The Value of Equipping

The key events that followed the choosing of the 12 disciples and building his team of followers was that Jesus was preparing them for a life of investing and it began with Him.

Following His great conversations with the woman at the well and Nicodemus teaching the value of reaching all people, He went public with announcing His ministry. In Jesus’ inauguration message, He read the passage from Isaiah and it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Luke 4:16-31 (with reference to Isaiah 61:1,2) Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing…

The disciples were following Jesus and they were beginning to be equipped with the priority of His ministry –

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me


It was a ministry of GENEROSITY and INVESTMENT – life investment! The challenge the disciples needed to respond to was this:

Are you willing the risk the life that you know in order to become the person that God wants you to be. You can only move forward when the Spirit of the Lord is on you.

So, what happens…they respond. The disciples begin an unpaid internship and they learn on the job, the filleted the fish from the miraculous catch, they drank the wine in the ceremonial jugs, they were ducking when Jesus was turning the tables upside down in the temple and they were there when a year’s worth of perfume was poured over his feet…

to preach good news to the poor.

Jesus comes for those who know they are poor, not just physically poor, but spiritually so. He taught us to look at people from the inside out.
Mark 2:15-17 / Matthew 9 / Luke 5

Unfortunately the practical outworking of this belief was too hard of a pill for the religious leaders of the day to swallow. It was with disdain they looked at him entering the home of Matthew, the tax collector….why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? We are guilty by association! The religious leaders wanted no part of that kind of association but Jesus wore the title, ‘friend of sinners’ as a badge of honor.

Jesus was equipping his followers with the message that while there is only one road to Jesus, we need to be willing and ready to travel down every road to reach out to those in need of a Saviour. He equipped his followers with a GO mentality. We need to go to where people congregate and meet them where they are at. It is the very reason that I love the ministries that we are supporting. They all have a GO mentality. They are going to the poor, the orphans, to the streets, to the former crack house, to the reserves and transforming them with the living presence of Jesus Christ!

Jesus brought focus to His followers – go to WHO? those who are searching, longing for real life, the abundant life that comes from God.

Mark 2:17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Focus on the soul sick!
It was a SUPERNATURAL ministry.

The power of God showed up and was evident to all…


He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

So what does Jesus do following the giving of this message. He goes out and does the supernatural of course! Now, remember all the disciples are doing at this point are watching Him in action. They are spectators at this point, not participants…
Luke 4:31 First, He casts out an evil spirit and He does it with authority. – He equips with authority and He delivers on His promise – He sets a man free from his prison, the demons of his soul.

And recovery of sight for the blind, Mark 10:46

In the case of the blind Baremaeus, it is this – Ministry Happens! Don’t miss it in the midst of all the busyness, all the requests, all the demands on your schedule. Jesus taught His disciples ‘kairos’ time. Remember ‘kairos’ is a window of opportunity, a moment to see the eternal in the midst of the temporary and Jesus did it all the time.


To release the oppressed,

Luke 4:38 Jesus leaves the synagogue and goes to the home of Simon. He heals his mother in law of a high fever.

Mark 1:32-34 From there He goes all evening right after sunset dealing with the sick and demon possessed and freeing them from their personal hell. The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy…Jesus comes to heal, release and restore people to hope and life everlasting! His mission becomes our mission!

We then come to the cleansing of the man with leprosy. Matthew 8 / Mark 1 / Luke 5

We see more supernatural work at heart here, but it is clear that it comes with ‘belief and willingness’ on those who are seeking. The teaching is clear, ‘willingness through faith matched with His empowerment’ brings great deliverance.

And He is not finished as each miracle teaches the disciples about the power and authority that is found in the name of Jesus Christ.

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

For all that Jesus went through, He equipped his disciples with the message of the kingdom and repentance –Jesus will make you do a 180 degree turn from the way you used to see things to the way that they were always meant to be seen.

Whether it was the appointment of the 12 apostles, the Sermon on the Mount, public rejection by the Jewish leaders or teaching secrets about the kingdom in parables. Life and faith is an investment of your time, talents and resources into the things that will make a difference for eternity.

The Takeaway

When we follow Jesus, the miraculous comes after we step out in faith, not before.

The waters didn’t part on the Jordan River until the nation under Joshua first stepped into the river. That is the problem with most. They want to see the miraculous first. The signs and wonders follow, they don’t lead.

Thomas Jefferson loved the teachings of Jesus. The author of the Declaration of Independence called them the most sublime and benevolent code of morals ever offered to man. However, he couldn’t wrap his mind around the miraculous so he literally took scissors and cut out anything miraculous in his KJV Bible. It took him two or three nights and what was cut out …well the virgin birth, the angels, the resurrection, every miracle was extracted and he titled the book, the life and morals of Jesus…the Jefferson Bible.

It was AW Tozer who said in The Knowledge of the Holy, “When we make God in our own image, we’re left with a God who can never surprise us, never owverwhelm us, nor astonish us, nor transcend us.”

We need God to show up in the power of the Holy Spirit or we have nothing to offer

God has given us favor as a church and we need to continue to pray for favor. We are blessed to be a blessing!

I want to make it clear that these values are not fulfilled in programs. We don’t program BUILDING and EQUIPPING and WINNING and MULTIPLYING for that matter. They often happen simultaneously

Celebrating The Value of BUILDING!

I have a confession to make… I have led you astray for the past four years. I always represented our values as WBEM (win, build, equip and multiply); however that is the correct path for someone who comes to Southside; however it is not the correct path for the vision of our church. The vision for our church is to be turned INSIDE OUT and that begins with building, equipping, then winning and multiplying! It is so significant for me that I had the order of the banners changed to reflect this. Today I will unpack what it means for us to do just that, to be turned inside out as a church. It is biblical and it is based on the Son’s life and the way he ministered during his public life from his baptism at the age of 30.

OK, so what do we mean by that. Well it first starts by building dependence on God through prayer and through the community of faith in relationship with each other. We then get thoroughly equipped for every good work through the power of the Holy Spirit, teaching, instruction in righteousness. That is INSIDE….then we go OUT to be the church as missional and contagious followers of Jesus. We leave our safety nets to spread his net and we are contagious with the love of God. As people get near us the presence and love of God will rub off on them. It is natural, it is Spirit-led and it is based on the Son’s life and how He, Jesus Christ ministered when He was here!

There is a book called the Harmony of the Gospels and it lays out the events of Jesus’ life in the gospels side by side in chronological order. It is significant because He taught us how to minister.


Mark 1

Jesus taught:

Building prayerful dependence on God v9-12

Jesus’ public ministry began around the age of 30 when the Spirit of God descended upon Him as John baptized him in the Jordan River. Immediately following that He was led into the desert where He was tested for 40 days and what did He teach us there. The first step in His journey of ministry was complete dependence on God.

In every temptation He taught us a pattern, a life long practice of dependence on the Father. We are not driven by our physical desires, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. He taught us to reflect on the Word, to know the Word of God so that we won’t be deceived.


I know this might seem like stating the obvious, but everything in our culture will keep driving you away from that. Take for example the Athiest bus campaign that is presently taking place in England. (Article in the National Post) Can I tell you why I love God? (Answer in my time with Him – Psalm 14)

Early in his ministry he taught us where it all begins: It all begins with prayer to the Father. Ministry is birthed and revealed through prayer, it is cultivated and sustained through prayer!

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Luke 4:42-44 At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place

The revelation to be a church that is turned inside out was experienced together as the elders and staff prayed together. As elders we challenged each other to fast through a visioning time when turning Southside inside out crystallized.

Someone took the time to add up every command in the life of Christ. They discovered that there are 405 of them. 204 out of the 405 are disciple making commands! The other commands can be wrapped up into following 11 character qualities of Jesus. For example, walk as Jesus walked.

You can’t even begin to take a baby step without depending on God. We are to continue in Christ the same way that we received Him – live in Him Colossians 2:6

Building a team. Mark 1:14-20…the first small group! RELATIONAL

The next step in Jesus journey was that He gained followers through a variety of means. They were reached by the invitation of Jesus and in John 1:35-51 through the testimony of each other. The call was to first follow Jesus and we will see later how He equipped them to be fishers of men.


Building a ministry - It was a ministry of firsts!!

This was a foundational time during his ministry and it had to have the proper footings

First miracle: John 2 - turning water into wine – the ‘banquet metaphor’ of a new messianic kingdom and new way of cleansing from ‘ceremonial’ with the hands to a picture of the full and complete cleansing that would come through Jesus’ blood.

First cleansing of the temple at Passover: John 2 - He longed to return it to a house of prayer and the disciples remembered that ‘zeal for your house will consume me’ –passionate for the purposes of God and in a later cleansing He stated that His Father’s house was to be a place of prayer.

First conversation with the ‘religious’. John 3 He challenged Nick to be born of the Spirit. He needed to be ‘born again’ – A spiritual birth had to take place and that only comes through the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like the wind – you can’t control that. You can’t explain it, you can’t program it, but when the Spirit gets a hold of your life, it is truly inspiring and it is freeing.

First conversation with a woman John 4 with the woman at the well. He built a new way to worship – in Spirit and in truth. The worship of God is all about the location of your heart.

What stands out most to you about either one of these conversations?

First challenge – John 3, 4:34,35 He taught his disciples that people are ripe for harvest, that everyone matter to God from a late night secret meeting with a religious guy named Nick to speaking in broad daylight to the irreligious woman who had more men in her past than you have fingers on one hand!

From those very conversations He taught us to build an atmosphere of love….for God so loved the whole world. The call during this preparation period was simply ‘follow me’ Drink deeply from the living water! We are calling people to pursue Jesus passionately.


What are we building?

We are building a ministry of dependence upon God in everything we do here.

We are building a team

We are building a ministry of firsts! A place where people first experience the love of God, the intimate presence of Jesus, the wind of the Holy Spirit!!

We are trusting Jesus to do the miraculous here! We celebrate someone coming to faith in Jesus on the first Sunday of the year.
We want to live with clean temples – holy and pure for Him…God gets the glory in this body
We want to be a ministry of great conversations! Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner
We want to be a ministry that continues to challenge each and everyone one of us to greater devotion to God and others.

Make no mistake about it, Southside is here to strengthen the followers of Jesus – to build confidence and establish the authority of Jesus in prayer and in your life.

We are here to confirm and establish – as the HS works in you,to be a place for you to lean upon, to be an advocate for you and your family, to encourage you, to come alongside you, to sharpen each other in spiritual things as iron sharpens iron

And when does that happen?

It only happens when we are DEPENDENT – seeking God prayerfully John 15:5
RELATIONAL -strong in community Acts 2:42-47



So, what does this all mean for 2009?

• Southside is on the move! We are moving from just going to church to being the church
o As I have shared the elders and staff have been in deep prayer over the vision of this church over the past years
o We have sought your prayerful feedback through surveys, congregational meetings and a visioning session.
o We absolutely love how many of our new ministries are being birthed as you, our people are listening and following God’s leading – It is organic because it grows from the heart of God and it is Spirit led
o We are seeing our community respond with their attendance and time and time again we see how God is leading people to this place.

• So, where are we now?

o Our mission remains the same. We are here ‘to pursue Jesus passionately and connect people to their God given family.

Let’s overview our 4 values
BUILDING - So as a church we first are being turned inside for complete dependence on the Lord, cultivating the habits of prayer and devotion, getting connected to the body through the ministry of small groups
EQUIPPING - We will talk more on this value next week, but EQUIPPING comes as we learn to rely on the HS. Wednesday nights are also a great opp to be equipped for ministry through the various courses that are offered as well as I believe that we are equipped as we make ourselves available to serve.
WINNING - refers to a contagious spirit of reaching out to others in this place. It happens through one on one conversations, great ministry events, HP camps,
MULTIPLYING – happens as we see lives transformed here and people in our church step up into servant leadership positions here and take opportunities to be on missions team as part of our global focus.

• What do this mean for us all?
o We are creating a clear focus on our foundational mission. We want to do first things well and create build on the life of Jesus and His ministry priorities.
o There is an invitation to a deeper commitment for everyone to ‘call out of people what God has created them to be’. We do this as we become stronger in relationships. We have planned a “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner’ for Friday January 30th.
o We want to have greater effectiveness in the community and see more people come to faith in Jesus Christ.

• What will happen as a result?
Enrichment of ministries
o Some new ministries perhaps
o Changes in how we use and expand the building



• UPDATE:

o In the fall of 2006 we had formally completed an agreement of sale on part of our property and gaining more frontage on Derry Road as part of a swap of land as well. During a time away as elders shortly after we made the decision that we would tithe, that being 10% on the money that we received to honor the Lord and to keep a MULTIPLYING focus

After prayerful consideration, we identified ministries that have both a global and local focus. Next Sunday we will be blessing the following ministries:
1. Pathway Camp Ministries ministering on First Nations Reserves headed up by Rick and Liz Greer who were former members of this church
2. The Deck Milton
3. Crossings Community Church in Acton – a sister church plant
4. Partners International
5. Lois Belsey –GA for the building of a training center for youth and young adults active in missions in Papua.

We are only able to do this ultimately because of your faithfulness to tithe and to prioritize the ministry of Southside over all these years and keep the ministry and dreams alive in this place.

We will be using this money for the purpose of investing in ministry here and for ministry space. We believe that just like the talents given in the parable, this is money for the purposes of BWEM - investing our time talent and resources. It is ‘working money’ not money given to us to stop working.

So in light of that, we have formed a transition team that will enable us to fulfill our vision for ministry in a practical manner and they are:
Peggy Estey, Pat Hollingworth, Peter MacMillan, Dean Martin and Phil Dempster

Two initial priorities that we need to address are:

1. The parking lot to adhere to town bylaw requirements and to continue to invite the community ‘inside’ – the new parking lot will start to be addressed in the Spring. We also see a parking lot as a great opportunity for outdoor sports ministry as well

2. The Nursery will also be addressed to answer the safety and comfort needs of the children using the nursery will undergo a ‘face lift’ over the next few weeks to make Southside a more WINNING place.


• So - we are so excited! It’s awesome to be right here – right now! Today is another invitation for each of us to look for ways to step up our involvement in what God is doing. As we move forward, there will be announcements about ministries and activities – so, join in!
• There may be questions from time to time – ask any elder (name them, have them stand up) the transition team or myself about anything. It’s our intention to give everyone all the information they need to use their talents.


Questions For Discussion

1. In what ways can we practically create more dependence on the Lord in every area of our ministry?
2. How do you listen for God’s leading and in what ways has He spoken to you?
3. What foundational aspect of Jesus’ ministry do we need most in this place?
4. There are two practical ways that we can celebrate the value of building this month. 1. Please make a priority of coming to the Milton Mayor’s Christian Prayer Breakfast on January 28th at 7:15am. 2. Sign up for the Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner event on Friday January 30th at 6:30pm.

Be ReNEWed!

BE reNEWed!
Out with the old and in with the new
2 Corinthians 5:17

Today I want you to embrace what it means to be made NEW. A new year gives birth to new hope, new opportunities and living in a new way! My prayer is that we will see with great expectations all that God has in store for each one of us. His Word speaks to us of many new things, a new wine, heart, spirit, covenant, tongues, way of the Spirit, new teaching. It is all with one purpose in mind: to give you a new self, new name and put a new song in your heart. God is in the business of making all things new so stop fighting it and just be reNEWed!

What God has always done, He is doing now and always will do!

1. He TRANSFORMS US from the inside out !

God does new things in spite of ourselves!

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.

The word ‘see’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘hennai’ which means to behold. There is a
huge emphasis on the need to pay attention. God is revealing a very important truth here. The new thing originates with him. He shows us faithfulness in spite of ourselves, He shows mercy in spite of ourselves, He shows forgiveness….In this passage Israel has seemingly done everything wrong, they have messed up their best resolutions, their most valiant attempts at honoring God or lack thereof and God says what…I will remember your sins no more. It is huge because He is making a point. The only way through your desert, the only way to find streams in your wasteland is to receive it. Receive the grace from God, acknowledge the fact that He loves you in spite of yourself

God wants you to taste the new wine.

Joel 2:24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

Matthew 9:17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."


Many different OT passages refer to a time when God will bring the new wine. The new wine is the realization of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the refreshment that He brings. New wine was never meant to come in the old package of the truth being dropped in your lap. The new way of receiving was that it would be revealed in the heart by the Holy Spirit. The old way had everything to do with appearances, to conform to a code of behavior and in doing so to bring change. However real change cannot happen from the outside in. A person cannot be told to act like a believer if they don’t have the living presence of the Spirit of God in them.

It is the very reason that if your walk with Jesus is about following the rules, you have a lifeless walk with God.

At my first Bible College, self control was praised. It was the belief that through external pressure, control and conformity to rules that somehow Spirit led control would happen. Unfortunately what it led to in most was pride and a sense of personal spiritual accomplishment. The new wine was the Holy Spirit and until you drink the fullness of the Spirit of God you cannot have Spirit led control. We have to experience the Holy Spirit from the inside out!

God want to give you a new heart and spirit

Exekiel 18:31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.
Ezekiel 36:26 will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Repentance is necessary and we need to get serious about dealing a death blow to our stubborn hearts that would rather do it our way. The way that we would like to go would short circuit the process. Our natural learned tendencies tell us we can will ourselves to be more spiritual. Will power will only take you so far in the Christian life before you burn out and are running on fumes. We desperately need heart surgery because left to ourselves we can pretty anything up and make ourselves look pretty good. The process of transformation must go down the road less traveled. It is the place where His refining fire burns. Get serious with God about what He needs to expose and let him give you a transplant from the inside out. The motivation, the passion to follow must come from a burning heart within us.


Matthew 27:60 They placed Jesus in a new tomb and that is where He needs to place you to bring forth the resurrection power in you.

God want to give you a new life Acts 5:20

Acts 17:19 He wants you to embrace this new teaching which will always be in friction with any man made religion. The new way is a new and living relationship with the Creator of the universe.

Romans 6:4 new life – we can only experience new life if a death has already first taken place


Romans 7:6But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

the new way of the Spirit is a way that responds to the inner promptings, listening with your heart.




1 Cor 5:7 that you may be a new batch

God has one purpose for you…


2. God wants you to minister from the INSIDE OUT

The only way that you can minister the new covenant is if you are breathing, living and moving in it

1 Cor 11:25 new covenant in my blood and it has to flow through you. Those streams in the wasteland – you weren’t meant to watch from the banks of the river, you were meant to step in.

2 Corinthians 3:6 ministers of a new covenant

2 Corinthians 5:17 if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation

Galatians 6:15 what counts is a new creation not external rites of passage

Ephesians 2:15 he create in himself one new man out of the two – He brought all of us together in one family.

Ephesians 4:23 so that we would be new in the attitude of your minds

Ephesians 4:24 put on the new self

Colossians 3:10 put on the new self

Hebrews 8:8 new covenant

Hebrews 9: start reading at verse 8 -10 new order AMAZING!

Hebrews 9:15 new covenant

Hebrews 10:20 a new and living way opened for us

Hebrews 12:24 new covenant

1 Peter 1:3 new birth

1 Peter 2:2 new born babies

2 Peter 3:13 new heaven and new earth

God wants you to speak a new language - love 1 Corinthians 13 It is birthed from a new command

1 John 2:7 new command

2 John 1:5 new command ….love one another

The end result of God’s purposes being fulfilled in you is:


Revelation 2:17 new name
Revelation 3:12 new Jerusalem
Revelation 5:9 new song
Revelation 14:3 new song
Revelation 21:1 new heaven and earth
Revelation 21:2 new Jerusalem
Revelation 21:5 I am making everything new!

Ready, Set, Go!

What are the top 10 New Year’s Resolutions??
10. Be more spiritual
9. Get out of debt
8. Be more organized
7. Spend less time on the internet
6. spend more time with the family
5. be a better person
4. Quit drinking
3. Quit smoking
2. Exercise
1. Lose weight

Here’s the problem with resolutions…. I will. It really is about willing things into existence. Some of us good at will power for a day, a week, a month, 6 weeks – they say it takes that long to form a habit and some make it through the whole year. However, for the Christ follower, the Christ life has more to do with being than with doing. It is more about living in the mystery of the Christ life than trying to will myself to be more spiritual. Why is it that the people who are trying to force you to live by their rules always look like they’ve been sucking on a pickle? It is a constant tension for the Christ follower to learn the ‘unforced rhythms of grace’ as Eugene Peterson paraphrases in Matthew 11:28
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
The problem is that living that kind of life is hard to measure externally. We can easily tick off the boxes if we were to check whether we read our Bible for the day, prayed prayers of supplication, interceding for others, did a kind act of service. However God wants to stretch us beyond a performance based relationship where the way that we live and respond is a natural outflow of His life in us. It is for this realization that I am drawn to Colossians 3 because of the way that this passage of Scripture is set up.
Get READY! v1
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ v1
I was ‘soaking in’ a song on Friday by Hillsong on this very subject. The premise of the song was the amazing revelation that the same power that raised Christ from the dead flows through me. We talk about how we want to begin a new year, bring in a new perspective. Start on your knees and renew yourself –spirit, body and mind with this same thought that gripped Paul. I am raised with Christ! I am raised with Christ! I am raised with Christ! The place that I belong is in His fullness, being made complete in Him, not in the valley of defeat and despair. It lights my day, it renews my mind. It needs to energize me beyond belief.
So, instead of putting up a good fight with sinful habits, getting worn out in the process and finally succumbing when tired; choose to seek God’s face for a deeper revelation of what it means to be ‘raised with Christ’. Take your eyes off your weakness and put them on the exalted position of Christ.
As one writer shares:
You are not a sinner struggling to get free from the tight grip of sin but an ‘heir with Christ’, raised up together with him with sin trying to pull you down.
Learn to look down at sin not up at it.
The most important things about us are invisible. No one can really identify the things that are really affecting us by just looking at us. They cannot ascertain the critical issues that really determine us and who we are from this vantage point. The realization that you are raised with Christ is the most valuable, most important invisible truth about you as a follower of Christ….stop reading ahead, let this sink in!
We are united with Jesus Christ. We have died and have been raised with Christ and our lives are hidden with him in God. These realities cannot be proved by how you look; nothing you can measure, touch, and show other people. Your very connection with Jesus in this way is the greatest truth imaginable. However you have to choose to believe it and act on it because it can’t be seen. You want to live in freedom, believe that Jesus has set you free. Appropriate the riches of your position. Stop living like a slave to sin when God has told you that you are an instrument of righteousness! (parallel passage – Romans 6)
GET SET! v1b-4
set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.v1
The heart is the seat of affections. We need to position ourselves so that we are ready to receive. It is a matter of appetite, what am I really hungry for.
Have I come to the ‘Rolling Stones’ revelation in my own life….’I can’t get no satisfaction.’ Have I really experienced the joy of the Lord as my strength?
Or is the U2 reality…’I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’ Am I just flirting with my affections for the King or does He truly have all of me. I can’t experience all of Him until I have fully surrendered all of me. That is the only way that it works. You have as much of God as you want for they that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled!!
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. V2-4
Once you have accepted your spiritual position in Christ and your heart is Christ’s home and it is more than just a cliché , the next place to work on is your mindset. You need to understand the nature of sin with your intellect – your mind.
Know this:
You are not your habits. The goal of lust is to own you and ultimately destroy you. It will never give up until it has reached that goal. Sin will entice you, ‘just do it one more time’ and nothing is further from the truth. Sin wants to be your master and it will not give up. Only your death will satisfy the lust of sin. It is a thief and it robs you of time, community and real relationships. Sin never delivers on its promises. Sin takes real needs and pushes you to fulfill them in illegitimate ways.
Arm yourself with this mindset: If there is a death that needs to take place, it might as well be my death in Christ!
As we really take hold of the diminished power of sin in our life. Remember the knee jerk reaction between sinful attitude and sinful response has been broken. We are no longer slaves to sin, its power has been broken over us.
Awareness is huge here as we go through this list of sins, they are all designed to lure you away from your heavenly position in Christ.
It is a training process of your mind to learn to hate the consequences of sin despite the temporary pleasures it presents. Evil, wrong thinking always gives birth to evil, wrong living. If we are to live well, we have to align our thinking and keep renewing our minds, fill it with godly truth, soak its transforming power into our lives.
Renewing the mind is a journey; don’t get discouraged at the first sign of defeat.
If you happen to get knocked down by the lure of sin and we all do, never accept the lie that you are now back under its control. You are not and you never will be as long as you step back up to your ‘raised position in Christ’. Live in light of who you are, not the way that you feel after you just got beat up.
GO! Part 1 v5-11 out with the negative
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
The two major categories here relate to sex and anger. In many ways these two areas are great areas of struggle for Christians because in many ways they are invisible battles that many face in shame and defeat because they are so hard to be really open and honest with. So most go the battle alone in silence and friends can’t help because nobody knows the truth. The breakthrough often comes in most people’s lives when they can find someone who will battle with them.
The first list consists of things that have to do with sexual sin: immorality, the general word for sexual sin, impurity, evil passion, evil desire, and greed. Greed is really the word covetousness and by its placement here would be best understood as coveting someone sexually or seeking for someone out of the bounds of marriage.

The question is, if you have died with Christ, have been raised with him, and are united with him, what right does impurity have to march around in your head, putting pressure on you to act in ways that are inappropriate? Or who gave that right to covetousness, wanting someone who is married to another, envying their relationship?
Paul makes it pretty clear that we are not into trying to just condition our external behaviors because they need a death blow! Even though you may feel unloved in this world, there is a lover of your soul. Even thought you may feel lonely, you are never alone
The second list has to do with the power of anger, hatred, malice or resentment of another to take over our lives. The human tendency is that we say the most hurtful things to the people closest to us and how do we hurt…by the things that we say. Paul call it filthy language and we could easily change that to ‘abusive language’. The question we need to keep asking is what right does hatred of another person have to fill my thought life? It doesn’t belong there because I’ve been raised with Christ.
Now having said all this, it is important to know that is a right place for both sex and anger in our lives. Sexual fulfillment is a gift from God within the bond of marriage and anger at the destructive nature of sin is always right.
Paul now moves on to the subject of lying and it is lying to each other about how we are really doing that usually gets us into this mess in the first place. Stop lying and start learning to be honest with someone you can trust. Start with God but then find someone with whom you can truly bear your soul.
GO! Part 2 v12-14 in with the positive
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Paul just can’t stray from the kind of person that he is. He keeps bringing us back to who we are as opposed to what you have done. He keeps calling us to live in light of who we are in Christ. It is our identity in Christ that makes us who we are.
You also can’t get away from the fact that all these virtues need to be discovered, developed and found in community. There is no place for loners in the body of Christ. There is something about worshipping and learning together that enables the truth of God to penetrate deeper and really take root in our lives.
The language is also important as we look at words like compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. We need to know that it is a process and this is not instantaneous, be patient with each other and celebrate the small victories as well. Your growth and ‘fast tracking’ on the grace of God must not lead to impatience with others because that is often what happens.
Finally love - put on love, we end with the positive… patience and forgiving grievances speaks of putting up with people; however love is the positive because it goes just bearing with others to the place of actively becoming a blessing in their lives.
The Takeaway
The secret to living out the Christian life is not to focus on 'stop sinning', but to live in the power of our resurrected life.
If our focus is always on looking out for sin, so we can avoid it, than we are only half living. If I was to tell you don’t think about a blue panda because thinking about a blue panda is sinful; so you tell yourself don’t think about a blue panda, but what would you think about… a blue panda! Exactly. In telling yourself “Don’t think about a blue panda, you have to think about a blue panda to know what you have to stay away from. All your energy becomes focussed on staying away from blue pandas. You don’t think about anything else.
In turning your attention to focusing on the power of our resurrected life and the newness that it brings has a simultaneous affect. We focus on being raised with Christ, set our hearts and mind on things above and in the process negate the negative downward pull of sin and sinful habits.
We have devotional journals here at Southside for you to take to do just that…set your mind on things above. The key to your ongoing success is to find a spiritual buddy who will keep you honest and open on the journey so in taking a journal you are committing to that as well. They don’t have to be working through the exact same devotional; however you need commit to finding someone who will track with you, share in the adventure with you.

Merry Christmas from the Ninabers!

Thank you so much Southside for the love offering that we received on Christmas Eve. WE have been richly blessed by you to be given such generous gifts that we know came from the heart. In addition to the money, we were blessed with gift certificates for some great date nights....just had one last night! Someone also gave us Leaf tickets...WOW! It is all appreciated so much so thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We know we are loved and it is an honor and privilege to serve here for over 7 years now!

Love in Jesus, Jack and Sharon

Don't Underestimate The Power Of One!

In every aspect of our lives, we are led to believe that bigger is better and it tends to easily flow over to the church. We think that more people, more money, bigger ministries, more programs will result in greater effectiveness at God’s work. We often think that God can do more when there is something going on that is grand and marvelous.

We also tend to think the same about smaller things. We act as God could not possibly be working in smaller churches or ministries, less programs or fewer ministries. So, the small complex gives us this feeling of insignificance or attitude of, ‘why bother’

The feeling of being small or insignificant trickles right down from the churches and ministries we are in to thinking it about ourselves. We may feel like, ‘man I really don’t have much to offer…I don’t have enough resources to make a significant difference’ but is bigger always better? No, not when it comes to spiritual things.

It was one year ago that I gave you a challenge to have ‘mustard seed’ faith and it is that time again except this year I want to look at the passage of Scripture in Luke’s gospel.

Luke 13:18-21

Even though the mustard seed is incredibly small, it grows to be one of the largest herbs in that part of the world. It typically grows to be about 12 feet!

The second illustration that is used here is that of God’s working is like yeast. Typically in that day they wouldn’t have dry yeast like we do today. They would take a very small lump of dough from the previous day’s making of bread and knead it into the flour mixture enough to influence the entire batch.

The most important part of the illustration is really missed in the NIV text as it states the amount of flour into which the small amount of yeast is mixed. The NIV states a large amount, but the Greek states more specifically three ‘satas’. Three satas equals 50 pounds of flour! That will feed 100 people and so we are talking about more than just daily bread. Jesus was talking about more than just a household baking situation. You see even that small original ball of yeast could have a huge influence.

So, you need some examples of how this gets played out in the Bible –

• When God wanted to create a new nation to call his own, he started with a nomadic man and a woman too old to conceive children
• When God wanted to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt, he used a man rejected by his own people and who spent most of his life tending sheep
• When God wanted someone to represent His people, His choice was a shepherd boy
• When Jesus wanted to feed 5000 people, he used a small boy’s sack lunch to do it
• When Jesus watched people give, He wasn’t impressed with the big donors, but by the widow’s penny
• When God came to earth in the form of man, he didn’t choose a rich and established family to be part of; He chose to be a baby born in a poor and seemingly unimportant family.

We tend to write things off a lot sooner than God. He uses small things to do BIG stuff. What we might think is too small or insignificant, God see as something that He wants to use for His purpose.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29

We need to remember what ministry means. In greek, the word for ministry is ‘diakonia’.

We see a couple examples of this verb usage in:

Luke 8:3 where it speaks of women who were helping the disciples to support (minister) them out of their own means.

2 Timothy 1:18 where Paul thanks those who helped (ministered) to him in Ephesus

The root word is ‘konis’ which means ‘dust’ or ‘grit’. In other words, ministry is dirty. It rolls up its sleeves and does things that look unimportant to the world. We get the word ministry in the English from the Latin root word for ‘small things’ as in miniscule. Ministry should and really does happen on an everyday basis. It is everyday service and it all adds up. Southside can grow a significant tree of service and of seemingly insignificant acts! We can do it and it is even better when we do it together. We need each other, support one another and spur each other on to greater Christlikeness. Hebrews 10:24,25!

In the book, Resident Aliens, we read:

By being the church, that is, by being something that the world is not and can never be, lacking the gift of faith and vision, which is ours in Christ. The confessing church seeks visible church, a place, clearly visible to the world in which people are faithful to their promises, love to their enemies, tell the truth, honor the poor, suffer for righteousness and thereby testify to the amazing community-creating power of God. The confessing church has no interest in withdrawing from the world… The church knows that the most credible form of witness is the actual creation of a living, breathing, visible community of faith.

I think often we are looking for the real big breakthrough ministry that is going to put our lives and for that matter our church on the map. So, what happens? Often we might hold back from really giving our all because we just can’t see how God could work through something that is so small or insignificant. Size because a discouragement and we need not let that happen. We need to be released from BIGNESS!! If God can grow a significant tree out of an insignificant seed, He can do the same with the small acts with you and me.

Last year we were involved in the Santa Claus Parade and we wanted to make Christ’s presence known and we did with our Happy BDAY Jesus float. There was one family in particular watching the parade at that time and when they saw our float, it resonated in their heart and they knew that was what it was all about. Since then they have become a part of our church and not only that but marveled as they went from watching last year to being an active participant this year.

How can blessing a person with a hot chocolate; singing songs to seniors; prayer walking through town next Sunday make a difference. It will in God’s eyes first an foremost and we ultimately serve an audience of one. Galatians 1:10

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money or the most awards. They are the ones who do the small things with a big heart.

It was Mother Teresa who said, ‘We can do no great things; only small things with great love.

The Takeaway:

This week focus on small acts of kindness in Jesus’ name with great love!!

Action For Movement:

1. Sign up for a service project. You will be called with details this week!

2. Sign up for ‘kettle time’ with Salvation Army

3. Pay for the coffee of the person behind you in the drive through

4. Purchase a ticket for a friend for Friday’s Christmas Banquet and invite them to join you.

5. Purchase a toy for the ‘fill the bus’ toy drive or donate money to the gifts for MD students –see Mary Martin

6. Ask God to fill in the blank for the acts of kindness He has in store for you!

In His Eyes

Do you have a vision problem?

Amblyopia – is known as a ‘lazy eye’

Color blindness – the inability to distinguish between some colors

Dry eye syndrome – the inability to produce tears

Hyperopia (farsightedness) – the inability to see near objects clearly

Myopia (nearsightedness) – the inability to to see distant objects clearly

what about spiritual vision issues…

spiritual lazy eye – the ability to see a problem and feel no compelling interest to do something about it

spiritual color blindness – the ability to not pay as much attention to the plight of those who are suffering in different parts of the world

spiritual dry eye – the lack of compassion, inability to cry for people who are hurting

spiritual farsightedness – the ability to respond to missions overseas but an unwillingness to personally get involved here

spiritual nearsightedness – the exact opposite…we are good here, but for the rest of the world in impoverished countries, out of sight, out of mind.

I pretty much squinted all through Junior High because I couldn’t stand the sight of wearing glasses. I can remember putting them on very infrequently and when I did I felt the weight of everyone looking upon me. In today’s video the main character feels the weight of seeing for the first time an inside look into the world of those around him.

Today I want us to discover an inside look through the eyes of Jesus.

Although not our text, let’s first look at Mark 8:22-25

It is an unusual passage as Jesus first spits on the man’s eyes and then touches him. He asks him if he sees and he responds by saying, “I see people, they look like trees walking around’. He could see, but he couldn’t see clearly. He couldn’t distinguish between people and trees except for movement so Jesus touches him once again and his sight was restored completely.

And really, we are like this man. Most of us have met Jesus and he has opened our eyes, but we still don’t see people clearly. We all have lens through which we see others. It is a lens that makes assumptions, responses, judgment and influences the degree of our response.

How did Jesus see people? Matthew 9:36

I Samuel 16:7 The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

OK, let’s go to today’s text – Luke 4:14.

Now you will notice that this event follows Jesus baptism here, but in reality if you had a chronological Bible or even lined up the gospels together you would see that Jesus already began showing miracles and had been healing people so that is why we see the statement about His fame spreading.

Imagine the scene. The synagogue is filled with people, the place is packed with men, women and children. In the front of the room there is a group of elders. One of them stands up, speaks briefly and then asks Yeshua Ben Yusef, Jesus, son of Joseph, to read the Scriptures.

He gets up in the middle of the room where there is a raised desk and people are excited to hear him. He is the hometown boy. Jesus unrolls the large scroll and reads from Isaiah 61:1,2

He reads it is an affirmation of self proclamation.

When he said that the today the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing was a slam dunk statement. When he said that, he sent people buzzing. This passage was about the Messiah and this passage was about Jesus’ mission statement!

1. Jesus’ mission is to preach good news to the poor. The mindset back then was if you were poor that was a sign of God’s judgment and if you were rich, well then, that was God’s favor. Jesus was basically saying absolutely not! He turned the tables and said the poor were favored by God.
2. His mission is to proclaim freedom for the prisoner whether it was a literal prison or a spiritual prison, Jesus has come to set you free.
3. Jesus’ mission was to give sight to the blind. The blind were thought to be blind because of their own sin or the sin of their parents. The attitude of the religious leaders was if you are blind, you deserved to be blind. Jesus came to show mercy to those who were physically handicapped and spiritually condemned.
4. Jesus mission is to release the oppressed. He came to set wrongs right. He came to help the helpless.
5. Jesus mission is to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. It is a reference to the OT principle of the year of Jubilee which took place every 50 years and debts on the land were forgiven and slaves were freed.

Jesus mission was people focused, it was outward focused and it was driven by mercy and compassion. It was the secret to His vision. Jesus’ mission guided His vision His mission was the way that He saw everybody. People were Jesus’ mission. His lens was and is compassion.

The word for compassion is only applied to two people, the fictional ‘Good Samaritan’ and the real Jesus. We see how in Scripture that Jesus felt compassion when he encountered the sick (Matt. 14:14), the blind (Matt 20:34), the demon possessed (Mk. 9:22) those who lost loved ones (Luke 7:13), the hungry (Matt. 15:32), the lonely (Mk. 1:41)

It guided His actions, His reaction and interaction with everyone He met.

Let’s look at another example in Luke 7:36-48 – the story of the woman who wiped Jesus feet with her very own tears and poured expensive perfume on them.

The religious bystanders just stood in judgment and thought 'if he really was a prophet He would know what time of woman she was…' Jesus knew their thoughts and challenged them on the real expression of love.

We all have lens through which we look at people. How often are we guilty of looking at people through the lens of judgment as the Pharisees did as opposed to the lens of compassion that Jesus showed us?

For example, if you were to bump into Stacey and Clinton off ‘What Not To Wear’ – how would they judge you?

If you were to bump into Prime Minister Stephen Harper how would he judge you. I know because in April as I was pushed aside into a hall to make way for his entourage, he took the time to acknowledge me.

If someone were to bump into the back of your car?

What question would cross your mind when you saw them?

What we believe about our mission in the world affects how we see our world? When you look at your world, do you see a world in need?...a world worth saving? A world worth serving?

When you see people, ask the same questions that Jesus would ask, “How can I help you? How can I show you God’s love? How can I touch you with God’s grace? How can I right a wrong in your life? How can I bring healing to your world?

Ask Jesus to touch your eyes so that you see people the way He did

-with insight, mercy and compassion

Let’s first start with INSIGHT

If the Earth’s population was shrunk to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the

existing human ratios remaining the same:

• six people would possess 59 percent of the entire world’s wealth and all six would be

from America

• 80 people would live in substandard housing

• 70 would be unable to read

• one person would own a computer

• If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to

sleep, you are richer than 75 percent of this world.

• If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in your back pocket, you are among the top eight percent of the world’s wealthy.

Basic education for all would cost $6 billion a year

• $8 billion is spent annually on cosmetics in the US alone

• Installation of water and sanitation for all would cost $9 billion

• $11 billion is spent annually on ice-cream in Europe

• Basic healthcare and nutrition worldwide would cost $13 billion

• $35 billion is spent each year on business entertainment in Japan

• The total cost of eradicating poverty worldwide is estimated at around $80 billion

• The world spends $800 billion a year on military alone. That’s 10 times the needed

Coffee is produced in Latin America, the Caribbean, in Asia and in Africa. The main

producer is Brazil, which supplies about a quarter of the world’s coffee.

Since the early 1950s, these countries have been persuaded by buyers to give up farming

traditional crops in favour of producing more coffee.

This has led to over-production, plummeting market prices, and sweatshop working conditions.

Coffee prices last year were at an all time low.

Buy fair trade!

As a consumer, you have a choice. You can either buy free trade coffee, which contributes,

or you can pay a little more and buy fair trade coffee.

Fair trade coffee allows farmers to receive enough money from their crops to survive and

not fall into poverty.

So next time you decide to grab a quick coffee, think of those poverty-stricken farmers and buy fair trade coffee!

MERCY

The richest 20 percent of the world’s population now consume 86 percent of its resources. For the vast majority of people, however, even the most basic necessities of life – clean water, food, shelter – are scarce. And this uneven spread of wealth is growing. But poverty is not inevitable. It CAN be overcome. The question is, what are YOU prepared to do?

Understand their world this week

COMPASSION

We are just as much ‘church’ when we are sent as when we gather together. Jesus made us more about being than doing church - Luke 10:17…the joy

The Diet challenge - For this upcoming week, I will be asking all of us to live on a diet consisting of rice, beans, flour tortilla shells. It has often been said that unless you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes that you really don’t understand what they go through.

It is a challenge to live like most of the world that is in poverty and what they have to survive on. It is a challenge for us to abstain from discretionary purchases this upcoming week. The money that you would normally spend on going out what groceries for a normal week would consist of, the money spent on going out to dinner, clothes, buying a coffee, …we are asking you to give sacrificially above and beyond your tithe on November 30^th towards a Partners gift of shelter, water and health that I will share more on Sunday about.

We understand that some of you do have health related issues and no, we don’t expect your kids to live on the same diet although they may decide to do one meal like that with you.