Matty's Message

God’s going to use you, even when you don’t want Him to.

God will use each and every one of us, even when we do not always what he asks us to. Peter failed Him several times and Saul/Paul persecuted His followers and held the coats of those who stoned Stephen. But look how God used them.

In Proverbs 3:6 we see the Lord’s promise that if we remember the Lord in everything we do, he will show us the right way. It won’t always be an immediate action though. David was forced to live as a fugitive for many years. Then temptation was put in his way, as seen in 1 Samuel 26:8. He had the chance to deal with the Old Testament Saul.

Saul was delivered up to David and he could have killed Saul whilst he was sleeping. But David knew that he could not do that. God had told him not to do that.

David was obedient, even when his friends were encouraging him to kill Saul. We need to be very careful that we are not lead down the wrong path by our friends and advisers. We need to follow God’s will. The end does not justify the means. Proverbs 3:5-6 say we also need to trust in the Lord with all our heart and never simply rely on what we know.

Saul took 3000 men to where David was. David could have killed him in the cave. Instead David cut the bottom of Saul’s robe. David and Saul end up reconciled. The reconcile again when they meet Abigail and Able.

The implication of David’s action might pass us by here. The hem of a garment can signify authority in Judaic society. The meaning here is that Saul cannot accept his authority being taken away.

Matty offered a scenario where a person in a church as part of an eldership group kept being the sole voice of dissent who never accepted God’s will in situations. Saul was like this, always trying to get his own way.

We need to be able to show humility and accept God’s will at times. It is difficult but we all need to do it.

Saul’s way was not the Lord’s way. Is our way the Lord’s way?

David definitely did not live in a right way but he was chosen by God. David repented but the Lord still had David spend 15 years as a fugitive. This was the time that the Lord spent preparing David to be a King. I bet David often did not see it that way. When we think God hasn’t heard our prayers, sometimes it is simply that He is preparing us for His plans. God will place you where he wants you to be.

Thank you for your time.

Matty’s message on 23 April was about being focussed and not getting distracted. Often in our life we meet people with strong opinions and they can distract us from what we should be listening to. If you watch a flock of sheep they will graduate towards whatever holds their interest or appetite in that moment in time rather than their shepherd. Are we guilty of doing the same?

The Holy Spirit will take us much further if we let it. If we listen and hear His voice, we will be kept safe and given shelter to lie down in., Psalm 23:2 gives us that assurance.

Maybe we ponder on his lead and worry He won’t speak to us. The answer of course is yes He will. He knows all of His sheep, all of us by name. Let God lead you today.

Stacy has decided to follow His lead. She has chosen to go through the waters of baptism. A marvellous act of witness. What happens when you are baptised? Well aside from getting wet, you can choose to accept the Holy Spirit in your life. A gift so great, yet free to anyone who requests it. It rarely happens instantly but it’s the link between God and Jesus.

Listen and obey. You’ll know when the Spirit is prompting you. Think about this church, look around. Many people come here for company, for advice and a social event. Yet they find themselves going further. Listening and learning and being drawn to what God wants them to hear and do.

Ask the Heavenly Father to come into your life. When you leave this building today, talk to your family and friends. Tell them about the 3 in 1 (Matty’s a mechanic but he’s not talking about the oil here!)

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even if people might not appear to be open and listening, you really don’t know what seed you plant, and what fruit will appear as a result.

Matty shared his reflections from earlier in the week. Children are like arrows and need to be aimed in the right direction. Wrongly aimed, they are broken arrows engaging in all sorts of harmful behaviours.

Matty stressed the message that Church is not a club for the well heeled, more a hospital for those who need to be healed. Compassion is the mother of miracles, and only when you are moved by someone’s pain can you bring healing to them.

He highlighted that the disciples when they thought they would die in the storm, they didn’t challenge Jesus’s power, they challenged his compassion. “Don’t you care that we might die?” (Mark 4:38) .

Matty shared that we have witnessed today being helped and led by good leaders. He said that we need to ensure that we help and parent and grandparent those young people in our familes. We should not duck or avoid that responsibility or delegate to others, like schools, teachers or even our church.

Matty shared that his mentor had also helped provide perspective on this. Children are a gift from God, they are not an inconvenience or a liability. There’s an opportunity to learn from their questions and teach them to follow the right path and share the Lord’s example.

Take a chance to show compassion, think on the storms we all face in life. Raise children to follow Jesus and they will be well aimed arrows.