We are governed by them.
Whether we like it or not our lives are determined by eternal seasons, cycles
that provide for us boundaries that constrain us and opportunities for us to grow.
Like the Garden.
The word ‘season’ comes from a Latin word meaning ‘to sow’
According to the Moons cycle, I should be careful when to sow and when to leave
the ground alone. Like, ‘Plant your potatoes on the shortest day of the year’…What’s that all about?
Something greater than my plans are at work, that I am subjected to, if I choose to be.
And there is wisdom in following something bigger than me, the sun and the moon,
great lights that circle the earth, put in place so that I can reach my full potential.
A time to sleep, a time to wake, a time to plant, and a time to leave fallow.
There is another set of Seasons that we can follow, if we choose to.
This is the Church Liturgical Season, which engages us in a completely different
rhythm, a journey from chronos – chronological time, to kairos time, which is viewed
as an opportunity or encounter.
It is also an eternal season, which offers -
‘an invitation to live time in eternity, to discover a new understanding of God and Creation.’
-Henri Nouwen.
So we are in Winter. And according to the Church Calendar, the season of Ordinary Time.
Our focus is on the life of Christ, God became flesh, and all of the mysteries and wonders that
surround that incredible season in the history of the World.
How does that affect me today?
I like to believe that it ‘s influence is as powerful as any breath-taking frosty morning or snow
capped peak.
So let’s engage ourselves fully with the Seasons that we live in, for as the writer of Ecclesiastes
says, ‘There is a time for everything under heaven….’
Linda
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I have a birthday calendar.
I like to think that I could remember everybody’s birthday without recording them, but that’s
getting harder as the years go by. But even with my concise system in place, if I don’t look at it on a regular basis,
I am bound to forget a birthday or two…even a whole months worth sometimes.
Birthdays are important.
In my family, they are the reason that we gather at least 5, (and more recently 7)
times a year to celebrate the life of one, no excuses, no absences…!
Edge Family is having a Birthday on Sunday. We are turning 11.
That’s an achievement to be proud of.
Now at my family gatherings, everyone has to attend. It’s the only time they do what they are told!
I’d like to say the same to all of you….but that would be taking things a little far.
But I do want to encourage you all to come along, join the celebration and remember many of
the amazing times we have shared together on the journey so far.
Happy Birthday Edge.
Linda
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I was totally struck this morning by an incredible passage in Isaiah (40:1-2)…
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
And proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed,
That her sin has been paid for…
You know what? No matter how long I’ve been following Jesus I am always so stoked to be comforted by God. He spoke to the Israelites as a woman, tenderly and graciously. He declared a time when all the sins of humanity would be satisfied in Jesus Christ and he would comfort us.
As I read it I remembered the moment God spoke to me when I was living totally against Him. He spoke my name when I had chosen not to listen. It brought me to tears remembering how graceful He is.
This passage is just before the one John (the Baptist) quotes in his declaration of the coming Kingdom. Jesus came and is coming again. We are living with sin for only a short time longer now before our world is renewed and those in Christ will enjoy His fruit like we never have before.
I pray that today, whatever your doing, you remember what God has done for you. And find a second wind, a passion and a renewed excitement about what’s coming for us in Christ.
Strahan.
Posted by strahan Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Over the last four weeks those of us at Edge School have been stimulated and challenged to re-think who Jesus really is, stripped of flannel board cosiness and sterile religiosity
Last night we we took another good long look at the Image of the invisible God: Jesus. Even though we can’t see him in flesh and blood, we can see him in history, in the story, clothed in normalness; and, with our imagination infused with the Holy Spirit we can really, truly see God. Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said that it was better for him to go… maybe seeing him through the Spirit is even better than flesh and blood.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as
well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
The way isn’t a method; it’s a relationship. Truth isn’t a concept; it’s a Person. Life is knowing Jesus, not just a head-knowledge, but an all-of-life-experience-knowing. Jesus expresses EVERYTHING of who God is. He perfectly represents God. Jesus sums up God’s character in every way. Jesus is our reference point for understanding everything about God. God with us; God knowable; God who weeps; God who feasts; God the Storyteller; the Humble; the Gracious; our Defender. A God who has true feelings, who welcomes children, builds furniture, restores dignity, rides donkeys and suffers on our behalf.
Let’s keep dismantling and demolishing our plastic versions of Jesus!
Erin.
Posted by strahan Posted in School | 1 Comment »
New.June 24th, 2010
Last week I went to Palmerston North with Greg to visit a few churches, see what he does and get a feel for the network. It was awesome.
I was praying before I left and I felt like God spoke a scripture to take with me, maybe a word for someone else, or maybe a word for me. It turned out both in the end. It was Isaiah 43:19;
“See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland”
It’s an incredible scripture, spoken to the Israelites in a moment of hopelessness after they had been over run by the Babylonians. In a barren situation where by all appearances God seemed to have deserted them, he in fact promised them something completely new. It reminds me of that Kevin Prosch song we sing here a bit ‘For he has wounded us, but he will bandage us’.
God has a way of speaking into the dark places and bringing new life. Even when it feels and looks like no good thing can come out of us or our situation, Christ brings out new streams.
On Sunday night, Greg shared that the word for “new” in the Hebrew is “chadesh”. It means to restore, to repair, and to renew. And he felt that the scripture is a word for Edge.
The chorus of the Kevin Prosch song is ‘he will come to us like rain, spring rain’. It’s hard sometimes to believe that God can create streams in the desert, and yet we the Church have Gods Holy Spirit, and we are the river God has sent into a thirsty world.
God is our spring rain, and in him we are the worlds. It’s exciting to know, that for us and for the world, God is doing a new thing.
Strahan.
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“The man who would KNOW GOD must give time to Him.
He must count no time wasted which is spent in the cultivation of His acquaintance.
He must give himself to meditation and prayer hours on end.”
A.W. Tozer.
Come along if your free every Thursday 7am-7pm.
Jay.
Posted by strahan Posted in Prayer | 1 Comment »
Something has gone terribly wrong…
In John Eldridge’s book ‘Wild at Heart’ he discusses a number of pertinent issues to the modern man. He suggests that we have lost our heart. The quotes below are given to provoke and inspire the reader, yet I can’t help but wonder if he is even getting close to answering the real questions? And so we will discuss this on Monday night at EDGE.
To steal a phrase from Vodafone… “Lets talk like we used to”
EDGE Kingsland, This Monday June 21st, 7pm.
“In the heart of every man is a desperate desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.”
“A man must have a battle to fight, a great mission to his life… He must have a cause to which he is devoted even unto death. …There is something fierce in the heart of every man.”
“A man needs a much bigger orbit than a woman. He needs a mission and a life purpose. Only then is he fit for a woman, for only then does he have something to invite her into.”
“Adventure, with all its requisite danger and wildness, is a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of a man.”
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” -Gil Bailie
Jamie.
Posted by admin Posted in events, men | 2 Comments »
God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.
J. Hudson Taylor
We talk of the second coming, half the world has never heard of the first.
Oswald J. Smith
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.
John Piper
Let my heart be broken with the things that break God’s heart
Bob Pierce, World Vision founder
You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving.
Amy Carmichael, missionary to India
Come in July to add your voice to the mix and hear what God is saying to us today beyondborders.org.nz.
Strahan.
Posted by strahan Posted in mission | No Comments »
Prayer is on every Thursday peeps. You can either (literally) “chill” in the chapel while Here’s My Home cranks through the system, or get all cushion-cosy in the prayer room. Musos will be jamming between 5:30-6:30pm, creating a prayerful, worship space for those who want to re-calibrate rush hour.
So come and use the chapel and prayer room!
Use me – light a candle, grab a pen
say a prayer or stand on your head
Prayer’s not a chore, but a conversation with a friend
So, take a moment to enjoy… a pause to listen
or make a request
There’s permission to complain
to rant and rave
and then to give in, give up, give over
To thank and praise and wonder
Play the music loud or whisper in a corner
Scribble your hearts desire on a wall
and maybe you’ll get an answer
Waste time with God.
Jay.
Posted by strahan Posted in Prayer | No Comments »
So I hope you are all praying that Jesus would help the All Whites win a game at the football world cup! And for the cynical among you, have faith…just remember how Jesus found you that car park when you asked him!
Okay, so maybe that Jesus is more the plastic Jesus we are trying to dismantle than the real one. Maybe Jesus has bigger things on his mind than whether the All Whites win a game. Besides which, there will be more Christians in the USA and England praying for their teams than we have people in NZ, so we won’t have a show of convincing Jesus to back our team!!
But seriously, at School we are having a great time “dismantling the plastic Jesus”. There are still two more sessions so it’s not too late to come along.
Last week Mark Donovan led us in a good discussion about why we believe Jesus was both God and man, and why it matters for our faith that it is true. In the process we looked at some of our faulty understandings about this that distort our true understanding of Jesus. You can find the notes and get involved in the discussion here.
This week we are going to look at Jesus’ time on earth. Can Jesus’ story simply be summed up by Christmas and Easter? Is there something more? What was his life really about? On the way, maybe we will dismantle a few more of our plastic ideas about Jesus.
So come and join us this Thursday, 7pm in the Edge Kingsland café for good times, good chats, good baking, and a good chance to dismantle the plastic Jesus together…we would love to see you there.
Andy D.
Posted by andy Posted in School | 1 Comment »
