Saturday 29 October 2011

Worship central: authority and compassion

#wcconf #worshipcentral #westcc

Al Gordon about to speak after an amazing (annointed) worship time lead by Matt Redman......

Let's catch that vision of seeing our communities transformed....

How do we become agents of change in our communities?

Matt 9:35-10:1

The Workers Are Few Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing ev‐ery disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd . Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, there‐fore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

When Jesus saw the crowds He had compassion... He gave the disciples authority to heal and drive out demons He sent the 12 to preach: 'the Kingdom of heaven is here.....do the stuff I showed you'

There was no great training, they had seen Jesus, they had heard Jesus.....now they were expected to rely on the same Spirit as did Jesus. And He showed up big time!

3 keys

A. Accept God's authority. ( He gave them authority - divine power given from God) We can only be real change agents when we actually ACCEPT the authority Jesus gives. This process was recognised straight away by the centurion who asked for healing for his servant...

God the father, who is the source of power, works through the son Jesus, to give us 'delegated authority' to operate in the same way Jesus did.

B. Bring God's blessing - the worship team should be the most servant hearted team in the church- they are blessed to be a blessing. Our choice- to be servant hearted bringers of blessing or to be something else? Anything else is short of the calling

C. Carry God's compassion. Everything Jesus does is driven by compassion. This is the key to seeing communities transformed. Compassion breaks out in attitude and action, mere words are insufficient. If we don't love the people God has called us to lead - we are not leaders after God's heart. Love breaks out as compassion.

We do not go alone. God forms and equips teams - and by His Spirit He accopanies us with His presence and equips us with His power.

The challenge to be agents of change in the manner and after the heart of the Shepherd. Moving in the Spirit with authority, in power, driven by the compassion of Jesus.

If you found yourself among those twelve, what would you ask Jesus for?

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