The Pastor speaks!
Some of you who check our website regularly
will have been wondering when the pastor would
speak
again. Well praise God he has spoken at
last. Thanks to all those who have urged me to
put fingers to keyboard.
Looking back
We have come through a few years of
pressure in terms of our finances as a church. Yet we
have seen
God’s faithfulness. In our difficult time
between 2006 to 2008 God came through by giving us prophecies about providing
wells of resource for us. Each word was given by different people who were not
connected with each other or members of LNC. One of the words said there would
be a well of resource in the car park. At first we did not know how literally
to take this. No, we didn’t start to dig for mineral water to bottle and sell,
but we did begin to hire our building out for training. However someone
approached us about hiring seven spaces in our car park which provided a substantial
amount of money per month just when we needed it. We had paid off our mortgage
and tax arrears but this enabled salaries to be fully paid again. Praise the
Lord! God is faithful.
In 2007 we looked at being sons and
daughters of the kingdom of God and the implications of having God as the ruler
of our lives. In 2008 we looked at what it means to be a mature son and
daughter of God from the book of Romans. There are so many pressures to
influence us to walk away from what God is saying and doing (financial,
relational, work, etc.) but, ‘....those who are led by the Spirit of God are
sons of God (mature sons - huios)’ (Romans 8: 14). As we obey the Spirit’s
voice we display the Son’s nature and glory.
What’s happening now!
As we have entered into 2009 we have felt
that God is emphasising that we need to prepare to enter our inheritance. I
believe God is addressing us as individuals and as a church. In response we
have spent some time fasting through lent. The results I have noticed so far
are that people are praying more and becoming sensitive to the voice of God. We
have also seen 11 baptisms this year. 8 of these have been teenagers and there
are more to come. Many people have been seeing very rapid answers to prayer. We
have prayed over substantial financial issues in people’s lives and within a
few days, in one case the next day, deposits have turned up for people to buy
houses, free holidays have been given to people who could not afford them,
etc..
God is preparing us spiritually to enter
the inheritance He has for us, especially in the areas of youth and finance. I
believe this is so that we can speak to the world in these areas where people
are suffering most and bring an answer from God. As a church we have recently
revamped our vision, strategy and values statements to better reflect what God
is doing in us and with us so that we can enter our inheritance. You can see
these on this website.
What do we need to do now to continue to
fully enter into all God has for us?
1) Don’t
be afraid or discouraged – This stopped the Israelites entering their
inheritance – Deuteronomy 1: 21
2) Pray
– Jesus has room in his heart for you; He prepared a place for you with his
father and wants you to dwell there – John 14: 2 – 3.
3) Have
faith – hear his voice for your life and the church - Romans 10: 17. God will
do what he said he will do. Meditate on his word.
4) Act
– When you know what He is saying and have confirmed it with spiritually
sensitive and mature people then act – James 2: 17 – and you will be blessed
and reveal his glory to others.
The creation waits in eager expectation for
the sons of God to be revealed –
Romans 8: 20 (NIV)
