I was talking to one member of our church on Sunday who said to me that she has noticed a change and shift in the ‘passion’ in our worship when we gather.
I heard from another person whose husband had come along and described the church as so obviously filled with the Spirit. These comments thrilled my heart as in the last few weeks in both our services we have been focused on the subject of worship – specifically about how we encounter God in Worship – and we have been doing this because I have felt God lead us to do so and because I feel God calling us to become more passionate in our worship.Note, I don’t believe this is about style of worship or how we worship, but about our hearts, minds and bodies as we worship.
On Sunday, as we prayed about our services, we received a very specific prophetic word that God wanted to re-ignite our passion in and for worship. Passionate worship is so obviously biblical – worship is our most fundamental calling. Devoted prayer and passionate worship were hallmarks of the activity of the Holy Spirit and the spring board for mission in the early church. We long for the Spirit to be poured out in greater measure in our midst and as we do we respond with ever more passion in our worship.
Take a look at Acts 2:42-end and at Luke 24:50-end and join with me in praying that God will deepen our worship.
It was wonderful to welcome Che Ahn to church over Friday and Saturday night. He spoke powerfully on healing (Friday) and on missional leadership (Saturday). Our own Trevor Welch was prayed for and experienced some measure of healing to his arthritic feet. I believe this was a significant event for our church as we stepped into our wider role to bless the city. If you missed him, you can listen to his talks here:
Thy Kingdom Come! – 30 May to 9 June
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury has again issued a call to Christians everywhere to pray between Ascension Day (30 May) and Pentecost (9 June).
See this video for more details: https://youtu.be/3k3pIwVqisA
We will be taking part in a number of ways, including praying in our services, morning devotions (9-9.30am Wed and Thurs) and at the school gate (more details to follow), and with the school: In response to the school’s request to work with them on giving opportunities to pray we are setting the main church up as a prayer room with a variety of ‘prayer adventure’ activities from Monday 3rd– Thursday 6th 2019. The teachers will bring their classes over to pray for their families, school, church, wider community and world in engaging and interactive ways. On the Thursday after school parents and wider community are invited in to see the activities, and anonymous responses. This will be a witness to the community and create opportunity for them to also reflect on faith and the place of prayer in their life. If you are around in the day time and are willing to be a 'host' as the classes come over please let Sharon know.