Announcing a potential building plan – Please Pray!

Today at our morning service I announced that our finance board is preparing to make an offer on a building in North End Road W14 for our Hammersmith congregation!  OK, the building isnt actually on the market yet with a definite price tag, so we need some serious favour and are simply asking you to PLEASE PRAY for this opportunity:

• That doors would open according to Gods will
• That we’d have planning permissions favour with the local council departments
• That as a congregation we will have the vision, faith, and sacrificial service and giving to boldly step into this opportunity if this door opens for us.
• Pray for experienced & qualified volunteers to take their place on the team as the project unfolds
• Pray for wisdom to commission the right professionals required for the project.
• Pray for the financial provision & plans
• Pray that whatever happens, we will continue to make disciples of all nations…

We have done all necessary preparations and are convinced that this building will be an ideal base for all that we feel called to do in this part of West London. The vision is to develop a high quality community, youth & worship centre which will be an ideal base for effective service and ministry to continue fulfilling Gods plans for us. It will be an incredible blessing to the community, to young people, and to our church family in London and beyond.

A few details:

• 112-114 North End Road W14 – identified by Continental Coachworks business on top floor, behind The Carphone Warehouse.(Please don’t all try to go inside!) It’s about 150 meters from the West Kensington Underground station (It doesn’t come up clearly on Google maps)
• Over two floors, about 15,000 square foot total floor area
• Rough initial total project costs for purchase & redevelopment will be between £4-5 million.
• We are probably looking at an auditorium with seating capacity of about 400, with additional large community centre / youth facilities.  (So with multiple weekend services we can grow to many times our current size – while we continue to plant ten other congregations around the greater London area!)

As I said, we are convinced that this could be a very suitable property for our purposes, and we will therefore be approaching the owner with an offer to purchase. So please join us in prayer for favour with God and with man.

 

Thank you for joining us on another chapter of this great God adventure!

 

 

I’ve joined (another) cult…

It’s been coming for a while now: My growing dissatisfaction with they way things are, and knowing that there must be more than this. So this week I finally made the commitment: I joined the Apple Mac Cult… Why?

1. I was very attracted to the seeming simplicity of it all. The sleek lines, all-under-one-roof design & build concept…
2. I need some change - I was (and still am) a bit daunted by the challenge to learn a whole new way of working (and so are some of my colleagues – not everyone’s going to be in favour of your decisions are they?!).  It does take a bit of guts to make such a big change at my age, but I’m committed not to gut stuck in any ruts “just because I’ve always been in one”…
3. What I had has served me well for many years (HP Tablet, probably had one for past 9 years!) – but there are times in life when you simply need to upgrade in order to keep up. Me & my HP Tablet were one, and have travelled the world together for many years, but you cant get too attached to tools when you are pursuing a higher purpose…
4. I wanted something with a really good reputation for solid performance – I considered the MacAir – real light & funky (& expensive!), but then considered what I really need and that and I’m not into light & fluffy with little substance, even if it would get me some extra attention (I got loads of this via my cool Tablet, even this week still…) – I know its OK for some (Steve, Frans, etc), but not for me…I’m into the REAL THING… (Is this how we divide within the cults once we’ve joined????)…
5. Finally, I joined the cult largely because of the constant , genuine and intriguing enthusiasm of adherents. It really seemed to have changed their lives… could it really change mine too?

Have you joined yet? why? why not?

The Alpha Course at 93 Hammersmith Road

Know anyone who would benefit from doing the Alpha Course ? We have a great team running the course starting with an Alpha Launch cocktail party on Thursday 17th Agust at our cool no93 venue, then it runs  there for 10 weeks (including a free meal each week!) – you can join anytime although the sooner the better … all details on our website here.

Check out this cool Alpha Advert:

Going public with the Cross

Over the past few months I’ve been investing in building relationships with a group of local church leaders in our area from a wide variety of denominations and streams. Its been great to be reminded that we are not alone, and that there are many others passionately sharing Jesus and seeking to live for Him and advance His Kingdom.

Today we had an “Easter Witness” in central Hammersmith (where our west congregation meets), with many different churches coming together for a “silent witness march” down “Kings Street” (!) in Hammersmith – led by mounted police – and then into the “Kings Mall”  (!) for a short public Easter service.  There’s definitely something special about “going public” for Jesus… here’s a pic:

 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18

My Easter message this Sunday is titled “The Cross changes Everything” -including the way we relate to God, to each other, the way we live, and our hope in this life and for eternity. This is radical, reminding us that  our Christianity MUST centre around a true “CrossCulture” which dies with Christ, and lives with Him. There is no other way to be His disciples than to “take up your cross and follow Him.”

The cross + the empty grave = happy Easter!

Living “filled” in 2009

For the past few months here in London I and our preaching team have been preaching through the book of Ephesians in a series entitled the “Letter to London”. 

Its been a massive blessing to me personally, and this past week again spoke so effectively to me as only Gods word in the scriptures can. The text included  Eph 5v18, which reads “and do not be drunk with wine which leads to debauchery (that’s Greek for”it messes up your life”), but BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.”

I’m reminded again that the church and early disciples never accomplished anything worthwhile until they were “spirit-enabled” in Acts 2v4 – “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke in other tongues AS THE SPIRIT ENABLED THEM.“     The only way to live the Christian life is to live it “spirit-enabled / spirit-filled / spirit-empowered.”   Looking at Paul’s first trip to Ephesus in Acts 19v1, we read that the very first question Paul asked the few disciples whom he found there, was this: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?” Wow, what a first question. They answered: “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”    Paul then introduces them to the Holy Spirit and His empowering, and they become a powerful transforming force in their idol-worshipping city and culture. (By the way, notice that these were called “disciples” before they knew or had experienced any of this. They were on a journey of spiritual discovery and growth. The whole journey from saying yes to Christ is “discipleship.”)

Just like the early disciples at Pentecost, and those in Ephesus, every disciple of Christ must at some stage come to the realisation that the only way to move ahead to follow Christ is by being “Spirit-enabled.”   The awesome thing is that this promise is for YOU!  Whatever you do in 2009, whatever your dream, make sure that you only do it “Spirit-enabled”.

Don’t just have “get drunk” moments either, but rather live “be being filled” – develop a culture of being filled and living filled daily.  May you know His amazing filling and enabling in every area of your live and ministry in 2009!

(For more, get the download of the “Living Filled in 2009″ message for free from our website at www.everynation/downloads/ )

SuperDad…

This Sunday I get to wear my “SuperDad” t-shirt again. I have a confession to make: I bought it for myself! (well, my kids did say I was the best dad they’ve ever had…)

I also have the privilege of preaching on Fathers day, and I have a deep expectation for this Sunday as I try with Gods help to share about the most powerful launching words a father ever spoke to his son, from Matthew 3v17 as God the Fathers voice came from heaven saying: “This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Our children will one day “leave & cleave”, but the words we speak will determine whether we simply “let them go” (neutral influence), “limit them” (negative influence), or “launch” them positively into their destiny. I want to be a “launching father”, and I see an example in the word of the Heavenly Father as He launched Jesus into His public ministry years to fulfill all that had been destined:

The Father said: My Son – Beloved Son – and Well pleasing Son. 

Every child needs to have these  words of identity, acceptance and affirmation etched deep in their spirit and soul. Without them we wonder through life wondering Whose we are and who we are. We seek identity and fulfilment in all sorts of places and things which never satisfy. But when we hear these words of life from the father, they are the powerful fuel which we desperately need to launch us into a courageous pursuit of dreams and destiny.

I pray that you will hear and receive these launching words straight from the Fathers heart to yours. You are His son/daughter. You are loved. You bring Him pleasure. Lift-off…

PS – Can you remember when someone spoke some “launching words” to you? 

Love Ukraine…

Yesterday a team of 11 people from our London church flew out to Poland, and then took a 5 hour coach trip (+ an extra few hours stuck at the border control!) into Ukraine to Lviv, where they will join up with our Every Nation Church there to take gifts to underprivileged families in the Carpathian Mountains. Over October/November we collected 600 gifts through our congregations in London and these have been shipped out to meet the team in Lviv.

 This is the season for GIVING, and what a privilege its been to pray with my kids that these gifts will bless and show love to some of the poorest kids in Europe. As a church we feel called to “remember the poor in Europe”, and over the next while our eldership is praying to have clear direction of what exactly that means for us practically over the next 5 years.

Thank you to all who contributed to this LOVE UKRAINE trip, and thank you to all who will do so many things around the planet to demonstrate love to those less privileged. Its true what Jesus said: “Its more blessed to give that to recieve”

“Purpose Post” – final

The End…but it’s just the beginning of a new life of purpose…

 

Today, Friday the 7^th, is “officially Day 40” of our purpose adventure at Every Nation London. You may only be on day 20 or somewhere in-between, but whatever you do, I want to encourage you to go all the way until you reach your personal “day 40.”  Evaluate where you are and draw up some sort of realistic schedule to give you a clear plan to complete the readings. Most of our lives are littered with unfinished business, good intentions, broken new years resolutions…and half-read books – don’t let this be another one of those!

 

This final week’s topic is: You are “Made for Mission” – do make sure that you don’t just speed-read through in order to finish the book on schedule. The “points to ponder” in the “made for mission” chapters are worth lingering over:

Day 36: “I was made for mission” (Have I embraced this?)

Day 37: “God wants to say something to the world through me” (Take some time to write down your “life messages”)

Day 38: “The great commission is my commission” (Send me…I am willing to go)

Day 39: “Blessed are the balanced” (Do not misunderstand this statement!)

Day 40…why don’t you go to your book and have a look at it again now?

Once you are finished, keep up the good habit of a daily devotional by setting aside a regular time to:

Ø      Read your Bible (maybe read a chapter a day, starting with the Gospel of John, and then read through the book of Acts.)

Ø      Meditate (Always ask the Application question: How does this apply to my life?)

Ø      Pray (Pray “ACTS” – A for Adoration; C for Confession, T for Thanksgiving, and S for Supplication/requests)

If you have the time, take a look at these two inspiring video clips:

• Man fulfilling his own life-long dream (4 minutes long)  

• Man living for Gods dream (6 minutes long).

Both of them get massive applause from the crowd, but which one will get applause/reward in heaven?  As inspiring as the Paul Potts story is, there is a greater applause to live for. I hope that these 40 days have helped you decide which you want to live for.

 Pursue Gods purpose – there’s no better way to live!  

My Springbok Rugby outing

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting with a group of the Springbok rugby players for a Bible study/encouragement time here in London before their end-of-season game against the “Barbarians” side at the famous Twickenham stadium this afternoon.  These guys are obviously legends as the recent World Cup winners, but in their private lives they are just great guys who face the same challenges as you and I do, and who as Christians want to make as big a difference as they can.   We talked about the Spiderman quote that “with great power comes great responsibility“, and concluded that what God wants from us is first of all to “be” our unique selves growing in Christ-likeness (and not try to be like someone else or like others expect us to be) , and second of all to “be ready” to take opportunities which come our way. 

Officially I want to make my allegiance clear: I am an England supporter, and I also support any Christian player playing for any other team!  So go Christian Bokke! (but take good care of the Cup because the Sweet Chariot is just in for a major service and will be looking to bring it back home next time…!)

But seriously: My huge respect to those seriously talented but humble Christian men on the Springbok team who are trying their best with Christs help to be positive role models in a world where they are desperately neede… RESPECT> 

“Purpose Post” – Week 5

This post is part of the Every Nation London “40 Days of purpose” series adventure…

If our 40 days of purpose adventure was a 400m track race, we’d now be coming around the final bend heading into the home straight…can you hear the crowds of heaven roaring as you press into your purpose? Maybe not quite, but nevertheless I believe heaven gets excited when any one of us gets that Apostle Paul attitude who says: “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back”. – Philippians 3:12-14 (The Message)

 This weeks Purpose is: “You are S.H.A.P.E.D. for Service”:   

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to (Get rich? Be fulfilled? Gain God’s approval? Score borownie points with God? Impress others? –  NO!) to serve others” -  1 Peter 4:10  This purpose moves us into the “what-am-I-on-earth-to-DO” phase.  Do you still remember the key scripture verse of the introduction session? It was from Ephesians 2:10 and says that “We are His workmanship, created to do good works in Christ, which He prepared beforehand that we should walk in.”    

God has some “good works” for you to do, and He has uniquely S.H.A.P.E.D. you for these.  Like an individual piece of a giant puzzle, your uniqueness is a creation fact: there is no-one S.H.A.P.E.D. like you, and no piece in a puzzle is more important that another. However it’s up to you to believe it and to use the unique gifts for serving God by serving others.  I would define a “good work” as anything that you do “in His name” for His benefit and for the benefit of others.  

Are you currently serving anywhere in a regular and committed way? If not, why not start somewhere, and be willing to start small. Start serving on a church team or in a ministry which best fits (not necessarily perfectly) how you are S.H.A.P.E.D.   Serving others is a purpose of your life, and when you activate your talents/gifts/abilities/resources to serve others you will find a massive dose of fulfilment coming your way – because you are fulfilling Gods purpose!  

 Remember, when you make you “ordinary” available to God, He can do the extra-ordinary with it… have a look here at what can be done with two hands and an old overhead projector (remember those?!)….