Matt Chandler from Catalyst 2014

I recently had the privilege of blogging at the Catalyst 2014 Conference as a part of the Blogger Team!

Thursday nights session started with a worship time led by Matt Redman (his album [amazon_link id=”B00E4V0D76″ target=”_blank” ]Your Grace Finds Me[/amazon_link] is amazing.)

Matt Chandler, the lead pastor at The Village Church and the President of the Acts 29 Network spoke Thursday night. Here are some of his thoughts.

When it comes to the idea of change, I like to camp out in the Scripture of Revelation 7:9-10

This text is showing us what will happen. This infuses us with a confidence that knows no hurdles. Change will occur. We will succeed. Some of us have seen little fruit, but don’t lose heart.

There are the miracles, but most often changes occurs over time with scraped knees and busted lips.

You can stare at your children but never actually see them grow. We are in a marathon stalked by an enemy and haunted by our flesh

2 Timothy 4:1-8 shows us what it look like to preach in season and out of season in this marathon.

He gives us three ways:

Reprove – to correct error by the use of reasoned arguments. You must have a confidence in the Scriptures in order to do this. You are not cowardly when people need you the most. This is one of the more loving things you can do. 

It does not take long to see if people have read their Bible or the Bible has read them.

Rebuke – It is entering the space where there is error, and saying “be careful.” A culture which will not do this leaves the safety of orthodoxy. We are not called to be the police, but a detective.

We will feel the weight of this passage in this day and age. Where there are accommodations made to be more accepted by culture, that is not progress and does not work. 

Jesus does not need you to make him cool and palatable. He needs you to be faithful.

Exhort – Encourage, speak life, applaud

Be Sober Minded – keep your head, stay calm.

If we are going to run with perseverance, we must be serious about rest. This is not about going on vacation. We must find our rest in the Lord. Anything else is escapism.

We must guard our minds and pay attention to what we are thinking. We have a pet lion in our minds and we justify the feeding of this. It will eventually bite us. We put lions to death, not put leashes on them.

Your thoughts are public to the only One who actually matters.

If we are not compassionate with those we are to serve, it is a warning that we are thinking more of our self than others. If we try to avoid difficult people we are in our flesh.

Watch your rhythms. Have times of restoration built in to help strengthen us in the marathon. Take off sites, take times to seek God and gain input. Regularly we need to feel tiny, desperate, and in deep need.

Endure Suffering – Don’t let suffering surprise you. 

We can preach it to our people but does it occur to us, that it will happen to us? The messenger goes in the ground, the message goes on.

“In this world you will have trouble, but take heart for I am with you”

Do the Work of an Evangelist – It is in the desire to see souls transformed by the gospel that we are most weak and dependent upon God. This will show how happy we are in God. We will share what we are happy with.

Fulfill your Ministry – the sin of comparison runs rampant today. God doesn’t want or need the famous ones in your community, he needs you. Love your ministry. It is a pleasure to serve where you do.

If your ministry is hard, that must mean that ministry being hard is good for you.

Want more but be content where God has placed you.

Receiving a crown of righteousness what is awesome is the day, not the crown.

Matt Chandler has inspired a number of posts at NoSuperHeroes such as Lifelong Learning. His book [amazon_link id=”B0073VZSTW” target=”_blank” ]The Explicit Gospel[/amazon_link] is one I recommend.

For more about the Catalyst Conference go to www.catalystconference.com