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Last updated 9am Sunday 8 March 2026.
Sunday 8 March 2026
Weekly Sheet
Is available to download (08/03/2026) as are the sermon notes. 
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Sermon Notes
(Also available to download.)
Love Your Church – Sending – Ezekiel
47
The Church is Missionary-hearted - Historically 2 prominent understandings of the church marked by the words used in Scripture:
· ‘ekklesia’ (Greek) – assembly, gathering, ‘called-out ones,’ a community of disciples – the biblical understanding prominent for the first 3 centuries of the church
· ‘basilica’ (Latin) – meeting place, religious building (based on rectangular Ancient Roman public halls) – the prominent understanding for 1200 years up to the Reformation
Our understanding of the church influences what we as the church do, the dynamic of the church:
· ‘ekklesia’ – missionary minded
· ‘basilca’ – maintenance minded
The church of the NT has an unmistakable dynamic shaped by Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples:
‘you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’ (Acts 1:8)
‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations’ (Matt. 28:18-19)
This is exactly what we observe in Acts:
· Acts 2-7 – the gospel is proclaimed in Jerusalem
· Acts 8:4 – ‘now those who were scattered went about preaching the Word’ – following persecution the gospel is proclaimed in ‘all Judea and Samaria’
· Acts 28:17 – Paul arrives in Rome, for many in that day, ‘the ends of the earth’ – note in our Bibles how Paul’s travels are described as missionary journeys (even in the maps!)
Jesus’ Call is Consistent with Scripture
The church did not invent this idea! It is consistent with the pattern established throughout Scripture:
Genesis 1:28 – ‘And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it’ – ‘to Go’ was part of the created order God designed for us!
Genesis 12:1-3 – ‘Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ – at the heart of God’s covenant with Israel is the command to ‘Go.’
Exodus 3:18 – ‘you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God’ – at the heart of the Exodus story is the call to Israel to ‘Go’ to worship God in the wilderness.
Isaiah 6 – ‘And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people …’ (6:8-9)
John 3:16 – ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave [sent] his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life’ – fulfilling God the Father’s plan of salvation, Jesus the Son responded to his Father’s call to ‘Go’
John 20:21 – ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you’ – we as Jesus’ disciples continue the work that Jesus began – Matthew 28:19-29; Acts 1:8
A Biblical Pattern:
· Where God is – worship – Eden the first temple; Abram hears God speaking; Moses and the burning bush, ‘for the place on which you are standing is holy ground’ (Ex. 3:5); Israel at Sinai, the model for the tabernacle and the temple; Isaiah in the throne room of heaven; the disciples in the presence of Jesus himself.
· What God says – Word – God speaks through his Word, and it is essential that the church is rooted in it.
· Our Response – doing – faithful, wholehearted obedience to God’s Word/command. The example of Jesus – ‘for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise’ (John 5:19); God’s instruction to Joshua before Israel goes from the wilderness into the Promised Land – ‘This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success’ (Jos. 1:8)
· Fruitfulness and blessing – Eden to the whole world; Covenant blessing to every family on the earth; Gospel fruitfulness from Jerusalem to every nation on the earth
Whenever we come to God in worship, corporately and individually, when we hear his Word, we need to be asking in what way are we to faithfully obey the call to ‘Go’ and do so with a heart willing to obey such that we see the promised fruitfulness and blessing.
What does this look like? Ezekiel 47 – a vivid picture of this biblical pattern that can be observed:
· Perfectly in the life and ministry of Jesus
· In the life of the church as it is increasingly transformed through the Spirit into the likeness of her Lord and Saviour
The vision in Ezekiel:
· Starts in the Temple – the dwelling place of God where his people worship
· Flows from the Temple – as God’s people are called to ‘Go’ and are sent
· Flows beyond the Temple – and increases in strength bringing life wherever it goes, even in the place of death
· As the people of God obediently go – ‘on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing’ (Eze. 47:12) – there will be great fruitfulness and blessings.
The call of the church remains a missionary-hearted call to ‘Go’ – Keith Green: ‘Jesus commands us to go, it should be the exception if we stay’.
This is the work that Jesus has called his
church to until the day he returns.
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Friday 27 February 2026
Jim Harries - End-February News
Read about the widening ‘cultural gap’ that has opened up between the west and African over the last 38 years in Jim's latest update which is available to view on-line.
Sunday 8 February 2026
Heating at Church
An issue came to light when the installation engineer did his detailed survey and it became clear that the boiler initially specified was not suitable for our building. An order for a different, suitable, boiler was placed on Friday. Unfortunately, that means it will be a further four weeks, at least, before we will have heating in the church.
In the meantime we will continue to meet in the hall. Zoom will still be available - but not the same immersive experience.