For

Sue Latham came to speak to us on Sunday:-
We are called to walk in the newness of life; forget the former things (Isaiah 43v18)
Out-work the old and work out the new - but do we like the old better? Are we hanging on to the past.

Take everything to the cross - not just the bits that WE think we need redeeming but everything - even the bits we think are OK, that we judge to be acceptable - bring it all to the cross and let God be the judge - for fruitfulness.

Why does God want to do this in us? Because we are priceless in His sight and He loves us.

knock and stay!

When we lived in Birch Green near one of the many subways we would often be sitting in our living room when there would be a knock at the door.
We would leap up to answer it only to hear the feet of children running off into the distance or under the subway.
We'd settle down again and then another knock and as we got up to answer it once again the feet could be heard dashing off to safety.

D.L.Moody said "Thus is it often with us. We ask for blessings, but do not really expect them; we knock but do not mean to enter; we fear that Jesus will not hear us, will not fulfil His promises, will not admit us; and so we go away........ A great many people pray in that way; they do not wait for the answer."

Yes I believe that we are in a season of openess to God and a time when God is responding to the prayers of His people, yet that does not mean it is always in the manner that we expect or desire.

God is sovereign and in faith we must come to seek His living, rhema word knowing that He is speaking and acting continuously for us. Knock and then wait for the answer - enter in and see what God wants to say and do.

Ask, seek, knock.

Increasing

'It is for increasing degrees of awareness that we pray, for a more perfect consciousness of the divine Presence.' - A.W.Tozer (The Pursuit of God)

'Where is our sustenance coming from?' - the sluggishness and emptiness that besets us all from time to time cannot be overcome by anything other than feeding ourselves on God's word and prayer.
An army marches on its stomach and we need solid food - let's soak in His true love.

Philippians 3 v12 - we press on because our citizenship is in heaven and so let's make our life here on earth count. May we be small men and women who are full of a big God.

Death and suffering and doubt and misery and discouragement and pain are intruders. The tomb is empty and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in us too. So we too will be and can be raised.

These are some of the things that were shared this last Sunday in church.

Let's get encouraged by what God is saying and this Christmas see that He can make a way where we thought there was none, as we also prepare a way in our own hearts and have the privilege of being used to prepare a way in others.

imagine

At Christmas we are reminded that Jesus, who once had been the unimaginable, who once had dwelt in majesty and glory in a dimension beyond our understanding, became imaginable to us in His incarnation.

He took on flesh so we could see Him and so He could be with us and for us.

Imagine:-
His IMAGE IN Earth
His IMAGE IN Eternity
His IMAGE IN Everyone

What a wonderful message. Jesus, born in Bethlehem in the image of man who had been formed in the image of God.

We too must carry the image on. Be image-bearers of the once unimaginable.

To enable others to imagine the glory of a God who was and is and is to come.

The God who came so that we could behold Him, behold His image, imagine the truth of who He is for us now and for who He has always been for us at every twist and turn of every breath of our past and will forever be there for us now and always.

Christmas is the unimaginable at last imagined, revealed and experienced. For us to know and see and share.

here, now, you

I can remember when I was a child going to the beach in the Summer holidays with my family.
We would be laden down with deckchairs and windbreaks and picnic blankets and towels and buckets and spades and food in baskets.

The first thing we always did was to find somewhere to 'camp' - one bit of beach looked the same as another to me and yet my dad would take us on a long trek to find the perfect place to stake our claim. For miles, it seemed, we would walk when I just wanted to stop, get my trunks on and jump in the sea.
Strangely, now that I have a family of my own, I do the same thing as my dad - looking for the perfect place for the perfect beach experience.

God is calling us to stop looking for the perfect 'somewhere else, sometime else, someone else' - pitch your tents and set up camp because it is here and it is now and it is you that God has called you to.
Your 'here' is the place where you are - maybe not forever but certainly for today. Your work place, your home, your course, your friendships, your area where your living now, your family, your region, your church. Your location of all the places in the world is where God has called you so immerse yourself in it and celebrate it and be 'incarnational': become part of your community rather than looking for the ideal community elsewhere to set up your deckchair.

Your 'now' is the 21st century - you cannot live yesterday. Society has changed and we must change with it if we are to be relevant with the gospel. To bring the eternal values of God into the context of today.
At this time of redundancies and terror and post-post-modernism what is the church saying and more importantly what are you (the church in flesh) saying - how are you impacting the now - is it with the strategies of the past?

Your 'you' is being the best that you are in God. Fearfully and wonderfully made. No-one is like you and therefore God chose here and now for you to be - it is a perfect fit. Take all that God has made you to be and be it where others are - incarnationally present here and now reflecting all the glory of God that He has placed deep in you for this time and for this place.

What are you doing on a Friday night? Where are you going on a Monday evening? Who are you with in the middle of the week? What difference have you made this week in the eternal salvation journey of those around you?
Here, now, you.

cutting edge

It was great seeing so many people at the Encounter prayer for our community gathering on Thursday.

Here's some of what God said through Steve (& others):-

-'more of the same' (i.e. keep praying and growing in God)
- we need to rediscover/find our cutting edge personal vision for our lives
-re-energise vision and stir it up
-vision needs relationship with God and with each other

-walk together and know each other's hearts

-like a virus we need to spread the gospel (infiltrate and influence with the power of God)
-we are in a time of preparation
-we need to expand
-establish vision, purpose and significance
-not where is the God of Elijah but rather where are the Elijah's of God?

Others:-
-go against the grain
-keep tapping like a chick on the egg and we will break through
-each prayer is a turn of the combination on the safe into the treasures of God
-God will crush satan beneath our feet
-we have authority: understand our position
-a forest may be dark and damp but if you rub the wood together you can make fire: light and the dismissal of fear

created

Why a year of seeking God? Why prayer? Why hungry for Him?
These are not stupid questions. 'Why' is an important question - one we should be asking constantly.
Genesis 1 v1 says 'In the beginning God...'
God was here first. He was present first and has first rights on us. He is our source, our beginning and everything flows from Him.
God created - His presence is a creative place to be.
To be in His presence is to be created.
I want us as a church to be a creative community that has an impact on those around us by being close to this creative presence and drawing others to that same presence.
Why are we praying this year and seeking God? - because it's fun, adventurous, creative, joy-filled, the best thing we can do with our time, a foundation for everything else we will BE