Healing and Miracle Service – Sunday Evening 29th March 2009

March 29, 2009

Here is the message from the Healing and Miracle Service 29th March 2009.

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Topic: “The Power of His Touch”

Preacher: Pastor, Andy Hicks

Sunday 29th March 2009

March 29, 2009

Here is the Sunday morning message from 29th March 2009.

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Topic: “The Spiritual Climate of Miracles”

Preacher: Senior Pastor, Wiliam Prentice

Breaking the power of poverty.

March 26, 2009

One thing that we need to recognise is that in days when words like recession,redundancy and bancruptcy are commonly used, the level of poverty around us increases.I want to go on record as saying that poverty is not a blessing.There are some that hold the erroneous view that poverty is somehow good or even holy.I believe that God wants us to have an abundance of provision even in difficult times.Not just so that we can have all our needs met but so that we can help meet the needs of others.

Let me share with you a simple seven point strategy that God has been teaching me for about four years now, about moving from never having enough to enjoying more than enough.

1) Pray over your finances.Jesus encourages us to pray “give us this day our daily bread.”

2) Devise a budget that takes into account of all of your weekly/monthly incomings and outgoings. There are plenty of good models available for you to download or peruse.You cannot challenge what you cannot measure.If you have a high level of debt seek specialist advise and a more rigorous strategy may be needed to attack and clear the outstanding amounts.Sending minimum payments doesn’t normally clear the outstanding debt.If you are in this position destroy your credit cards.As part of this process keep searching for the best deals available on things like fuel,insurance ,mortgage etc.This has the potential to help you make real savings on your outgoings.For example I was able recently to reduce my expenditure on gas and electricity by over £300.00 per year by changing provider.

3) Tithe your incomings.Put God to the test in this priciple.He does not ask you to tithe what you don’t have ,only what you do have. Some will ask do I tithe gross or net.Someone once gave the answer do you want a gross or a net blessing? I want to go on record as saying that I believe that the tithe should go to the local church of which you are a part. If you are not part of a local church let me encourage you to find one.

4) Start an account however small at first, for offerings and giving. This account as it grows, can be used to help meet needs that you become aware of, this is the seed we sow. The amount of seed we sow determines the harvest we can expect.

5) Start a storehouse.A storehouse can be a savings account, an ISA, investments , property or possessions that are likely to increase in value.Where possible be ready to ride out the economic downturns. Some say I have nothing available to save.Why not save the ten pounds you might have spent
at Mcdonalds,the coffeeshop,or in town it will amount to 120.00 per year.

6) Develop a “fun fund” try to set aside some money for fun events  such as the the cinema,treats and holidays.

7) Pay for as much as you can with good old fashioned cash.The use of cards , credit, visa and payment cards are deceptive.Credit Action  studies shows that we spend at least one third more than we think we have, when we pay for everything by card.Draw a viable weekly sum of cash that covers your  day to day expenditure,like groceries,petrol//diesel etc.This is more important than it sounds.As your cash diminishes, a consciousness increases of the amount that has been spent.Whenever you are buying day to day items let me encourage you to  use cash with few exceptions.Also exercise the discipline of staying within your weekly amount of disposable cash.

This simple seven point strategy works if it is put into operation.It will help to break a poverty mindset and get you out of the situation of feeling that you never have any spare money.

Sunday 22nd March 2009

March 22, 2009

Here is the Sunday morning message from 22th March 2009.

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Topic: “Overcoming a poverty mentality” – Part 3

Preacher: Senior Pastor, Wiliam Prentice

Sunday 15th March 2009

March 15, 2009

Here is the Sunday morning message from 15th March 2009.

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Topic: “Overcoming a poverty mentality” – Part 2

Preacher: Senior Pastor, Wiliam Prentice

Sunday 08th March 2009

March 8, 2009

Here is the Sunday morning message from 08th March 2009.

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Topic: “Overcoming a poverty mentality”

Preacher: Senior Pastor, Wiliam Prentice

Persecution and breakthrough in India.

March 2, 2009

One of the notable features of our recent visit to Karnataka state in Southern India is the realisation that we are living in significant days, in which persecution is a reality.During the autumn months of last year the media carried regular stories of persecution and violence against christians particularly in the stae of Orrissa which is a hotspot for Hindu militants.For years India had ranked No. 30  in the league of worst persecutors according to the Open Doors World Watch .However their 2009 report on the ‘World Watch’ list of countries that are the worst persecutors of Christians shows that  India has moved to No. 22 due to the escalating violence on Christians in different parts of the nation.Whilst in some cases, the violence has subsided it has left many believers nervous and afraid for the future throughout the country.We met several pastors and leaders with stories to tell of violence,opposition and serious strife.The authorities (often dominated by the Hindu militant party )seemingly reluctant and resistent to giving help to christian groups.

The effects of this are interesting.Whilst it is true to say that many are afraid,there are also reports of significant numbers of conversions taking place.We saw a good number of responses for salvation in our meetings.Secondly, far from intimidating believers into inactivity,it is motivating some to greater efforts.The main purpose of our visit was to participate in a pastor’s conference held in Bangalore.Abotut three to four months before the start of the conference,the authorities refused the organisors permission to use public facillites for the event.Instead of cancelling the conference, they decided to build their own venue for up to a thousand people.What was truly remarkable was that the venue was completed like Nehemiah’s wall in record time,just over 92 days.It will be when fully operational,a quality venue.Throughout the building programme God provided miraculously, in terms of finance,material, and personnell to complete the work.It is now also fairly likely that the authorities that refused permission  to the organisors in the past will be seeking to rent the facillity themselves,so God has turned what was a negative situation around for tremeandous good.

The lesson that this has for us in the UK  is worth noting.In times when there is a growing sense that christians are a persecuted minority here too,far from extinguishing the life of God ,this kind of opposition actually seems to encourage it and injects it with a growth dynamic.That which the enemy means for harm ,God can turn around for the greater good.

William

Can good come out of opposition what do you think?

 

Nehemiah’s keys to achieving victory in life.

March 2, 2009

Nehemiah:Keys to achieving victory in life.

Have you ever wondered what makes the difference between a winner and a loser? Victorious people seem to share an inability to accept defeat. The alternative to winning seems to be completely unacceptable. They seem to have a capacity to work out what needs to be done and then they go after it with all of the resources at their disposal. Within these terms Nehemiah did nearly everything right in order to accomplish victory in the completion of his project.

1) Victorious people have a compelling purpose.

Nehemiah 2;15 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
Nehemiah did not just have a particular journey but also the destination in mind. He could see both the problem and the solution and yet he had never visited Jerusalem.

Victorious people see

a) Further than others can see:

Victorious leaders and people can see further. Nehemiah was able to see the problem but he was also able to picture the solution. What difficulty are you facing today, what challenge are you experiencing, God wants you to see not just the problem but its potential  solution.

b) More than others can see:

He knew that the wall could and should be re-built. He also knew what it would take to accomplish the task in terms of human and material resources.

c) Before others could see.

Many of the neighbouring people groups around Jerusalem did not want to see the wall re-built and several enemy leaders conspired to prevent the completion of the task. Nehemiah saw the danger in advance and planned a strategy accordingly. Many of the struggles described in scripture are about territory and who controls it; in this respect the Bible echoes life itself .For example the struggle around Isaac’s wells in the book of Genesis was about territory and influence. The greatest example of territory  and struggle is the area of the human heart and who influences it.

In History we have the example of Churchill .Churchill did everything in his power to win. He deployed troops in the Mediterranean against Mussolini, although he hated communism ,he allied himself with Stallin and the soviets and even sent them supplies. He developed his relationship with Roosevelt though the president was reluctant to join the war. In time his efforts paid off. When the USA entered WW.2, Churchill is reported to have said, “So we have won the war after all” One of Churchill’s most famous rallying calls is contained in the following quotation:
“What is our aim? I answer in one word Victory-victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

What do you need to do? ,What alliances need to be made? ,to accomplish the purpose that God has for you as an individual .Big doors can swing on little hinges. Sometimes your breakthrough is tied up in a relationship, or someone who can show you the favour that you need to succeed. Sometimes your destiny can be tied up with a particular person.
2.Victorious leaders/people create a sense of momentum.

Momentum means a force or speed of movement; and impetus, John Maxwell declares that momentum is the key that unlocks victory. When leaders and people lack momentum, they look worse than they are ,when they have momentum they appear to be better than they are. With enough momentum any kind of change is possible. With sufficient momentum a tipping point becomes inevitable. We need momentum in our individual lives, in our corporate lives together. If you have ever driven behind a new learner driver ,who keeps stalling the car you can see how difficult it is to build any momentum.
The way to stop a great work is to stop its leader,One way to stop him is to break his momentum.
Momentum is often easier to stop than to start.

A) Momentum breakers come from a tidal wave of negativity.

4:1 –2 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall; he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews.In the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble–burned as they are?”

As a result of this negativity, workers became discouraged .We need to recognise that our words create or destroy, discourage or inspire, heal or hurt, so choose yours carefully today! Think about it for a minute, what are your words saying about you?, do you sound like a child of God or a live-in lodger with the Osbournes? The Bible says we should be, swift to hear, slow to speak. (James 1:19 NKJ) King Solomon adds, even fools are thought to be wise when they keep silent. (Proverbs 17:28 NLT) What he means is? stupid people show the world  how vacuous they are by speaking too readily .

b)The impact of multiple voices.

12) Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” Notice here that on ten separate occasions they came with a negative report.

The impact of this was to discourage and to break the momentum in the re-building process.

c) Momentum creators include prayer and strategic planning .

He relied upon God.
We need to remember that whatever part we have to play in things the battle belongs to God. Out of prayer and connection with God, a plan was created to address the problems.

4; 12 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.
His plan was to strengthen the weak points in the wall. Sometimes momentum is the only thing between winning and losing. That’s why in football when a team is on top their opponents sometimes will try to disrupt the momentum by giving away a number of fouls to slow the game down and break the momentum. We need a strategy in order to maintain momentum.

Nehemiah’s strategy was simple:
From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armour. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah.
1) It had an offensive capacity. Half of the men continued the work.
2) The other half were engaged in defensive duties protecting the workers.

You and I need a sense of momentum in our spiritual lives. If we are not moving forward then we could be stuck in a rut. Yet progress can take time. It may take you five years to learn to stop people- pleasing, or ten years to stop feeling sorry for yourself, or twenty years to stop going back and reliving your childhood. All the while God is telling you, ‘Stop it,’ and you’re saying, ‘Yeah, I know. I’m going to do better.’ Then finally a crisis happens and the truth hits you. You need to change. At that point you say, ‘you know what? I’m going to forget those things, which are behind, and start reaching for those things, which are before. Then the momentum has a chance to build.

3) The Power to prevail.

Ch4;22
 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.

There is something about the anointing of God that enables you to not only prevail but also prosper in adversity. Joseph prospered whilst in prison. The people left Egypt with their pockets full and the chains of their captors empty. Jesus preached freedom in a prison that could not contain him.                        

6:15″ so the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days”
The real miracle in this book is the fact that the wall was completed in 52 days despite many adversaries. The tide begins to turn once the project is successful. The purpose of rebuilding the wall was not just to make the city secure again. The purpose was to change the spiritual climate.
6:17 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

If we are victorious in building the kind of lives God wants then we will transform the situations we touch around us. If we are victorious in building the kind of church God wants to build we will transform the world around us.

 

Sunday 1 March 2009

March 1, 2009

Here is the Sunday morning message from 1 March 2009.

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Topic:         “The Complaint That Becomes A Cause!”

Preacher: Senior Pastor, Wiliam Prentice