Encountering God

Glory to God!

During these significant 180 days of prayer for a 180° reversal, God is showing us how He brings about transformation in our lives, the Church and our cities. In these past 3 weeks, the Lord has been speaking to us through Richard's daily devotionals and the sermons on Sunday about His presence, holiness and worship.

In his message entitled, "Broken for empowerment", Alexander spoke to us about how God brings about character transformation as we encounter Him in His holiness. Looking at the account of Jacob's encounter with the Lord in Genesis 32:22-32, we saw how God had to break Jacob's dependency on himself so that he would learn to lean upon God. Consequently, Jacob received a new name that would usher him into God's destiny for his life. Similarly God calls believers into their destiny as they take hold of their new identity in Christ and leave the old behind.

Two weeks ago we looked at the account of how the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and how it was restored to Israel (see 1 Samuel 4:1 - 7:2 & 1 Chronicles 13 - 15). In his message entitled, "Hosting God's presence", Richard pointed out the holiness of God's presence and our need to learn to revere God's presence, host God's presence and guard God's presence. Just as David prepared a tent for God's presence, so God calls the Church to be prepared to host His presence in the fear of the Lord so that He is glorified in true worship and so that His people can walk in the fullness of His blessing.

On Sunday we had another powerful meeting as the Lord took us from worshipping Him into Christ's victory. Consequently, the Lord ministered His victory to many who came forward for prayer to receive breakthrough in various areas of their lives. Richard then shared a message in which he asked, "Are you amazed?" Looking at the account in Mark 6:1-6 of how Jesus went to His hometown and how the people were amazed at first but as they viewed Jesus in the natural they no longer believed, Richard showed us how Christians can lose their amazement of Christ and of one another! We noted how the people lost their amazement of Christ as they stopped seeing Jesus as God sees Him, as they became over-familiar with Him, as they no longer honoured Him and as they took offense at him. Consequently they moved from amazement to unbelief! In order to guard our amazement of Jesus and one another, Richard encouraged us to see others how God sees them, to be thankful, to be merciful, to focus on the good and to honour God and one another. As the Church develops a culture of honour and resists the spirit of over-familiarity, God's anointing can flow through God's people and Jesus can do many miracles! Halleluja!

Upcoming events

Tuesdays from 19:00 - 21:00: Bible Study at Alt-Hausen 34

26.10 at 10:30: Paint and Worship at Alt-Hausen 34

30.10 at 19:30: KLF Prayer at Alt-Hausen 34

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

A call to worship

Glory to God!

For the past two weeks, the Lord has been speaking to us about worship. In both his messages entitled, God loves you, God knows you, God made you and Reclaiming God's presence, Alexander spoke to us about the Father's search for true worshippers. Looking at the account of Abraham and Isaac on the mountain in the region of Moriah (Genesis 22:1-14), we noted how Abraham was a true worshipper in that he waited on the Lord and was available to Him; he obeyed the Lord as an act of worship; he trusted in his relationship to his covenant God; the Lamb was at the centre and God's voice was more present to Abraham than his immediate circumstances.

Continuing the theme of worship, Alexander spoke to us on Sunday about honouring God's presence, not only on a Sunday but in our everyday lives. Looking at 1 Chronicles 13:3-14 we noted the importance of not being familiar with God's presence but being careful to honour His presence with reverence and fear. The account of reclaiming the Ark of God is a vivid message to the Church to reclaim and honour God's presence; to not try to "carry" the presence of God with man-made structures; to take up our responsibility as priests to host God's presence in unity; to keep in step with the Spirit and to prepare a habitation for God's abiding presence in our lives.

The Lord is calling His people to radical worship that requires a response to God's presence with our entire lives. We praise God that He has done everything for us to be reconciled to Him so that we can be the worshippers He seeks and the habitation of His presence. Hallelujah!

Upcoming Meetings
 
Tuesday from 19:00 - 21:00: Discipleship Group - Leipziger Str.60 (L60)
Last Wednesday of every month from 19:30 - 21:00: Worship and Prayer Evening  at L60
Friday from 7:00 - 8:00: Men's Prayer Breakfast at L60

Friday from 19:30: Ladies Night at L60 
Saturday 04.03, 03.06, 02.09, 02.12: Welcome Coffee at L60
05-07.05.2017: KLF's 10th Anniversary Celebration at Eastsite 15

In His Presence

Glory to God!

We are continuing to learn what it means to fear the Lord and yesterday God spoke to us about revering His presence. This is what He showed us:

• The one thing that distinguishes God's people from the people of the world is God's presence in and with His people. Exodus 33:12-17; 2 Cor. 6:16-7:1
• To live in the awareness of God's presence and in response to Him is to fellowship with God. 1 John 1:3; 2:24,25,27; 3:6
• As King David sought to bring back the Ark of God so the Church must seek the presence of God. 2 Sam. 6:1,2
• As the Ark was carried on a "new cart," so the Church, which is created new in Christ, is the habitation of God. 2 Sam. 6:3,4; Eph. 2:22
• As David and the people of Israel celebrated before the Lord, so the Church can rejoice in the presence of God. 2 Sam.6:5; Psalm 16:11
• God's presence must be honoured and never treated as common! 2 Sam. 6:6,7
• The Church must not confuse avoiding being "religious" with irreverence! 2 Tim. 3:2
• The Church must honour what God considers holy. 2 Sam. 6:9
• In God's presence there is blessing. 2 Sam. 6:10-12
• God wants the Church to revere His presence no matter what the cost. 2 Sam. 6:13-15
• Religious people are more concerned with appearances than responding to God's presence. 2 Sam. 6:16
• Just as David prepared a tent for the presence of God, so the believer must prepare his tent to be the habitation of God's presence. 2 Sam. 6:17; 1 Cor. 3:16,17
• The believer's response to the presence of God will be generosity! 2 Sam. 6:18,19
• When the presence of God is the believer's priority, he will "dance before the audience of One." 2 Sam. 6:21,22
• The believer must remain in God's presence and revere His presence to be fruitful. 2 Sam. 6:23; John 15:4

As a church, we are pursuing the presence of God and seeking to live continuously in His presence. Consequently we are learning to live in the fear the Lord as we rely on, respond to, and revere His presence.

In the evening we had another special opportunity to minister God's presence to the poor and needy in Frankfurt at our monthly soup kitchen. Glory to God!

Quote of the week:

"God wills that we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there."
A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

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