eNews | Thurs 9th July '20
Dear e-News friends and church members,
What shall I wear?
Have you ever been invited to an important occasion and then stopped to ask yourself what shall I wear?
At one time we travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa to participate in a very large evangelistic outreach, with hundreds of thousands of people. We were told that it was their custom for all preachers and participants to dress formally for the occasion, which meant suits and ties for me and appropriate dresses for Sue. We duly complied wishing to honour our hosts and maximise the moment.However, we had the most unbelievable and horrendous journey. The devil did everything possible to stop us getting there.We were due to meet the rest of the team in Johannesburg and we would fly on together from there. Due to cancelled flights, diversions, aircrafts breaking down, and several other things, we arrived very, very late, and then only to find that they had lost all our luggage. With little time to spare we had to buy everything from scratch but with only the airport shops to shop in.I ended up with shoes 3 times too big, a jacket too small and mismatch of shirts and ties. Sue fared better in that she was able to borrow some of the clothes needed from other ladies. The event was outstanding, and the minor irritations were soon forgotten in a blaze of God glorifying miracles and salvation.I ask this question and tell this story to reflect on a much more important point. What do we wear when we come to meet with God? I mean, when we come to pray about all the things that concern us, our families and jobs and work and ministry? What do we wear?Now I know you are thinking, I’m often in my jeans or dressing gown when I pray - what does it matter what I wear? But actually, it’s hugely important. Not in the clothes you physically wear, but spiritually wear. We all get dressed up in something.Once there was a woman with a desperately sick demon possessed daughter, and she wanted Jesus to do something. So, she dressed up in religion, to make her request and Jesus completely ignored her, until she changed her angle of approach.The Bible tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace, but that boldness is only possible if we are dressed in the right clothes.
- Some say the right clothes are true penitence and remorse for our sins and failures.
- Some say the right clothes is the promise of our greater dedication and more commitment.
- Some say the right clothes is our ability to clarify to God our great need and plead for sympathy.
- Some say the right clothes is our passion, shown in fervency in prayer, length of the prayer meeting or the volume of our cry.
But God says that there is one and only one way to get dressed for a God answered - God created - God given breakthrough.And the clothes needed is not a garment but a person - Jesus.Over 211 times we are told in the New Testament we are ‘In Christ’, and many other times we are told to ‘put on Christ’.As we have placed our lives in Him, so we are dressed in His righteousness, the perfect outfit for God’s throne room, where business gets done on my behalf. No wonder David wrote and said:
"I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord… for there thrones were set for judgement"- Psalm 122: 1 & 5We can read that with fear in our hearts because we can think it’s going to be a judgement against us, but when we are in Christ, it’s going to be a judgement for us.In these, the most challenging of times, we need God interventions on a daily bases, and I’m continuing to hear of God’s amazing breakthroughs in the lives of so many.Soon, we will be able to meet again - at least in small groups, but let’s press in right here, right now for God’s astronomical grace to flow from heaven above.Here’s an update on great progress and exciting things coming up in this month of SURGE.
- We've had over 10,000 people connecting in with the launch of Surge and Church Online at the weekend.
- Our social action team has given out 885 hot meals last week and 920 meals in food bags. Thats been well over 10,000 hot meals and over 10,000 meals in food bags since lockdown.
- Since the beginning of lockdown we have supported over 4,500 individuals with food. A huge well done to all our social action team meeting the needs of the city.
- We continue with our month of Surge as we enter week 3 next week! Check out what is coming up below.
Looking forward to seeing you all at church online this weekend.We love you guys,Andrew