Day 17: Sunday 29th March pray for church unity and RISE.

Day 17: Sunday 29th March pray for church unity and RISE.

God is working in Blackburn and Darwen.
Something special and significant is happening. God is working and building the unity of His church!
That doesn’t mean conformity, I don’t think Jesus wants the church to be like that! He loves the fact that church comes in all different shapes, sizes and flavours.

Jesus wants unity of purpose and Lordship.

For all our differences and there are many! We honour and follow Jesus and we want His kingdom in this town to be advanced and His name to be Glorified and honoured.

RISE is the church unity movement in Blackburn ad Darwen

If you are not aware of RISE please have a look at the website here:
http://www.riseunitymovement.org/
Or you can follow on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/RISEunitymovement/

God has done amazing things over the last 12 months via RISE and these are just a few:

• There have been six prayer meetings taken place over the last 12 months. Where the church has come together, at different locations, worshiped together and prayed for different areas of life such as education, health, further education, asylum and refugee work, the countryside, social cohesion etc. They have been brilliant, and the church has really come together through it.
• Relationships, love and friendship have grown between the RISE steering group and I believe the Holy Spirit has really given the team a greater clarity of purpose and guidance around the way forward.
• Relationships, trust and cooperation has been significantly increased between church leaders across the area particular through meeting and working with each other on the J. John event.
• Church leaders have continued to come together and pray for each other every month.
• RISE is now a charity in its own right, with its own bank account!! Which has been a huge complicated task pioneered by Alastair Murdock.
• Finally, the J. John event which seem impossible and improbable to take place in Blackburn 12 months ago!! Happened whith 61 people making some form of commitment to follow Jesus on the night. God is good!!

 
So God has done amazing work over the last 12 months and Blackburn with Darwen is spiritually an exciting place to be.

As I’m writing this I’m just finishing the minutes to the last RISE steering meeting held on the 19th March via Zoom. I can testify there are lots of plans and a lot of exciting things coming in the future via RISE so watch this space!!

Please pray for all these plans, for wisdom, humility and the team to be reliant on the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Please pray for churches and particularly. Church leaders we’re funny creatures! Please pray that there is greater unity, trust and love throughout Blackburn and Darwen.

Finally, pray for the RISE steering group. There was a real sense of tiredness at the last meeting where there was so many things that it we felt God wanted to do, but as a team and individuals,  weren’t sure where the time or capacity to get these things done was going to come from.  (God of course!!). So please pray for fresh energy, help and solutions!!

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
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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.