When Paul left the church at Ephesus, headed for Rome, he knew he would never see these brothers and sisters again. What we witness is a loving and heart-felt goodbye. Paul, as we'd expect, also uses the opportunity to share his last, and most important thoughts with these believers at that time. Thoughts we'd do well to embrace and live out ourselves. May God bless you today and as you think about this, this week.
Prayer: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal himself to you personally as you worship Him and to teach you about what He wants you to see, know and do about being the church, and specifically being led, or leading others, depending on where you find yourselves. At this point in your life.
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Song: O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Just listen as an intro to worship, close your eyes, and let God speak to your heart about the depth of His love for you, the depth of how He has made you worthy in Jesus Christ.
Share together
-What about God's love is most meaningful to you? -Do you struggle with anything about God's love? -Can anything hinder or stand in the way of God's love? -What can foster God's love? –How can we love if we've been hurt terribly? -as we remember the Lord's table, anything stand out to you this morning?
Communion
-Pray for the bread and the cup -Share in the Lord's table
God's Word (what does each passage teach you about the church, and how can this happen in our midst?)
Message: Life giving lessons to church leadership and us all. I've spoiled you all with short messages over the last little while. Earlier this week Luke Young sent the following message to several of us. He then sent it again to me personally, and told me it was something he felt would resonate with me. He was absolutely right, so much so that I struggled on whether to preach this passage myself or just let you listen. I've decided to put it here for you. This is not just a timely message, this is a message each of us needs to take to heart personally. This is not just a message for leadership. You might recognize many thoughts and themes that I've shared through the past few years, if you don't that's ok. This certainly is my and our heart as the leadership of Port of Grace. And is what will continue to drive us as we seek to hear God and move on together.
Ask God to show you what he wants you to see this morning...
SDiscussion/thoughts on the message -what stood out to you?
On point 1: Watch the flock with care. You heard about the leadership's responsibility. What do you think is the flock's responsibility? (See Hebrews 13:17 in case you're stuck.)
On point 2: Protect the flock from wolves. How do you think wolves come in from the outside? The inside? What are they trying to do? How do we protect the flock?
On point 3: Feed the flock with the Word. Why do you think the word of God is so important to God? What is the significance of the following passages? (Hebrews 4:12 /2 Timothy 3:16-17) For a year we've been talking about how everything must be tested by the Word of God. How it must be our authority for life, experience, and all else, Why?
Prayer Time
-Pray for our leadership teams. As we seek to hear God and the church on moving forward. (but especially God.) -Pray for our Spiritual Discernment Team as we seek to think specifically about the spiritual impact of how to move forward. -Pray for our Leadership Team about the logistics of moving forward. -Pray for clear communication amongst our leadership as well as the church. -Pray for wisdom and soft hearts so we can hear God, and so we can lead well. -Pray for the flock, so we will follow well. -Pray for any personal needs.