We’re raising £7,000 towards the Village of Hope by Christmas!
Most of us have lived with some type of financial squeeze this year, yet of course ours is nothing in comparison to the billions around the world who live below the poverty line in desperate squalid conditions. At Every Nation London we have a three pronged commitment to those in need, and we call these :
LOVE LOCAL – Our congregations meeting local community needs
LOVE EUROPE – Ministering to the poorest in Europe, currently focussed on the Carpathian mountains near Lviv
LOVE THIRD WORLD – Partnering with Thembalitsha’s Village of Hope in Grabow, South Africa
Our Christmas Giving this year is towards the Village of Hope, and our goal is to raise £7,000 towards some key development needs here. Check out details on our website here, and to see the project, watch the video below which I put together after Ali & visited the Village of Hope last December.
Lets see how inventive we can be in raising some cash and being a blessing to those who desperately need it. Please Join us in giving generously: Take up the Hope Challenge.
This weekend we start a life-changing new 5 week preaching and Connect Group series which focusses on the rich truth of the work of the cross of Jesus Christ, and how we “cross over” from death to life through its power.
In John 5 verse 24 Jesus makes this profound statement, saying: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
In this series we’re trusting to see many “dead areas” of our lives experience the “newness of life” which comes through a revelation and embrace of the amazing and powerful truths which radiate from that epic day when Christ declared that“IT IS FINISHED!” Bring your friends, and lets cross over…
Each message will focus on a particular aspect/truth revealed and accomplished through the cross:
Crossing Over: Revelation (Soldier: “Truly this man was the son of God!”)
Crossing Over: Victory
Crossing Over: Reconciliation
Crossing Over: Righteousness
Crossing Over: Example
NOTE: SERVICE ORDER CHANGE: By the way, the order of all our services will be all changed for these 5 weeks, starting with just one or two “making God big” praise songs, then straight into the message, followed by communion each week, and then a time of worship with response… so try your best to be on time if you don’t want to walk in half-way through the message!
Yesterday we had a special Sunday where all our four London congregations (Hammersmith, The 6PM, Stratford, Slough, Plus our planned Brentwood church plant) came together for a united service. It was a great privilege to see so many old & new faces again and to celebrate all God has done and is doing. It’s true that planting out congregations from Hammersmith has S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D us in many ways (Leaders, volunteers, infrastructure, finances, etc), but it’s also enabled us to reach and connect with many more people we’d never have been able to had we not expanded like we have. It’s an exciting God-adventure and I’m so thankful for the great team of pastors, leaders and volunteers on this journey with us… lets keep making disciples of all nations together!
I preached a message entitled “Living Stretched but Strong” from Isaiah 54:1-4 – maybe its something you need to hear if you are feeling the stretch from Life, from sin, from persecution, or from answering Gods call… I put on some mountain climbing gear to illustrate how we must “Strengthen the stakes” as we “stretch out” – whatever you do in the next season, make sure that you:
I’m excited to be heading off to Innsbruck for our 2009 Every Nation All Europe Conference – themed “CrossCulture – the cross changes everything.” We also have a 2.5 day equipping gathering for all our Europe pastors in a beautiful little Alpine village called Hoch Imst from Wed eve till Friday.
Below is a map of the 10 nations where we currently have Every nation churches in Europe, with Belgium (Gent) and France (Marseille) teams preparing for plants in second half of 2010
By the way, if you are in London on Sunday 1st November, dont miss our SUPER SUNDAY when all our Greater London congregations get together in Hammersmith for one awesome Jesus glorifying service, and some great catch-up with scattered friends…
This Sunday 11th we Siku, have one of Britain’s leading comic book creators and conceptualists – and the creator of the Manga Bible - communicating the message via painting on three large canvasses… going to be awesome… trusting for some gifts / callings / artistic talents to be activated for Gods glory!
Siku art at church
By the way, to see more of Siku come along to our CANVAS arts evening on Saturday 21st November – details here
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!
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?
I was very attracted to the seeming simplicity of it all. The sleek lines, all-under-one-roof design & build concept…
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”…
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…
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????)…
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?
A few thoughts from last Sundays message entitled “Developing an I’m ready” attitude:
When the Apostle Paul needed someone to send to help the Philippian church, two names sprang immediately to mind: Timothy & Epahroditus. In chapter 3 he lists some qualities in these 2 which singled them out for the task at hand:
Timothy: he “sincerely cared”… “sought the things of Christ (vs his own)”… had a “proven character”… and ”served with me”…
Epaphroditus:He was a “fellow brother”… a “fellow worker”…a “fellow soldier”… and made no excuses to quit even though “he was sick almost to death.”
Both these men were ready when required. To be ready means:
To be prepared (with good foundations, solid equipping, worthwhile experience, etc)
To be available (To say “Here I am Lord”, vs “Let me first just go and…”)
I remember how ready Ali & I were in the season when God called us out to London, how we put every cent/penny/Rand in to make this mission possible, holding nothing back. It was an exciting adventure, living on the edge where the only option was God doing what He said He would do. It’s great to look back, but today I must ask myself: Do I still have that “I’m Ready” attitude? Or is my life so organised that even God Himself cannot rearrange it? I used to give so obediently and spontaneously and generously – do I still have that attitude? I use to need God to do something radical every week in order to keep the ministry going – do I still need/expect that? If Jesus were to walk past me today and call: “Come follow Me”… would I be ready (prepared & available) to respond to whatever great adventure He wills to lead me into.
The Lord asks you and I today: “Whom can I send? Who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8)
Lets respond today and say again: Use me. Send me. I’m ready Lord.
Today at Every Nation London we come to the end of our August journey through the book of Philippians, called Phlipn’ Attidues. As I also preached on Grace at our ” Church in Hyde Park” Sunday today, I’ll repeat my final Philipn’ Attitudes post below. (Check out the rest of them on our seperate blog here)
Philippians 4:20-23 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 21Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. 22All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. 23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
With this post we come to the end of our August journey through the book of Philippians. Note two words which stand out in these final verses: GRACE& GLORY. To live lives which show Gods glory on the earth and share it in eternity, we need a radical revelation of the amazing grace of God through Jesus Christ. Grace provides the bookends to almost all the New Testament letters, and when we neglect grace all the other doctrines and values we profess collapse in powerless empty dead religion.
Remember:
Grace is Gods love-in-action towards those who do not in any way deserve it – you & me.
Grace is God doing everything to save us from the sin that separates us from Him, and that being fulfilled in Jesus taking our sin on Himself and dying on the cross in our place.
Gods Grace Saves us Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
Gods Grace Transforms/changes us Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh
Gods Grace Activates us 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
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Posted by weckleben 
Posted by weckleben 
