Every term, three times a year, we invite the church together for a 'whole church' prayer meeting. Each time is like coming for air as we ask God to breathe life into the plans laid on our hearts. We usually take time to sit and listen. Without fail, it seems like the Lord is ready to speak, nudge and prompt us as we stumble our way forward into His plans and purposes for our lives and the church.
In this new academic year, we sense the Lord calling us deeper—deeper as a church, deeper in relationship and connection, and deeper in community. This journey is not one we take alone, but one where each of us plays a vital role, prodding around in some uncomfortable ways as we allow ourselves to walk tightly in step with the Holy Spirit. It's impossible to have a lasting impact if we don't have depth in our faith, and your role in this is crucial.
And so, many people began to pray and share what God was showing them; here is a snapshot of those words and pictures from our time in prayer together. We ask that you continue to bring these things before the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to help you put words into action as we go deeper.
Follow
Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men; closeness to Jesus comes first. As we follow Jesus, He will make us into something. Let us walk closer and go deeper.
Ice cream
A chain of people bringing hope and joy to the borough. I see an ice cream van and a chain of hundreds of people who are the church, and they are passing the ice cream down the chain of people to those who have nothing.
Fortune cookie
The excitement and accessibility of the faith that comes with knowing that God is not a fortune cookie. Unlike a fortune cookie, it’s not a guess but something that will come to pass. What has God said? What do we need to remind ourselves of?
Aslan
Stop, think, give, Aslan. Make giving accessible. Make it easy to give as we support them. If we all sacrificed a cup of coffee and offered that in support, it would amount. How can we offer deeper support?
Lion
Boldness and purpose, no-nonsense, true and deep, stand out like a lion. We are called to be a lion, fierce, beautiful and bold.
Keep it real
God doesn’t want us to pretend to be happy all the time. He wants honesty and realness. Be honest in our relationship with Him.
Colossians 3:2
Set your mind on things above, be like Jesus and do His work - Be: Jesus, he reveals his character and heart as gentle. Do: Seek and save the lost, and remember what it is really about.
Relationship
Deepening relationships with the Father so that we can deepen with others and with those we serve.
Creativity
There is ingenuity within us - how we outwork things is creative in many ways and God wants to use this.
Dig
Digging wells deeper from those who have gone before. The deeper we dig the fresher the water.
Eagle
A picture of an eagle flying back to the nest feeding the young - bring lost souls back to the nest to feed.
Skyscrapers
They require deep foundations and are tall, seen landmarks. As we go deeper, it is in preparation to build skyscrapers of faith.
Excavator
Large industrial excavator coming towards us - God says he’s got some serious digging to do!
Cavern
A deep cavern full of people singing with a beautiful echo. Sometimes, there are cracks from the surface down to a cave, and through these cracks, the music in this deep place is seeping out, and people are noticing.
Consistency
The deep walk towards Jesus is like weight training- don’t give up too soon, keep going and maintain the course.
Bite
A bite out of an apple, God's goodness is plentiful fruit. The community work is also like a plentiful fruit, God has so many good things for our community.
Viking Ship
On the side of a Viking ship, the timber overlaps and connects and is watertight. We need tight connections with each other. Deeper connections will keep the sheep watertight.
Spread
An image of ice spreading and connecting, Holy Spirit spread through our church.
Partner
Partnership - working together with each other, the community, etc. learning from and with one another.
Connect
A deeper connection is to the Lord's Church, of which we are a part. It’s not just us, it's all of us together!
Courage
As the community develops, we will need the courage to fight for fairness and justice.
Forward
The picture of the hole left behind encourages us to move forward. We cannot go back. The past is past. Let us move forward.
Sunset
There is a sunset below a dark cloud over Sutton. There is often so much more than we can see. Hope is on the horizon, and below that cloud, light is breaking through.
These are some of the words the Lord began to stir in people's hearts. Let me encourage you to pick one or two and begin bringing them to God regularly in prayer. Ask him to reveal more to you and show you how to put these things into action as we look to go deeper as a church.
What would happen if we all began exploring the depths of these words?
I can't wait to see what God does in and through your life!
Much love,
Julian.
