Archive for the ‘hillspowerhouse’ Category
Happy 9’s and other momentous moments!
Posted by thomas | Filed under hillspowerhouse
Last week at Powerhouse Central we had a moment at 9:09PM, where we broke up in groups of 9 people and when it was 9 seconds past 9 minutes past 9 o’clock, we celebrated for 9 seconds by cheering + giving each other “High 9’s”. 
It was an amazing moments. Strangers hugged, enemies reconciled and there was peace in the land… Well, not exactly but it was a fun moment…. Why did we celebrate that moment?
Well the main reason was for fun but also because it was a special moment. It was the 9th September, 2009 (09/09/09). It was a Wednesday night; how many letters does Wednesday have in it? You guessed it! 9! It was September; how many letters does…. you guessed it again!! 9!!! It was also the 252nd day of the year 2 + 5 + 2 = 9!!!! So this was one of those moments that wouldn’t happen again for a loooong time. (My Maven tendencies just forced me to look it up; the next time 09/09/09 will happen on a Wednesday is in 2409)
Last month at 12:34PM and 56 seconds, we also took time during the day to celebrate, as it was on the 7th August, 2009. (Some of you can see the pattern… 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9) Again a GREAT moment! I love stuff like this….
While these dates and number configurations WILL NOT happen again, it can remind us that EVERY DAY is as special as these. Just because the time, date + year don’t line up, doesn’t mean that the day is any more mundane or meaningless. That person you work with today has gone through certain things this morning, thought certain thoughts + has certain expectations about today and the sum total mixture of everything that makes that person him or her TODAY will NEVER happen again. The conversation you choose to have or not to have with that person today, is a choice you will never get back again…. You will never ride the train with those people in the state of mind you all are in today again…The person at the petrol station or at the shops… These are all moments here today, gone tomorrow…
EVERY moment we choose to engage in or choose to ignore are all moments that will never be given to us again… God is gracious and gives us NEW moments to continue building into our lives and the lives of people around us but what if we took every moment today? What would our lives look like tomorrow? What would our relationships be like with our kids, spouse, boss, colleagues, friends + strangers?
Seize the day, grab the moment and watch Grace unfold.
Thomas
Your stories about telling “Your Story”
Posted by thomas | Filed under hillspowerhouse
So thought I would just add some of the stories you guys send me regarding telling your story & how it collided with Jesus’ story…. Keep sending them in thomas.hansen@hillsong.com
Bless you,
Thomas
13/8/09
“Heya Thomas,
Just wanted to firstly take a second to encourage you in reiterating the amazing job you are doing with the young adults of our church & in-turn…our city.
So I guess with the whole theme at the moment of – ‘telling our story’ – I’d thought I’d take a moment to share testimony of an opportunity I found last week…after Sam’s msg at Powerhouse Central.
Last Wednesday Night someone crashed into the back of me on my way home. The man at fault then proceeded by swearing abusively at his 15 year old daughter who was in the car with him, followed by hitting her across the head.
My initial heart response was that of concern for the daughter…followed by my flesh response of, ‘oh crap what an inconvenience for me’.
After getting out of the car and praying for my protection against this man (afraid he may in fact lash out at me – although he ran into me-haha)…I found myself compelled with forgiveness and moved with love & took the time to really encourage both him & his daughter …realizing that this frustration & inconvenience, could indeed be filled with opportunity.
After exchanging details, & taking a moment to share my story…we parted ways. I have since arranged to send him a copy of our ‘Faith Hope Love’ CD & DVD.
I then proceeded to place the claim for the accident …& drop my car off to be fixed…humbling myself for a week of hitching ridesJ.
Being stranded at the assessors in Seven Hills, I arranged for a cab-ride to get to work. The cab-driver picks me up with his first question being – “where is it that you work?”
I couldn’t hide the fact that I worked at Hillsong Church. This one response led to a 30 minute conversation about my story, Jesus…& a discussion about Hinduism (the religion which his family abide in tradition of).
At the conclusion of the drive, I let him know what our service times were for the weekend…& left him an invitation to come along.
No prayer was prayed…no decisions were made…but seeds were sown…& light was shed.
It’s cool ay – that opportunities can be found in even the most irritating of moments…& that God can be glorified in it all.
How many moments do we miss every day?! Crazy huh!
God is good…”
7/8/09
“Hi Thomas and Kat!
I just have a praise report to share…
I was really inspired and empowered on wednesday night after Pastor Sam spoke about sharing my story with ppl! I went down the front on wed night to make a stand and a commitment to sharing my story with people so that they can get to know Jesus! So last night I met up with a girl i used to dance with and i hadn’t seen her for 2 yrs. I wanted to bless her and take her out for dinner so over dinner we talked and I shared a bit of my story and the amazing things that God has done in my life. She started to cry and said that she has nothing left in her life and she so needs what I was talking about! It was an incredible moment when i really understood why I am here on earth! I invited her to PH Focus Night and she is really excited to come and she said she will bring her boyfriend too! It is the most amazing feeling to lead someone closer to Jesus! So thanks for all you do for Powerhouse to be what it is, it really is changing lives!!”
It is amazing that our story has the power to lead someone closer to Jesus!
Shout out to the Ghostbusters!
Posted by thomas | Filed under hillspowerhouse
Just wanna send some love to the guys that rocked the place last night with this piece of classic music… Thomas
Passion
Posted by thomas | Filed under devotion, hillspowerhouse
PASSION
Passion is one of those words that brings with it heaps of connotations. When I say passion several ideas come to mind, fanatic fans, a young couple in love, a person fiddling with his hobby, the athlete practising for hours in the rain and the preacher sweating and spitting behind the pulpit.
What is passion though? Can you measure it by volume, time or anything else? Often we think of passion as the person in front of church that during the sermon says “amen” the loudest, during praise and worship jumps the highest or attends the most amounts of services.
Passion though in its purest form of definition comes from the Latin word that is translated “suffering” or “pain”, which is why the last hours of Jesus are described as “the passion of Christ”. Why is passion, as we know it, linked with suffering though?
“What will you go through?”
I believe passion is, “what you are willing to go through, to get to that which you are passionate about.” Passion is not about how loud you get or how high you jump. Those can be side effect of your passion but at the end of the day, passion is a deep resolve in one’s heart. It’s a person sold out for a cause and who is willing to go through anything. Or if we are to use the definition of the word, it’s a determination that no amount of temporary pain or suffering will stop me from pursuing and getting to the object of my passion.
Look at the example of Jesus in Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV)
“2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men,
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Jesus was willing to endure such pain and suffering for the joy set before Him; for the passion before Him. This is why the cross shows our true value and is the perfect description of God’s love for humanity. So my first question when it comes to passion is “what will you go through?” If there is a limit to what you are willing to go through, there is a limit to your passion. Note: please don’t fall in the trap here and think suffering is only being taken hostage in some jungle where you are threatened with death if you don’t deny Jesus. Often it is harder to go through a mundane week at uni or work than the extreme situations, where everything is a high-pressure situation. I speak out of experience here.
“Then what?”
The second question I have for you is, what will happen once you catch, what you are passionate about? Then what?
So many people chase fame, fortune, relationships, a paycheck, a car, a ministry opportunity or something else but have you ever thought about life after the chase? Then what? So you get job, then what? So she finally gives in and starts to go out with you or even marry you, then what? The question, you must ask yourself, is what you’re pursuing above anything else, able to sustain you??? If the object of your passion can’t sustain you, you are wasting your time. All you have become is a man dancing around a golden calf.
Return the Passion
Can I urge you, make Jesus your number one passion! How do you get passionate about Him? You return the passion. He is so in love with you and He is so passionate about you! We love Him because He first loved us. If your passion has grown cold, then start your pursuit at the passion to have a passion for Him. He is found in the pursuit of Him. The beautiful thing is that when you seek Him, He is able to sustain you. You seek Him first and all the smaller passions in life will come as they take their rightful place in the greater plan God has for your life.
Bless you,
Thomas
Your Secret Space
Posted by thomas | Filed under devotion, hillspowerhouse
Several months ago some of our friends bought a 2-bedroom townhouse. It was really nice. After living there for a while, they noticed something odd. It seemed like there was a wall out of place. They looked around and all the signs pointed to a “space” behind the wall, over the garage, that they couldn’t access. They visited their neighbours to “spy” out their “space” and sure enough they had a third bedroom. So one day we went over to their place and crawled through their roof and saw that all chords and aircon tubes were running to this “space”. We cut a hole in the wall and found this fully functional room, which only needed a door to be used properly!!
I loved it, it was so C.S. Lewis.
Our lives can be like this. God calls us to devotion and He calls that place of devotion “the secret place”. It’s a place of intimacy and communion.
Before we have a life of devotion, we know there is something missing in our lives. We see this empty “space” that we know should be something. We look in our neighbour’s lives and see a functional and life-giving devotion. You have a fully functional room and all you need is an access point.
This Wednesday we have our very first Encounter Night. It’s a night, where we take extra time to worship, pray for people, prophecy over each other. We will still be having the Word preached by our youth pastor, Chrishan.
The secret place of devotion is a personal thing but sometimes we need each other to break through to that place, before we take it home and make it intimate.
Can I encourage you to be there this Wednesday and come expectant to have an encounter with Jesus? He SO desires to meet with you and see you live a life of breakthrough for His name’s sake.
Bless you as you continue chasing after Him,
Thomas & Kat