22
Jan
10

Plan For a Great Year

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Challenge, Change, Courage, Destiny, Focus, Potential, Thoughts and Vision
Tags: , , , , ,

22 days in to 2010….how is it so far? Have the resolutions stuck?

To have a great year you need to be INTENTIONAL.
To have a great year you need to have a PLAN

‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’

How do you know whether you have progressed in life, grown in maturity if you don’t know what you are wanting to see? What are the identifiable markers for growth in 2010 that you are setting for yourself?

Take up the challenge of changing some habits in your life with the purpose of seeing different results. Don’t travel round the same mountain in 2010, why not try & conquer it this year.

Use a Personal Growth Plan – set some goals, have mentors in your world
Identify your Core Values – make decision based on these
Build the Disciplines – what should you be doing
Create some Margin – make space for the doing of them

There’s lots of things you could do. The key is to do something!

Why not share some of your goals & vision for 2010 on here…

15
Jan
10

How To Walk Into Your Future…Pt3

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Challenge, Change, Consistency, Faith, Potential, Preaching, Responsibility and Thoughts
Tags: , , , , , ,

Final instalment of the message I preached across Xcel Church recently as part of our Flash Forward Series…check out Pt1 & Pt2.

When it comes to walking into our futures, with God at the centre of that future, then we need to be walking into it in a certain manner.

Changing
Whatever your future may hold I hope that you will be different? You NEED to CHANGE

New years are opportunities for you to reflect but also look ahead and decide today that you will not be the same this time next year. That you will be closer to God, that you will have worked on your spiritual disciplines, that you will have changed in your relationship with God.

Hebrews 5:12-14
‘For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil’.

If you are expecting God to do great things with your life then you need to change, I need to change. Part of its God, part of its MY RESPONSIBILITY. We should be showing signs of growth and maturity.

Here are the difficult questions…
How are you changing?
Are you still needing to be taught the same things?
Why haven’t you moved on and started to pass on what you know to others?
What will you do to change this year?
How about a Personal Development Plan?
How about a Bible reading plan?

Consistency
You cannot build a great life in a hurry. Too many people can live for a moment but we are called to live out a great life – to build for a lifetime, to leave a legacy. As a leader I have seen many people come & go – people who were full of potential but could not wait, could not build slowly.

Consistency = the state or quality of holding or sticking together and retaining shape- doing the right thing at the right time as often as you can – that’s what God is looking for. It can seem humdrum but its vital.

Matthew 7:24-27
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Building consistently & deliberately makes you strong, which means you will stand. Which means you will be around to take up the opportunities that God brings your way. Don’t be like some who are ALL FLASH BUT NO FORWARD.

Anyone can build something for a moment, look good for a moment but it seems that not everyone can be bothered to build something over the long haul. BE BOTHERED. You have more time than you think!!

Challenged
Don’t know what you think your future will be but to become all that you want to become for God – make space for him to move in your world. You cannot live out your Christian walk on positive thinking, leadership development & motivational seminars alone – you need God to move in your life.

Put something in your way that only God can meet. Pastor Matthew Barnett calls it ‘miracle space’. Make some. Pray like your life depends on it. Believe. Fast. Don’t give up. Be expectant of God doing something.

Your future in God is there for the taking.
Make sure you do all you can to stay ‘locked on’ to that destiny and not miss out.

[Let me know what you think]

11
Jan
10

How To Walk Into Your Future – Pt2

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Attitude, Challenge, Change, Christian, Courage, Focus, Maturity and Preaching
Tags: , , ,

Continuing the FlashForward series at Xcel Church, here goes with some additional ways we should be walking into our future with God at the centre of that future…check out Pt1

Compassionately
Jesus was always thinking about his future. Amidst the busyness of being Jesus – he still had time for people, he was moved with compassion, he saw need, he met that need. The same must be true for us. We need to not only profess our faith but it must possess us so that we put it to use.

James 2:14-19
‘Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup – where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.” Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them?’

Make sure that as you journey throughout this year that you walk with compassion and make a difference

Courageously
If you live with Jesus at the centre of your life then you can become one of the most courageous people other people come into contact.

To be courageous requires no special skill
To be courageous requires only to be available
To be courageous requires you to be ready & willing
To be courageous as a Christian – just stay close to Jesus

I love that Joshua was told to be of good courage but he was always reminded that God would be with him. He could be full of courage though becuase he had stayed in the word, meditated on it. Same is true for us today.

Acts 4:13
‘When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus’.

Ordinary people. Their only qualification for changing the world was time spent with Jesus. Here’s the challenge as you step into your future: Get some backbone. Improve your mettle. Add something to who you are so you can withstand whatever heads your way.

07
Jan
10

How To Walk Into Your Future – Pt1

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Challenge, Change, Character, Christian, Destiny, Focus, God, Integrity, Preaching, Purpose and Thoughts
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Shared these thoughts last Sunday as my first venture into our new Preaching Series at Xcel Church about walking into our ‘flashforwards’. Whatever we see in our future – the best part about it is that we can have God right at the centre of it. This means we should be walking ahead…

Confidently
This is a confidence not based on getting the answers we want all the time but based on the knowledge that God will do what is right for us. The two invariably are not always the same. We may not always know our own thoughts on things but God is never uncertain. His thoughts are always working towards the expected end.

As Jeremiah 29:11 says ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.

God wants us to be able to move ahead with confidence. By His grace & Holy Spirit he directs the thoughts, affections & designs of all. We can take confident steps into our future knowing that He has already thought about them. (Psalm 37:23)

Carefully
Paul wrote in Eph 5:15 (NKJV) ‘See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise’

We want God to use us in the future – thenwe need to watch how we walk, to have a walk worthy of the calling to which we are called. The calling is to that of being a Christian and the opportunities that living out that calling may unfold.

Look at Noah – the Bible says there was something ‘different’ about him. He was a man right with God, careful to keep that relationship right, to always do what God asked him to, to keep his integrity. Maybe that is why God could open up what can only be described as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity.

To walk ‘circumspectly’ literally means to walk accurately, in the right way, frequently consulting our rule – so that we don’t act as fools but rather as people who are wise. Too many give no thought about how things look, about protecting their integrity, to think about how their actions represent God.

Instead of getting frustrated with God and wondering why He hasn’t noticed us yet, perhaps we should take more care how we walk, what we fill our time with and give ourselves greater possibility of ending up where God needs us to end up.

So where do we need to take care? How can we improve your walk?
What are we going to do this year to help us walk more carefully?

22
Dec
09

Nevertheless

By Julian 1 Comment
Categories: Christian, God, Influence, Inspiration, Jesus, Preaching, Responsibility and Thoughts
Tags: , , , ,

What a great word. As a Christian I am thinking that I should leave in the place of ‘nevertheless’. Whatever life looks like, whatever decisions need to be made, however dark and gloomy things may look ‘nevertheless’ changes things.

Nevertheless God is on the throne.
Nevertheless He is able to do more than I can think or imagine.

Isaiah painted a picture of the future that looked gloomy, dark and dispairing. But then came ‘nevertheless’ the people in darkness have a seen a great light, nevertheless liberty was coming forth, nevertheless a child was to be born – a child that would become the Saviour of the world. God had an answer, it was ready, it would happen, His zeal would see it accomplished.

It’s a simple thought but thank God for nevertheless.
It’s a comforting thought that if God’s zeal is set toward it, then it’s accomplishment is secure.
It’s exciting to think of how God responds to our dark & gloomy circumstances by shining His light, declaring His liberty & giving us His Son.

How should we respond in 2010 to how God has responded to us?

[Happy Christmas]

15
Dec
09

10 Things That Can Shape Your 2010

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Challenge, Destiny, Developing Leaders, Focus, Goals, Leadership, Making Decisions, Maturity, Potential, Purpose, Responsibility, Thoughts and Vision
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Are we the architect’s of our future?

God has laid up some incredible things for our lives. Our responsibility is to place ourselves correctly in life, making sure that we stay in those plans. Easy. Or not.

To make 2010 an incredible year, maybe the best one yet here are 10 things you could do:

1. Review 2009: what did you achieve? what did you not achieve?
2. Set the bar: use this years achievements or lack of, to move it a little higher for 2010
3. Read your Bible: go for cover to cover through the year – go on, give it a go.
4. Lay down the BIG rocks: what are the key things you want to see happen during 2010 – holidays, special occasions, events, conferences
5. Mark your boundaries: planning sets boundaries, boundaries determine what is allowed.
6. Learn to say NO: boundaries give you control, they remind you what you should be saying NO to. If you can’t say no you will end up doing some stuff that leads to drift, get you distracted, followed by disappointment (again).
7. Learn to say YES: don’t hide from opportunity. Your year will be shaped by what you say YES to as much as what you say NO to. Some times you just have to go for something.
8. Pray things through: no one says 2010 will be easy but just because it gets tough doesn’t mean you should walk way either. Keep strong in your faith, pray it through and then pray it through again.
9. Get with like-minded people: for those at Xcel join a Connect Group – support, encouragement, sharing of successes and failures too
10. Have fun along the way: make time for hanging out with those special people in your life, know how to chill out and have a laugh

What are your hopes for 2010?
Make some great decisions today and get yourself ready for what God has in store for you

09
Dec
09

Picking Up The Pace

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Challenge, Christian, Focus, Goals, Making Decisions, Potential, Purpose and Thinking
Tags: , , ,

As we head into a new year, new decade and for Xcel Church a new building it is vital that to build on any momentum that is being created that we work hard to ‘keep up the pace’.

In Jeremiah 12:5 God challenges the prophet – if you have run with the men and got tired, how will you contend running with the horses? It’s a great picture of how God needs us to be ready for what is ahead. To always be working at upping the pace. If we think life is fast now, God only wants to make it faster.

It’s not about getting busier. It’s about becoming smarter in our work. 2010 can be your year. The moment you have been dreaming of may appear. Be ready for it.

Don’t lose pace with what is happening around you…
PROCRASTINATION, ASSUMPTION and things CUTTING IN ON YOU could mean you get ELIMINATED from what God has for you.

Keep upping the pace…
PREPARATION for the life you want, ACTION to move you, thinking how you can increase your CAPACITY can put you in the place where God may ELEVATE you.

What goals will you set for yourself in 2010?
How can you make sure that you ‘run the race’ well in 2010?

This is not the pre-game warm up. This is the game. As Bill Hybels says in his book Axiom – ‘what life are you waiting for?’

10
Nov
09

Believing for the BIG…day 10

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Challenge, Change, Christian, God, Influence, Prayer, Responsibility and Thoughts
Tags: , , ,

What are you believing God for?
Are you stretching your faith?
Have you made room recently for God to move?

Everything we do is a model of a certain lifestyle to those around us. It will have an impact on them – for good or not. It will display God off in one way or another. The call of a Christian is to reveal the glory of God in our lives – what we do, how we speak, in our reaction to life’s circumstances.

Paul spoke about 3 ways we become models to those around us…

In our work produced by faith.
In our labour prompted by love.
In our endurance inspired by hope in Lord Jesus Christ.

Believe for something. Ask God to be all over your work. Make it faith-filled.
Ask God to change something. Identify with others. Prompted by true faith and genuine love.
Look to the future. Stand strong with an anchor called hope – knowing God is able.

Don’t do nothing.
Believe God for something.

07
Nov
09

God Wants To Do the BIG Things

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Faith, God, Prayer and Thoughts
Tags: , , , ,

Encouraged this week in my praying and reading that God really does want to do something BIG.

In my life.
In my family.
In my Church.

If God desires that for me then He desires it for YOU as well. God really is FOR US.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that he was praying for them ‘that by his [God's] power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by faith’. [2 Thessalonians 1:11]

So we are back to the need to make space for God to move. To act in FAITH. Without faith it’s impossible to please God. Without any acts prompted by faith God cannot fulfill anything. This is not acts prompted by my own desires but by faith. Challenges the heart: selfish desires v faith filled desires.

Selfish desires make me look good.
Faith filled desires make God look good.

God wants to fulfill every good purpose of mine to make Him look good. To bring glory to His name. To promote Him, not to promote me.

What act prompted by faith do you want to see God fulfill?

03
Nov
09

Make Space for What God Can Do

By Julian Leave a Comment
Categories: Courage, Faith, God and Prayer
Tags: , , , ,

Was reminded this morning that God needs us to make space for him to move. Isaiah 54:2 tells us to ‘enlarge, to stretch, to not hold back, to lengthen and to strengthen’. Believing God for BIG things usually involves all these.

The key is to LENGTHEN the cords and then STRENGTHEN your stakes.

Both elements are important.
If you do not strengthen then you might snap.
You were designed to lengthen, to increase your capacity in God but not without learning how to strengthen that growth. Establish it, make it good, make it long lasting not just for a moment.

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