Names are pregnant with purpose

Day 3 at Hillsong Conference:

Names are pregnant with purpose...What stirs within the recesses of your soul when you
 hear Jesus' name. An enigma personified...Took on the lowest name so slaves can reign as Kings.

Morning session
Pastor Billy Hybils message was based on Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus calls his first disciples. Bill Hybils studies Jesus and speaks about 5 leadership tests that a leader must employ when choosing his team.

• Bias towards action test

Do you chose leaders who have a bias for action?
Jesus solves an immediate problem by getting into Peter's boat. Peter allows Jesus to do so without complaining.

• Can you follow directions test

Peter has been fishing the whole night and has not caught anything yet he say to Jesus "because you say so I will". Peter followed Jesus' instructions.

• Who deserves the credit test

In Luke 5:8 Peter gives all the credit to Jesus. Credit hogging does not contribute to positive team dynamics. Don't compare yourself with others. The ultimate glory belongs to God.

• Grander vision test

Jesus gives them a bigger vision - I will make you fishers of men (Luke 5:10). Jesus shows that the value of a dollar versus the value of human destiny. God loves people. They are his treasure.

• Will you leave it test

They left everything and followed him (Luke 5:11). The grander the vision the higher the price tag. Peter and his fellow fishermen were willing to leave everything for the grander vision. Change your vision from dollars to a grander vision.

Jesus left heaven for a grander vision - the salvation of all.

Q&A with Pastor Bill Hybils conducted by Pastor Brian Houston
On leadership:
There is a season for everything - Ecclesiastes 3. Sometimes it's good to let people go. Change in teams is good but you must invite people into your life for that season. Get involved. Treat people like family. Leadership pipeline is important so someone can take over the role. When you decide to leave, leave well. Ensure a thorough handover so that the person taking over is well-equipped. A leader is an incurable listener and learner.

On crisis management:
Storms will come. In the middle of a crisis that is when you character is revealed.

What's a prevailing church?
The church as described in Acts 2:42-47. The lost are found. The poor are taken care of. The found are growing spiritually. There is unity by the power of the Holy Spirit. Bold prayers are prayed and God answers. Communities are transformed.

"The church is meant to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed" Brian Houston

On accountability
We are all accountable to God. What is your gift? Are you using it for God's glory?

Session 2 by Pastor Brian Houston
Romans 10:13 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.". Acts 10:9-15 "What God has cleansed, you cannot call unclean or common"

The message of Jesus is all inclusive - Everyone is invited. Pastor Brian shared a story from Jonah 3:2-6,10. Jonah was asked by God to preach to the people of Nineveh and ask them to repent from their sins and return to God. Jonah's message is so powerful that the people of Nineveh, including the king, turn from their evil ways and return to God. When they repented, God's anger subsided and he relented of the disaster that he was going to give them. Instead of being happy about this, Jonah is angry with God. In Jonah 4:1-2 we read - But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was angry. And he prayed and said to the Lord and said "O Lord, is it not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made hast to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster." As a church we are called to be outposts of grace just like our God. Jesus loves all people the same. God does not show partiality - everyone is invited. Jesus is the only judge.

Image from Google images

Masterclass: Reading the bible effectively

Reading effectively:

• Be consistent. Make it a habit. 
• Fruitful bible reading is lived and walked in your neighborhood
• Pray before you read the bible 
• Ask questions: Where? Why? When? How? What?

Studying the bible

• Use the right tools (Good bible translation, study bible, commentaries, bible dictionaries, theological dictionaries, concordance/lexicon, survey of OT and NT, manners & customs books, online tools/sites, books)
• Identify what's infront of you (what's really there?)
• Recognise it in it's context
• Know what to do with what you find
• Apply it - the bible demands application

Read the bible like this:
GOD  (What was God saying?)
THEM (What was he saying to the people present then)

US (What does it mean for us now)

ME (Relevance for me)

One of the outflow of regular bible reading is an overflow of thankfulness.

Image from Google images

Word from the local pastor

We are made in the image of God. God spoke and created. Yet on the 5th day he made man, he came down to earth to create man. God gave him a breath of air and it became human. People have intrinsic value. If the angels were sitting in heaven trying to describe what an human being is then would liken it to something they were familiar with, they would say "humans hold the image of God". You are incredibly valuable to God and no one can take that away from you.

Evening session

Pastor Louie Giglio together with his wife, Shelley, started Passion which is a movement that ministers to college students. Louie was running a very powerful youth ministry in a town far away from his family. His father got terribly sick but he and his wife felt compelled to stay in the town they were in. After 7 years of praying they decided to move closer to home. Louie's father passed on before they could make it back home. However, he had already resigned from his job so he moved closer to home inspite of the devastating news. He says that he does not know why things happened the way they did. He does know that the Passion movement would not have existed. He was comfortable in his youth ministry. But God... God was calling him to something bigger than he could have ever imagined. Years later as he was preaching in a stadium full of young people he got to stand on the Chick fil a logo. The Chick fil a logo that Louie was standing on whilst preaching at the Passion conference, was the logo that his father designed for the franchise. It was an incredible moment for him. You can strive on our own but working together with God, you can achieve great heights that you thought possible!

Image from Google images

He started by congratulating Brian and Bobbie Houston for building Hillsong. He said "It is amazing. God is amazing. But God uses people." He thanked them for being God's vessels!

Louie spoke about the name of Jesus being a brand. The PR company that is hired to make much of this name is the PR of God, God and God - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He says that God is more committed to the idea that "there is no other name". God will make much of the name of Jesus. It is up to us to decide whether we want to join this winning movement. When you and I chose to join the movement of "no other name", we are signing up to God's team. When you know that God is making sure that the name of Jesus is proclaimed world-wide, we can rest with an assurance that God is on it. The PR company of God, God, God is working to make much of the name of Jesus.

Jesus is the God of my life. Jesus is my everything. God is very particular about his name - Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Sin is settling for a lesser name. The Holy spirit reveals and exalts the name of Jesus.

Scriptures:
Psalm 46
Psalm 90:1-2
Isaiah 6 (Visions of heaven)
Philippians 2
Acts 4:8-12