A Watershed Year

Recently in a seminar I attended, a man spoke of the year 2011 being a watershed year. This meaning that in 2011 there was a dramatic change not just culturally but for the church. We keep hearing how we need to “see the lost saved” and “bring people to Jesus”. But the question is “how” and “why”? We are soo lucky to be alive now in 2012, where the world is massively changing and YES we do get to be apart of it because we already are. You are the change!!

This year there has been a 7% rise in church attendance, that’s 2.7 million more people going to church than 2010. This is the largest rise in church attendance ever and it is only the beginning, this year hopes to bring people into God’s church even more so. Jesus told his disciples to “go and make disciples of all the nations” and God told Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those you bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
And all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you”.

What an amazing call on Abraham’s life, so already in Genesis 12 God is calling Abraham bless the nations. Israel was the chosen nation and even though they didn’t deserve it God blessed them and kept his covenant with his people. Gods call was that all of Abraham’s descendents will continue this promise to bless the nations through his name and that lead to Jesus.

So how does that relate to us? What are we called to do? Well throughout the New Testament we follow Paul and Peter on their journey to spread the word of God. In Acts we hear of them going from town to town performing miracles, healing the sick and the blind, praying for all kinds of people and preaching the word of God (Acts 3, read it as it is amazing). Peter was on his way to Church and in front of him was a crippled beggar who was asking them for money for food but Peter replied “Look at us, Silver or Gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ Nazareth, walk”. The beggar then and there got up and starting praising and worshipping God in the temple.

How amazing is that, already in the New Testament we are seeing miracles that Jesus performed, the spreading of the gospel us more than just talking about God. It’s about praying for people, having the desire to pray for the sick and injured and seeing them healed. If we want this to be another Watershed year then we want to be stepping out in faith, boldness and courage. Relying on Gods strength in stead of our own and knowing that God is with us even when sometimes other people aren’t. If we want to be involved in change then we need to get involved, invite people to Alpha, pray for people, and tell them you’re praying for them! Let’s get excited about what God can do this year 

Why? What's in it for me?

In a week and a half's time we'll be starting Youth Alpha on Wednesday evenings at Kings for anyone aged 15-19. Why? What's in it for me?

A few years ago Matt Williams spoke at True on the story in Luke's gospel of the woman with the issue of bleeding. The situation, in case you can't remember it or weren't there, was that she had been ill for many years with an incurable disease. She pressed through the crowds to reach Jesus and was healed simply by touching his cloak/coat. Remember it? Matt said something whilst talking about this story that has stayed with me ever since. He said

'if you're bored in your Christian life, it's because you haven't done anything risky recently.'

It's true, at least it is for me. Whenever I get bored with church or being a Christian or reading my Bible or anything else it is always because I haven't taken any risks, I haven't put my faith into action.

Taking steps of faith is good for two reasons:
1 - they help us remain in dependency on God, excited about the Christian life and the adventure that is following Jesus.
2 - because God responds to faith and every so often we will see (with increasing frequency), God do some incredible things through us.

Here's a question: 'What have you done recently that involved some level of faith/nervousness?'

What you do, in many ways doesn't matter. What matters is that you do something. All of us are different and all of us need faith/courage for different things. When I was 18 I found it extremely challenging and difficult even to tell my friends that I went to church, now that I'm 28 it's not so hard (given that I work for the church, that's a good thing!). What is it for you? What makes you palms sweat or your knees knock? The truth is that faith is a muscle and the more you use it, the more it grows. The more I overcome challenges that I face, the easier the next ones are going to be. I find it hardest to talk to my family about Jesus but the more I do it/take opportunities, the easier it gets, the less daunting it is anyway.

My challenge to you this week is to invite someone to Youth Alpha. If they say 'yes' then great, if not then that's great as well - you will have done something risky and experienced something of the 'full' life Jesus was talking about in John 10:10 when he said

'I've come to bring life and life in all its fullness.'

If you want some help, then check this out. Dan Wootten wrote this last week in response to the question 'why people should do Alpha?'

Why people should do alpha?

There are soooo many questions that we want answered and loads of information we want to know. Being many questions... ALPHA! is the perfect, entertaining, enjoyable experience to be involved in, to learn answers and gain more of an experience of who our Lord is and the truth behind many unaswered questions. Alpha isn't only to ask questions and hope they're answered, it's much more than that: people can also socialise and chat with people either in the same position as them or even with christians who would like to share there amazing stories of how Jesus changed their lives and what he can do to Everyone. Alpha is great fun and it will really open your eyes and I would 100% recommend it to everyone! ...! Joining the amazing lifechanging experience of being a christian is just the beginning!... x

Well said Dan!

Think about it.

Jez

Hearing from God

Give it up for a first time blog (and a brilliant one at that!) from Luke Brett: cue applause, read on...

Hearing from God. Wow, if I had a penny for every time I’ve thought about those three words.

For me personally, 'hearing from God' is very complex...when it really doesn’t need to be. Whenever I think about hearing from God, I always think of someone falling to the floor through the power of God or someone having this massive vision that will change their life or someone else’s life. Which is great! Don’t get me wrong, I think that stuff like that, when it happens, is fantastic. But over the last year, after many attempts at praying and waiting on God for this massive prophetic vision for someone (prophecy is a big thing for me – something I’ve always wanted) and not actually receiving any, I started to feel very frustrated and sometimes angry with God at the fact he hadn’t spoken to me or ‘revealed’ himself to me as I would’ve liked (the distinctive word in that sentence being ‘as I would’ve liked’).

So I got to a point last year where I thought,

“Hang on a minute, this God that I say I believe in and put all my trust in, created the universe. If he wants to speak to me or if he wants to give me prophecy, he’s gonna do it! So relax Luke!”

From there I started to rethink what I thought the phrase ‘hearing from God’ actually meant – does it mean being struck down? Does it mean having a massive vision that will change lives? For you, it still might mean that. But when I started to really think about it, it made me see how blind I was being.

Jez told me a story once, and you may have heard it. I may have twisted it a bit, but that might be because I can’t completely remember it all! But luckily, I remember the point it’s trying to make. One day, there was a man out at sea sailing, and cut a long story short...the waves got really big and the man’s boat capsized, leaving him stranded on a rock. So the man started praying to God and had complete faith in him... “God please give me a miracle. Save me!” A few hours later, another sailing boat came along, and saw the man stranded on the rock. So the boat went over, and one of the men onboard said, “Come on! Jump on! We’ll save you.”

But the man on the rock replied, “No thank you! God is going to save me!” So the boat carried on. A few hours later, a helicopter was flying over and happened to see the man on the rock. The helicopter lowered and one of the men onboard said, “Come on! We’ll save you!” But again, the man said “No thank you, God will save me!” So the helicopter flew away. A few hours later though...the man drowned. The man found himself in heaven before God and complained 'why didn't you save me?!' to which God replied 'I sent you a boat and a helicopter - what more do you want?'

This, for me, was such a wakeup call, and the story has stuck with me ever since I first heard it. The man on the rock was praying to God for a miracle, and without even realising it he missed two miracles! Normally, I reckon, if you’re that far out at sea stranded then you haven’t got much chance of survival.

So, if I’m relating this to my life...I was praying and waiting for about a year for this big miracle. Instead of actually opening my eyes and seeing, I was looking too deep into it and missed everything that was right in front me. And sure enough, once I realised all of this, a couple of weeks later, at a prayer meeting at Kings God spoke to me. It wasn’t a huge vision and I wasn't struck down, but at that point in my life I might as well have been, it was amazing! And that’s not the only time I’ve heard God speak to me since then.

That’s another thing too...I always imagined me getting these massive revelations at a place of real ‘importance’ – like Newday, for example, where there’s seven thousand people. But I didn’t – it happened at a place of real importance to me personally. A prayer meeting with about sixty people! Fantastic!

So I really want to encourage anyone who reads this, don’t miss things that are right in front of your eyes...like I did. Don’t wait for this huge, ‘life changing’ thing to happen. Because sometimes, the things that matter most to you and to God are right in front of you. God is capable of so much and knows how best to speak to each one of you. He won’t start you off with things you might not be able to handle. So be patient. First see the things that matter most at that moment in time. Be patient with God...(like I wasn’t!)...and be as faithful as possible and God, as usual, will show you just how amazing He is, and just how amazing He can make you feel – just by giving you a small taster of what He has in store.

And finally, never forget the most important thing of all...God’s love remains. It never fails, it never gives up, and it most certainly never runs out.

LB

Hearing from God

Give it up for a first time blog (and a brilliant one at that!) from Luke Brett: cue applause, read on...

Hearing from God. Wow, if I had a penny for every time I’ve thought about those three words.

For me personally, 'hearing from God' is very complex...when it really doesn’t need to be. Whenever I think about hearing from God, I always think of someone falling to the floor through the power of God or someone having this massive vision that will change their life or someone else’s life. Which is great! Don’t get me wrong, I think that stuff like that, when it happens, is fantastic. But over the last year, after many attempts at praying and waiting on God for this massive prophetic vision for someone (prophecy is a big thing for me – something I’ve always wanted) and not actually receiving any, I started to feel very frustrated and sometimes angry with God at the fact he hadn’t spoken to me or ‘revealed’ himself to me as I would’ve liked (the distinctive word in that sentence being ‘as I would’ve liked’).

So I got to a point last year where I thought,

“Hang on a minute, this God that I say I believe in and put all my trust in, created the universe. If he wants to speak to me or if he wants to give me prophecy, he’s gonna do it! So relax Luke!”

From there I started to rethink what I thought the phrase ‘hearing from God’ actually meant – does it mean being struck down? Does it mean having a massive vision that will change lives? For you, it still might mean that. But when I started to really think about it, it made me see how blind I was being.

Jez told me a story once, and you may have heard it. I may have twisted it a bit, but that might be because I can’t completely remember it all! But luckily, I remember the point it’s trying to make. One day, there was a man out at sea sailing, and cut a long story short...the waves got really big and the man’s boat capsized, leaving him stranded on a rock. So the man started praying to God and had complete faith in him... “God please give me a miracle. Save me!” A few hours later, another sailing boat came along, and saw the man stranded on the rock. So the boat went over, and one of the men onboard said, “Come on! Jump on! We’ll save you.
”

But the man on the rock replied, “No thank you! God is going to save me!” So the boat carried on. A few hours later, a helicopter was flying over and happened to see the man on the rock. The helicopter lowered and one of the men onboard said, “Come on! We’ll save you!” But again, the man said “No thank you, God will save me!” So the helicopter flew away. A few hours later though...the man drowned. The man found himself in heaven before God and complained 'why didn't you save me?!' to which God replied 'I sent you a boat and a helicopter - what more do you want?'

This, for me, was such a wakeup call, and the story has stuck with me ever since I first heard it. The man on the rock was praying to God for a miracle, and without even realising it he missed two miracles! Normally, I reckon, if you’re that far out at sea stranded then you haven’t got much chance of survival.

So, if I’m relating this to my life...I was praying and waiting for about a year for this big miracle. Instead of actually opening my eyes and seeing, I was looking too deep into it and missed everything that was right in front me. And sure enough, once I realised all of this, a couple of weeks later, at a prayer meeting at Kings God spoke to me. It wasn’t a huge vision and I wasn't struck down, but at that point in my life I might as well have been, it was amazing! And that’s not the only time I’ve heard God speak to me since then.

That’s another thing too...I always imagined me getting these massive revelations at a place of real ‘importance’ – like Newday, for example, where there’s seven thousand people. But I didn’t – it happened at a place of real importance to me personally. A prayer meeting with about sixty people! Fantastic!

So I really want to encourage anyone who reads this, don’t miss things that are right in front of your eyes...like I did. Don’t wait for this huge, ‘life changing’ thing to happen. Because sometimes, the things that matter most to you and to God are right in front of you. God is capable of so much and knows how best to speak to each one of you. He won’t start you off with things you might not be able to handle. So be patient. First see the things that matter most at that moment in time. Be patient with God...(like I wasn’t!)...and be as faithful as possible and God, as usual, will show you just how amazing He is, and just how amazing He can make you feel – just by giving you a small taster of what He has in store.

And finally, never forget the most important thing of all...God’s love remains. It never fails, it never gives up, and it most certainly never runs out.

LB

Prayer: Find somewhere, ANYWHERE...

This week I’ve felt really challenged by God on my prayer life.

I am ashamed to say that I am definitely no prayer warrior and go up and down a lot with my levels of ‘botheredness’. This is not because I feel I want to rebel against God or anything, but mostly I just forget, get distracted mid way, or get frustrated with my repeating myself on unanswered prayers. So if this happens to you too, I just want to say, don’t worry this is normal! It happens to other people too - well it does me anyway!

But we shouldn’t be satisfied with the attitude that if others do it too, it’s ok - it’s not ok, we're missing out on a lot! In Galatians 1:10 it says “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” And as Christians we are servants of Christ so we should want to please him and do his will, which is for us to have a relationship with Him, for Him to father us; and, if we want God’s guidance and blessing over our lives we should also want a relationship with Him, like we would any earthly parent.

So, I’ve been reading this book called ‘Too Busy not to Pray’ (well actually Abbey has been reading it to me because I hate reading, but minor details! – Thankyou Abbey!) and it’s a really good book. As you read it and think of a question, it immediately goes on to answering that question so I highly recommend it. It challenges you while also explaining things, and the last bit we read was about how you can pray to God anywhere and anytime, but how you also need to have a quiet place that you can go to regularly. Prayers don’t have to be long and well phrased... in fact God just wants you to be passionate and truthful about what you are saying, you don’t need to flower it up or waffle– just say it how it is and ‘amen’ it! God will develop your prayer language over time, but he just loves his children talking to him.

How can you expect to have peace over a situation, if you haven’t even asked God to be in it? And this is where I fail drastically. I’m like, “oh God I feel so upset/angry/whatever emotion about this situation, why can’t you make it better, or at least give me some peace over it.” And God says, “Well hello? Have you talked to me about it much recently? Have you prayed that I would give you peace?” How can you expect God to work in a situation that you haven’t even invited Him into? He wants to work in it, but he wants you to want Him in it more... and notice His work and be grateful for it, not just think it was a coincidence! So pray about things expectantly, not just once and that’s it, but every day!

And this is where our challenge came in, and where I challenge you too: find somewhere you can go regularly with no distractions and be still and wait on God and pray to him. It can be ANYWHERE... your room, the bathroom, the car, the garden, a walk, but make sure you go there at least once a day and chat to Jesus, your friend and brother, so that eventually being in that place naturally prompts you to prayer. Mine's the car and by doing this I know that some situations may change and be the answer I was hoping for; or they also may not change, but luckily for me I also have a God who doesn’t change so I know that I can stand firm with him and know that “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:2. Don’t mistake the bad things as Gods lack of control or care. Life is not about His ability, but about His sovereignty. If you don’t have peace over a situation, pray that God will reign over it and the peace will come. I promise you!

It’s like the line in the song ‘Oh Little Town of Bethlehem’, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” We can bring our doubts, fears and upsets to Him, especially now as we start a new year, and know that he is listening. And as we look back on what has been, we can also put our hopes in Him too and know that he is the centre of it all and “working all things together for the good of those who love him.” Romans 8:28. So pray pray pray and see what God has in store for you, it’s going to be a great journey!

Happy New Year, Sal.