away. The same temptation keeps rising to the surface and the constant nagging to give into it can at times because almost unbearable.
God is awesome, he is faithful and he is more than able to answer our impossible situations. The biggest problem that we face is the battle in the mind and the voices that seem to shout the loudest are often not the most beneficial. The Lord would encourage us to listen to his voice and at the same time silence the other voices. If the Lord can move mountains, if he can silence the raging oceans, then he can certainly calm your mind and silence that which is snatching away the promises of God.
Jesus taught that you cannot serve two masters. You could say you can only follow one voice at a time. If we are in the right place with God, only his voice will be heard. No power can stand against God, empires crumble, kingdoms fall at the Lord's command. He silenced the shouting of the nations. On the cross when men shouted obscenities at Jesus and the world were having their final say against the Messiah, believing it was over, he silenced the world, by declaring, "It is finished."
Men, demons, whatevers, no longer had any power over God's anointed and we as children of God have inherited this position by the victory cry from the cross.
Labels: Jesus, Listening, Temptation
Come and See...
Jesus looked around and saw them following. "What do you want?" he asked them. They replied, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?" "Come and see", he said. John 1:37-38 (NLT)
I wonder if Jesus was walking our streets today what our response would be to this question. There were a million questions these disciples could have asked - instead they chose to spend time with Jesus in his environment.
Often today we want the blessings and the latest thing from God, without wanting him. The disciples wanted to get to know more about Jesus, there was no concept of self. How often do we just want to go and see who the Lord is? If only our agendas were God's too.
By calling him Rabbi, they were saying "you teach us what you want". Jesus said "Come and see..." As a result of spending time with Jesus where he wanted them, they we privileged to see healings, miracles and the character of God displayed before their very eyes! They saw amazing events like Jesus walking on water, the transfiguration and Jesus after his resurrection - these would have been beyond their wildest imaginations to ask for.
The Lord wants to bless us and wants to see miracles, but above all these things he wants a relationship with us, where our desire is to know him for who he is.
David was a man after God's own heart and he became perhaps one of the greatest kings of history. He said "The one thing I ask of the Lord — the thing I seek most — is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his Temple."
Mary wanted to sit at Jesus' feet - and she was the first to see the resurrected Saviour! Blessings abound when we follow the Lord's agenda. Jesus still says - "What do you want? Come and see..."
Follow the Good Shepherd's Voice
After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. John 10:4 (NLT)
The Lord Jesus is the great heavenly shepherd, who is constantly gathering his flock back to his care after their aimless wanderings without him.
In ancient times, a shepherd would devote his life to his sheep, making sure that they were never out of his sight. He would protect them from ravenous wolves and lead them to good pasture for nourishment. He would also stand in the gap of the fold, to prevent wanderings in the night.
During the day, he would be constantly calling them and giving them direction. If other shepherds were nearby they would still only listen to their master's voice for direction.
How we need to learn the sound of the Good Shepherd's voice! There are so many false voices calling out, that often we can get confused by them and lose our direction. The Lord Jesus has promised to walk ahead of us and direct us - but are we listening to his voice?
If we are close to his side, his voice is so easily recognised we will never be mistaken, but if we take our eyes away from the shepherd and stray over the hill, his voice can be lost in the crowd of all the other voices.
God doesn't want to scream at us just to get our attention, he wants us to want him, know him and delight in him. Don't listen to strangers, listen to God!
