This morning we start hearing stories that Jesus told. Today it is the wheat and the weeds. This is a story that invites God to search our hearts in order that we would become part of the crop of wheat and not the weeds. #portstewartpresbyterian #presbyterianireland #storiesJesustold
Has the church adopted something of celebrity culture expecting one person or a small handful to do everything? Do we need to release more people into service? Acts 6 is a lesson in releasing more people into the leadership and care of the church. #portstewartpresbyterian #presbyterianireland #acts
Why do our churches today struggle to impact our communities in the way the church in Acts impacted Jerusalem? Is it because our priorities are wrong? In Acts the church prioritised Jesus, trust in God and the truth. #portstewartpresbyterian #presbyterianireland #portstewart #acts
Is the church struggling to have an impact on the world because Jesus has been removed from the centre and prayer from the heart of the church? #portstewart #presbyterianireland #acts #PortstewartPresbyterian
Where is our hope? Is our hope of heaven found in Jesus. Why do we believe we are going to heaven? Is it because we have believed in Jesus. If we believe in Jesus then our hope is not for something that comes after death, our hope is lived out today. If we believe in Jesus, then we will live for him today. He will be the centre of our lives today.
The Good Shepherd isn’t asking to do things, we don’t have to try and find him, he comes to us. We don’t have to atone for our sin, he does that for us. We don’t have to clean our act up, he does that by declaring we are a new creation. We simply allow the shepherd to lead us. We listen to his voice and follow him.
When our goal is the church, we are robbing people of something incredibly important. Jesus. Jesus is the gate; Jesus is the one we must bring people to if we want them to become part of the church. Everything we do is about pointing people to Jesus.