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.

Praying for Harvest Glasgow

Here are some things to be thankful for and to be praying for us as we seek to plant this local church.

Thanksgiving
The number of people who are still expressing an interest in being part of Harvest Glasgow, and who are excited about the vision that we have for ministering impactfully as a local church.

The way that our Men's ministry, 'Fortify' and womens ministry 'Flourish' have already begun to develop deeper disciples living for God's glory- for the amazing sense of community that God has begun to produce amongst the launch team.

Alison and I were working out some rough Geography for our small groups and noted that we had 30 people who needed to be accommodated between the core launch team members and others who have expressed a commitment to be part of the church from launch.

We have one confirmed intern for next year, a theology student at a local college, and others who are praying about the possibility of giving time to the work ranging between 10-20 hours. Our desire has been to create a team environment and we are thankful that God has gone ahead of us in this regard.

Prayer
For our children's ministry and worship teams to develop strongly, for wisdom in the leadership of these and for a clear sense of unity and direction in these areas.

All our incorporation papers are submitted- please pray that this process would be completed quickly so that we can be properly established. Likewise our bank account is in process of being opened.

For the resources, human and material, that we need to undertake the work in such a way as reflects the excellence of God's greatness. He has already proved himself so faithful in providing for us and we continue to trust in Him for all things.

A number of people are still pondering whether to make Harvest Glasgow their church, pray that for those God has for us He would plant within them an urgency to be part of what God is doing in this local church. That God would meet our needs in regards to drawing to us Godly men and women with a passion for God's greater glory, a heart for the local church, a desire to deepen their walk with Jesus, and a recognition that they are called to love for something greater than themselves.

Launch Sunday will come quickly and while there is much to do our most important prayer is that the fruit of that service will be life transformation to the glory of God. Pray for those who attend and for those who prepare that God, by His grace, will change lives in such a way as can only be explained by pointing to Him.

Thanks once more for your prayers. Do get in contact and let us know how you are and how we can serve you or if we can give you any more information about how you can get involved in what we see God doing here in Glasgow.

James MacDonald on Young Preaching Mistakes

http://blog.harvestbiblefellowship.org/?p=2414