Bearing in mind Pioneer’s national partnership with the Methodists and our call to support it, this is a significant event! I visited them one Sunday and met their small congregation. Interestingly, my personal meditation on scripture that day was the same as theirs used in the service. It was the parable of the mustard seed and I felt the Spirit say not to look down on the smallness of that church but to expect it to grow and bless its community. It’s so important to know God is with us in every aspect of our lives, so please be watchful for these kinds of signs. More recently a few of us prayer-walked the area around the church with their leaders. It’s early days but we are seeking wisdom from the Lord to know how we might help them. If you are interested in helping us strengthen them, please contact me.
The Pastures Church in High Wycombe has joined Pioneer and is linking through River. The person who leads this church of about 80-100 folk is a chap called Trevor Lewis, a man of great faith and vision. They run an excellent range of children’s and youth clubs every Friday afternoon/evening and are looking to make their church the heart of their community. They are also currently looking to redevelop their site and build a café and conference facility that could seat up to 300 people. Trevor is keen to work closely with us and will be attending some of our Open Team meetings on Tuesday mornings at the Windsor Hall. Come along if you’d like to meet him.
Ignite starts this week and this year we are running two courses: a day time one 9am-5pm Mondays and an evening one 7-10pm Wednesdays. The aim is to help the students grow in their faith to bring heaven’s blessings to earth and so help them lead in their workplaces and communities. I’m so Receiving Our Inheritance pleased that this year we have been able to make the fantastic teaching and discipleship culture of Ignite available to those who have full time careers. We already have a good number signed up to both courses, including three from St Peters in Maidenhead making them the first church to partner with us locally in this exciting venture! The Spirit is clearly encouraging this work and it is growing; last year we were one of three centres across Pioneer running Ignite, this year there will be seven! Please pray for the teachers and students as I feel this is one of the ways the Lord is preparing His church for a revival in our land.
These are some of the firstfruits of River stepping into our calling and inheritance to be a network to serve churches in our region and to bless our nation. It’s not about building an empire but responding in obedience to what we believe the Lord has spoken to us.
This summer I have been inspired to dream bigger dreams because of the great inheritance we have in Christ. Reading Augustus (a novel by John Williams about the first Roman Emperor), I understood what adoption meant in the Apostle Paul’s day. To us, adoption is about belonging to a family, but to the Romans it was about inheritance. This was clear to all because the emperors of Rome were adopted into their roles! Tiberius was Augustus’ stepson and hence a part of his family for many years before he was adopted as his heir signifying he was to be the next emperor. The title, wealth and favour of the emperor went to his adopted son.
Most of us don’t really believe our lives are significant, and consequently we don’t dream big enough dreams. Knowing we are His adopted sons (Romans 8:15-17), receiving His name, His wealth and His favour changes what we expect and, therefore, the way we live.
Maybe we can change the world!
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