Tag Archives: 5:17 life

You and I are not intended to plunge down the mountain of radical obedience alone

Posted by on May 10, 2012 No comments

A quote that was read a couple of times on the weekend:

High atop the Andes Mountains, the rays of the sun strike ice, and a single drop of water forms. It begins to trace a hesitant course downward, gradually joining with other drops of water to become a steady stream. The stream gains speed and strength. Thousands of feet below and hundreds of miles later, what were once single drops have converged to become the mightiest river on earth: the Amazon. Flowing into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate of more than seven million cubic feet per second, the Amazon is more powerful than the next ten largest rivers in the world combined.

In my book Radical, I explored how the biblical gospel affects individual Christian lives. Simply put, in a world of urgent spiritual and physical need, gospel-believing, God-exalting men and women do not have time to waste their lives pursuing a Christian spin on the American [Australian, Singaporean, Canadian etc] dream. Using the imagery above, I tried to picture what happens when the truth of Christ penetrates our hearts, melts our assumptions, and propels us on a journey of abandonment to God.

But you and I are not intended to plunge down the mountain of radical obedience alone. That’s one of the reasons I love this imagery of the Amazon. The force of a single drop of water descending the Andes is minus cule. Similarly, as long as individual Christians journey alone—no matter how “radical” they are—their effect will be minimal. But as men and women who are surrendered to the person of Christ join together in churches that are committed to the purpose of Christ, then nothing can stop the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth

David Platt, Radical Together (pp.1-2).

Then on page 5:

If you and I want our lives to count for God’s purpose in the world, we need to begin with a commitment to God’s people in the church. God has called us to lock arms with one another in single-minded, death-defying obedience to one objective: the declaration of his gospel for the demonstration of his glory to all nations. This is God’s design for his people, and it is worth giving our lives to see it accomplished. It is worth it for billions of people who do not yet know that Jesus is the grave-conquering, life-giving, all-satisfying King. And it is worth it for you and me, because we were made to enjoy the great pleasures of God in the context of total abandonment to his global purpose.

David Platt, Radical Together (pp.1-2).

As I mentioned in yesterdays blog post, let’s keep discussing this book, it’s ideas, and how we can “enjoy the great pleasures of God in the context of radical abandonment to His global purpose”.

Church Camp – brilliant!

Posted by on May 9, 2012 No comments

I’m still tired, but so thoroughly encouraged by our church weekend away. A big thanks to Matt for finding a beautiful place to stay, and for everyone else who made the weekend possible. We love being and doing church with you! And we look forward to what God will do in and through us in the coming weeks, months, years as we:

  1. Work against the tyranny of the good
  2. Trust in the gospel that saves us from work but saves us to work
  3. Dig into the Word that does the work
  4. Depend on the wrong people to be the right church
  5. Live and long for the end of the world
  6. Be selfless followers of a self-centred God.

(Radical Together, David Platt)

Ask any of our church campers about any of the above which don’t make sense to you! Let’s keep the conversation going – so we can all be radical followers of Jesus, and so that God will continue to unleash the people of God for the purpose of God.

Church Camp registration now open!

Posted by on April 8, 2012 No comments

wahoo! You can now register for 5:17′s inaugural church camp here! Please fill out the form ASAP; you have till Thursday April 26 to do so, but the organisers would love if you could earlier than this. We’re praying for a full complement of 5:17ers to come. Please ask any 5:17 leaders if you have any questions about coming…

Church Camp –

Posted by on March 30, 2012 No comments

As has been announced the last few Sundays, and in Eleasa’s emails – 5:17′s first ever church camp is coming. The dates are Friday 4th – Monday 7th May (Labour Day long weekend). It will be held at a Mt Tamborine campsite. It will be cabin-camping, so not “real” camping!

 

Please save the dates – because Eleasa promises ‘it’s gonna be a great time getting to know each other, discussing a RADICALLY cool book, and getting away to beautiful Mt Tamborine :) .  Registration details coming soon.

Equip them, train them, support them, and set them free…

Posted by on January 10, 2012 Comments Off

To prepare for our church leadership meeting tomorrow night (our Engine Room), we’re reading a book by David Platt called ‘Radical Together’. It’s an excellent book about “unleashing the people of God in the church to carry out the purposes of God in the world”.  As a pastor, one paragraph stood out to me this morning:

If you are a leader in the church, think about the individuals in your care. See their faces, hear their names, and picture their lives. Consider how God has written a different story in each of their lives, filled with varied circumstances and challenges, trials and temptations, experiences and encounters. He has sovereignly led them to the life stage and situation where they now find themselves, surrounded by people you will never meet and opportunities you will never have. And you have been called by God to serve them in the accomplishment of God’s purpose for their lives. If you’re like me, the last thing you want is to sideline them to sit during a performance while you do the work or to participate in a program you have created. Instead, you want to equip them, train them, support them, and set them free to use everything God has given them to make His glory known in ways you could never design or imagine. (page 67)

This is a good reminder of my role as your pastor. Please pray for me – to equip you, train you, support you, and set you free to love and serve the Lord Jesus at church and throughout your world. And in doing so, may we fulfill the purpose God gave us in Ephesians 4:11-16

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The end result being: 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 

 

Why does 5:17 church exist?

Posted by on January 7, 2012 Comments Off

A month or so ago, we had our Back to the Future night: giving thanks to God for the year that had passed, and sharing how we are prayerfully planning to move forward for the years to come. Below is the vision:

We’re going to try and plaster this ‘vision’ for 5:17 church everywhere – on our newsheets, on this blog, in sermons, at our Community Groups, everywhere. Why? Because we want to be intentional about church. We want to make sure that everything we do helps God receive the glory as people grow to love and follow Jesus.

So, that’s the vision. If you’re a 5:17er, please prayerfully think through how you can help us live out this vision (how you can grow as a Christian, and how you can help others grow as Christians). And if for some reason you don’t come to 5:17 church, we’d love you to come visit us.

Finally, if you pray, then please partner with us by asking God to give us humility, wisdom, grace and love – so that we live out this vision faithfully.

A year of sermons in picture: remember these?

Posted by on November 18, 2011 Comments Off

 

 

 

Myth busting

Posted by on October 11, 2011 Comments Off

This series of talks are currently happening at church in the hope that we will bust some of the myths surrounding Christianity and set the record straight. We’d love you to come listen to any or all of them, examine the Bible with us, ask questions, and hopefully get meaningful, satisfying, and even life-changing answers from God and His word.

On our part, we promise to respect where you’re coming from, and not demand anything from you. And we promise free dinners after church! We sincerely hope you’ll check us, the Bible, Jesus, and Christianity out.

09/10 – Christianity is for mindless morons
16/10 – Christianity does more harm than good
23/10 – Christianity is for wimps
30/10 – Christians hate homosexuals
06/11 – Christians are all hypocrites
13/11 – All religions are the same
20/11 – You can’t take the Bible literally
27/11 – …so what does all this mean for me?

Video: Top 10 Tips for Welcoming

Posted by on July 20, 2011 2 comments

Following on from our front door, I just came across this video. It’s a bit cheesy, but the advice is well worth a view (especially for our welcoming team, but not exclusively so – it’s helpful for all of us at 5:17 to watch, think through, and put into action):

 

HT: Communicate Jesus

Who do you serve?

Posted by on July 13, 2011 Comments Off

Last Sunday at 5:17, we looked at Proverbs 30:7-9, and the topic of wealth. We also looked at Jesus’ strong words in Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

It’s a simple saying. It’s like saying that you are either married or you are not married. Or that you have a job or don’t have a job – there are two options and only one can be true. It’s a simple statement that Jesus is making: you cannot serve both God and money. It’s one or the other – not both!

No one can serve two masters! You cannot serve both God and money! It says no one … you cannot, and I cannot. There’s no exception to the rule.

The ANZ Bank commercial a few years ago said “you need more money.” We are often inundated with pressure to get good marks at school, so we can get into a good uni course, so we can get a great job, so that we can make money and prosper, and ensure ourselves a secure future. None of these things are wrong in themselves. Money is good – I need it to provide for my family, for food and shelter, to help God’s Kingdom grow. But money is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Yet the pressure is to make it the end – like another bank ad once said: “he who dies with the most wins!”

But Jesus says that you cannot serve both God and money! Either our goal is God – that we use the money we’ve been given for Him and His kingdom (to share the love of Jesus through word and deed); or we use the money we’ve been given to serve money by wanting more and more. We need to make a choice. If we say we’re a Christian, we need to serve God with ‘His’ money.

We need to consider ourselves blessed not just for my our own (individuals and family’s) good, but to be a blessing to the world around me. This could mean sponsoring a Compassion child for $44 per month, or giving more to church so we can give more to the Hughes who are heading to Japan to connect Japanese uni students with Jesus; it could mean financing a 5:17er to go to BLT+ so they can be better equipped to know and tell the gospel of Jesus. It could mean many things!

How can we find out how we’re growing in generosity? Check your credit card statement – that’ll often tell you who you serve. What does yours say about who you’re serving? Far too often, mine tells me I serve myself – no, it tells me I’m serving money. I need to be better disciplined in my giving to others – because it is better to give than to receive, and God loves a (grace-motivated) cheerful giver.

And I need to keep praying the following prayer: “Lord, please help me to use your money wisely, in service to you and to build your kingdom, and to continually pray for help to resist the temptation to build my own kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen” Maybe that could be a helpful prayer for you too?