Luke 23:33 The place which is called Calvary.

This is now a hill of comfort and joy. 

My heart is broken yet glad today as I climb this hill and see my saviour upon that cursed tree.

What was dark is now light and what was death is now life.

So let's live out this life that was freely given to us.

"We must not look at everyday blessings but at the transactions of the crucifixion." (Charles Spurgeon)

Out of this place I pray you are set free to enjoy sharing this time with friends, family and strangers.

The place which is called Calvary. It all hangs on this.

+jk

Matthew 7:1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

 3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

John 12:47 For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.


When I judge someone I break relationship with them.

I give them no room to be who they are and who they could become.

If Jesus came to the world and didn't judge how much more should we not judge those in the world.

Grace is about space.

Grace is creating room.

Grace allows relationships to grow.

Grace gives vision.

Judgment impairs our vision for the future.

The future is about people.

Relationships makes me sane.

Relationships ground me in Christ.

Relationships define my saltiness.

Loneliness makes me crazy.

Judging others separates me and drives me mental.

Lord help us to not be judgemental but rather be 'grace-mental'.

Help us to see our own faults, lead us to repentance and relationship with you.

Help us to see people the way you see them.

 
2 Cor 5:¹⁶So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin^[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.



+jk

2 Corinthians 13:4
For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him to serve you.


Ever felt so weak and so powerless that you wanted to give up or stop.

Last night at CHANGE the power went off 1/4 of the way into my message.

Initially it could of felt appropriate to send everyone home because we were powerless
to run the meeting the way we knew to run it.

My voice could only carry a certain distance.

There was no more keyboards in the background

No more nice lighting.

We were sitting in the dark.

Most people feel weak and in the dark.

We found ourselves as a community in the same place.

As I read out Romans and shouted out about the love of God versus the wrath of God and how we were all destined to live in the dark without God but through God's mercy and grace he has made a way for us into light, I realized God is able to use our weakness and turn it into His power.

We have no power to stop death.
We have no power to change a heart.
We have no power to heal terminal illness.

When we are weak He is strong.
He gets all the glory.

Allow God to work through you today and he will live through you to serve others.

So that those that feel weak may find strength in Him.

At the end of the service we sang about the love of God raining down on us.

Unplugged.  It was amazing.

Next week we will have the power back on, but I pray we would still cry out with the same passion, recognizing our need for Him everyday.

+jk

Colossians 1:19-20

¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

We tend towards dividing and tearing down

Jesus unites and reconciles

whether things on earth or things in heaven|||||||||||||||

We argue between the following...

Big Church or Small church
Giving to Church or Giving to Justice causes
Jews or Gentiles
Greeks or non Greeks
Rich or Poor
Developed or Undeveloped
Black or White
Loud or Quiet
Shout or Whisper
Happy or Sad
Laughter or Crying
Resting or Working
Leader or Follower
Organic or Structured
Corporate or Personal
Stadiums or Houses
Preaching or Sharing
Young or Old
Fast or Slow
Spirit or Teaching
Inspiration or Doctrine
Heaven or Earth...

We take sides, we miss the point, we cause division, we miss the opportunity.

God is the God of both.

Why not embrace both.

All Things.

+jk

Genesis 6:5-9
  ⁵ The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. ⁷ So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.  ⁹ This is the account of Noah.
      Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.


I just sat next to a guy on the plane from Sydney to Brisbane who is a heart surgeon. 

It was such a weird moment. 

He was going to Brisbane to give 3 talks to a room full of doctors on how they should decide who and who doesn't get a heart transplant and for what reasons.  A huge moral dilemma. 

He said it is a minefield, "the basic premise is a 20 year old non-smoker is going to get the heart over a 60 year-old ex-smoker...but you can't really say that."

I was going to Brisbane to give 3 talks to a room full of young adults on how we all need a new heart. A huge moral dilemma.

So God ordained this moment.

I was reading a Calvin commentary on Romans

He was reading about a crooked wallstreet broker who made billions and went to jail

He lived in New York, I lived in New York

I asked what are you reading and he asked what are you reading...and the journey began.

He knew something about the physical heart and I knew something about the spiritual heart.

Our worlds collided in a moment of relativism versus truth

Heaven and Earth

Life and Death

I had nothing to prove...God is my witness. I am justified/righteous by faith and faith alone.

We connected. We smiled. We Laughed. We got serious.

I shared from my new heart that God has given me through Jesus

A seed was sown in his heart

We exchanged names.

We walked off the plane to do our jobs of talking about the heart.

Now I pray.

Thank you Jesus.

+jk