7th Anniversary - Destiny

On this day of commemorating 7 years of walking together as New Life Church we have much to be grateful for in the Lord’s faithful guidance. He has kept and sustained us by His Word and in His presence and has joined us in treasured relationships that are a great source of encouragement and support. Doors of opportunity have opened through these connections to share the goodness of God in progressively more effective ways. Love has been strengthened through times of adversity as we have honored and sought after Him in each of them, yielding to the bond of peace in love. From many testimonies of God’s faithfulness has come a wonderful expectation of what is yet to come. As He remains the destination and reward in every step taken, there is confidence that by His direction and provision, we will accomplish His will for His glory. With outstanding excellence and detail, we will find complete fulfillment in serving Him and His body with grace and honor. Our labor will be rewarded greatly as it represents His heart as a Light effectively shining on Liberty Hill and beyond.

Notes

What was the joy/destination set before Jesus that enabled His completed walk on earth as a man?

Hebrews 12:2 (TLB) 2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God.

The path of a heart after God leads to Him

Psalms 16:11 (NLT) 11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

As our joy is in Him, He has given us His body for this joy to be fulfilled in service.

1 Thessalonians 2:19 (NLT) 19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you!

In our new birth, we have been given a very special gift from God’s own heart – His body.

He also gave us to the body with gifts and abilities that are essential for growing to maturity and functionality.

Ephesians 1:22-23 (NLT) 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

A God vision for life will have joy set before it – in the honored presence of both God and His body.

Though we always have His presence with us, the love we receive from His presence is activated and shared in the gift of His body.

Only as we apply our gifts and abilities to what we’ve been given can love grow to the beautiful harmony of His design.

The direction we’ve been given is to love unconditionally and make others that live in this same discipline.

With each aspect of God’s vision for our local body, there is a faith view of who we’ve been made to be and how that is ever-growing to the completed version of God’s plan.

Gather

• I see people who can’t wait to respond to the heart of the Father by coming together, honoring His presence in worship, and loving and serving His body.
• Wherever we gather - in regular services, small groups, or special events – there is an awareness of the Spirit that unites hearts and powerfully meets needs.
• From life-changing encounters with God working through His body come testimonies of salvation, miracles, healing, and deliverance that cannot be contained.
• Many are drawn to experience the wonder of God’s love in demonstration and discover how they can join in the walk of New Life.
• Commitment to this treasured gift of Christ’s body takes precedence over things of lesser worth in the world.

Grow

• I see people experiencing more than a notable event as they are constantly being changed by revelation from the Word they are acting out and living.
• Their steps are pure, stable, and confident as they are established in the Truth of the Word and kept from worldly influences.
• As they grow in nearness and faithfulness to God's heart, this is evident in their love and loyalty to each other.
• They are freed from the distractions and downfalls of division and strife as God’s love is overflowing from their hearts.
• Continually walking in the fulness of the Spirit, their heavenly communication spirit to Spirit produces fruit that nourishes the body as they are built up in their faith.
• Their development in the Truth and Power of the Spirit is with a purpose of becoming effective at demonstrating God’s love to His body and the lost.
• Gifts and abilities are activated with kingdom purpose in Jesus’ revelation of servanthood, that fulfillment in life is discovered in the service of others.
• They take responsibility for protecting and caring for the body as stewards of God’s treasures.
• Their nearness to God’s faithfulness has developed that same faithfulness in them, eager to remain faithful to their calling no matter what.

Ephesians 4:1-3 (NLT) 1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

Go

• A passion for God's heart and its desire to save has come in a growing transformation that has defied conformity to the world's selfishness.
• Hearts overflowing with God’s goodness see the world as opportunities for His healing, deliverance, and salvation.
• No longer content with personal freedom and peace, they are compelled to follow the Master, leave the comforts of personal triumph, and take the message of God’s love to a lost world.
• As personal witnesses to His powerful presence, they proclaim boldly a testimony of overcoming by the blood.
• By the direction and guidance of the Spirit, gifts are utilized to bring revelation and minister healing to those in darkness.
• From lives disciplined to love come many more as we are fruitful in the work of the Kingdom and the command of the Master to go and make disciples.
• Homes, communities, and nations are touched with the Light of God’s love from hearts responding in obedience to His direction.