Dealing with Zechariah 4 and service this week...
here are two of the main quotes from my message....
"Who actually is more important…who do we treat first?
Well I want to be honest and realistic here…because I know in my life, when I am relaxed and sitting down with a good coffee…on Sunday afternoon kicking back….I am primarily concerned about myself…I am not thinking about others 24 hours a day. In fact you could mount an argument that if you don’t look after yourself you wont be able to look after others. To spend all your time worried about others is not actually healthy…in fact I would surmise that you have issues with boundaries if you do that. If you cannot find time for yourself…then you will suffer burnout.
But having said that…lets talk about service…lets talk about what is healthy service…what is balanced service…and maybe there are some adjustments that you need to make at some end of the scale. "

"You know in the 70’s and 80’s of Christendom there was a great emphasis on personal salvation…people need to make the decision to follow Christ themselves. I think although there is truth in that…we know for instance that each of our children are not Christians by birth…we know that each of us have a decision to make…will I follow Jesus or not…we have lost something of the truth of this passage. (John 15) God has formed us for family. We are designed to be part of the body of Christ. People say I can be a Christian and not go to church. As though church is something you go to! Church is not something you go to…it is something you are part of…The church is the body of Christ…either you are part of the body of Christ…or you are journeying towards becoming part of the body of Christ…the church…or you are not. We get annoyed with someone in the body of Christ…and suddenly we say…I am not being part of the church anymore…well actually you are saying you are not part of Christ then! "