Pastor Brendan Kelly - Making Sense

There were three statements made at Hillsong Conference 2010 that were exactly that - statements that made sense, were easily understood and resonated with the convictions and direction of this church:

1. "We get so caught up with what we don't have, we forget what we do have" - Joel Houston

Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,

• Not only did Isaiah prophesy this; Jesus choose this exact passage when teaching in the temple. (Luke 4:16-18)
• We are often preoccupied with what we don't have - what preoccupies you?
• We could easily ask “Jesus may have been anointed for this, but what does that mean for us?”

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

• The Father has given us the word of reconciliation which He had given Christ.  
• We are here on Christ's behalf, to continue the work of reconciliation just as He did.
• God’s perfect plan for your life is all wrapped up in being here on Christ's behalf. The same Spirit that Jesus declared was upon Him is upon and within us to get started on this ministry we’ve been called to.

Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

These scriptures ‘make sense’ of the question "What am I here for?" which is to:

1. Preach to the poor (includes poor in spirit). We can preach the good news to those who are spiritually downcast, often without words
2. Heal the broken-hearted. Physical injury can often be easier to fix than the emotional or psychological.
3. When people come along to a church - they should feel a liberty.

• Get things in perspective by getting less focused on our worlds and more on other people’s worlds

2. "People who were nothing like Jesus liked Him ... Jesus liked people who were nothing like Him. We should be people who like people who are nothing like us, and people who are nothing like us should like us." - Andy Stanly

• It's great to be around people who are like you - for example at church. However - if we have a mentality  that we need to get through the week to get to Sunday then we are wrong. The people unlike us during the week are the people Jesus loved and reached out to.

Luke 15:1 “1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”

3. "It doesn't matter what link you are in the chain .... Just don't be the missing link" - Scott Samways

• When it comes to seeing people come to Jesus, it's usually a chain of events - people go on a process and we all have a role to play in seeing people come to Christ.  
• Not one of us can afford to be a missing link in the chain of events that is the process of seeing someone come to know Jesus as their the Lord and Saviour.  
• Every link will want people who are not like us to like us and it shouldn't be too hard because the Spirit of the Lord is upon you - the same Spirit that was upon Jesus.

John 4:37-38 “For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

• We have different roles in the chain of events (the labour) that it takes for a person to find Christ. You may be the one privileged to reap, but understand that you enter into another man’s labour.

CONCLUSION:
 It’s easy to love the lovely, not so easy to love the unlovely. When we are thinking about loving as the church, we are looking past what it is to ‘like’ people - and looking at what it is to love as Christ loves. The thing that stops us from doing the work of Christ, is often our preoccupation with what we don’t have instead of what we do have causing us to let the opportunities disappear from our grasp and causing us to become the missing link in a person’s journey to knowing Christ. We can’t be that type of Church.

*To access the messages preached at Hillsong Conference visit http://hillsongmusic.com/categories/hillsongconference