Joomla! site syndication http://godsgap.net 2012-02-05T16:51:43+01:00 http://godsgap.net http://godsgap.net/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2005-12-26T18:36:06+01:00 http://godsgap.net http://godsgap.net/content/view/1/101/ We are a Church Community made up of a collection of families; dads, mums, youth and kids with a sprinkle of granddads and grandmas. We desire not just to live life but to love life. We are very genuine in our love for Jesus Christ, for each other and for our community in the Gap. Our desire is to evidence the love of Christ both in our lives and through our lives. As a Church we do this by caring for people; we worship together every Sunday, we have life groups, life pods, youth socials, we mentor children at Hilder Road Primary School and help out with chaplaincy. Check out What's on? for more info about how we are caring for people. To find us click on Find Us. Each Sunday Message is videod so that you can listen or watch it online. There is a panel with the title Watch or Listen here , click on either MP3 Audio , Fast Broadband Video or Slow Broadbane Video to access the messages. text/html 2012-01-08T00:00:00+01:00 http://godsgap.net http://godsgap.net/content/view/620/32/ Fear NotChrist says in Luke 12:22 “do not worry about your life…”. Do you think he was serious? I’m sure you would agree with me that we should not murder, lie, give into anger but worry doesn’t seem all that bad and it is so common. Who doesn’t worry? It is commonly thought that worry is something that makes us human. Worry is fear. Worry is being anxious. The disciples were worried when they were caught in a storm. They were afraid for their lives. They were anxious about drowning. Christ said to them “Fear not… for I am with you.” Christ’s opponents were trying to accuse him, trick him, expose him so that they could reject, humiliate and discredit Christ. They attacked his ministry by accusing him using casting out demons by Satan’s power. They sought to provoke him by their many traps. At no point did Christ’s opponents cause Christ to doubt himself or his Heavenly Father’s relationship and care of him. We see much of Christ’s care, concern, compassion and even righteous anger but never do we find Christ worrying. In all of human history Christ is the most human person, who was without sin. The implication is that worry is sin. Paul commands us to ‘be anxious for nothing...’ Philippians 4:6. This means we have hope because Christ came to set you and I free from our sin. Christ came to set us free from our ‘worrying.’ The first step to freedom is acknowledging that worrying is a sin and it is something that needs to be replaced by a new found faith and courage in Christ. My hope is to tackle some of our biggest fears, our fear of what people think (of us) and our fear of what people do (to us). the Rev text/html 2012-01-15T00:00:00+01:00 http://godsgap.net http://godsgap.net/content/view/622/32/ Fear Not:- MoneyMoney is very versatile. It can represent status, importance, power, accomplishment. It can provide security, pleasure, opportunities, freedom, medical care and almost anything we can imagine. It is little wonder that money becomes a worry magnet. It would be a very easy mistake to think that having more money would improve your life. The reason for this can be more subtle than you think. Being so versatile money can be used to access what our heart values, needs, wants and craves. For example if I crave acceptance and fear rejection then I might use money to buy the life style that my friends are living so that I can fit in with them. Alternately I might use money to impress people to win (buy) their respect. Or I might buy food that comforts me when I feel left out, rejected or hurt. Money is the vehicle that delivers what your heart wants. Christ says “Beware greed.” He then gives a case study in which a man has lots of money but ‘gets dead.‘ All that money is useless to him. Money can’t solve or get you what you need most which is a generosity towards God. Contentment has nothing to do with the abundance of your possessions, nor your family nor your friends. Contentment comes from being in a close relationship with Jesus Christ. The difficulty I have is that in practice I find this hard to believe and live out practically. My heart has been saturated with the pleasures and the comfort that money can afford. Giving up money would feel like giving up my life. Christ came to help me learn this one lesson, that I have everything in Christ and I really don’t need or want for anything. I don’t have to add to Christ. When I learn this lesson I will fear not:- Money. the Rev