This blog has now moved

In case you hadn't guessed. I have given up on blogging here. I am now blogging here

Harvest Bible Chapel Glasgow Spring Conference

Have you found your tribe?

In less than a week the doors of the church we are planting opens as Harvest Bible Chapel Glasgow. Please pray for us as we seek to put the finishing preparations together for this work. Pray for the children's ministry and worship team in particular- that their ministry amongst us will be both bold and lcear in it's witness to God's great glory and excellence. I am reminded often about a conversation I had with a friend around 18 months ago. He asked me this question which came to have a huge impact on our thinking and led to us eventually planting Harvest Glasgow- 'have you found your tribe?'

It caused me to seek a way to invest myself in ministry with others who shared the same priorities, passions, pursuits and prayers as I did.’ Where do you belong? Who are you going to give your life with? It is a question about finding people who share the same priorities, apssions, pursuits and prayers as you do for the cause of the Gospel.

Priorities
The four pillars of Harvest Glasgow give a clear statement of what we regard as central. We want to be unapologetically Biblical, lift high Jesus name in worship, believe firmly in the power of prayer and bold with the Gospel. We contend that if we as a church look after the depth, God will look after the breadth.

Passions
We are fired up about following God with all that we are and all that we have.
The things that we are passionate about, and the extent to which that impacts our lives demonstrates the focus of our worship.

Pursuits
We are called to pursue one thing and that alone- God’s glory. We long to see a local church who together spur one another on to a deepening walk with God, living for Him alone.

Prayer
We are praying that God would be glorified in this city, and that lives would be transformed by the Gospel. We are praying for you that you would find a church that increases your impact for Him.

http://www.harvestglasgow.org

Nehemiah 9

Restoring a City: Nehemiah 9- Time to confess and commit.

Confession (1)- there is a time for responding to God’s Word with Godly grief. (2 Corinthians 7: 10)
Contrast (2)- The major distinction between the church and the world is by way of the sin diagnosis.
Commitment (3-4)- This is no slap-dash exercise by a concentrated and intentional measuring of oneself against God’s Word and throwing oneself upon God’s grace
Context (5-15)- When we confess to God, we come to one who is full of power and faithful with promises.
He creates /He chooses/He promises/He sees & hears/He rescues/He leads/He rules/He provides.

Marks of rebellion
Presumptuous (16a): Not considering the Lord
Stubbornness (16b): Not listening to the Lord
Disobedience (17a): Not following the Lord
Unthankfulness (17b): Forgetting the Lord
Idolatry (18): Replacing the Lord
Rebelliousness (26a): Opposing the Lord
Spiritual hardness (26b): Rejecting the Lord

Miracle of redemption
Forgiveness (17b): But you are a God...
Patience (18): Even when....
Grace (20): You gave...
Deliverance (28): Yet when
Mercy (31): Nevertheless...

God is unchanging even when we are inconsistent (17).
God is patient even when we are persistent (30)
God is faithful even when we are fickle (32)
Because of all God is- time to confess and commit.

Nehemiah 8

As a launch team at Harvest we have been looking at Nehemiah under the title 'Restoring a City.' On Sunday we spent some time in chapter 8 and looked what does it mean to have God's Word as central to what we do. Here are my notes from it:

Restoring a City: Nehemiah 8
Word-centredness produces worshipping community.

What would we suggest being at the heart of such an occasion?
They don't ask for a show
They don't crave a circus
They ask for God's Word
Call for us to abandon attractional tendencies and pursue Biblical priorities.

Anticipation breeds attendance (1)
Starving ears and hearts come longing to hear from God.
Thirsty people will gather where they will be quenched.

Appetite breeds attention(2-3)
The absence of something vital tends to focus the mind.
People willingly listen when they know there is life in the message.

Ascendance breeds acknowledgement (4-5)
The place given to God’s Word in a church defines the place it will have in the believer’s heart.

Ascription breeds adoration (6)
The priority given to God in a church defines the priority He will have in the believer’s heart.
The place of God's Word and the priority of God are inseparable- if we don't elevate what God's Word says then we cannot worship God for who He is.

Explanation breeds application (7-8)
Preaching for transformation not just education.
If we invest in the depth God will take care of the breadth..

Designed to replace grief with joy as lasting fruit. (9-12)

Some stuff you might find useful

I haven't linked to a bunch of useful stuff for a while so here is a list of links that you might find helpful:



What to do if your church goes emergent.

For the Love of God Vols 1 and 2 for free.

8 common problems with evangelism.

Brian Ingraham gives an update on Re:hope

Free book on the life of John Calvin

Children, Communion and membership (HT Church Matters @ 9 Marks)

Pastor-theologian/ Theologian-pastor- Carson/Piper discussion review

Welcome to Harvest Glasgow

Untitled from Scott Hamilton on Vimeo.