Cluster Thought for the Week - Archive 14/04/09 If you don't pray who will?To be honest I can't remember how this anecdote fits with the Thought for the Week last time but here it is anyway.This particular vineyard pastor had been an assistant pastor in a growing and thriving church. After a while he was given his own pastorate. He set about doing all the things he had seen his previous pastor do but the church didn t grow or flourish. This situation persisted for quite some time and it didn t seem to matter what he tried, nothing worked. Finally in desperation he phoned his former pastor and asked his advice. The question came back, Do you pray for the church? All the time you were assistant pastor I prayed and the church grew, now its your responsibility. He prayed the church grew. Hope you think it was worth it anyway. John MarshPlease send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you.
12/05/09 Out of Office 05/05/09 Numbers A book in the Bible that is very hard to read, at least for me it is. I was thinking about Numbers recently and wondering what the point of it was. I concluded that although the book is called Numbers, it's actually lists of people, families. Their descendants can point to the book and say that s my family, that s my Great to the nth degree Granddad. There is a direct connection to what God was doing then and therefore a hope and confidence he will do the same with us. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heb 13:8 Currently we are undertaking an audit of Cluster membership and it reminded me of Numbers but also of a story I heard from a vineyard pastor, many years ago, which I will relate next week for your encouragement and exhortation. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 28/04/09 On the Other Hand Four fingers and a thumb as my dad says. The last four weeks have been about the task of mission. Its good to know the task and to focus on it but we must remember that ultimatley the task is people. Human Beings becoming more human as they know God better. So take time to smile at people, chat, drink tea, listen, laugh, dream. Take time to be a Human Being and take a break from the role of Human Doing. People are the task, if people aren't the task then you have misunderstood what the task is. You are a person, the people on your team are people and the field, focus and strategy are all aimed at individual people. It's a "both/and" thing. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 21/04/09 And WHO are you going to do it with? Jesus is God and he had a team. Over the last few weeks we have looked at Mission field, focus and task, this week we look at team. You can do a lot on your own but not everything. Its easier sometimes to do things on your own because you know what you mean and what you want to do. Its better to have other people along. So who do you pick? I would suggest people who have caught the vision because you will need people already motivated and who can advocate for the vision. I would suggest servant hearted people because there is some element of going the extra mile. Beyond that I wouldn't worry too much because skills are quicker and easier to develop than character. Hope that helps. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 14/04/09 So now WHAT are you going to do? Over the last couple or three weeks we have established that you have a mission field which God called you into and that its quite big and needs to be focused down to be manageable. This done through people of peace. We have identified that you have a mission field (context) and a mission focus so the next step is to think through your task in that field, your mission strategy. Your mission strategy looks at how are you going to build community with your people of peace so that your life and social interactions communicate the Good News about Jesus? How are you going to spend your time with them so that they encounter the Holy Spirit through you and begin to ask those important questions? I don't know the answers but then its not my mission field. The important thing is that you ask the questions in order to remain disciplined about the task God has given you. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 07/04/09 On Holiday 31/03/09 Who's who in your field? So you identified your mission field and lets face it, its very big isn't it? Which particular Young Adults, Older Folk, Students, families etc are we talking about? I think thats where we go back to the people of peace idea. The vision from God which gave you the mission field to start with needs a bit of wrestling in prayer and in practice to narrow it down. There will be people of peace and that means they are open to you and probably have some coomon interests and values. Now you have your context and your specific focus for mission it probably still feels like too big a thing. Thats where grace comes in. Remember God gave you vision for the field and pointed you at the people of peace, He is Lord of the harvest, ask Him. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 24/03/09 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, Matt 28:19a The question is what is your bit of the world? What is your mission field? Students, Young Adults, the Older Folk, the people at the school gate, overseas visitors? Its very important to know what your context is. Can you articulate your Mission Field because thats the first step. If you are not sure then ask God to help you get clarity for this. If you are sure then ask Him to reveal the specific focus of who in that field he wants you to work with. More on this next time. For now go and make disciples in your bit of the world and collectively we might get somewhere. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 17/03/09 In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' Josh 4:6b I used this verse before, I know, May last year. On Saturday there will be an opportunity to view plans for some development of the buildings here at Crookes. The vision is that we will expand our capacity for training and supporting missional leaders and missionary endeavour. Its visionary, and a faith exercise because we aren't currently overwhelmed with people needing training or wanting to plant their cluster out. But we will be. When the church extension project happened three decades ago the congregation didn't fill their existing building but they had vision for growth. History proved them right. When your children, or people in your cluster, or anyone in fact, asks you "What do these stones mean?" tell them, God is having it built because He is going to need it. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 10/03/09 The Good Shepherd When I asked God what he wanted the 'Thought for the Week' to be I think He said to tell you that He loves you very much. I think I suggested that this was a bit thin in terms of content but I think God pointed out it was pretty good when you thought it through. So there you are! Reflecting on this I came up with two things (partly because I lack the courage of my convictions to leave it at that !) 1. We love because He first loved us. So our motivation for Kingdom work is not to win God's love but to revel in it. 2. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for His sheep. When you lead your Cluster you are a Shepherd but you are following Jesus that makes you a sheep. A daft woolly thing without much sense who often gets lost, and God still loves you enough to die for you. Jesus is passionate about you and so you can be passionate about Him and other people. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 17/02/09 Come and Go Lent is fast approaching and to me it always feels like a drawing in sort of time. The emphasis is on the suffering of Christ and His deliberate walk to the cross and in some ways our walk with Him. The end of Lent has the glorious revelation of the Easter resurrection. More specifically at the beginning of Christ's passion we have the intimate drawing in of the disciples for the Last Supper and at the end we have the resurrected Christ sending them to all nations. Holy Communion is itself a microcosm of this with the invitation to "Draw near with faith..." followed afterwards by "Send us out in the power of your Holy Spirit..." With Jesus it's come and go. Get to know Him and then share Him with others. Let us try to achieve that balance through Sunday gatherings and Cell which are largely "Come" and Clusters which are in essence "Go". During Lent, "Draw near with Faith" and at Easter get ready for the "Send us out". John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 10/02/09 Stand firm then Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain. Losing perspective is the danger. Leading in the kingdom can be hard work, you only need to look at Jesus' ministry and that of Paul to know that weariness comes with the job. However I know none of you are afraid of hard work; labouring in vain is perhaps the fear. Jesus had the crowd as well as the disciples. The crowd probably listened to Jesus, witnessed and received his miracles but not all of them saw his vision, not all walked his path, not all became disciples. Although some did. I believe some people will arrive in heaven tired and weary while others still look fresh, but the labour is not in vain. So stand firm, don't lose sight of that which caused you to start out (the vision you saw with the eyes of faith) give yourselves fully to His work because you know your labour in the Lord is not in vain. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. P.S. I have taken to writing Thought for the Week after staff huddle and so most of these pearls of wisdom are pinched from Mick, as this week's is! 03/02/09 Away (Chaplaincy conference, I am a school Chaplain as well ! ! !) 27/01/09 The Need to Lead (Part 2) At the beginning of January I mentioned the need to raise leaders and said advice would be forthcoming. Here it is. Recognise - You need to identify your leaders in terms of character rather than skills. Skills can be taught! Look for those with a servant heart and those who instinctively side with you and support what you are trying to do. You need people to lead with you who have caught the vision. Raise up - You need to draw leaders in and give them some profile. Make sure others know they are leading with embarrassing anyone. Invite them to your huddle and Leaders evenings at church. Release - Delegate quickly to your leaders and give them freedom to act, low control, high accountability. Resource - Huddle your leaders, tell them all you know, pray for them and encourage them to begin identifying the leaders that will follow them. Try it and see. (With thanks to Mick Woodhead) John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 20/01/09 "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Maybe on a bus near you, your cluster people, or their mates anytime soon. Who's to comment if not us? If people talk about these adverts with us and we engage in the conversation, which we should, then what we are getting into is apologetics. Are you ready to apologise for your faith? 1Peter 3:15. You see Clusters are relationship evangelism, they are slow burn and that's great because its good for people to be loved into the Kingdom. There will be some however who need to have the good news explained to them. They may never really have heard anything about Jesus but they may equally have a lot of wrong thinking or mis-information which needs to be unpicked. I think that for some among us that's our job. Its everyone's job to witness. Perhaps apologetics might be practised in our cells and clusters first. How? That's up to you for your situation, but when the bus drives past you need to be ready. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 13/01/09 Poorly. 06/01/09 The need to lead "This is no way to go about it. You'll burn out, and the people right along with you. This is way too much for you you can't do this alone ... you need to keep a sharp eye out for competent men men who fear God, men of integrity, men who are incorruptible and appoint them as leaders over groups ... They will share your load and that will make it easier for you. If you handle the work this way, you'll have the strength to carry out whatever God commands you, and the people in their settings will flourish also." Ex 18:17b-23 (edited) I have heard John Wimber quoted as saying that to get a church of 5000 is easy you just need a 1000 leaders. That might sound like an excessively high ratio, 1:5, but closer inspection reveals that we here at St Thomas are not far off. A bit of maths, 17 Clusters = 34 leaders, 41 Cell groups = 82 leaders. Even accounting for some people doing both jobs thats about 100 people leading and that doesn't count worship, youth, children's etc. There are approx 500 in clusters at the last count, therefore a ratio of at least 1:5. So far so good, but, what about who leads after you? We have a fairly high turnover here because of the students and the professions. We have a need to multiply cells and clusters because God is choosing to grow us. We need to bring on new leaders constantly. Everyone should have an assistant who will take over when they leave or take on when they multiply. Leaders at St Thomas are either raised up or appointed. Watch next week for how to do it. This weeks wisdom is found in the Bible passage above. Happy New Year John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. ARCHIVE - if you would like to read earlier posts from John, have a look at the archive! Office Closed 23/12/08 To all who've been born of the Spirit And who share incarnation with Him (Michael Card - Joy in the Journey) The message of Christmas, God and man in one person, "the Word took flesh". Immanuel God with us where we are. Cluster should aim to be incarnational community, being God where people are. If we can make God real to people there is more chance of them coming to faith in Him. John 17:20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." However as we move on from Christmas to Easter and beyond that to the Ascension of the Resurrected Jesus we see that our humanity is taken up to Heaven by Him and goes into the Godhead. Therefore to fully understand the incarnation we cannot stop with God comes down at Christmas but must carry on to Man goes up at Easter and beyond. The lesson for Clusters is that we must meet people where they are but not leave them there. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 16/12/08 Holiday day 09/12/08 Sorry 02/12/08 And who will go for us? The words of the prophet Isaiah Chp 6 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" The danger for the church, and I mean by this the body as well as the institution, is that it reverts constantly to maintanence at the expense of mission. That's part of the answer to the question "why cluster?" when we already have cell. Cluster is a fixed part of the institution which is OUT. If you belong to cluster you are involved in OUT. The problem is that clusters revert to maintanence as well. Often pioneer leaders who set up clusters find themselves turning the handle trapped by maintaining the thing instead of starting the new thing. I know because that was my experience. I don't know the solution but I would venture that there are at least two parts to it. First recognise and raise up the people who are going to take over the maintanence when you stop doing it. Secondly seek fresh vision from God to pioneer the new thing and go and do it. If you find yourself leading a cluster and you are a settler / pastor type then you keep "cranking the handle" and look for pioneer types to release instead. When Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, and Peter set off they didn't have a plan. Who will go for us? Here am I. Send me? John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 25/11/08 The secret of the Kingdom - its Both And Interestingly I wrote this down on a piece of paper at the last School of Theology when Tom was talking about Globalisation (Tom is our excellent Curate). Why interestingly? because "Building a Both And church" was the title of one of Rich Nathan's seminars on the recent New Wine Leaders conference (hopefully soon here). His main thrust was quite simple, is the gospel about evangelism or is it about social justice? Well its Both And. I think we have the perfect opportunity to fulfill this through Cluster as in fact many are. Cluster is built around relationship evangelism but many clusters also serve via Love Sheffield and Besom. Some Christian communities believe the bible says that we are 'going to hell in a hand cart' and so we rescue people into holy huddle by getting them saved. Others think that God is going to bring social justice and make everything lovely in a utopian way so work hard for political change and relegate spirituality. Kingdom Theology says, guess what, its Both And. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 18/11/08 Did you miss me? I am by upbringing and probably nature a conformist. If I am supposed to be somewhere or do something I find it hard to not go or not do. I sometimes feel that I live in a complicated web of obligations and responsibilities. Its made worse by the fact that I am a gregarious soul and I actually enjoy the busyness of meeting people. This does however sometimes lead me to into a pace of life that I can't sustain and one that negatively impacts those nearest and dearest. Maybe sometimes for some people in Cluster or Cell its the same and something has to give. Maybe sometimes that something is coming along to Cluster or Cell. It can be frustrating when that happens and it can feel like things are not working. It is good however to step back and think it through and then next time we meet that person or when we ring them to say, "We missed you, are you OK?" After all, in the desert places of our lives, that's what we long to hear God say to us. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 11/11/08 Network Leaders day 4/11/08 No excuses I was busy!!!!! 28/10/08 Half-Term Holiday 21/10/08 Love Sheffield This last weekend as you know was Love Sheffield / Cluster Sunday weekend. (For the casual international reader, hello out there, Love Sheffield is an 'acts of kindness' event where we pick up litter from the streets and give out chocolate among other things.) I think that it was great to see so many Clusters get involved and the feedback I have heard has been very positive. When so much of what happens on our streets is negative, it's a Kingdom act to do something God and kind and selfless to put down a marker for Jesus. It's also quite a straightforward thing to do and fits well with lightweight and low maintenance. In cluster speak we talk about process and event. Love Sheffield is clearly an event in the same way as many clusters will do bonfire parties, barbeques, cheese and wine, quiz nights etc The event allows us to draw in friends and to demonstrate Christian community. Process on the other hand is when people in the cluster as individual, couples, families etc meet with their non-Christian friends to build relationships and share the abundant life Jesus promises. Both process and event are really important as people are drawn to the Kingdom of God by both. My question to reflect on perhaps for Cluster leaders is which one are you good at and which one do you need to work on? John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 14/10/08 Powerful witness Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Sharing your faith can be quite difficult. There are lots of barriers, don't know what to say, do know but fearful of difficult questions, potential embarrassment or maybe the expectation of a cold or an angry reaction. These are all natural human reactions but they are not helpful reactions in people who are part of missional communities. The God solution is to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and bring power and that will lead to us being witnesses. Often if there is no witness that means there is no power. So how to get filled with the Holy Spirit and experience his power. To begin with wait on God, Jesus told the disciples "Do not leave Jerusalem but wait", there is something about clearing space for God and waiting. Paul also when he is talking about the dynamic expression of being filled with the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit in 1Cor 12 and 14 says to do two things; 1 Cor12:1Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. and 1 Cor 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts Jesus says wait, Paul says find out about and desire. The results will be the same, powerful witness. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 07/10/09 Reverend Francis Owen MA Have you heard of him? If you don't attend St Tom's you may not have. If you do attend St Tom's you still may not have. He was formerly incumbent of St Thomas but died on 14th November 1854. He was clearly loved by those who knew him as the plaque on the wall in the worship area attests and he was obviously someone who made an impression on their lives. Sadly no one alive now remembers him nor really knows much of his story. Psalm 103:15 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. The important thing is that God not only remembers him but is able to give him the full reward for his labours. The important thing for you to know as Cluster Leaders is that you are doing a great job and God loves you for it. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 30/09/08 Three legged stools Why does a three legged stool have three legs? Two isn't enough, four is an unecessary addition. You could make a two legged stool but it would be difficult to balance. A four legged stool would involve an extra amount of time and effort not to mention wood. Adding more legs; five, six or more would be even less efficient. I think God wants Clusters to be like three legged stools, fit for purpose but by expending the right amount of time, energy and money. Perhaps here near the start of a new church year it would be a good time to review the purpose God has given to your cluster and what are the things you need to do and not do to achieve it. Are you a leg or two short or are you using a lot of unecessary time not to mention wood on legs you don't strictly need? John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 23/09/08 The UP / IN / OUT of OUT I had the privilege of visiting another church last Saturday to talk about Clusters. They felt it was helpful and constructive for them as a church which is great but as usual, being an extrovert, I sorted somethings out in my own mind by thinking out loud. Clusters are the main OUT focus of the church but in expressing what they are about I found they have their own UP / IN / OUT. The UP of OUT is "VISION" Clusters are about what God is up to and joining in with that, see last weeks thought for more detail. The IN of OUT is "COMMUNITY" Clusters are Community in Mission, this reflects the nature of God who is Himself a community in mission. The OUT of OUT is "MULTIPLICATION" Clusters and their cells seek to increase the space for others to belong by multiplying themselves. So when you engage with Clusters it might be helpful to see where you are with the UP / IN / OUT of OUT. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. WE ARE BACK !!!!!!! 16/09/08 In the Dragon's Den I watched in the Dragon's Den once. I hate programs where you can be voted off in some way. They encourage peoples vanity and then quite often ridicule it. However I had a word recently which I shared and some responded to and I think it might be helpful to consider. God says "It's not the Dragon's Den". In the Dragon's Den people pitch their ideas to the ones who can invest and try to win their enthusiasm and support. So often as Christians we can fall into the same mode with God. We have an idea and we look to pitch it to God and seek his support and blessing. In John's Gospel Jesus makes it clear this is not the way it is with God. In John 5:19 "Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." In effect God pitches his ideas to us, looking for those who will pick up on what the father is doing and go with it. He is after all the initiator of mission and to Him should go the glory. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 08/07/08 White water rafting. Sometimes my journey with God feels like white water rafting. We were talking in the pub (whilst drinking a modest amount, do not be concerned dear reader) about how we think about God stuff according to our own personalities. Different people had different views on Heaven and eternity, again, we thought, according to how we were wired up. The imagery I am going to use now may not then appeal to you or your understanding but on the other hand it might. As I said at the beginning my faith journey feels sometimes like white water rafting and the thing is the raft isn't quite big enough. I keep falling in. Other people around me keep falling in. It's not only wet but its scary, you might get washed away. Clusters and cell groups should be pulling people back onto the raft, sometimes by the scruff of their neck. That's the analogy I want to suggest. Please feel free to interpret it how you will and or substitute your own. Have a great summer, abide well and I will see you in September. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. PS there won't be any updates here until September but the Youth page could really do with your hits so visit them :) 01/07/08 IF you can keep your head... Rudyard Kipling's famous poem seems to be quite apt for me at the moment. Life is busy and i don't have much 'head space' to think about all of it. I suppose I am in that time of life when lots of things happen at once; kids begin to hit teens, parents become more dependent, you reach the top of your profession (not that i have), in marriage you passed the '7 year itch' at least twice, other people at church expect 'thought for the week' and then there is fitting it all together timewise never mind reflecting on it. Something Mick has been saying recently has been useful to me thinking about this. He suggested that young people perhaps to late twenties ought to be thinking about experimenting and trying things out with their faith. That those over 55 may be looking to invest and mentor the younger ones coming along. Helpfully he suggested that my lot in the middle might be best focusing on what God wanted them to focus on. Their might be somethings that we can give up in order to focus on the important things. Not working harder but working smarter as it were. Do a few things well. So as we approach abiding time, during which there will be no thought for the week, maybe its time to let God prune you and feed you. The young guys can get fed, read books, think big thoughts. The older people ponder the lessons they learnt ready to pass on distilled wisdom. Those of us in the middle allow God to prune out those bits that are getting in the way of our focus. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 24/06/08 Staff Retreat 17/06/08 You can't have Inorganic Vegetables I studied A level chemistry at school. I wasn't very good at it. I got a D although without wishing to court too much controversy that's probably a B these days! One thing I learnt was that Organic chemistry involved compounds containing the element carbon and inorganic compounds were those with no carbon in them. People talk about eating organic vegetables and organic meat as though the alternative is to eat inorganic meat and vegetables, a logical impossibility. This particular act of pedantry is simply a poor way of introducing this week's thought about Clusters, namely organisation and organism. We believe at St Tom's that there is an important relationship between the organisation of the church and its organic life. We believe that the organisation is there to support the organism. The organisation of the church would include, the buildings, the office, the staff, the central events etc. The organism is largely the cells and clusters. In many cases the organisation defines the organism and bounds it. In some cases the organisation draws on the life of the organism to enable its own growth. Here at St Tom's we believe that the organisation should support the organism so that it can get on with the process of growing the way God has called it to while someone else does the photocopying. Why am I telling you this? I think it is important for you to know which way round we think it is so you have the freedom and where necessary the support to go for it with God. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 10/06/08 Visitors Week aka Pilgrimage 03/06/08 'Pendulum's aren't complicated, they just swing '- Jude Greenfield The hemispherical lifeshape is rest and work. We move backwards and forwards between rest and work to live a balanced life. If you think of the two end points of the pendulum as inner rest with God and outer work in the world then both are equally important and valuable. For a lot of the time we swing backwards and forwards an equal amount, working with God in the world and resting in him in prayer. Sometimes however we get stretched, most often in our outward life, our work life. That stretching might be at work, or in the family or in relationships. The pendulum swings further towards work, it must swing back further into rest. If more is demanded from you and taken out of you then greater will your need be of more of god infilling when you rest. This can be taken from either side, sometimes we have a stretching in the outer life as I said and we are catapulted further back into God, sometimes we have a stretching experience with God which allows us to stretch more in our outer life. You can see this in Acts 2 at Pentecost when the stretching infilling of the Holy Spirit means the pendulum can swing further out allowing the disciples to preach on the streets and do other amazing things they wouldn't normally do. What does this mean for Cluster leaders? God will stretch you, if you let him, with your Cluster in terms of growth and multiplication, in stopping some things and starting others. When he does, allow yourself a deeper experience of rest and infilling. When God stretches you in your inner life through a sermon, prayer time, bible reading or some other way get ready to be stretched further in what you do in terms of Cluster life. I hope you see this idea of the pendulum getting longer and us being stretched on both sides, growing in faith to maturity (Eph 4:13). I have pinched it unashamedly from Mick Woodhead's staff huddle because I could see it, and it helped me, and I hope it will help you too. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 27/05/08 In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' Josh 4:6b Normally I try to write these thoughts about things I have experience of but this week I am rather throwing out an idea that I haven't tried yet. It's clear from the Bible that our part in unfolding history is clearly connected to what has gone before and what is going to come. The Hebrews were always being exhorted by God to remeber their testimony of God's faithfulness and their history with him as well as to think about what they were doing now and what the future held. The stones mentioned here were taken from the bed of the Jordan River after God had dried it up so that the Hebrew's could cross into the promised land. The significance then is that God has intervened into their lives in the past and will do so presumably again in the future. This sort of testimony builds faith and we read in Revelation that testimony is an important element in overcoming the enemy, Rev 12:11They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;. How does that apply to clusters and cells? Well I wonder whether as apart of the Witness W of our cell life, probably the most overlooked at least by our cell, we could keep a journal or diary of answered prayers. We just write in each week what we have prayed for and what we have seen answered. This would then be a written record to remind us of God's past intervention and it would give us hope for the future. It would also be a handy resource to go to when your friendly Staff member for Clusters (me) asks you to email in any testimonies you have concerning breakthroughs and healings. Why not give it a go? John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 20/05/08 Do Amoeba feel the pain of Child birth? (lost from last week) Amoebas, like other single celled creatures, reproduce by growing in size and then dividing. Regular readers, of which there are a few (a very few), will see what's coming next. Cell groups multiply in the same way. As a point of clarification, although Amoeba and cell groups actually divide initially, there are more of them after a while so we call it multiplication! When you have been in a group, of whatever size, for a reasonable amount of time there is always some pain and discomfort when things change. This is normal right and proper. However the group like the amoeba doesn't divide for its own benefit but so that there is growth and that its DNA doesn't die with it. We are going to multiply our single cell into two in the coming weeks and so I thought it might be helpful for those of you in a similar position to share how we plan to do it. This is in the hope that the model might serve you well and or that you might be willing to share your own successful models of multiplication. 1. Meet together as normal but split into two groups on an ad hoc basis for the Word part of the evening and be in separate rooms. 2. Continue as above but find out if people have preferences of who they want to be with, don't want to be with. 3. Meet in those groups as 2. above. 4. Meet in those groups for the whole evening in separate houses one week and then all together the following week for a few weeks. 5. Meet three in four as separate cells and one in four together, call it cluster. 6. Start again at 1. I'll let you know how it works out and you let me know how it is for you. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 13/05/08 Technical Problems see above! 06/05/08 Day off 29/04/08 New Wine Leaders at Harrogate 22/04/08 The Game's Afoot I was both excited and encouraged by last Saturday morning's cluster leaders meeting. Eighteen Clusters were represented, some very new and some not so new. There was opportunity for each Cluster to share their vision and to receive prayer and words of encouragement from the other Cluster leaders. What was really exciting for me was the second part of the morning when the Cluster Leaders outlined their plans for multiplication and growth. There was so much creativity and inspiration around and such a willingness to move outside of our comfort zones. I would encourage those of you who were there, which I think is nearly all, to remain focused on your vision and be disciplined about your plan for multiplication and God will give you forward momentum. I shared with some Children in assembly recently about Paul's words in Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. To illustrate my point I used the film 'The Incredibles' where we at first see the huge form of Mr Incredible crouched behind a small desk in a small office obviously out of place involved in the wrong job. We see him next being ticked off by his dimunitive boss while outside a man is being mugged, a thing Mr Incredible is designed to stop. At the end of the film however Mr Incredible and his family are flying into the city on a really wild ride to defeat the evil robot. They are having an amazingly exciting, risky time ultimately triumphing and feeling a sense of deep satisfaction. My sense on saturday was a set of leaders who had by and large identified that for which Christ had taken hold of them and they were ready to take hold of it. The game's afoot. I for one am looking forward to the ride. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 15/04/08 God Blobs Mick has been giving some helpful thoughts about Clusters recently both at Cluster leaders huddle and on Cluster Sunday at the 7pm gathering. I thought you might like a summary of what he said. When should Clusters meet? Once a month or whatever you think best, its up to you! What is a Cluster? A group with a vision that has a desire to multiply, its a Cluster when it becomes in some way two. How do we do Cluster? Cells do the 4 or more W's (see earlier article), Cluster is the OUT part of the Triangle, and we do some sort of OUTreach on Cluster Sunday, or sometime in the week leading up to it usually. Why do we do Cluster? because God loves... (some people we know or know about) Mick recognised and wanted us to recognise that Clusters are made up of people and therefore don't look like neat triangles but are more Blobby. They are God Blobs and when people come across them they are welcomed in and belong. So don't worry about having straight edges just get on with meeting friends, meeting God and living life better in your own peculiar* way. * from the Old English meaning particular or specific, and the New English meaning odd / strange. For the download of the sermon follow this link or get a CD from the church office. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 08/04/08 Joseph called Barnabas which means Son of Encouragement To give courage is a great gift. Faith might be spelled R I S K or might be "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" Heb11:1, but I think sometimes its about holding your nerve. When you sign up for the God thing and particularly when you respond to vision it brings excitement. At some point down the road however there is the time when you need to hang in there and hang on to that which God has called you to. That's when encouragement is vital. Someone gives you the courage to keep your nerve and keep faith for the R I S K you have taken and the fulfillment of the thing you are certain of but cannot see. For me one of the most telling exchanges in the Bible about the reality of closely following jesus is From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:66 -68 Sometimes you hang on by your fingernails because there is no where else to go, but God is faithful. So be encouraged that you did hear from God and keep on keeping on with the great cloud of witnesses surrounding you and if I can bring you a word of encouragement I will. John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 01/04/08 I was / am on Holiday. (This is /was not an April Fool) 25/03/08 What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; Some people call them Mid-sized communities, others missional communities, we call them clusters. They are called clusters here because of their organisational origin of being a group of cell groups. I think the word 'clusters' has become a well known term and an understood concept so I don't propose we change it now. However if we were going to re-brand clusters I would call them missional communities because that describes exactly what their function is and should be. I thought about this when I was talking through what clusters are and how they work to someone new to the church. I think out loud and so I am trying to cultivate the habit of listening to myself in case I say something that might be useful later. What I said on this occasion was along these lines and the more obersvant may notice that I have said some of it before. When new people join the church we invite them to belong to a cluster because we want them to see themselves as a missionary. They have 'people of peace' that God has given them to witness to. The cluster therefore should provide challenge and support to them as missionaries to their people as part of the ongoing process of cluster. The cluster should also provide events that these people can be invited to which will engage them with the wider Christian community. The right cluster to belong to then is the one which will support you in your relationship with your people of peace and provide appropriate events that you can bring them to. Like I said, just thinking out loud... John Marsh <>< Please send any comments on this thought for the week, or suggestions for future topics, to John Marsh. Thank you. 18/03/08 Palm Crosses, Chocolate Eggs and Laptops Perhaps being Holy Week this thought should be Holy and Biblical and profound. Its not going to be. In fact its a bit of a do it yourself thought for the week. I went with some other people to give out Palm Crosses and Chocolate Eggs on Crookes today. I wanted to tell people about Jesus and if truth be told wanted to have some testimony or inspiration for this epistle. We prayed before we went and we decided that 'people of peace' would ask us questions. Most people happily accepted a palm cross and some chocolate eggs with a smile and a thanks. I'm just going to tell you about the others and if you can see a spiritual lesson in it email me. One lady shopkeeper told us she wasn't religious but gave us some sweets. One lady told us she had God issues but wouldn't elaborate. All the pub landlords took one but all the customers refused. One shopkeeper was apologetic about being open Good Friday, I told her that they probably didn't stop trading for Jesus getting crucified 2000 years ago, I don't know if it helped. Two ladies were manning a food outlet and it was their first day. I told them we would pray for their business to be successful. One shopkeeper asked if we knew anything about laptops as his screen display was rotated 90 degrees. By rummag Download associated files:
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