Preparing for Transformation

Photo by Erik Eastman on Unsplash

Glory to God!

As we come to the end of this year, we praise God for His faithfulness and for His continuous revelation for us to know Him, become like Him and live for Him. These past three Sundays, God has been speaking to us about rebuilding walls of spiritual protection, building an altar of atonement and preparing for transformation in 2019.

In his message entitled, "Restoring hedges of spiritual protection," Alexander showed us how to establish spiritual walls of protection against the strategies of the enemy by building spiritual hedges through prayer (Job 1:1-5,10,20), establishing core values, honouring spiritual leadership (Ezekiel 22:30; 1 Pet 5:1,2), inviting angelic protection (Ps 34:7) and keeping the unity of the Spirit.

Looking at the account of Christ's birth in Matthew 2:1-12, Richard shared a message entitled, "Three gifts," in which we noted the significance of the three treasures that the Magi presented to Jesus. Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh reflect the life of Jesus: Christ our glorious King, Christ our great High Priest and Christ the Sacrificial Lamb of God. The three treasures also signify Christ as our Altar of Atonement: the altar overlaid with gold was put in place before the Holy of Holies where incense was to be burnt continuously and an annual sacrifice was to be made to atone for the sins of God's people (see Exodus 30:1-10). We also recognised that the three gifts are significant for believers in that they symbolise what we offer God with our lives: Gold represents giving our best to God as we serve Him; Frankincense represents a life-style of prayer and God-consciousness and Myrrh represents our lives, lived as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

On Sunday, after another powerful time of worship, we spent time giving thanks to God as many came forward to testify about God's faithfulness and love. Richard then shared a message entitled, "Transforming faith," in which he showed us that God is looking for a people of faith who believe in His presence, His power and His purposes (see Lk 18:8). As we looked at the truth of God's presence, power and purposes, Richard challenged us to see whether there is evidence of our faith in our lives (Jam 2:17). We believe that 2019 will be a year of transformation as we have faith in God's presence (Heb 11:6; Jam 4:8; Mt 18:20), in God's power (Eph 3:2; 6:10; Col 2:12; 1 Cor 4:20), and in God's purposes (Col 1:15-18; Is 9:6,7; Mt 6:25-34; Rom 8:28). We praise God that as we reflect God's glory (His presence, power and purposes) with our lives by faith that we will be transformed from glory to glory by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 3:18)! Hallelujah!

We pray God's richest blessings on your life and that 2019 will be a year of glorious transformation in every area of your life!

2019

07.01 - 28.01 - 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting

16.01 - Joint prayer meeting as part of the Allianz Gebetswoche at CZF

01.02 - 03.02 - Prophetic Encounter with André Bronkhorst
14.06 - 16.06 - Experiencing the Holy Spirit with Edgar Mayer

Building Walls

Photo by Greta Farnedi on Unsplash

Glory to God!

The Lord is continuing to speak to us about maturing in Christ. A couple of Sundays ago, Richard shared a message entitled, "Running the race", in which he showed us what the apostle Paul describes as a mature view of the believer's life in Christ (Phil 3:15). Looking at Philippians 3:1-16, we noted how Paul's two primary goals in life were to know Christ and to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of him. Richard pointed out how Paul sought to completely identify with his Master in every way, not relying on himself or on what he had achieved but by dying to self; imitating Christ's sacrificial life and depending entirely on Jesus in order to truly know Him. We also saw how Paul lived to fulfil God's purpose for him as he took hold of that for which Christ saved him. Comparing his development as a marathon runner with the believer's spiritual growth, Richard showed us three stages of growth in Christ, from babes in Christ, to spiritual teenagers to maturity in Jesus. Having understood that the goal of the believer's faith is salvation (1 Pet 1:9) but that the goal of the believer's good works is a heavenly reward as s/he takes hold of that for which Christ took hold of him or her, Richard encouraged us to be the best version of ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit and to press on to win the prize! (see Mt 6:1,4,6,18; 10:42; 16:27; 1 Cor 3:14; Eph 6:8; Heb 11:26 & Rev 22:12).

On Sunday, we had another powerful meeting as we worshipped and then moved into intercession as we proclaimed Christ's victory and lordship over, our lives, the Church and our city. Alexander shared a significant message entitled, "Restoring hedges of spiritual protection", in which he showed us how the enemy develops strongholds in our minds. Looing at Nehemiah 1:1-4 and particularly Ezekiel 8:1-8, Alexander pointed out how the enemy looks for "holes in the wall" of our lives, areas of weakness left unguarded in order to gain access and build a door where he can then continue to have free entrance and influence the mind of the believer. Having built a door in the believer's life, the enemy seeks to establish a seat, a place of authority from which to deceive the believer and ultimately develop a stronghold that is founded on a lie, fed by fear and that leads to idolatry. In response to Alexander's message, we took hold of our authority in Christ and asked the Holy Spirit to expose any strongholds in our thinking that we needed to destroy (see Eph 6:10-18 & 2 Cor 10:3-5). Those who had overcome any strongholds in their lives were then encouraged to pray for those who were still struggling in the area of fear, anger, sexual addiction, and finances (fear of debt and lack of trust in God's provision). It was a very powerful time of ministry and many strongholds were exposed and destroyed with the "weapons of divine power" in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah!

2019

16.01 - Joint prayer meeting as part of the Allianz Gebetswoche at CZF

01.02 - 03.02 - Prophetic Encounter with André Bronkhorst
14.06 - 16.06 - Experiencing the Holy Spirit with Edgar Mayer