 Happy Easter!!! Jesus is a live!!
I hope you’re looking forward to celebrating this wonderful event today!! You made it through all 35 days. I hope you have been blessed by this time. I pray you’ve been brought closer to God and each other. I certainly have! Do you know I’ve written in the last month over 20,000 words!! That’s the equivalent of two-degree dissertations!!! Buts its been wonderful I’ve loved sharing my heart about God with you and all his plans. Why did we do this? Well the story starts at the church family meeting in February this year which ended with my summary which was roughly as follows: “I think Community Church is going quite well. Everyone’s seems to be quite happy (I hope) I don’t really have any visions for what’s going to happen in the future but if we just sit back, we can enjoy the ride with God.” I don’t know about you, but often later God gives me a telling off! God asked me why I had such low expectations of Him when He is the God of the universe!! God asked me why I trusted him so little when He had done so much in the past. God reminded me that He was a good father and he loved giving good things to His children. God said why don’t you write down all the things you’d love to see me do in this Church and Blackburn. So not wanting to argue with God I did and, here what I wrote:
Pretty shocking isn’t it. I was quite scared. Have we got the resources for all that lot of course not!!!! Has God of course He has!! After scripture, as a church, we need to be primarily guided by the Holy Spirit and the Prophetic and a lot of those things God may, or may never allow us to do. However, we’ve got a big God!! Why can’t he do those things? I don’t know about you, but I’d love to go on a journey with God in the following years and see Blackburn turned upside down for His Glory just like he did in the book of Acts We need to develop a big faith because we’ve got a big, big God who is good and who loves his people to step out in faith. What would your list look like for yourself and for church? Go on write it down today. Pray it through. Tell people, you’re going to have loads of things That’s why we pray because God wants us, I believe, to ask Him for stuff for Hid Glory!! Lets as a church dream big for His Glory. To see His Kingdom come in Blackburn and in our church just like it is in heaven. Are you excited about what God can do? I am! I hope you are to! Come Lord Jesus come! Amen
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 We’re very near the end of this season and today God put on our heart to pray for repentance.
What is repentance? As the kids know it is the word used to tell Roman Soldiers to change direction Briefly defined, repentance is turning away from sin and self and looking to God for forgiveness and salvation. The Old Testament uses the word “turn” or “turning” to describe repentance. Those who repent turn their backs on their sin and come around to seek God; repentance is the conviction of guilt before God and the awareness that we are stained and in need of cleansing. This isn’t something we do, but it is something God works in us. Why repentance today Well I think unrepentance can work against all God’s blessing, will and good things that he has planned for us both Individually and corporately. Do you need to repent or deal with some unforgiveness or sin in your life today? Here some really helpful teaching about working through repentance Be honest about your need for repentance. Repentance requires honesty. No one comes to God with true repentance in their heart unless they’ve first acknowledged their need for forgiveness and reconciliation with him. Only those who have ceased trying to cover up their sin with self-righteousness and deceit can experience the deep and lasting change that comes only through repentance. Acknowledge the danger of sin and damage of guilt. Let’s face it: you are seeking repentance because God’s Spirit has convicted you. We often blame others for our stress and general moodiness, but many times we simply feel bad because we’ve done bad things. King David describes physical and emotional symptoms associated with a guilty conscience. We must honestly assess the consequences of our sin, which means assessing both personal consequences and the impact it has had—and will continue to have—on others. Confess fully. Deep repentance demands full confession. Though it seems counterintuitive, the only way to be truly covered by Christ is to fully expose your sin. In the process of repentance, we must fight to be utterly transparent before God about the depth and breadth of our sin. Only ruthless honesty will suffice—and lead to freedom and joy. Hide in God. Adam and Eve hid behind inadequate, self-made coverings to mask their sin and shame. We too often hide behind self-made righteousness in order to make ourselves appear more acceptable than we really are. If you want to change, to really change—which, by the way, is the mark of true repentance—then you must hide in God alone. It’s not enough just to repent of overt sins. It’s not enough to say, “I admit to my wrong behaviours.” All kinds of people repent that way, especially religious people with an image to maintain. A Christian doesn’t just repent of their outward sins, but also of their attempts to hide behind shoddy self-made righteousness. Stop hiding in your effort. Hide in God. Seize the hope. How can you be sure God will forgive you? His unfailing love. Recall and find assurance in the great promises he has made throughout history, and how they have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ: His promise to Adam and Eve to crush the enemy His promise to Abraham to claim and protect a people His promise to Moses to provide a way for sinful humans to meaningfully relate to a holy God His promise to David to provide a once-and-for-all eternal King for his people All throughout history—right on up to the moment when you’re repenting—God has been saying, and continues to say, “I love you. I will not fail you. I am enough.” Look to the promises of God, seize the hope, and “be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (Psalm 32:11). Use today to pray it through. Pray through about repentance today. I promise God will not let you down. Helpful verses 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Psalm 51 1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner-- yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. 7 Purify me from my sins,and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me-- now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit[d] from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. 14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. 15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you. 16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. 18 Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit-- with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.  Being a Christian is hard and if your searching out an easy life with no problems Christianity is not going to achieve this. If anything, being a Christian produces more problems than you may of had before.
None of the early church, or Apostles in the bible had an easy life! If the Apostle Paul wanted an easy life he could have stayed as a Pharisee, far more straight forward. The early church, as the church is in many counties today, was severely persecuted. They were burnt, hung, stoned, crucified, fed to lions, had the head chopped off the list continues. Today Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world fact! With Christians facing some form of persecution in at least 144 countries today. Please pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and thank God that we are able to worship in peace in this country. Someone once said that the Christian life is not spent on a cruise ship, you are saved onto a battle ship as you’re in a spiritual war. If you come to faith in Jesus it’s very likely Satan is going to start dropping spiritual bombs on you. If this is the case, why would anyone in the right mind choose to be a follower of Christ? I had another Grandma who was a wonderful Christian lady who had a really, really tough life but her favourite hymn was this, which I remember her singing to me as a child. Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, when the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain, will your anchor drift, or firm remain? [Refrain:] We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll; fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love! Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear, when the breakers roar and the reef is near? While the surges rave, and the wild winds blow, shall the angry waves then your bark o’erflow? [Refrain] Will your anchor hold in the floods of death, when the waters cold chill your latest breath? On the rising tide you can never fail, while your anchor holds within the veil. [Refrain] Will your eyes behold through the morning light the city of gold and the harbour bright? Will you anchor safe by the heavenly shore, when life’s storms are past for evermore? [Refrain] Christ is your anchor! Christ won’t stop all your problems, but he is the answer to all your problems He is your anchor, and he fills you with His Holy Spirit to give you love, joy ,peace, patience and endurance through all the storms of life. Often when we pray, we ask God to take away all our difficulties in life, but that’s not what we see in scripture. We see the church praying that they would be given more patience and endurance to persevere in their difficulties. It’s a challenging thought! Pray today for patience and endurance through the storms of life. Thank Jesus for being with you in the trials. Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit for more patience, endurance and perseverance. Amen Helpful verses Colossians 1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, Romans 5:3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Romans 15:5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,  This was my Grandmas favourite Hymn.
When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Refrain: Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done; Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your many blessings, see what God hath done. Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, ev'ry doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by. (Refrain) When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; Count your many blessings, money cannot buy Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. (Refrain) So, amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged, God is over all; Count your many blessings, angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey's end. (Refrain) My Grandma had quite a tough time through her life particularly towards the end as she struggled with large amounts of pain. But I know she loved Jesus and she lived a thankful life! Why because she regularly counted her blessings. Do you know what it sounds harsh but God doesn’t owe us anything! In fact if we got what we deserved from God it would be very bad! We have no rights before God and everything in life had been given to you by His grace which is underserved favour. This make us more thankful for what we have in the little things. Today spend a bit of time thanking God for the many, many blessings in your life. We are to be defined as a thankful people as Christ Followers even in the little things! If you’re reading this eating toast and drinking coffee even in those small things you have so much to be thankful for. If your struggling here’s a list to get you started its not even Christian https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/60-things-thankful-for-life.html Enjoy! God is good 😊 Helpful verses Psalm 9:1 I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4:15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 1 Timothy 4:4-5 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,  England, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, was in a moral quagmire and a spiritual cesspool. Thomas Carlyle described the country's condition as "Stomach well alive, soul extinct." Deism was rampant, and a bland, philosophical morality was standard fare in the churches. Sir William Blackstone visited the church of every major clergyman in London, but "did not hear a single discourse which had more Christianity in it than the writings of Cicero." In most sermons he heard, it would have been impossible to tell just from listening whether the preacher was a follower of Confucius, Mohammed, or Christ!
Morally, the country was becoming increasingly decadent. Drunkenness was rampant; gambling was so extensive that one historian described England as "one vast casino." Newborns were exposed in the streets; 97% of the infant poor in the workhouses died as children. Bear baiting and cock fighting were accepted sports, and tickets were sold to public executions as to a theater. The slave trade brought material gain to many while further degrading their souls. Bishop Berkeley wrote that morality and religion in Britain had collapsed "to a degree that was never known in any Christian country." This is a description of England before the Wesleyan Revival. Does it ring any bells around today? I’d say all the things mentioned there would have their modern parallels in today's Britain. Was it a desperate situation Yes. Was God Gracious yes He was. His presence and power swept through this nation and completely transformed it! Is it desperate now Yes!! Is God still gracious yes. Pray for God to sweep through this land. Please ask mercy for Britain! Where to start? First start with Thanks giving. There are so many wonderful things about Britain. We are so blessed. We have great institutions, our country is generally free from ground level corruptions. We’re relatively safe. Our police are not corrupt, unlike most of the countries I hear about. We truly live in a beautiful nation with amazing countryside. We have generally lived in an age not affected by war. The list goes on. We have many things in this nation to thank God for. Secondly pray for our Politicians and our Queen. I’m not generally a royalist however we have a wonderful queen who I believe truly, truly loves Jesus and has often provided guidance and stability in what is often a broken factionalised political system and Nation. If you don’t believe me check out her speeches at Christmas!! Pray for our politicians. Paul instructs us to pray for all those in authority over us for a peaceful life. Do you know I don’t think most of them go into it to get rich (There are far easier ways to do that) I think most politicians, on all sides, go into politics to make the nation a better place. Even if we don’t agree with their methodology. Please pray for our Prime minister Teressa May. I don’t agree with her policies on a lot of things, but I believe she has a real Christian faith. Please pray for Wisdom and guidance. Please pray for Jeremy Corbyn the leader of the opposition, again I don’t agree with him on a lot of things however, I do feel that he shares a heart with God for Social Justice for the poorest in society. Again please pray for wisdom and guidance for him. Keep praying for this nation generally as I can’t think of a time when we were in such a mess. Ask God for Mercy for us, ask God for revival. Come Lord Jesus come! Helpful verses 1 Timothy 2:1-2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. Daniel 2:21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Ezekiel 37:1-14 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ... Habakkuk 3:2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.  Its really tough being a teacher and working in a school. I didn’t know this until I married a teacher!!
Work with children in schools is so important to our communities as a whole and they do an amazing Job. Please pray for all the people who work in the education sector, in our church, today. I specifically want to pray for Christiana and the work she does with Walk through the Bible/Bible Explorer. If you don’t know what it is have a look here it is awesome! https://www.bible.org.uk/index.php. Basically Christiana goes into Schools and teaches children the large sweep of the story in the bible. This is incredible work and sowing seed after seed of the Kingdom of God. Go hunt Christiana down and ask her about it. Do you know that there is a large waiting list of schools wanting someone from Bible explorer to come. This is basically a wide open invite to preach the Gospel in Schools!. The fields really are ripe for harvest be the workers are few. Please pray for Bible explore and Christiana’s. Please pray that they have enough worker to fulfill all the schools that want them to do it. Please also thank God for their work, which is amazing. Also please pray for opportunities for school ministry. Recently I’ve been invited into St Wilfrid’s to do an assembly. I’m very nervous and need your prayer. Please also pray for Jonathan Hands who is doing a great Job in there with the Christian life of St Wilfrid’s Ultimately great areas of opportunity to sow seeds of the Kingdom of God is in Schools. In areas such as afternoon clubs, home work clubs the list and the opportunity are endless. All is possible if we have faith as large as a mustard seed. When we ask a God of Ultimate provision! Amen! Helpful verses Acts 7:22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. 2 Timothy 3:15-16 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;  I am always amazed how wonderfully the members of Community Church Blackburn serves.
I’ve always said Community Church Blackburn is a big church operation working with small church amount of people. It requires at least twenty people to even just run a Sunday morning service and that’s before everything that happens the rest of the week. I’d like to say thank you to all people the people that serve in whatever capacity. You are all amazing. These are just some of the jobs that take place on a Sunday: Lead, anchor, preach, worship, sing, set up and set down, projector. Lead and Help in Creche, Lead and Help in Shining stars, lead and help in youth,Sorting bring and share lunches, Brew rota etc… When I first became a Christian I found it very difficult to get to know people just by going on a Sunday morning. When I look back it was serving and working with other people that helped me integrate and build relationships. When I read the bible I also see Jesus serving not always in the most illustrious positions. Cleaning smelly sweaty feet etc… The God we serve is by nature a God who serves. A servant king! If Jesus is like that, as Christ followers that should be our model. If you’re not already serving and your interested, give me or Geoff a shout, if he’s not caught you already. Please pray for us as a church from protection form the evil one as this is the area where most tension and difficulty can be produced. Please continue to pray for Geoff and me as we put the serving rota together. It might look simple but it’s the most complicated, difficult document to put together in the world with so many moving parts and things to consider. Its like trying to catch a very fast greasy pig keeping it up to date etc… Please be merciful to us as well because we don’t always get it right. However I give Glory to God because He as always provided, just about, enough people to get done what we need to do!! Finally it would be really helpful if you send any dates you’re away to Geoff and if you can’t serve on the day your down for something you give us as much notice as possible or swap . Pray about your gifting and if you fell God is calling you to serve in a certain area etc.. Come and talk to me, Geoff or your Growth group leader. Pray for more people to serve in all areas of church life, as I suspect the operation is only going to get bigger and more complicated 😊 God is good 😊 Helpful Bible Verses Matthew 23:11 “The greatest among you will be your servant.” Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 1 Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” John 13:12-13 “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”  In churches we don’t talk about I normal work very much. Often we can give the impression about life that Sunday is our spiritual life (which is really important and the main event) and the rest of the day God doesn’t intrude on that. Well that’s not True!!
The other thing we tend to do is set a hierarchy of importance of job roles and their importance to God like this Starting at the most important and Holy: Missionary, evangelist, apostle, church pastor, church youth worker, christian charity worker, doctor, nurse, teacher, manager, carer, Business man, banker, taxi driver. That not true at all!!! God would take a faithful taxi driver any day over an unfaithful missionary. God is very, very interested in our work places. Think of your work as your worship. God is glorified when you are a good employee as it's Him you ultimately work for. Christians should be the best employees!!! If truth be said, this is the hardest place to live out our faith. Being a Christian in church is easy! Being a Christian in your work place is hard. We spend often at least often 40 hours a week at work living all that time for God is a tough call!! It is tough and that why we need the Holy Spirit to get us through. Today pray for your workplace that God will fill you with His Holy Spirit so you Glorify Him more and more. Pray for your co workers – even the ones you don’t like, even the managers that don’t know what they are doing and aren’t very good!! Don’t pray that God will change them! Pray that God will change you first! Pray that through the Holy Spirit you are able to patiently endure in the work place. Remember that things won’t always go the way you want it to at work. This is due to the fall and the thorns in the field talked about early in Genesis. Pray for more of the fruits of the spirit in you, in your work place. Pray for salvation's in your work place and among your work colleague’s Remember you work is your worship! Helpful Bible Verses Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning the sixth day. Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Matthew 4:44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Genesis 3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” 4/13/2019 0 Comments Day 27: Saturday 13th April pray for Community Church Blackburn to be built up in Love Why did God create humans?
God didn’t need us, he’s self-sufficient?H e doesn’t need us for anything. He doesn’t need us to do anything, provide anything, we are a pointless creation really. In fact, humans are just a hassle!! We trash the perfect world God created and all we seem to do is cause God trouble. It seems to me that there can only be one logical reason why God would create Humans and that is due to love!! You see, before the world was created within the trinity, God the Father loved Jesus who loved Holy Spirit so much that they wanted to share and open up that love so God created us. It’s a little like families and children. There is no real logical reason for parents to have children. They don’t do anything at first for you!! In fact often they stop you doing what you want to do and cause you much inconvenience,trauma and cost lots of money. But why do couples have children well its to do with love. Lisa and me loved each other so much that we wanted our love to grow and be shared so we had children. I think the family is a beautiful picture of Gods love for us and the trinity. Well if that’s why we’re created if we don’t love we’re not fulfilling our function and the more we love the more we meet our destiny and design. The two greatest commandments is love God and love your neighbour and my prayer is as a people and church we abound in both more and more. I agree with the Beatles all you need is love!! Paul the apostle says without love everything we do is like a clanging bell and pointless! But love is Hard! It requires sacrifice, grace and mercy. Tough decisions. We’re not talking lovey dovey love we’re talking about loving even if that person doesn’t love us back!! Its called Agape love. I could talk for hours about love! 😊 Today pray for more love for God and more love for people and out of that, all other things will fall into place 😊 Helpful Bible Verses 1 Corinthians 13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Mark 12:29-31 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. ‘There is no commandment greater than these.” Colossians 3:14 "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Ephesians 3:16-17 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love. John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  In November 2016 we launched, in faith, Healing on the streets Blackburn. It was a miracle that we managed it at all, and God stepped, was so faithful and provided in so many ways. If you want to hear the story come and talk to me.
We had Mark Marx come in person and teach us how to do it however, interestingly, it was less about method and more about who we are in Christ! I must admit that I was very scared. If you would have asked me would I be going out on the streets of Blackburn, publicly praying for people I would told you that you’re mad! I’ve also come to realise it’s not weird. Reading the new testament, it seems to be pretty like what Jesus did and what the apostles were sent out to do (Maybe without the flag) I’m also always extremely surprised how many people get prayed for in Blackburn. There is a real spiritual hunger in the is town, and in this nation and normal people are hungry for God. For years the church has seemed to be tentative and apologetic about its faith, but I really believe that people are hungry for God and revival is imminent! I also think that there is an indirect/direct link between growth in the Kingdom of God and church. It’s what I call God economy, which is where we step out in faith in one place. God often honours that in another. Its not an exact science, but on the weeks the HOTS team goes out it seems to have a growing, positive spiritual effect on our Sunday mornings. Keep watch and see what you think? Its always a blessing when the team go out of the streets even through wind and rain and we’ve seen literally lives changed healings and miracles. In fact, one of the people who we baptised at our church last September had part of his Journey and connection with the church take place through Healing on the streets. Recently we’ve gone to going out on the streets every other week however, the more often we go out the more impact for Gods kingdom we will have. Please pray for a bigger vision for HOTS! Please pray for the HOTS team led by Geoff Dent and Carole B. Please make them bold and faithful and wise as they lead. Please pray for more churches to be involved as the more we act as one church in Blackburn, the more God is Glorified. Please pray for growth in the teams the more people who go out the more people can be prayed for. Please pray for more and more lives changed, made new, more miracles and healings. Finally, if you’re not involved in HOTS it’s amazing and not as scary as you think. There’s no obligation to do every week and I know you will be blessed. God is Good!! Helpful Bible Verses Matthew 14:14 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.  I arrived as a child in Blackburn at age seven. It’s been my home for the last 34 years.
My wife was born in Blackburn and my Children are all born in Blackburn so hopefully I can consider myself a Blackburn lad! Over this period, I’ve lived in Greenlane, Griffin, Feniscowles, Samlesbury, Witton and presently Cherry tree. I’ve tried to escape Blackburn several times but God has always said no. It’s easy to be down on Blackburn and just have a negative view of it and there are lots of problems. However, I love Blackburn. I love its people who are generally warm, funny, friendly, hardworking, industrious, and are a proud people. I think the area of Blackburn is stunning in its natural beauty. You don’t have to look so far until you see the most amazing countryside. Our town centre is quite amazing. The council have done a great Job. We’ve got some amazing parks, find me a park more amazing that Witton park!!! There’s great community Spirit in Blackburn I've just been looking at the tidy Blackburn campaign on Facebook. At a local level, which ever party you support, Blackburn would seem to be governed well. Often Blackburn has been on the cutting edge of social developments and work for the poor such as housing associations, healthcare etc.... Blackburn is culturally diverse Yes that’s a wonderful thing!!! Dare I say, it a great historic football club!! There are lots of problems in Blackburn which we should weep over but there are many wonderful things as well. I love Blackburn, I love its people and most importantly God really loves Blackburn! Pray for this town. Give God thanks for the many, many wonderful things there are. Lift up to Him the difficulties and the sad things. Please pray for local government and all those in authority in our local area to give them wisdom and Grace Pray for the prosperity of our town. But more important pray for the spiritual prosperity. God hasn’t forsaken Blackburn! We can see a move of God in this place. We want to see our people all communities, all areas, all cultures saved by the Gospel! Come Lord Jesus Come! Helpful Bible Verses Matthew 13:54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Luke 8:39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. 1 Timothy 2 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Saviour, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 4/10/2019 0 Comments Day 24: Wednesday 10th April pray for our Sunday service preaching and leading. I hope you’ve been really blessed recently on our Sunday mornings. They have been wonderful times of worship and sharing together. However, behind the scenes there are hours and hours of preparation which has taken place to make everything work as smoothly as it can and that God is Glorified.
Preaching I want to pray particularly today for our preaching team. Its hard preaching, it takes hours and hours of prayer and bible reading and study to produce even the smallest talk and I know everyone involved works so hard. At Community Church Blackburn we’re quite a young preaching team. None of us has gone to seminary or bible college. None of us are professional academics or communicators. However, we all love Jesus, we want to see His kingdom come and want God to work more and more in the church. Please pray for strength and depth in our preaching team. Please pray first, that through the power of the Holy spirit, we get better at preaching Gods words. Please pray that we are gracious, loving, humble, gentle and wise but bold and uncompromising about the truth of God’s word. Please pray that we are discerning about what we say and have a close ear to what Gods saying. Please pray that there will be a prophetic edge but also a pastoral heart to our preaching and God uses it to change lives and make things new. Please pray to help us preach the truth of scripture and not our own opinions. Pray that God gives us a heart to ravage the scriptures as I once heard someone say. Please pray that we are diligent and wise in the way we handle scripture. Please pray that as a team iron sharpens iron and we are willing and able to receive feedback form each other and the rest of the congregation. Please pray that we move closer to God in our own lives and live our sermons as well as just preaching them. Please pray that Jesus is the centre and totally glorified in our preaching. Leading/Anchoring The other role that takes place on a Sunday morning which is critical to our service is the lead/ anchor role. The role is to introduce and hold the meeting together and do the notices etc... However, this role is also an extremely important function in a spiritual sense. The model of the early church was that one would bring a hymn, one would be tongue, one would bring a revelation etc which we want more and more to happen in our services. We really want full body ministry and for there to be freedom 😊 The lead anchors role is to weigh these words and activities then with spiritual discernment administer or bring these to the meeting in an orderly way that Glorifies God ensuring the church is built up. This is a tough job, is a huge responsibility and sometime will involve gently explaining to someone that a word, picture etc… may not be for now. Which as our church continues to grow will happen more and more. Please pray for all those that lead services that God gives them discernment, keep them close to Jesus and fill them with the Holy Spirit. Helpful Bible Verses 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. James 3:1-2 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 1 Corinthians 14:26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.  Did you know, to my knowledge, there is no meaningful Christian presence, chaplain or Christian Union in Blackburn College. Does that not make you sad? There’s a whole group of people at formative stages of their life not being touched by the good news of Jesus!
It’s a very tough time being a student there are a lot of voices influencing your life, lots of questions and there are big decisions to be made. Students also can be quite lonely and from my experience love to be fed. Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life all the answers about the world are in Him. There are opportunities for the gospel. Arguably there is a Harvest, but the workers are very few. Do we have the resources no! Do we really know what we’re doing no! I have no answers however, it’s my prayer to see an amazing student ministry at Blackburn College in fact at all colleges in Blackburn. Wesley Hall is even right next to the college so arguably if we were Anglicans Blackburn College would be our parish! Please pray for direction, vision and leadership in this area for church leaders Please pray for college and university students who are learning and already part our church family Please pray that somehow God provides a chaplain or a Christian Union at Blackburn College Please pray for workers in the harvest field in this area as the door is wide open for us to take the land 😊 I’m planning to attend the freshers fair at Blackburn College in September this year inviting people to church, praying for people and just talking and showing the love of God. If you’re interested and got a heart for this stuff give me a shout. Helpful Bible Verses Luke 10:2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  We read in the bible that the early church met together in large groups but also met together in smaller groups.
Even Jesus was involved in large groups and preached and taught to crowds of people but he was also involved in a smaller, closer group of people around him who Jesus shared his life with. If we take these principles on today, we can see that meeting together in larger groups on a Sunday is only half the story. If you’re part of our church not in one of our small groups, get yourself in one ASAP If you’ve stopped going, get back to one as soon as possible!!! I’m telling you directly as your Elder that if you aren’t going to a small group your discipleship is going to struggle. I know this as I struggle when I don’t go and Yes often its really hard work to go out again in the evening after a hard day at work etc, because it is hard and I’ve done that many times!! but I know I’ve always been blessed when I’ve got there. Even when I haven’t wanted to go 😊 Small groups are a way to build relationships with others and build friendship, be prayed for, ask questions, talk about stuff, just live life together. Just like Jesus did with his disciples. It is so, so, so, so, so, so, so important to every area of our church. I cannot stress it anymore!!! Presently we have four small groups running
They’ve all got slightly different flavour and styles but its all good 😊 Please pray the group leaders for wisdom and the Holy Spirit as they lead We also want to plant more groups eventually in every area of Blackburn. Kind of invade each community in Blackburn bit by bit!! So pray for growth in numbers and depth. So if not part of one already pray about getting yourself to a small group!!! Wait have I already said that??!! 😊 Helpful Bible Verses Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Often when you say things as a joke there can be truth in it and this happened to me last year at the church family meeting.
I was asked the question “What do you think your objective is as a church leader?” If I knew what I was doing, at that point, I probably should have had a well-prepared vision statement with a five-point plan and a five and ten year process and programs, objective and strategies etc…. I didn’t really have any of these however, this is what came out of my mouth, which I think was more Holy Spirit inspired than Stephen Norcross inspired!!: My first objective as a church leader is that when I meet Jesus, He will say to me “Well done good and faithful servant” My second objective, as a church leader, is that I’ve done everything I can to assist you, so Jesus says the same to you when you meet Him! We want to see the church grow. We want to see salvation's and lives changed. However, we want to see our church family grow in their walk and discipleship with Jesus! Therefore, my greatest concern is the churches grows in its walk with Jesus both corporately and individually. The great commission is not to make church attenders or have a large multisite church with smoke machine and excellence etc. (Although in themselves these are not necessarily bad things) The great commission is not to make shallow conversions, where Jesus does not have any effect in lives or behaviour. The great commission is to make disciples! and that is a very, very different thing. The Apostle Paul in his letters also seems to spend more space than anything else exhorting Christians to go deeper with Jesus and seems to be far more interested in the walk and discipleship of the church, than their numerically growth which he doesn’t seem to mention very much at all. So finally, thoughts for you about discipleship ask yourselves these questions: How’s your walk with Jesus going? How’s your faith and trust in Jesus? How’s your love for Jesus and others? How’s is you Hope in Jesus going, in your difficult situations? Are you becoming more faithful and obedient to Jesus in your life? Are you growing in the fruits of the spirit? Are you seeing more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness in your life or less? How’s your prayer life? Are there areas of unforgiveness in your life? How you getting on with the bible? Are there areas in your life where your struggling? Are you drifting away? If this is you talk to somebody or pray? Please pray for a deeper discipleship within our church. Please pray for more love of Christ in all areas of our lives and I do believe that God wants the church to grow numerically, but I also know that healthy sheep have lambs!!! Helpful Bible Verses (Thought I’d put this in as preaching on this, this morning) 😊 Colossians 3 Living as Those Made Alive in Christ Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Amen!!!  Community Church Blackburn has been a little like a wandering tribe on the move for the last ten years.
Originally we were meeting in several places in Shadsworth, then a few years ago we moved to several buildings in Blackburn town centre and since February 2016 we have been meeting in the worship centre at Wesley Hall. What can we learn about God from this? Well God has always provided the right place at the right time for us to meet! Even at short notice. We have never missed a meeting due to lack of a place. God is a wonderful provider and He has never failed? Secondly the building isn’t church. We are the church! Community Church Blackburn has never been entirely dependent on a physical building. As mentioned previously, as a church we have been gifted over the years £100,000 penciled in for a building. A few years ago, as a leadership team and church we made a concerted effort to seek out a building however God was silent! What we were looking for was a building with the following:
God was gracious and delivered most of that with Wesley Hall. Every time I go into Wesley Hall I see a sign saying ‘Wesley Hall Dedicated to the Glory of God’ I would love to see that happening more and more not less and less. Wesley Hall is a wonderful building and recently we have been praying for God to give it to us completely!! Why? because we want to see the Kingdom of God advance in Blackburn!!! And Gods light to shine as bright as possible in that place. We need space for all the plans God has for us. We want a building which is filled with ministries expressing Gods love and building Gods kingdom 24/7 Have we got the resources and expertise as a church to deal with it. Probably not!! However, I do know we have a big God who has always provided what we need and is good. Would it be scary. Yes!!! But I know God says do not be afraid for I am with you!! Would the Methodist give it to us? Don’t know! However I know God is sovereign and He holds all things for those who love him. Please pray for Wesley Hall. Please pray for Wisdom and Grace. God always has the right place for us to be for Him to be Glorified Pray for Wisdom, Faith and a total reliance on Jesus for the leadership team as we pray about this area. Pray thanking God for his incredible provision which he has always demonstrated, and we acknowledge he has the perfect plan for our church and church premises 😊 God is Good! Helpful Bible Verses Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Psalm 84 How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.  In the bible, particularly in the book Acts, we see the early church relating to each other via relationship and being served within apostolic networks led by people like Paul, Timothy, Titus, Aquilla and Pricilla, Apollos etc… with particular apostolic gifting.
As a church we believe God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and Gods ways are good and always the best!! Meaning there’s always great wisdom in taking heed of how the early church was set out in scripture. So therefore, we organise ourselves in a like fashion. If you want to talk to me or ask questions about this, please feel free. At Community Church Blackburn we are so blessed, as a church, to be part of the ChristCentral group of churches which is part of the Newfrontiers family of churches. If you want, have a look you can find our more here. https://christcentralchurches.org/ https://newfrontierstogether.org/ These are just some of the ways we are served by ChristCentral and New Frontiers often behind the scenes
There is so much going on and so many benefits and good things that I cannot succinctly express in the short space I have here. Again, if you want to talk to me about it or get more involved come and see me. Some specific things to pray for: Please pray for Jeremy and Anne Simpkins as they lead ChristCentral groups of Churches. They are coming and you will meet them on July 14th. Please pray for the preparations for Devoted and the team as these are huge and need prayer. Pray for the other ChristCentral churches in the area: Bolton, Macclesfield, Westhoughton, Liverpool, Salford, Stockport, Barnoldswick, Preston, Blackpool, Chorley, Lancaster, Whitehaven etc.. as they are on the same mission as us and doing amazing stuff!! Also I believe God has put on my heart a vision of the Lancashire ChristCentral churches worshiping and praying together. Wouldn’t that be wonderful!! Please pray while I explore and pray and consult with our oversight Altogether please pray for all those involved in ChristCentral, thank God for them and pray for a deeper, more fruitful relationship with them for the Glory of God and the Building of the Kingdom. Helpful Bible Verses Ephesians 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 1 Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. Titus 1:5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you  I love the book of Romans written by the Apostle Paul. It’s a classic!!!
One of the reasons I particularly love it, is God revealed to me through it, what true worship was and trust me I had some very faulty ideas! I used to think that worship was just about music but it’s not! Music is just one wonderful, glorious, celebration of what God is doing in our hearts. Paul in the first part of his letter to the Romans sets out everything that Jesus has done for us and then in Chapter 12 he says this (In light of what he’d set out previously) dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.’ In the Old Testament the people of Israel made two kind of sacrifices at the Tabernacle. The first was for sin. They would have to sacrifice a spotless, perfect animal if they had done something wrong. This sacrifice has been fulfilled in Christ on a cross. The second was a thanks giving offering. You would bring something to the Tabernacle to say thank you to God. Thanking him for who he is, thanking him for his provision etc… This is the Sacrifice I believe that Paul is alluding to in Romans and he’s saying true worship is living your life in a way that give thanks and glory to God. Whats the motivation for Christians to live there life well? Why do Christians do seemingly do illogical self sacrificial ,good things? Not because we need to earn favour with God! Not because we need to get so many points to get to heaven, not even because God needs you to do anything for him? He doesn't!!! As Christians, in view of all the amazing, wonderful, gracious, merciful things God has done for us. Why wouldn’t we live our lives as a thanksgiving offering, in a thankful way, giving Him glory? If you’re not already doing so, in view of what Jesus has done for you, live your life in a way that is thankful and this is Truly worship!!! Worship is your entire life not just music and singing n a Sunday!! Back to the music on a Sunday. I hope you are really blessed by it, I certainly am. I’ve worshiped in some massive places and churches, with professional bands, with light and smoke machines and choirs etc but there is no place I’d rather worship, or experience the presence of God in worship quite in the way I do, at Community Church Blackburn. There’s something very special about worshiping with your own church family. Being a talented musician and being an anointed worship leader are two very different things and we are so, so blessed to have Andy Berry and Pete Smith leading us in worship regularly. Please pray for them both, as I know it take hours of preparation and prayer each week to bring us our worship on a Sunday. Please pray that we experience more of the, tangible presence of God in our worship, because in that place is where we will see prophecy, tongues, interpretations, visions, and healing's as its in that space as a church, we will see more of the supernatural gifts exercised. Presently our musical worship is led in the format of guitar and singers, but we want, in faith, to see our worship group widen its tent pegs! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see keyboards, percussion, Bass etc…. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see our young people, involved and discipled in this area! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have more that one instrument? If your interested go have a chat with Pete Smith. All this need careful thought and prayer, a lot of work, faith and God’s grace. So keep praying for all of the above. For God to move and I just wasn’t to see God to be honoured and glorified more and more in our musical worship and in our lives corporately, as a church. I hope you are excited. I am and you should be 😊 God is good 😊 Helpful Bible Verses 1 Chronicles 16:23-31 Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendour and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place. Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!” Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Colossians 3:16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.  The Alpha course is one of the greatest expressions of the Good News of Jesus around today. I thank God for the Alpha Course and the Alpha team who provide amazing resources explaining Christianity accurately, graciously and wisely.
I love doing Alpha. I love meeting and watching people build friendship with each other over the course. I love watching people who don’t believe in Jesus, being worked on by Holy Spirit through the videos and discussion. I love praying for people to be filled with the Holy Spirit on Alpha. I love difficult questions and fiery debate! I love everything about it. It’s one of my most favourite things and if I could, I would run Alpha course all day everyday 😊 Also through the Youth Alpha’s run at our church I’ve had the privilege of watching the Holy Spirit sweep through our youth, giving them great foundations for their faith. God is good! I love the Bible is one-year app with Nicky Gumbel and Pippa adds! . If you’ve never used it have a look. https://www.bibleinoneyear.org/ At Community Church Blackburn we run an adult Alpha Course cycle starting in January to Easter and we’ve had over 20 people attend this year. It’s been a wonderful mix of different ages, backgrounds and spiritual journeys. Please pray for God to continue to move them closer to Him. I’d love to run Alpha’s 52 weeks a year, so if you’re interested in forming a team or have a heart for this, come and see me. Finally I want to see salvation and Alpha works! If you haven’t done one, or if you have friends and family, who you’d love to come to faith its a really friendly non threatening way of talking about it. Get yourself and them on an Alpha course. If you want a taster of the videos you can watch them all here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBMMD5C0k-s Helpful Bible Verses 1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  I believe a formative Sunday in Community Church Blackburn’s life was when Alastair Murdoch, from Re:ignite Church, came to preach at the beginning of 2016 and lobbed what I consider several prophetic hand grenades into our church.
It was a very raw, difficult time for us as a church and God real moved through him and I give God the Glory for his bravery and obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit that morning. One of those hand grenades thrown was asking us as a church ‘What tribe are we?’ This question, itself, assumes that we are not isolated as a church in Blackburn, we are just a small part of Gods plan in a larger people of God in the geographical area of Blackburn and then again in this nation and then further afield in the world. Theology, doctrine and teaching are very, very, very important and wrong teaching is extremely destructive and produces bad spiritual fruit in the church however, I’m 100% certain when I meet Jesus he won’t ask, did you get your theology right? He will ask me do you Love me? Therefore, if you believe in the Apostles Creed, love Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit you're good with me 😊 I believe strongly in the universal church of Jesus across the world comprised of faithful believers. I believe there is a people of God in Blackburn scatted among the churches with different worship styles, cultural background traditions, languages, with often different opinions about things. However if we want to see the rule and reign of Jesus in our city and nation, we need to advance the kingdom, as one people, together. RISE is unity a movement http://www.riseunitymovement.org/# which wants to bring more of Gods Kingdom into Blackburn through churches praying together, worshiping together, honouring each other and working together. I believe Community Church Blackburn should be at the heart of this. Please pray for the steering group as it meets. For Gods anointing, boldness and guidance. Also pray for other churches in our town. Pray for Reignite, The Beacon Church, Blackburn Baptist, Vineyard, The Methodist churches, The Catholic church, The CofE churches, Colin and Richards church on Shadsworth, The United Reform Churches, The Nigerian Churches and the list goes on and on.We’re all on the same side, which is Jesus and what we disagree about is infinitely less important than what we share. I want to see revival in Blackburn, Blackburn isn’t rubbish, God loves Blackburn so, so, so much. I want to fight a spiritual war of Love, not against people but against dark powers and authorities in Blackburn, like poverty, injustice, addiction and Hopelessness. That’s our promised land, that’s our fight. But we need, as a people of God, in Blackburn to fight it together. Helpful Bible Verses Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! 1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.  Jesus was a refugee. Jesus’s family was forced to flee due to persecution and violence in their home country.
Most of the early church were refugees. We read in the book of Acts chapter 8 due to persecution and violence the church was scattered to different lands. Just take a minute to consider what that meant for them. Throughout scripture Gods people, have often been in foreign lands as refugees for example, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, arguable the whole people of Israel in Exodus, the list goes on and on and on. As Christians being citizens of heaven, we are in a spiritual sens living in a foreign land. Gods people in scripture are instructed to care and honour the stranger. In fact I remember when Angela was preaching about Sodom and Gomorrah, she rightly pointed out that the reason God judged them, was their lack of care and hospitality to strangers. What does it mean for us as a church? Well we as Gods people have an obligation to welcome and give hospitality to strangers. Before I worked at Community Church Blackburn, I had the privilege of working for the ARC Project Blackburn, which is a charity running during the week in Wesley Hall where we worship, which helps refugees and asylum seekers settle into the UK. Please look at their website and if you click on the video you will meet some of my special friends 😊 https://www.arcprojectblackburn.com/aboutus.htm During my time there I met the most amazing, resourceful, gracious and fun people. I also witnessed the lamentable, unjust, unwise, evil policies and processes set out in this country. I can assure you Injustice is live and well in the UK today! Please pray for our government, both national and local, that they will govern, wisely graciously and full of humanity. Please also continue to pray for the ARC project, that it will be filled with the love of Jesus and be anchored to Kingdom of God values. Due to our location as a church, we are also blessed to have quite a few members who have been through the asylum and refugee system. We also have quite a few that are presently in it and are in dire straits being literally homeless, with no right to any form of provision, or being allowed to work. If you want to know more look at this excellent web site. https://naccom.org.uk/ Please really pray for them and their situations. Often the best thing a church can provide to these member is love and friendship as they are totally isolated from family. Why don’t you invite one of our refugees and asylum seekers lunch after church? You may be showing hospitality to angels! Due to our circumstances as a church we are developing quite an experience and expertise in this area and we would slowly like to become more involved with the charity called Welcome Churches https://www.welcomechurches.org/ which is a great ministry and great resource. Finally a bit of a Cheeky prayer request. My amazing wife Lisa, as well as being a busy mum and putting up with me, is working on an amazing project trying to find housing solutions for refugees and asylum seekers. You can look at what she’s doing here https://www.facebook.com/LancashireSanctuaryHomesProject or if you get chance have a chat with her about it. But most importantly please pray that God Kingdom advances through it! Helpful Bible Verses Deuteronomy 10:19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ Zechariah 7:9-10 “This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’  Throughout scripture God would seem to be, humanly speaking, an extremely irresponsible giver. From Creation to Revelation he seems to consistently keep giving to people who don’t appreciate it and don’t deserve it.
I was recently reading a book by Andrew Wilson with a chapter talking about how Gods giving is at the heart of his very character. God is Good 😊 If God is like that and Jesus is God, then as a follower of Jesus we’re called to be gracious givers. Over the years, I personally have many, many stories of God amazing provision and I’m sure you will have many more than me. But my favorite one is this: A few years ago, amazingly for Lisa and me, we had managed to accrue a small amount of personal savings. Independently through reading scripture and the leading of Holy Spirit, both of us felt that God was saying, we were putting our faith in these savings in an unhealthy way and it was stopping us relying on Gods provision in faith. We also knew of a great need in the church, which could be resolved with this money. As we were, young and wild in those days, we decided that it was right for us to give these savings away. To our surprise the person we tried to give it away too, initially refused to take it and they prophetically explained that we were being silly, as we would be able to buy a new second had car with it (which we needed) or it would pay for a family holiday in the UK. After a bit of thought and prayer we ignored them and gave it anyway 😊 There is a lot more to this story, but to summaries, within three months, out of the blue and through other random means, God provided us as a family a virtually brand-new car, far beyond what we ever would buy or be able to afford and an all-expenses paid family holiday, for a week, to Euro Disney! Which came in value to ten times what we had given away. Now I’m not saying God has, or always will work in that way and I arbore the prosperity Gospel, however I know that God has a gracious nature and I have never been let down by His provision. In my Christian life, I’ve come to love and rely on how God provides abundantly. Not just financially but in all things. I am confident that as his people we can never out give God. Today just think through what your attitude to Gods provision is. Do you trust God to provide for you? Has God ever let you down around provision? How does that relate to your finances or how you give now? Who or what are you putting you trust in for provision? Finally, I just want to say that the members of Community Church Blackburn are amazing faith filled givers and give an incredible amount in faith, to the work of the church which I would like to say thank you for. However, I would also like to point out, just like my previous story, historically when the Community Church Blackburn has moved in faith financially, God has also moved abundantly, hence our incredible £100,000 provision, as a church penciled in for a building. I also know that when, as a church, we haven’t acted in faith and have honoured God with church finances they have been leaner times. Please pray for wisdom and faith for us all as a church and the leadership team in this area. Helpful Bible Verses Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 2 Corinthians 9:7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Proverbs 3:9 Honour the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. 1 Chronicles 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! Matthew 6:19-21 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”   Over the summer, as a church, we participate in two festivals.
If you don’t already know, one is called Newday which is for teenagers and the other is called Devoted for all the church family. If you want to know more here are the promo videos: Newday: https://newdaygeneration.org/festival/new-to-newday Devoted: https://vimeo.com/310573730 Newday is Awesome! and we have seen God move in amazing ways in our young people’s lives because of it and therefore this has seeped into our church lives. Parents: if you want to see God move in your teenager’s life more send them to Newday! Both in salvation and discipleship. Teenagers: If you want to know more about God, see what christianity is about, experience the coolest worship, I know of, with over 7000 other young people in a massive tent, hear from the most gifted communicators talking about Jesus, I’ve come across, ask really pertinent questions that you might have and get real meaningful answers, and finally and possibly most important, to some, laugh at people doing the most extraordinary sometimes, crazy stuff. Get yourself to Newday. We have a vision of us one day taking a large coach full of Kids to Newday, from Blackburn and just watching God do his stuff. It also requires a huge amount of preparation and work to undertake going there and this team is led by Angela and Geoff. If you would like to be involved go and see them. Please pray again for this year that we have wonderful weather, all the preparations goes well, that you give all those involved wisdom and endurance and finally that God moves more and more in the lives of the young people. Please also pray for the Newday team across Newfrontiers who do an amazing job. If that’s not enough excitement for you we have the Devoted festival at the end of August where the ChristCentral family of churches come together and worship, learn, fellowship and just hang out. This is a great time for our church last year and we had nearly 50 people go. If you’ve not already booked please see Angela, as we are keen that as many people as possible in our church family can go so we will do our best to remove as many barriers as we can. This is also a great time to just catch the bigger vision of our family of churches in the UK and across the world. Again please pray for the team led by Angela and Geoff who are organizing this as it is a huge logistical operation. Also pray that God blesses us with good weather and God moves through our church. Finally pray for Jeremy Simkins and Graham Anns as they organise and prepare for devoted Very very excited about what God is going to do!! God is Good!😊 Helpful Bible Verses Hebrews 10:25 Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Acts 2:1-47 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ... Ephesians 4:11-15 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ  In our church we seem to have a slowly expanding small group of twenty somethings, as with all age groups this is wonderful.
From memory, this is an exciting formative time where you start to seek out your direction in life. It can also be a really lonely confusing time where you’ve maybe finished education, and all the friends you know have moved on. Or your living in a different place from where you’ve grown up and your trying to figure out what Gods got planned for you like work, jobs, housing, relationship, marriage, mortgages etc… life in generally and the list can go on and on and on. So they need a lot of prayer. We have some wonderful twenty something’s in our church so if you haven’t already, go talk to them and make a beeline for them or /and invite them for a meal. I remember when I was twenty something, I thank God for the people, older than me who spoke into my life and cared for me and Lisa. They had a massive impact on my faith and walk with Jesus. Also pray for jobs, wisdom, provisions for them because they need it. Please also pray for salvation for this age group, as with all age groups and if anyone has any ministry ideas possibly around food and friendship come and see me or just get on with it😊 Also cheeky prayer I’d love to celebrate some weddings at CCB we’ve not done that for a while wouldn't that be cool 😊 Helpful Bible Verses Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect Jeremiah 1:7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.  In Acts 24:23 the bible says ‘Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
As a church we believe that the spiritual life of the church is led by groups of elders This is a very specific role in the church and as succinctly as I can they the following responsibilities
If you have more questions or want a longer explanation please come and talk to me :) Currently we are in the process of building an eldership team and a group of our men are going up once a month to an exploring eldership course in Ambleside. As you can see this is a huge responsibility and calling on someone’s life and this group is currently seeking God whether this role sits with their calling or gifting. This is a great video by Terry Virgo talking about appointing elders: https://vimeo.com/24831315 Please pray for this group of guys and our church, that God will make all things clear and he will speak to them and move in their lives. Also pray for me as I pray, work and guide this process through. As it is possibly one of the most important things I do in my present role as singular elder of our church. Finally, please also pray for me as I lead Community Church Blackburn as its elder and that I heed the advice Andy Parr gave me. “Lean heavily on God, be gentle and humble, seek to be full of grace and love, be merciful and forgiving and you will be God’s man” Andy Parr 25th April 2017 Helpful Bible Verses 1 Timothy 3 This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honourable position.” So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap. 1 Peter 5:1-4 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Titus 1:9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. |
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Loving God, Loving People, Building God's Kingdom
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