John 21 – Catching Fish
Listen Here to Mark speaking at our Central Gathering in May, on John 21.
Listen Here to Mark speaking at our Central Gathering in May, on John 21.
Do you know about the Harrogate Hub?
Watch the video above to find out a bit more (and look out for some familiar faces)
To find out more, and learn how you could get involved, go to http://smch.org.uk/harrogate-hub/
or email harrogatehub@gmail.com
Join us from Sunday 20th to Friday 25th March as we worship and prayer together.
9am Communion
7pm The Up, a fantastic opportunity to spend some time with God. Led by Linda Maslen and Cath & Angus from Saturday Gathering.
Monday to Wednesday
The Kairos Room will be open for prayer throughout the day.
There will be gathered times of prayer and worship at 7am, 9am, 12pm, 3:45pm and 8.30pm
Maundy Thursday
Passover meals in MSCs. If you are not sure where to go to then you are warmly invited to join Allsorts and Blaze at 7pm in the Kairos Room. Please let Sarah know if you are coming.
Good Friday
We are joining with Harrogate Churches Together for worship at the Cenotaph. Meet at Wesley Chapel at 11:15 to walk or at the Cenotaph at 11:30pm.
2-4pm: Simply Easter – An afternoon of activities, crafts and fun to explore the Easter story.
8:30pm: Night Prayer
Leaders say what they see. Their not afraid to speak the word, they point out the awkward facts and they state the obvious. In the video below Ben explains more. Watch to the end for an update on our plans for Alpha.
By Dan Hetherington
Jesus is Lord! This we know. But sometimes we need to remind ourselves of this, and sometimes we need to be carried by others praying this over us, and our lives. Throughout the last week I have been chewing over a word from God, which I believe to be for us all. Simply put, I believe that the Lord wants to remind us all that He is our Torch! Wherever we choose to shine him darkness cannot stand! Wherever we choose to acknowledge the power and authority which he has given to us, that same power that each tree and flower was planned and made, and by which stars were flung into space.
“Jesus is Lord! Creation’s voice proclaims it,
for by his power each tree and flower was planned and made.
Jesus is Lord! The universe declares it;
Sun, moon and stars in heaven cry: Jesus is Lord.”
As disciples of Jesus, we have been given the greatest gift ever, life. Life that springs from lightness, from a grave not being able to hold our saviour, from the stone having been rolled away so that light could engross the tomb where once there was darkness. Jesus is our Torch! Where he has been and where he is going darkness does not stand a chance.
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105)
Jesus referred to himself as “The Light of the World”, and said: “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.” I want to encourage us to pray this over our fellow disciples, to declare that we are not only followers of the LIGHT, but that we too hold the light, and that we all be courageous enough to turn the switch and allow that light to shine in, and overcome the darkness.
Over the last 8 years I’ve been involved in developing and planting a church that is focussed on releasing people as disciples who fully participate in the mission of God. It became clear early on that the most important thing to do was listen. This was followed by the recognition that listening without making a response was foolish – the two had to come together. Another recognition was that hearing and responding had to move from being in the hands of the specialists to being for every Christian everywhere. One of my deepest desires is to see that everyone involved in my sphere of influence is able to hear God, respond obediently & go where he leads.
Cath Livesey addresses these things in her book “My Sheep Have Ears“: distilled from many years of being an ordinary practitioner- a hearer & responder. She uses practical illustrations and stories to help us see how we, as ordinary ‘sheep’ of the shepherd, can hear his voice in the ways unique to us, as well as the whole flock benefitting from hearing God.
In the chapter entitled ‘Learning to tune in’, Cath focuses on the change of mind that is required. I love how practical, biblical, and simple her approach is – if you struggle to have a personal practice of listening or are helping others to do so, this chapter couldn’t be more helpful.
Furthermore, she helps us explore why prophecy is actually normal for the church, and for all disciples. Cath gives simple steps to being able to hear God for others; moving it from the super-spiritual zone it often occupies in the church to very practical. The more you read the more you run out of excuses about being unable to hear God’s voice!
Where the first three chapters focus in on our personal & individual activation as sheep that can hear & respond, chapters four to six examine more deeply the gift of prophecy, the function of prophetic ministry in the church and crucially how to support and release this for the benefit of everyone. This is especially useful for church leaders & those who are recognising that they have a call to grow in the prophetic ministry as a gift to the whole church and not function as rather spooky, slightly nutty, self-servers!
She handles relevant scripture carefully, unpacking passages in a comprehensible and thought provoking way. Making clear the benefits gained by all God’s people if the ability to hear God is fully released, both as a normal fact of life for all disciples and also a gift to the whole church, ministered through people who are called to be ‘ministry’ prophets.
In the final part of the book Cath helpfully engages with different types of God’s revelation and how to respond as God reveals things to us. Cath makes comprehensible what lots of others make incomprehensible, giving practical steps and leaving you with a real sense that you can respond to what God is saying.
I have a must-read list of books to do with discipleship and mission. This book goes onto that list because it is crucial that we grow in being able release the whole flock to hear and respond. My Sheep have Ears is a vital contribution to this. Read it!
Cath is part of Accessible Prophecy, a ministry helping churches grow a prophetic culture.
Mark.
If you missed Rachel McHugh preaching at our 9 o’clock gathering last week, you can have a listen to it here.
At morning prayers this week we have been looking at Colossians 4: 2 -18. There’s lots about prayer in it (as well as some difficult names!)…have a read – it’s really good!
The part that really got my attention was in verse 12 where it says that Epaphras, “is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in the will of God, mature and fully assured.”
It got me to thinking about what it means to wrestle in prayer. To wrestle implies effort, hard work, endurance and even struggle. It’s a wrestling that is not against God, in some effort to twist his arm or change his mind, but a wrestle in prayer before Him, standing on his promises to see His kingdom come more and more. A wrestle in prayer against the things that would get in the way of our relationship with him and with others, a wrestle in prayer against the things of the world, that we would see his kingdom come in our MSCs, in our schools, workplaces and families.
In Ephesians it’s says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
The battle is not ours – it belongs to the Lord and we get to join in with what He is already doing and wrestle in prayer to see His Kingdom come. What a privilege!
I guess it’s not surprising during Launch week that the Lord wants to encourage us with a word about wrestling in prayer with Him for breakthrough. Who is the Lord asking you to wrestle in prayer for? Let’s be encouraged, stay faithful and keep on praying!
Elaine Timmis
If you didn’t get chance to hear Mark speaking on Joshua 1 at our central Gathering this month, then you can listen to it here.
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