Unity

It's not about being in the spotlight or being visible but simply playing your own part in whatever season you are in. You don't need a title to strengthen the church. You don't need perfect circumstances to be used. Please don't wait for perfect circumstances because there's no such thing as perfect. You just need willingness. So perhaps we need to let go of the picture that you had and ask God for a vision for this season. Hold your plans loosely. Make plans. I'm probably the biggest planner I know and you know, but hold them loosely. Don't walk alone. Ask someone to pray with you. Intentionally build friendships. Faith was never meant to be lived in isolation. God gives us the Holy Spirit but he also gives us people. [00:20:35] (63 seconds)  #ServeYourSeason

It wasn't a huge venue with lights and sound systems. They didn't compete because unity is about impact. It's not about competing. It's about strengthening what God is building. Priscilla and Aquila didn't need a platform to have authority. They didn't need visibility to have influence. They didn't need applause to have impact. They chose unity over recognition and because of that the church grew stronger. I'm going to church Priscilla and Aquila are back in Rome where they started. But we see that their relationship with Paul continued to grow. They were still building each other up as Paul hasn't been to Rome at this point and yet in Romans he writes, greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co workers in Christ Jesus. [00:17:14] (57 seconds)  #UnityOverRecognition

Working together doesn't mean being the same as someone else. It's about knowing that you don't need to do everything but you do need to bring your part. One person might have a vision, another might have the wisdom to guide that vision but then it takes somebody else with the drive to take action to bring that vision into reality. Each on their own is great but when they come together that's when the reality happens. Planted, Apollos watered, Priscilla and Apollos strengthened and God gave the growth. And that is what working together looks like. [00:19:40] (46 seconds)  #BringYourPart

And I had to learn to trust, not just to trust God but to trust those around me because I was always very independent. Know, I've got my husband, my family but we were that was it really. I didn't really have anybody else around me and so having learning to trust other people, letting them in, letting them pray for me, to minister to me, that was quite a huge thing and not at all comfortable. And yet we know that some of the most powerful moves of God begin in places where no one ever plans to be. They rarely happen in comfort or in control. [00:03:03] (38 seconds)  #LearnToTrust

We can't control the changes that come our way but we can control how we respond to them. We can let disruption define us or we can allow God to build something new through it. What feels like upheaval can sometimes be a natural repositioning and that's what it was for Priscilla and Aquila. Their disruption became a divine alignment because in Corinth they met Paul. [00:08:04] (30 seconds)  #DivineRepositioning

All of those testimonies have two things in common. One, that things didn't go to plan. And two, that that God is there and that he's brought people, he's put people around where they're needed. Can I have the first slide please Amy? Sorry. I thought I've got the wrong one. Yeah. They say, Dana, if if you want to make love laugh, tell him your plans. And as we've heard this morning, very rarely things go to plan. I'm sure we've all had times where we thought this is not where I plan to be right now or this isn't where I thought I'd be. [00:00:51] (42 seconds)  #PlansDontDefineUs

Priscilla and a brother weren't stable because their circumstances were stable. They were stable because their foundation was stable, because they were rooted in Christ and they had a commitment to serve God. [00:08:04] (15 seconds)  #RootedInChrist

The kingdom of God advances through partnership not through isolation. Paul sought people out. He knew of Priscilla and Aquila and he knew that connection of trade as well as their faith. And these epics when Jesus sent out his disciples, he didn't send them out alone. He could have done. He could have sent that you know they would have covered so much more ground and quicker. But he didn't. He sent them out in pairs because partnership is intentional. It's a shared authority, a shared mission and shared responsibility. [00:09:41] (36 seconds)  #SentInPairs