Wednesday 24 October 2012

True Discipleship

Glory to God!

On Sunday we were blessed to have a break-dance group with us from Brazil. With their excellent performance they are reaching young people with the Gospel and are influencing the lives of many underprivileged people in their region. Starise brought the group to Germany to give these young people the opportunity to perform in Germany as well as provide encouragement and training for young people as part of Starise's annual Arts Festival. We praise God for the testimony of these young peope's lives as they live by faith and in true surrender to their Lord. For more information on Starise check out the following link: www.starise-event.com

The Lord is speaking to us about true discipleship and on Sunday He showed us the following:

  • All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus. Matthew 28:18
  • It is because Jesus has all authority that the believer is commissioned to go and make disciples.
  • Our obedience to the Great Commssion is dependent on the revelation we have of Christ's authority.
  • A disciple is one who lives under the authority of Christ and walks in submission to Him.
  • Submission to Christ's authority in the spirit is revealed in the believer's attitude toward God-given authority in the natural. Eph. 5:22-6:9
  • Unless the believer learns to submit to authority he cannot exercise authority.
  • God is restoring His image as supreme Authority as He restores His Kingdom order and raises godly leaders in the home, in the work place, in schools, in the government, etc. and in the Church.
  • Christ's revelation as absolute authority and His command to make disciples clashes with our post-modern culture. Rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water because of our history of corrupted authority, the Church must rise up in the reality of God's Kingdom order and walk under and in the authority of His name!
  • God's Kingdom is established as His people live in submission to Him, honouring His authority and God-given authority in their lives and teaching others to do likewise.

We praise God for His revelation to us and for establishing His authority in our lives so that we can walk in confidence as His royal subjects and as His Kingdom ambassadors!


Quote of the week:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

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Monday 1 October 2012

God is love!

Glory to God!

Yesterday our Kingdom Life leadership team gave a report about the leadership conference hosted by Kingdom Faith in Horsham, England which our team attended last week. Being in partnership with Kingdom Faith, we are part of God's work not only locally but nation-wide. The connection we have with KF is important as we have apostolic covering, are accountable to the greater Body, benefit from the anointing upon KF, and share in God's purpose for the Church to bring transformation to society and renewal to the Church. As partners we carry the same spiritual DNA that seeks to build communities of faith and love and pursues what is on God's heart for His people, Israel and the nations. You can listen to the interview we had with the KLF leadership team here: http://kingdomlife-frankfurt.com/index3.php?id=1239c.

Elizabeth Nehring, who is part of our leadership team, then shared the experience she had when she stayed with the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary in Darmstadt (http://www.kanaan.org/). As part of what God is showing us concerning essence and form, we are learning to distinguish between the two so that we live from essence rather than from form. God calls us to be uncompromising in essence and flexible in form as we live the Kingdom Life wherever we are. You can listen to Elizabeth's powerful testimony here: http://kingdomlife-frankfurt.com/index3.php?id=1239b.

The Lord then spoke to us about how He wants us to be governed by His love as we return to our First Love. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are led by the God who is love. To remain in God is to remain in love (1 John 4:16). Looking at the account of the rich ruler who came to Jesus (Mark 10:17-23), we saw how Jesus addressed the core issue or the essence - the man's heart. Although the rich ruler appeared to be righteous, his heart was divided - he loved what he owned more than he loved God. The Law and the Prophets are summed up in our responsibility to love (Matthew 22:34-40; Rom.13:8-10). Our lives reveal what is our greatest love. When believers are filled with God, they are filled with love which is evidenced by their lives (see Acts 2:42-47).

We are looking forward to our first ever church retreat this weekend at Rot am See from Friday to Sunday. It will be an awesome time to encounter God and one another and to put love into action. There will therefore be no church service on Sunday afternoon at CZF.

Quote of the week

"God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16

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