The "F" word

What a lot of words there are that commence with the letter"F". There's fifty, which is what I'm turning today. There's fragile, which is what our church is, according to some people. Too much is reliant on too few to make it happen. What would happen if someone left? Are fifty and fragile linked? Sometimes I think they are, but then I realise that 50 is a lot of experience and a lot (God willing) of living still to go.

What about Faith? Are faith and fragile linked? Or are they opposites? Perhaps when things appear fragile we need to exercise more faith. Maybe then the church will look more fruitful and more fantastic and more ...

For me I want to be seen as more faithful ie more full of faith. I'd also like to be more fruitful, but I guess that's in God's hands. Still there is much to be grateful for. Out of the 59 people present in worship this morning 20 have started attending since we were appointed here just fourteen months ago. That's fantastic! God is faithful!!!

Any more f words you can think of?

Follow me

In the Australia Southern Territory our Self Denial Appeal DVD has the words follow me on it. These simple words are just so profound when spoken by Jesus. On Sunday I felt led to use these words as the basis for the message. This started with the Macedonian call to Paul described in Acts 16. In this area we are based in there are many different nationalities. In our corps there are now a few different nationalities represented. God may call us to leave home and follow him but He has also bought a multi-racial fishing pond almost at our door.
I then moved on to talk about the call of the Lord to follow Him and be a fisher of men right where we are. I concluded with a simple talk about salvation in case God The Holy Spirit was moving in someone's heart and the need for growth. It was at this stage that people seemed to be listening the most and the words were flowing. That's a sure sign of God working! There was no visible response but the prayer of one of the soldiers showed me that God was working.

Now I have the opportunity to teach discipleship for the next few months. Does anyone have any ideas about what following Jesus really means, particularly for the long established Christian? I'll be happy for you to share them.