Colossians 1:15 “For the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
In John 14:8 Philip says to Jesus, ‘Show us the Father’. This is the issue in so many hearts and minds; I want to know the Father. There is an ache in the heart of man that wants to be connected to their Heavenly Father. Without that connection we remain orphaned, longing for acceptance.
But Jesus says that anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father. How can this be? Well the reality is that Jesus only did what the Father did and He only said what the Father said. Jesus’ life mirrored the Father. His life of healing the sick, raising the dead, having compassion on the crowds, all this was and still is the very nature of the Heavenly Father.
All we have to do to know the nature of our Father is to look at Jesus. He was moved by compassion and motivated by love. He showed mercy to the sinner and healed the lives bound by the enemy. The Father is love and He is good. This is what Jesus came to display here on earth. Our Father so loves the world and all of us that are in it, that He sent His beloved son to make a way for us to become connected again to the Father.
Jesus said, I am the way to the Father. No other way, but that we see Jesus and enter into a life giving relationship through Him – the Way, the Truth, the Life. When we do, we receive the Spirit of Sonship – Sonship that wants to cry out, ‘Abba’ or ‘Daddy, Father.’
Claire and Chris Hackwood have presented two workshops on Creative Art to the church, one in December and one now in March. The workshops have been excellent! Well done, Claire and Chris!
At Christmas the workshop focused on the marvel of the individual in God's plan of creation. Out of those sessions we created works of art individually and a psalm corporately. The psalm is available on the blog, scroll down to find it. I was amazed at it. It truly blessed me!
Last night Claire shared that we were moving the focus from us to the world around us. They showed us two video clips, one of the birds in Papua, New Guinea, and the second of the marvels of this huge cave that was discovered in the United States. It was amazing, particularly the care and concern He has for something that's hidden under the earth. We were then given the opportunity to chose from a selection of items that they had brought with them to draw or write about what we saw. At the end of the session they gave us a demonstration of the program 'Picaso' for editing photos and reviewed a tip and guide sheet for taking photos by Will Large.
I was blessed by the thoughtfulness of Claire and Chris in expressing the love of and for the Lord through creativity. It was a revelation for me.
This Sunday after church at 1:30 they are meeting with a group of people at the Bell on Birmingham Road for lunch and then a time of exploration and photograph in Merrion's Wood. To book a place and to give them a heads up as to whose coming please email Claire at clairelouisehackwood@tiscali.co.uk or call 07971 775182.
Again, well done Claire and Chris. You are stars!
In the aftermath of Bob and Sue’s visit I am sure we are all wondering ‘what now?’ I know from talking to a couple of you that this is going on in your minds. It was a wonderful time, the Holy Spirit was on the move and people were getting healed and set free of pain. It most definitely happened before Bob and Sue came, and also during their visit.
So what’s my take on the whole thing, being completely honest? I have a number of thoughts.
1. Bob and Sue’s visit was catalytic. They carried an anointing with them for engaging people in the midst of our daily activities. It was very effective and a joy to learn from them.
2. The teaching in terms of the Kingdom of God was superb. Bob shared so much wisdom and revelation.
3. As a church we have already been thoroughly trained in how to pray for people, whether sick or not, or simply requiring some encouragement prophetically.
4. People who are completely set free of pain do not immediately make the connection between the result and God. They are happy to be pain free but aren’t falling on their knees as repentant sinners needing a saviour. It most clearly brings out the scriptural reality where Jesus healed so many people who did not follow him immediately. Think of the 10 lepers who received healing and only one came back to thank Jesus for it. He was made whole, the others only cleansed of leprosy.
5. We saw more dramatic healing in church services in the other towns where we held meetings than we did in Walsall. The 5 meetings we held in Walsall did not seem to have a clear, strong testimony that I can speak of. Interestingly though, the ministry on the streets did.
6. It seems to me that we are making huge headway in pushing back the spirits of infirmity and unbelief over Walsall but there is more to do. We have to keep ‘pushing’, i.e., praying until something happens.
7. I think the Lord wants us to incorporate what we have seen and witnessed into our daily lives. We need to be alert and bold to take the opportunities that present themselves to us, keeping in mind they will never be at a convenient time for us.
A young lady in our Leadership College once shared how she played rugby in high school. She said that some of the players were excellent in practice. Very skilled and way better than she was but in the game they disappeared. When it came time to really be counted on, they folded. The church can be like that. We have learned over the years how to teach and equip people in pray, gifts of the Spirit, and prophecy. We have practised within the confines of our sanctuaries but now we need to take it to the streets.
8. Lastly, how each person ministers to others will be and needs to be unique to them. We cannot face the giants while trying to wear someone else’s armour. We need to be who God created us to be. We may find that in some ways we are very comfortable ministering like this person or that, which is good. But it’s still uniquely you.
Let’s go for it, Church!
Colossians 1:14 “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Redemption is such a great word. Redemption is the act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. Redeem is a verb and action word meaning to buy back, to pay off, to recover or set free from captivity by paying a ransom. Redeem means to free from sin and its consequences!
Wow! How does God redeem us? By forgiving our sin. How do we get this forgiveness and redemption? We ask or confess our sin to the one that loves us. We cannot escape the consequences of our sin, which is death, without asking. The book of Romans states that the wages of sin is death. The only way to receive life is through the blood of Jesus Christ and we do that by asking.
According to Ephesians 1:17 this redemption is the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us. This grace is unmerited favour. Something we do not deserve. We deserve the consequences of our actions…death! But God in His great love has poured out His mercy, His grace, and His love. It’s something that as a human with a carnal mind we cannot comprehend. In our humanness we see someone receiving a consequence for something they did and we think they deserve it. But God has a greater grace for us. He lavished His grace on us. That word lavish is like a downpour. It’s excessive, abundant and bountiful. Some may even say it’s wasteful. You cannot stand in a downpour and not get soaked.
I have been caught in a downpour without an umbrella or a raincoat. The rain has soaked me through. And so it is with God, He doesn’t just rescue us but He also soaks us with His bountiful grace.
Isn't that amazing? The Finger of God will be at a location in Streetly. Whoa!
It is a great dvd documentary on one man's search into Christianity and the explosion of his small box that he had God stuffed into. It is really interesting!
Next Thursday we will show the sequel, Furious Love, which explores the power of love to overcome evil and apathy.
Bring your popcorn and soft drinks, cushions and slippers and we'll see how cosy the boardroom can be.
The visit from Bob and Sue Brasset was awesome. It was nonstop for the 10 days they were in the country. We did meetings in Walsall, Cambridge, Harlow, Daventry, Northampton, Leamington Spa, Birmingham and a conference in Walsall. In between the meetings we spent time in the city centre engaging people in conversation and prayer. I have learned a huge amount over the last month about how to impact our community.
During most of February and March the Lord asked me to wear my cowboy hat. It's definitely one way to stand out in a crowd. I've only had a few "yeehaws" and one line dancer. The other day I went into Starbucks without it and the staff reminded me that I had forgotten it. So, it looks like it's here to stay.
There are so many things to mention but at this time I will only touch on two. The first is the love of God. The power of God is embedded in His love. He is completely love through and through. When we pray for people we are blessing them with the love of God. He knows what we have all done and yet He loves us so much. What overwhelming love and goodness!
The second thing is we have an enemy who does not play fair. If we are moving in power to set the captives free, there is nothing he can do to stop that directly. But, boy, will he attack your thought life when you are tired. He will point at everything that is not happening to take your eyes off all the amazing things that are happening. My father used to be an expert at this strategy. If he was getting some heat or teasing over what he did or didn't do, he would quickly deflect attention off onto someone else. That's the same strategy of the enemy. You know we are supposed to be aware of these schemes but somehow they work when we are most vulnerable. The key is to take heart when this happens as he won't waste his efforts on someone who isn't doing anything for the Kingdom of God. Why bother expending resources on a non-threat to your kingdom? But he will try to defeat us in our minds. The only thing that stops the Kingdom of God advancing is us. We have the mandate, the power, the faith, and the love. Jesus said he would never leave us nor forsake us. So, what part of "go" do we not understand?
Great meeting tonight! Wonderful worship, fantastic teaching and awesome healing presence of the Lord! Doesn't get any better than that! Well, maybe even more God, which you can never get enough off. Looking forward to praise reports tomorrow.
Come out on Saturday if you can. We have a meeting starting at 10 in the morning, another starting at 2 pm. and one beginning at 7:30 pm. God is on the move!
Colossians 1:13 “For He rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.”
The word rescue means to set free from danger, imprisonment or evil. When some one or something has dominion over you it means they have control or authority over you.
What Jesus did for you and me is set us free from the control the enemy had over us. We were imprisoned because of our sin and in great danger of going into eternal damnation.
Jesus came with this one purpose in mind and that was to destroy the works of the evil one and set us free from Satan’s authority over us. But he didn’t only rescue us out of the enemy’s grip but He brought us into His kingdom. This kingdom is about love, freedom and a new authority that is in you not over you.
What a clash of Kingdoms! Thank God we are rescued.
The Grace Vineyard Psalm
You whispered and a galaxy formed,
You smiled,
But you saved your brightest light for the stars made in your image,
You devoted your full attention to creating me,
From the smallest cell in my body to my overall being,
Intricate, amazing, crafted so carefully,
Designed and made exactly as you desired.
Every hair, finger and curve of my human form,
Has been lovingly crafted by you.
I marvel at how wonderful and how marvellous your tender care and creation of man is,
To hold a baby in my arms stirs my heart with awe and love for you.
You had me in mind before you started,
You created me for your purpose,
I am made as part of the whole,
Woven as an important single thread,
In a beautiful, timeless, God formed mosaic.
Father we are your idea,
We came straight from your heart,
Days and years pass and only deepen the love I have for you,
Thank you for creating me for such a time as this.
Let the world see you in us,
Your divine influence flowing in and through us,
Pour out your grace upon us,
Cause us to reflect who you are to those around us,
To look after all that is given to us.
As you continue to flood us with your powerful love,
Thank you that we become more like you,
Guide me that I may do your will,
Lead my heart to understand every step,
I will stand knowing you created me with joy.
My days may be many or few,
Good or bad,
But you have filled them all with purpose and destiny,
Open my eyes to see myself as you do,
Unique, special, loved always.
