 If I was starting a worldwide religion, I’d be focusing my attention on the people of influence, the movers and shakers, the rich the powerful!!! but Jesus doesn’t seem to do that. In the Gospels again and again he seems to have a special compassion for people who are struggling with life, messed up, people that haven’t got it all together.
Even Jesus’s opening manifesto, given at the start of his public ministry in Luke 4 ‘"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor” seems to be focusing on people who are struggling in life and the poor. In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus talks about the sheep and the goats. Jesus would seem to be suggesting that if there is no compassion for the poor in the outworking of our walk with him the authenticity of our salvation is in question!!! (Chilling Stuff!!) Therefore, I’m pretty convinced in our church life we need to have a special heart for the poor as that what Jesus had. Over the last century often churches seem to have split preaching the Gospel with working with the poor but Jesus doesn’t seem to make that distinction. However, on the other side we mustn’t do ministry to the poor just to make things a little bit better. We need ministry to the poor to make things new in Christ!!! In the last few years God has really challenged me about compassion for the poor as often God has presented me with them and we also happen to live in one of the most poverty-stricken towns in the UK, not just financially but in lots of different ways. One of my Hero’s is Williams Booth who founded the Salvation Army this is a bit of his story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEpAAp2PSlo . The world is not so different today (Particularly in Blackburn) than it was in Victorian England and through the power of the Holy Spirit William Booth changed the world. Oh how we need people like William Booth today!!! Please pray for greater compassion and a heart for the Poor within our church (That is likely not to be easy or straight forward) It also doesn’t make for nice, clean, straightforward middle class church!!! Please pray that God gives more vision and resource for work for the poor. Has God given you a prophetic word or vision for the poor like William Booth? Has God put a ministry or an idea on your heart? If you’d like to find out more what the churches are doing in the UK a great place to start is Jubilee plus website https://jubilee-plus.org/ Please also pray for all the amazing Christian work with the poor that gets done in Blackburn. Foodbank, Salvation Army, Children’s Store House, Christians Against Poverty, The ARC project and the list goes on. Its a really really tough Job and often they need encouraging. If you know someone who works with the poor why don't you contact them to encourage them? Jesus really, really, really loved the poor and so why wouldn’t we? Helpful Bible Verses Proverbs 31:8-9 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Isaiah 58:6-11 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Luke 6:20-21 Looking at his disciples, [Jesus] said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” 1 John 3:17 Then Jesus said to his host . . . When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Romans 12:11-13 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 Comment
 I find it interesting that Jesus spent a seemingly disproportionate amount of the time praying for and healing the sick.
A lot of the New Testament and the Old Testament is taken up with sick people being healed!!! Do you think God is trying to tell us something? I believe God is a God who heals the sick and this is just as true today as it was in the Bible. Recently we have seen miraculous healing at our church through prayer and we want that to continue!! Why because we want Jesus to be glorified. How does God heal? Through miracles but often through the amazing work of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. Why do people get sick? Because the world is busted, due to the fall and sin. (See Genesis Ch3) Why does God heal? because it gives us an inkling of what the Kingdom of Heaven is going to be like when there will be a restoration of all things and there will be a new heaven and a new earth and we will get new bodies and they will be perfect and there will be no more disease or pain!!! and because He is good!!! I can't wait!!! Why do we pray the sick? Because that’s what Jesus did and we follow Him!!! Why does God sometimes heal and sometimes not? I don't know! but what I do know is when we pray in faith he often does!!! Today pray for all the people you know in and out of our church who are poorly, pray for healing. If your able go round and pray with them in person or if that's not possible why not over the phone? Or why don’t you ask God for more faith to pray for the sick. Why don’t you step out in faith and offer prayer when you meet people who are poorly? What’s the worst that can happen? All I know is when we step in faith God moves!!! Helpful Bible Verses Matthew 4:23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. Matthew 10:1 And He called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. Luke 10:9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ James 5:14-15 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  Just as our children and youth are awesome. The members of our church family of a slightly older disposition are amazing as well.
In families there are babies, young children, brothers, sisters, cousins, parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents and great grandparents!!!A healthy church family should mirror this. All the generations have so much to teach and so much to offer each other!!! There is so much wisdom, faith, experience and a witnessing of what God has done through their life in our older members of our church. It is wonderful!!! Children, young people, young adults, and the rest of the church if you don’t know our older members, of our church, you are so missing out they are awesome! I know for myself I have been so encouraged by them over the years and it has been a privilege to get to know them better over the last few. Just like its tough being a teenager it’s also tough getting older as well (Just check out the end of Ecclesiastes) Please pray for them to be filled with the Holy spirit to be given patience and endurance as they face the trial and challenge of getting older and doing so in a way the glorifies God. Please also pray for the people (There are lots of them) who are facing the challenge of caring for elderly family. This is often a difficult and lonely time for them, so they need lots and lots of prayer, often a shoulder to cry on and friendship and encouragement. Please also pray for the people who work in the career of caring for the elderly. They do an underappreciated incredible job for little credit. We also want to see salvation for the elderly and if they don’t know Jesus, we want them to come to know Jesus as Lord and saviour of their life! It is never to late and they are just a important in Gods eyes. We have been presented, as a church, with a few invitations to share the Gospel in sheltered accommodations and care home and I would love to put a team together for this if anyone is interested come and see me!!! Finally, a challenge to young’uns!! Jesus says do unto others as you would like done to you. If you’re able why don’t you pick the phone and call or text some of the older members of our congregation or better still pop in. I know they will be blessed and I’m 100% sure you will be as well 😊 Helpful Bible Verses Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Leviticus 19:32 Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. 1 Timothy 5:8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.  In June 2017 under the guidance of the apostolic and the then eldership team (Andy Parr and myself) we commissioned a leadership team at Community Church Blackburn to assist myself as present sole elder.
The biblical model were use for this team is Deacons This team is comprised of Peter McCombs, Sylvanus Bowlin, Angela Shanks, Lisa Norcross, Gina Berry, Geoff Shanks and myself. The leadership team is responsible for the smooth running of Community Church Blackburn which includes, finances, communication, legal, serving and rota, safeguarding, charity commission and stewardship, acting as trustees, smooth running of Sunday service, website, branding, prayer chain , Newday, Devoted, building issues, pastoral issues, accountability and employment and the list goes on and on and on. Pretty much all the things that happen behind the scenes and often in front of the scenes wouldn’t happen without their involvement. This is a huge responsibility and requires, wisdom, Gods grace and mercy and huge commitment in time and energy. I thank God so much for them. Please pray for them for wise and gracious governance, that as a team we walk humbly and closely with God and with each other. Please pray for them to be good stewards, but also be full of faith and reliant on God. Pray for more Holy Spirit in their lives and rule and reign of Jesus!! If you've never met them introduce yourself to them and find out what they do. If you have any questions feel free to ask them!! Also if you want to see what happens in a leadership meeting (Which happens around every two months) If you are part of our church you are more than welcome to come and observe. 😊 Please pray for the future development of this team, its relationship with a future eldership team and give God thanks for them and all they do 😊 Helpful Bible Verses Matthew 20:26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counsellors there is victory. 1 Timothy 3:8-10 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Hebrew 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.  I am so proud of our young people. I give thanks to God for them and we are so blessed.
It has been a privilege to watch them grow, often from children, into young adults and now emerging as leaders in our church. I also thank God for their, many gifts and we must pray for wisdom in the church for fanning these into flames in Godly, wise and encouraging ways. But they also need our prayer for the many, many challenges in life they are facing. School, exams, peer pressure, life choices, careers, university and many, many other things. Pray for protection for them from the evil one, as it is so easy to be tempted particularly to drift away from God as a teenager (As I did) Pray for the parents or guardians of teenagers!!!! For patience, endurance, wisdom, grace and mercy because they need prayer and sometimes help!!! Also pray that the youth grow in their relationship with Jesus and relationship with each other and the rest of the church. If you’ve not talked to our teenagers, spend some time with them they’re really cool!!!! 😊. Adults why don’t you make a special effort to talk to and pray for a member of our youth, you’ve not talked to before? I know you will be blessed. Pray also for all those involved in leading and disciplining the youth, for continued wisdom, vision and endurance as there’s lot going on. 7UP, Youth Alpha, Newday, other youth events, Youth service and the list continues!!! I’d love our work with teenagers to expand at CCB and particularly love to see a Friday night youth group where we get to show the Grace of God to unchurched teenagers. So we need to pray in faith for more workers in the harvest and a bigger vision (Anybody interested give us a shout) Finally pray for salvation in our young people, both within and without our church. We want more of all the good things of God in youth and we’d love to see more and more of Gods work going on for His Glory. We want to sow more and more seeds for the Kingdom in young people and let God grow them for a harvest!! Are you excited?? You should be 😊 Helpful Bible Verses 1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Colossians 3:20-21 Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Psalm 119:9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  If you’ve not already noticed, we have been blessed with lots and lots of children at our church. Children are awesome and a blessing from God. We need to pray for our children in our church, in our family and all the others we know.
From what I understand off our children’s workers, if you want to be where the action is you need to be in children’s work. They’ve seen salvation's, healing, visions miracles etc…. Amazing!!! We need to pray that we are seeing them grow in Christ and we want to see salvation and baptisms in our children. We also need to ask God for mercy and protection from the evil one for them. We need to pray for parents of young children as it can be a tough and lonely time. Pray for love, endurance, patience and wisdom for them as they parent their children. Pray also for the Children’s workers and give God thanks for them. They do the toughest, most sacrificial role in the church!!!! When most of the church is drinking their brews chatting with their friends, they will be packing up Children’s work, often on their own, after missing the beginning, middle and end of the service!!!! And that will be after spending hours and hours of preparation time during the week. Please pray for God to supply us more children’s workers as and if you're stirred come and have a chat with us! Please also pray for the mother and baby group led by Beth Smith at Bentham Road Surgery. Ultimately we want to step out in faith our children’s ministry growing in breadth and depth so please pray for Wisdom, faith and provision in this area. God is good!!! Helpful Bible Verses Psalm 127:3-5 Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court. Matthew 18:2-5 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:10 See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. Proverbs 22:6 Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.  We all know people who seemed to be going great with God and then slowly drifted away. It’s really, sad. ☹
It’s not technically impossible to be a Christian and not be part of a church however, it nearly is!!! It is also not God’s plan; Christ followers were designed to be part of a spiritual family and His people i.e. the Church. Often people aren’t at church because they have been legitimately hurt. From my experience more often than not, people aren’t at church because they just stopped going for a few weeks and no one chased them up. That’s really, tragic!! Make a list of people you know that may not be continuing with their faith or church. Pray for God to move in their life. You may need to repent over a sin of omission. Why don’t you give them a call and see how they are? If you are a prodigal and your reading this and you don’t go to church any more. We’re really, really sorry. Please forgive us if we’ve hurt you. But get your self back right with God and back to church Jesus is perfect, Jesus is good, Jesus is the way the Truth and the Life even when often we’re not. Helpful Bible Verses Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 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.  Friends are one of the greatest blessings of God (Isn’t God good). However, wouldn’t it be wonderful if they don’t know Jesus that we ask God to move in their life?
Make a list of all your friends and acquaintances and pray for them and in faith believe that God can work in their lives. You know the most loving thing you can do for you friends is tell them how brilliant Jesus. Why don’t you ask God to give you faith to invite them to an Alpha course or church?? What’s the worst that could happen? Why don’t you invite them for a meal or coffee? Ask the Holy Spirit to give you courage!!! Pray for your Christian friends as well as they need it just a much as you 😊 Helpful Bible Verses John 15:13 Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Families are one of Gods greatest blessing to us whatever format they come in.
However life in families can be tough. They are the people around us who can bring us most joy in life and also the most worry, heart ache and tears. We so, so need Gods rule and reign more in our family life!!! Try praying for more fruit of the spirit in our families: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We also need to pray for the members of our families who don’t know Jesus, that God will be merciful and gracious to them and also the Holy Spirit shows us ways we can show the love of God in our lives towards them. Helpful Bible Verses 1 Corinthians 13:8 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control  I don’t know about you, but I just want to see God move more and more in people’s lives. I want people to know Jesus because He is amazing and He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
The news we have is Good News!!! Because God is good!!! Don’t you want to see more and more people coming to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour of their lives. Christ is the hope of the world and the answer to all situations. If we want to see that, we need to pray and ask God for it. We can’t make new Christians, that’s Gods job, but we can sow seeds for the Kingdom and be ready to give an account of what Jesus has done in our lives!! Lets pray for God’s Holy Spirit to make us lovingly bold in sharing this Good News of the Kingdom. Lets pray for a Harvest!!! 😊 Helpful Bible Verses Matthew 28:18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” |
AuthorStephen Norcross ArchivesCategories |
RSS Feed
Loving God, Loving People, Building God's Kingdom
Registered Charity Number 1041251
VIEW OUR PRIVACY POLICY HERE
Registered Charity Number 1041251
VIEW OUR PRIVACY POLICY HERE
Proudly powered by Weebly