Letter from Ellise

To my beautiful OCF family,

It's truly astonishing that a mere 8 months ago I had never had the pleasure of meeting any of you. Now I can't imagine life without you.

When I came to England I prayed and prayed that I would find a home away from home.

God answered my prayers in an unimaginable way.

He blessed me with all of you. Ormskirk Christian Fellowship is what God's fellowship is meant to be.

From the very beginning every single one of you has been so very welcoming and loving. I want to thank you for that.

It has been such a blessing to be a part of your family over the past year. I have loved getting to know you and seeing you grow as a church.

Your zeal for God and for His people is overwhelmingly beautiful. You have inspired me. Know that I go home refreshed and energized to live each day for God, as I have seen many of you do.

I have grown closer to Him in the past year than I have over my entire life.

Thank you all. God has influenced my life through you more than you will ever fully know.

I am so thrilled where God is leading OCF. He has grand plans for this church and this town.

I offer up my prayers and encouragement to each of you.

I can now appreciate the difficulties of living in a largely non-Christian community and pray for your continued strength. This place and the people desperately need God.

I have confidence that you will be paramount in their hearing and receiving of the Gospel.

Please keep me updated on your endeavors and successes!

You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Until me meet again!

All my love and God's blessings

Ellise Williams

Knowing the will of God for your future

At this time of change for so many, whether through redundancy or coming to the end of a course or relationship, or regime change in Egypt, the question is - what next?

In Genesis 24 v1-27 we see some challenges that, if we truly determine to meet them, will draw us closer to the will of God for our lives.

1. We must 'believe God' as Abraham did - in verse 1 of Genesis 24 it tells us that the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way. Abraham believed that God loved Him and wanted the best for him even in the middle of Abraham's failure and tests. Abraham continued to beleive even when he heard God tell him to sacrifice his son. Abraham continued to believe even when his wife didn't have the child that had been promised. Abraham continued to believe even when his wife was taken from him. Blessing does not depend on us but on God in us and for us (Romans 10 v12)
   
2. Abraham knew the next steps because he knew and remembered what God had said. We too need to spend devoted lengths of time reading the Bible - it is a lamp and is alive and is active. The more we read it the more we will be able to discern the will of God. The word of God reveals the ways of God, the character of God and the trajectory of God's will.
3. Follow the Holy Spirit and love Him. Patiently get to know Him and spend time with Him. Talk to Him as you go about your daily walk.
   
4. Prayerfully watch - Genesis 24 v21 'without saying a word, the man watched her closely' - God answered his prayers in the midst of praying - as we pray and live in a constant place of prayer then God will answer our questions and guide us into HIs ways.
5. The will of God for our lives is God - what is the next step for you? God - delight yourself in Him and He will give you the desires of your heart - lean not on your own understanding but acknowledge Him - He will direct your paths.

Such basic challenges - the question now is will we do it?

Frankincense

Have you ever wondered why you are here?

Did the wise men wonder why here? Why now?

They simply followed and when they got to the stable they must have thought – why here? Why now?

The answer to why here, why now, why you is found in the gifts we can bring when we are walking close to God.

Gold announces the Messiah, it proclaims the rescuer-King: Jesus Christ. We need to bring the message of Gold to the society we live in, to the people we live and love amongst.

Myrrh is a gift of sacrifice: it speaks both of healing and of death – ultimately it’s fulfilment came at the cross – we too are called to carry our cross and be part of what God is calling us to do and to be for others.

But Frankincense is the main gift for here and now.

It is the gift we must bring no matter how hard the journey is in bringing it, no matter how far we have to come to bring it.

Frankincense is the gift for here and now, and you and I are being called to bring it.

It stands for intercession, a deep and determined connection with God.It stands for the prayers that go up from the saints into the heavenly places.

There are 3 things we need to understand about this gift:-

1. Exodus 30 v34:.

Intercessory prayer comes from time at the Testimony.

The Testimony were the commands of God – the words of God from the mouth of God received by Moses in the presence of God.

Our intercession for our community must come from the same place – Frankincense is only Frankincense because of the tree it comes from. If it came from any other tree it wouldn’t be Frankincense.

Effective intercessory prayer comes from time at the Testimony – spending time with the commands and the words of God – no other tree will do.

Do we as a church have a word that we have found in the testimony that we are praying in and claiming for ourselves and our community? That we are allowing the Holy Spirit to wield for us in our intercession for those we are called to, here and now, to pray for.

2. In Psalm 141 v2 the psalmist says: ‘May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice’ - prayer is intercession when it is in the presence of God: in the thin places, in the worship places, where God-encountering connections take place.

3. In Revelation 8 we see the incense of the prayers of the saints on the altar before the throne of God. Intercessory prayer is not something we do to God or apart from Him or towards Him but with Him.

God does with our prayers what He wants. There is a process that happens that we offer our prayers and then leave it to God to move in His sovereign power.

Prayer is not wish fulfilment, intercessory prayer is not about always getting what we want, it is summoning the power of God to have His way and pour out His sovereign and majestic judgement. It is aligning our heart with His.

We can call on Aslan but we cannot contain Him, we cannot tame Him – all we can do is trust Him.

We are determined that this year we begin to truly pray – to join with other churches and begin to intercede for our community.

We now have a prayer room in the middle of Ormskirk which we are calling the boiler room and we will be having 24 hour prayer events there.

We have lifegroups to pray for each other and our mission fields.

We have a RiSE meeting at 9.45 every Sunday in E7 to prepare our hearts for encountering God.

We have Barnabas club where we will be words of God for each other.

We will be spending times seeking the power and leading of the Holy Spirit in prayer events in homes and venues around the area.

Prayer that comes from in front of the Testimony of God out of the presence of God in the power of God - for here and for now.

Life groups are coming!

Life groups (by Mark Hudson)

The mission of ‘Life Groups’ is to enable discipleship through learning about God’s living word.

Having done a bible study course for two years it has shown me that scripture is multi-layered in the fact that you can never stop learning about God - whether you’ve been a Christian for 100 minutes or 100 years!

Once a fortnight, Life groups made up of 6 – 8 people, will give you an opportunity to learn in an informal environment. In essence the studies will run parallel with the sermon topics, enabling the small group to study in more detail a particular subject, a specific point raised and how it impacts our everyday lives and walk with Jesus.

Apart from a deeper understanding of scripture, time will also be given over for prayer, encouragement and fellowship for each person as they grow in God and his Word.

Mark and Wendy are heading up this initiative - I'm excited by the possibility of people inspiring each other to engage with God's word in order to be changed by God's word so we can reach out to others with God's word.

Life groups are voluntary for anyone who wants to get inspired and be transformed and support each other in our desire to become more like Jesus (Romans 8 v29).
A list will be circulated very soon for anyone who wants to get involved.

Let's do life together

Be conformed

What does it mean to live like Jesus?
I mean 4 things which I believe are crucial if we are to grow as Christians to 'be conformed to the likeness of his son' (Romans 8 v29)

Jesus has mission at His heart: He came to proclaim the kingdom of God, the love of God and to draw everyone towards salvation found only in Him at the cross. He went anywhere to anyone at anytime to do this.

Jesus lived in faith and obedience. He was not limited by circumstances but in the face of overwhelming opposition and disappointment He carried on.

Jesus was full of the Spirit and was 'led by the Spirit'.

Jesus lived with purpose and got stirred to oppose those things that opposed God's kingdom. The poor, the imprisoned, the blind, the oppressed. He lived with calling and wasn't afraid to follow it.

How about us? What about me? What about you? Do these things describe us? Let us make sure today that they do because I believe they will determine our fruitfulness.

Making Muffins with God

Yesterday it was just me and my 6 year old daughter Grace together, so we made muffins.
It was dead easy - I bought a packet mix from ASDA and followed the instructions (just crack an egg, add milk and mix it all together!)

I loved it.

The reason I mention this is at the end of this blog.

This year there are already many things we are doing and about to do:-

Street pastors - to 'be there' at the messy times for people in a mess: starting in January - apply now if you want to be on the team - see Dave Mutch.

Boiler room (next to the Buck I'Th Vine) - to 'be there' as a place of prayer within the community - from which will flow so much more that will be inspired by God at the right time: Andrew and Adrienne are leading this up with support from others who they will be approaching - watch this space & speak to them about when it will be open.

Cafe church - to 'be there' (at Costa coffee on a Sunday once a month) chatting about Jesus & life. A different theme each month but always coffee! - 26th September is our next one at 4.30

Barnabas club - to 'be there' for each other. Listening to God and sharing what is on His heart for 2 people each month. To encourage and equip; to heal and build up - see Ruth or Karen S about venues and times and who is next!

Life groups - about to be launched at the end of this month (see Mark H if you are interested - there will be sign up lists too) - for Bible study and friendship - to share life and encourage each other: fortnightly.

Animate - a course of teaching and experiencing God in a new and fresh and intimate way. Highly recommended for those who want to re-engage with God - see Karl Williams for details.

Encounter (prayer) events - monthly alternating between worship & intercession in a different venue each month & 6am prayer gatherings (starting 25th September at McDonalds)
RiSE = intercession for the Sunday worship meeting; every Sunday 9.45 to 10.15 in E7

Student liaison - Dave & Jayne are 'there' for all students. To mentor and listen and link with.

Synergy - to reach out in mission together, achieving what we could not achieve alone. To 'go there' - see Dave Smith for more details.

Men's Curry Nights - 1st Monday each month at the Shamrat. See Russell & Mark

Teaching - This year we are exploring 3 key passages:-
October to December: Genesis 12-25 (Abraham - faith & obedience)
January to February: Luke 1-5 (Jesus - our rescuer)
March to May: Acts 1-5 (The Holy Spirit)

Our desire is to Live like Jesus - this must permeate everything we do.
Closer to God, Closer together, Closer to others.

Community Action - to 'be there' for our community. Whether painting a friend's house or joining other churches in a community action weekend in June.

Social connecting events - 1st one is 1st Saturday in October: bowling & pizza. Every month - see Graham or go to OCF events website

Other ministries opportunities are still happening:-
worship team; drama team; book & film club (see Chris M); Compassion (sponsoring a child in a community in India - see Sam Smith for details); short term mission; mentoring; & many more things

So why the muffins?
We can make muffins and produce great muffins (ours were!) but what made it great was making them with Grace.
God loves all that we are doing but more importantly He loves doing it with us. It is about His love and our love for Him above everything else. If all we do is make muffins and not love then we are a clashing cymbal.
I love making muffins not because I love muffins but because I love doing it with God and with you.
Let's live like Jesus who loved even to death, who showed us what love is all about, who was not ashamed to call us friends.

OCF - what are we thinking?

This leader's blog will be much more about what is on the horizon in OCF. Not fully developed yet but where I believe the Spirit is leading us.
Imagine living this year like Jesus! (Romans 8 v29)
Mission was the heart of Jesus ('son of David') and must be at the heart of all we do as a church (individuals together). That is why the synergy vision is still strong. That is why we are continuing with men's curry nights, cafe church, serving the community (painting homes and moving debris!).
That is why we are launching into Street Pastors (anyone interested?) - we walk the streets and claim them for Christ and be there for those who don't yet know Him.
That is why we are renting a prayer centre, a 'boiler room' in the heart of Ormskirk - to be there and not hidden away - next to the pubs.
That is why we will be serving the community with impact weekends.

Faith and obedience was a hallmark of the life of Jesus ('son of Abraham') and we cannot do this without each other. Jesus surrounded Himself with disciples and spent time with Father.
That is why we are continuing with Barnabas, with Animate/Animation.
That is also why I want to encourage 'Life groups' - 6 to 8 people meeting anywhere together fortnightly to talk about how to apply scripture to our lives, to be friends, to encourage, love and inspire one another in this one life we have (anyone interested?)
That is why we who are mature must begin to take responsibility for each other and mentor those whom God has sent our way.

Conceived of the Holy Spirit - Jesus was filled with the Spirit and only ministered with the Spirit. The Spirit that guides us into understanding, the Spirit that comes alongside us when we are struggling, the Spirit that empowers us in our witness, the Spirit who is our friend.
That is why we too must seek to be filled with the Spirit in our quiet times but also at the encounter events we will be having bi-monthly (praise, intercession, and seeking) and at the bi-monthly 6am prayer events (how full is your bucket? - what will you do about it? what can we do together?)

There are so many things that we will be exploring in OCF - who knows what the Spirit will lead us towards and what will happen? - imagine living like Jesus