Salvation is to be expected. The book of Acts show us 'normal' Christianity. A Christianity in which faith is found on a daily basis, and the church grows exponentially. As we as a church develop a new confidence in the gospel message of Jesus, we can expect to step out of a spiritual winter and into a new season of salvation. Within Luke's gospel we read of countless parables about growth - a mustard seed that turns into a large tree, yeast which expands in dough. The Kingdom of God is built to grow.

Open Heaven Church

Salvation Is To Be Expected

If Kingdom is our vision, then it’s as if resurrection is the story; the very heartbeat to that vision. Resurrection is a persistent and predominant theme running throughout the Book of Acts. It’s inescapable. The apostles come back time and time again to the resurrection of Jesus. It’s as if it is the most prominent thing on their mind. Interestingly, whenever anyone asks of them a question, accuses them of something or just gives them an opportunity to share their story the one thing they always come back to is the resurrection of Jesus. And wouldn’t you? If you had been there - living and following Jesus, witnessing his incredible life and ministry, weeping with the other believers over his death when suddenly he is no longer dead? Of course, you would tell and retell that story over and over again.

Resurrection is our Story

Faithfulness; steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant. For the penultimate instalment of our teaching series: Stand Firm, we interview Heather Crate and John Aust on what faithfulness and standing firm looks like for the long term.   

And After Everything, Stand Firm

As OH1 takes a bird's eye view of the book of Acts we believe that God will reawaken the mission of His church. We're expectant for the Holy Spirit to bring a fresh empowerment, a new urgency to mission, and a restored confidence in the gospel. The book of Acts starts and ends with this focus, a call to prioritise the Kingdom. In Acts 1:3 we read that during his time on earth after his resurrection Jesus continued to teach on the Kingdom of God. At the end of the book, in Acts 28:31 we see Paul fearlessly proclaiming the Kingdom without hindrance.﻿﻿

Kingdom is our Vision

John shares about God the Father for our Fathers Day gathering 2019.

Fathers Day 2019

Slow down as you set up for the long haul. The armour of God is not fast fashion. It is crafted and built over time as the pilgrim dedicates themselves to the lifelong journey of faith. As we look to pursuing God for the long haul, three challenges emerge. The challenge to commit to Christ. The challenge to commit to church. And the challenge to commit to our own spiritual growth. ⠀

For The Long Haul

Too many Christians walk around with an unawareness of the Holy Spirit. A Spirit which leads us into all truth, convicts us of sin, empowers us with gifts and affirms us as sons and daughters. As we awaken to the reality of God's Spirit we partner with a Spirit of potential, a Spirit of resurrection. When we prayer in the Spirit we intercede into the world behind the curtain - a world not of flesh and blood but of spiritual forces. As Paul reflects on the armour the Roman Empire - a national and religious enemy that has him in chains - he gains a deeper revelation of his own freedom. His spiritual reality is far greater than his physical reality. This is the challenge of Paul and the invitation of Jesus; to pray at all times, all occasions and with all kinds of prayer.⠀

Pray in the Spirit at All Times

  We live in a post-truth culture that places value on what we feel and doesn't believe in objective truth. Piercing through this perceived reality is the Sword of the Spirit - which is, of course, the Word of God. The Sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon in the Armour of God as described by Paul. The Bible, the Word of God, is an unmovable, unchangeable truth - a rock on which to build a life, a family, a community.  

The Sword of the Spirit

Faith in the Bible is described as being ‘sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see’. So, faith is being sure, certain, confident of what we can’t see with our physical eyes but what we know is there and then acting upon that confidence by what we do and the choices we make. ⠀ ⠀ Now, the truth is we can’t see God. But if we look, we can see the effects of God, the evidence that He is real - whether that be the beauty of creation and precision of the universe, whether that be answered prayers and miracles that we experience or hear about, whether that be the authenticity and credibility of the bible that recounts the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, or whether that be our own story of the difference that having faith in Christ has made in our lives. ⠀ ⠀ Faith is what drops into our hearts as we consider the multiple evidence that God exists, that He loves us and showed us the extent of that love by sending His Son to save us. Faith allows us to believe that by Jesus dying on a cross 2000 years ago on our behalf, that salvation is possible. 

The Shield of Faith + The Helmet of Salvation

Life is hard and we are in a battle against a real enemy, but the final victory has already been won by Jesus. Therefore in our resistance to the spiritual attacks and challenges of life, we are called to stand our ground. We are not called to run after the enemy - he will flee from us. The armour that is given to us to wear provides the tools to protect us in this battle.  As Christians, our righteousness is a gift that’s given - when anyone puts their faith in Jesus and chooses to follow him, trusting in him as our saviour - by faith we are made right with God. But Paul is also talking about living a righteous life - which is choice and a journey of holy transformation that takes a lifetime. This righteousness offers us protection. This doesn’t mean we won’t be attacked - but it does mean our lives are not exposed to the danger of wounding that comes from believing the enemies lies and the wounds that come from an ungodly living that exposes us to the enemy. We can never get going without shoes. When you are not prepared to go, we can miss the moment. So, just as we daily, put on our physical shoes, let’s find the peace with God and have this as our foundation - stand in it. There’s a fresh commissioning - to go. Make your time available to the holy Spirit, make your mouth ready to speak hope and peace into others lives. Be prepared: good news needs to be taken out of the door - into the street - into your workplace. Let’s be people who are ready to go - ready and empowered.

The Breastplate of Righteousness + The Sandals of the Gospel of Peace

Where will your faith be in 5 years time? 10 years time? 50 years time? This is the challenge of worldly culture. If there's no resistance from us, there's a chance we may be moving. In Ephesians Paul gives us a visceral imagery of warfare - the armour of a Roman soldier - and reframes it as a toolkit for lifelong faith, starting with the belt of truth. Our faith is in Jesus, the white hot nucleus of truth, whilst our fight is against the enemy, the father of lies. Pete Sisson began our teaching series with the challenge: what are we feeding ourselves with? The truth of scripture or the world?

The Belt of Truth

I shouldn't be defined by my role, my relationships or even my profession. I should be defined solely - and my identity should be found solely - in Christ Jesus. But I don't get everything right. I'm a work in progress.

I AM: Christ

Ness continues our "I AM" teaching series with  short talk on "I AM: Mother" for our Mothers Day + Dedications celebration. 

I AM: Mother

In the final chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about giving, honour and encouragement. "On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made." 1 Corinthians 16: 2 Giving to the Church is an expectation when we are living in community. It is an intentional investment into the work of the Church - the work that people we know and love are doing, and it promotes unity with both the local community and the whole Body of Christ.  Honouring others is also an expectation in the Church. We want to be part of a culture where we honour one another - a culture where we look for the gold in those around us and call it out in them.   

Encourage

In the story of the Prodigal Son, the Father insists on the identity of his son even though the son had tried to remove his identity by changing his geography, his commitments, his actions, his relations and his boundaries.  What have you done to try to get rid of your identity? No matter what you've done, no matter how far you've gone from yourself, the Father says you are still His son.  You are still His heir. Your identity is still in Him. He includes you, He provides for you and He gives you authority. Jesus says we can never and will never lose our identity as sons and daughters, no matter how we behave.

hubhopper

Open Heaven Church

hubhopper