Being connected with today is being connected with people. 

It’s easy to connect with today when it’s all about people.

The heart of God is all about people and His relationship with them. For those of us who are the redeemed it’s all about others – it’s all about people – it’s all about loving God and loving people – it’s all about learning to connect with God and then connecting God with people.

It’s all about people and being generous with your time, your attention (some people are just soooooo busy!) your affirmation, your resources and your faith.

Our mission in life is reach people and to introduce them to Christ and get them connected with His church. Sounds simple but people connect people. I mean how can you win people to Christ when you don’t even know them. We just have to develop relationship and rapport with those around us and stop waiting for the "divine connections."

One of the most integral parts of church and its culture is belonging. People want to belong to something, they want a relationship with God and friends and they want to be part of a great family. They want to be a part of a vision bigger than themselves and work together with others of like mind and purpose.

People need people (sorry Barbara!). People need to belong; people were not meant to be isolated and alone.

God says in His word Psalms 68:6, “God sets the lonely in families” and we are that family. Open up your hearts, Jesus says in Matthew 5, “Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

Get out more, make more time to connect with others, realise that others are our priority. Connect with people today.

Being connected with God’s today is being motivated by His cause.

The cause of Christ is the Matrix upon which all we do in church must flow. A matrix is something that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates, takes form, or develops.

I believe a church validates its reason for existing by fulfilling this great cause. If we ignore it we too will be ignored. If we seek to fulfill other agendas and make them a priority then we too will be relegated by others agendas.

In Matthew 9:12-13 Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

It means that everything we do as church must flow from this one cause. The cause of Christ – to seek and saved that which is lost – to testify to the truth (John 18:37).

I love that scripture in Acts 20: 24, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.”

Imagine a church totally motivated by this cause of Christ. Imagine the areas a church like this will touch. A city, a Nation - all of Europe; maybe even the world!

Luke 19:9-10, "Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

We thank God for the past as we declare vision for today.

We thank Him for the good seed planted, we honour past hero’s of the faith, we speak well of those who have gone before us and we thank God for their visionary leadership.

But we are not called to live with their ghosts! We must declare a vision for today, we must be active to build a culture current with today and we must live and move in what we call today!

Isaiah 43:18-19, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

Matthew 13:52, "He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."

The church is not about yesterday.

Psalms 118:24, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

The church is not a relic nor is it an artifact to be commented on in a blasé fashion; the church is not a tourist attraction, it’s not about the past, old ways or old thinking.

How dare the church allow the world to relegate this awesome church to the past. How can we allow the church to be relegated to a place of irrelevance.

The church is about right now. We are a light to the world and salt to the earth. We need to be a people who are on the front pages of papers – we need to go public with this.

The church is about living in today, acting inside today and more than that it’s about creating tomorrow and being prophetic, building a future, and creating a future for our church and city.

Ephesians 3:10-11 says, "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord."

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A few words on maturity:

What is maturity? Let me tell you what it’s not … Maturity is not being able to tell us what the Mercy Seat is, quote the 10 commandments, be able to explain the 10 plagues of Moses, or knowing who the Anti-Christ is; Maturity is not being able to tell us all about the Temple, the table of shew bread, the ark of the covenant, and the shittim wood. That is knowledge – it is all good bible knowledge but this is not maturity.

Like in life, maturity is all about being able to fully function in the midst of growing relationships, making good and godly decisions, perseverance through difficult times, becoming an emotionally stable person working through the scars and hurts of the past to become whole and functional. Being mature is resourcing yourself and living out of the purposes of God serving His agendas. Being mature is having “the mind of Christ” [1 Corinthians 2: 16] and living according to it.

Let me quote from Bill Hybell’s latest book “Reveal”: “The church is extremely important in the early stages of [spiritual development], but its main activities—like weekend services and small groups—decline in importance as people [grow closer to Christ]. The church becomes less of a place to go for spiritual development and to find spiritual relationships, and more of a platform that provides serving opportunities.”

Hybell’s is not denigrating or demeaning the role of the church – He is redefining from a biblical perspective the mission of the church – the mature are those who no longer look to the church for “ … the meat of the word.” They have become mature enough to now feed themselves they are responsible to resource themselves and in turn be a part of looking after the spiritual babies! Their spiritual fervor is derived from being fully engaged in the great Mission of Christ! They live to see others coming to Christ in salvation!

Let me read an excerpt from Getting fed: By Pastor Steven Furtick – he quotes Proverbs 26:15, “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.”

We all know that one of top 3 reasons people leave churches is the (infamous) claim: “I wasn’t getting fed there.”Pastor Steven says, “Maybe you weren’t! Maybe the church set the table, presented the bread of life, and you were too stinking lazy to bring it back to your mouth, chew it, swallow, and digest it, like a big boy. You know, I don’t mind helping my 2 year old eat his Happy Meal. But if he can’t pick up a fork and bring the food to his mouth by age 20, we have a problem."

Churches are filled with those who have known Christ for decades, and still need a bib, a high chair, and want Daddy to do “open wide, here comes the airplane” tricks with the fork before shoving it into their mouths.

I love the way the Message Bible say it in Ephesians 4: 14 – 16, “No prolonged infancies among us, please…. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love – like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do.”

Why are you challenging us to spiritual maturity? - Because it is an absolute essential for a truly 21^st Century Church.

Being driven by the mission of Christ is a non negotiable to the church, it is the focus and driving heart of the 21^st Century Church. The church was never meant to remain childish, at a standstill or static inwardly looking or introspective.

The mighty church of God is always maturing and growing taking ground, pounding down the gates of Hell marching to the sounds of today reaching people who Jesus came into the world to save! For us to “tell the truth in love – like Christ in everything”