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Some time ago A congregation was looking for a new minister.

The Vacancy Committee had been very active travelling the length and breadth of the land in search of Mr Right.

After their exhaustive and exhausting hunt, they held a bundle of dossiers on likely candidates.

Here is how they read:

Adam: Good man but problems with his wife.

Also one reference

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told of how his wife and he enjoy walking naked around in the woods.

Noah: Former ministry of 120 years with not even one convert.

Prone to unrealistic building projects.

Elisha: Reported to have lived with a single widow while at his former church.

Deborah: Strong leader and seems to be anointed, but she is female.

Paul: Powerful CEO type leader.

However, short on tact,

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unforgiving with younger ministers and women, harsh and has been known to preach all night.

Timothy: Too young!

Jesus: Has had popular times, but once his church grew to 5000 he managed to offend them all, and then this church dwindled down to twelve people.

Seldom stays in one place very long.

And, of course, hes single.

And what was that church looking for a leader?

Well it was Saint everywhere

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in this day and age.

My point is that in these troubled times for Christianity in Britain, all denominations, churches and congregations are looking to finding the perfect leader the one will return congregations to past glories the one who has all the easy answers the one who will shoulder the responsibility of filling the pews and having them rolling in the aisles.

The problem is that for many they are going to be disappointed.

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Indeed, their fruitless search is doomed from the start.

And the reason for that is simple.

They are they looking in the wrong place.

Why?

Well they have some old armour and antique swords lying around and they are trying to find someone to fit them or wield them.

They are looking also for some sort of hero willing to fight todays problems with obsolescent weapons.

More to the point

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they are looking for one solitary individual to take on this eras Goliaths rather than making it a team effort.

No wonder their search is a similar experience to that described by a greek lady this week on the radio.

Illustrating how her nations society felt at the moment she said it was walking across a bridge that is being demolished behind her and being built in front.

The vexing question then for all in Greece was

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was this bridge being constructed fast enough or would they drown in the waters below.

Which brings us neatly, to David.

For he had three magnificent qualities.

Firstly, he could perceive when the conditions had changed from those that had been experienced in the past.

Not only that but he was supremely confident that with Gods aid he could master this new situation.

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And above all, he knew how to play to his strengths his talents if you like rather than being defeated by the others.

Today, as we have been exploring over the last few weeks, we acknowledge our globes culture has radically altered over the last few decades.

People relate to each other, communicate with each other and may see each other in a brand new way.

After all many developing countries

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have few roads, little water and precious few amps of electricity yet they have mobile phones and facebook.

We then in the church are indeed a bit like that greek lady on that collapsing and rebuilding bridge today.

Nevertheless let us at least have the same wisdom as David and recognise that people have a rapidly changing personal agenda and spiritual outlook.

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Let us accept the past is not the 24 June 2012.

Let us see how much the world is evolving around us.

And In the process, let us not cling to the old religious weapons for too often they are blunt.

Let us not hide behind old rusty practices since they are now but dubious armour.

Instead, may we like David, have unshakeable trust, faith and confidence that God is leading each of us

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in the construction of a gloriously different future of the church.

May we not doubt for a second we are together safely bridging two eras across a unfathomable chasm.

May we indeed step out bravely into Christianitys current battle sure of the new swords being forged for our hands and shields for our central beliefs.

Since, in Christ we will be given victory no matter the giants in our way.

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We will be an army that can cut any Goliath down to size.

We are indeed already equipped to Again raise up a great spiritual nation to a better triumph.

How are going to do that?

Well, David won by using careful thought, innate skill and boundless and fearless determination.

That really means we too need to target our abilities much better.

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We need to expend our gifts and talents more accurately.

We need to truly understand what Goliaths stop people coming through the Churchs doors.

Because only then can we lead the lost, frightened and fearful into Christs family.

Only then will we be determined enough to show that nothing is too big to be a real threat to Gods kingdom.

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Only then can we hurtle timeless truths against the confusing tides of today.

Only then indeed can we offer genuine peace, joy and certainty in the failed spiritual economy of the here and now.

A small fellow, not much over 5 feet tall, applied for a job as a lumberjack in Alaska.

The foreman, thinking to discourage him, gave him a large axe, set him before a tree hundreds of feet tall, and yards in diameter, and told him to chop it down.

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Within minutes the tree had been felled.

The amazed foreman asked him where he'd learned to chop trees so powerfully.

The little fellow replied, "When I worked in the Sahara forest."

"You mean, the Sahara desert." - corrected the foreman

"That was after I got there," said the small lumberjack.

We may feel ourselves puny in the face of the giant issues facing the church.

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We may continue to look for someone else to do something when the Lord is saying get on with it yourself.

We may in truth not see the forest for the trees.

But let us not forget David let us not forget that little fellow who felled a great ox.

Let us not forget that we too always have a new axe at hand all we need do is lead those near our doors

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not into the desert but forever out of it.

Amen

Offering

HYMN

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