Looking to the core

Dear Oaks,

Well it is good to be back in good old UK after nine days in Denver, USA. I was speaking at a conference on the Kingdom of God and was thrilled at what the Lord did amongst us. Apart from one day in Scotland that is me done with travelling until October.

Core Groups is something that is exciting the thoughts of many Oaks right now. A Core Group is simply a small group (4-6 people) who meet to help each other grow in God. You can do Core Group Lite or Core Group deep and no one will be pressurised to do anything. The thought is that these can happen fortnightly with little preparation and will alternate with J Johns Evangelism Course during autumn. Two weeks ago I began a consultation process that will go through until late September. I began with talking to the Branch Group Leaders and they are presently eliciting feedback. However, not everyone by any means is in a B.G. and so I shall be devoting my entire sermon this Sunday to the subject. Things should get much clearer then. I am also considering how to help newcomers and those not yet ready for a CG.

It is important that we look again at how we do church as we prepare for our move in to 216 next year. The feedback has thrown up some good ideas already and I look forward to further insights after people have had a chance to hear my thoughts on Sunday.

On Monday whilst still in Colorado I was taken on a mountain hike that took us up to a great altitude. On the ground the temperature was 85 degrees but by the time we got to 11,000 feet we were able to have a snow ball fight! As we began our hike one of our team explained that he had encountered Bears on the trail and another team member explained how to make yourself look big to try and frighten it away. She then continued that there were also mountain Lions and a different strategy was required to deal with them!

Of course the likelihood of any such encounter is mighty small and there was no real reason to fear and we safely made it to an amazing lake above the snow line surrounded by what seemed like high definition nature in full glory. I have never had a picnic in such glorious surroundings or been so glad of a chance to eat something!

But it did get me thinking.

How often does the unlikely chance of a “Bear” or “Lion” encounter stop us reaching the heights and enjoying the glory? As one of the hiking team put it “if faith is the currency of the kingdom then fear is the currency of the world.”

Sadly, even in the church of Jesus Christ there is so much fear and it sands in the way of an adventurous hike with Jesus that can take us to wondrous places. Let us kill off the fear and press in to the abundance of Life that God offers.

“It is better to live one glorious hour than to live a whole age without a name.” -Sir Walter Scott.

“I have come that you might have life in all its fullness” – Jesus Christ (John 10:10).

In Him,

Mark