Brampton - Heal Our Land

It was wonderful to meet with Jim and Sean again after a bit of a break. This time we met at Sean's which worked out really well.

Jim told us about The Awakening, a period of 21 days during which the plan is to read John's Gospel and spend time in prayer. He also mentioned that Rob McFarlane of River Church is posting his thoughts on John daily.

I talked again about Church of Two (CO2) and we gave it a try there and then, maybe we'll do this on Thursdays for a while and see whether it's useful in this form. I enjoyed our first trial and imagine it will help us grow deeper in relationship as well as helping us hear the Spirit's direction for our lives week by week.

Sean wondered what would be the next thing to hit the UK. We're currently struggling with a difficult winter, we had the recession, there seem to have been a string of problems in recent years, society is damaged or broken in so many ways. Sean senses there may be trouble ahead and that something big is coming, perhaps something oppressive and perhaps especially so for the church. I think he may be right.

Jim reminded us of the 'Heal our Land' event taking place in the UK during 2010. It's using a version of Jimmy and Carole Owens' musical 'Heal Our Land' as a way of focusing the church's attention and prayer on the current state of Britain and reaching out to those around us with the gospel message of hope and love. As he was sharing these thoughts, Jim had a picture of a flashy,, polished Mercedes. Inside were two people who appeared almost dead. They had the trappings of a good life but were withered. We need to look away from the world and look instead towards eternity.

Jim went on to remind us of Hosea's story. He fell in love with a beautiful young woman and they were married. She later left him and became a prostitute. One day, when he was in the town market, Hosea saw his wife on sale as a slave. He paid a heavy price for her and took her back home. This is how the Lord feels about his people, he was prepared to pay a heavy price to get us back. He has shown how much he cares about us.

We all went on to discuss a little more about the course of history and where we are now headed. Where is history taking us? And more importantly, where is Yahweh taking us?

We also considered Esther who was 'here for a time such as this'. She had a particular function and responsibility in the Almighty's plan. So do we. We, too, are 'here for a time such as this'. We need to fulfill that purpose as the Lord unfolds it for us.

Colworth (CU) - Our calling

Steph Whitney led the meeting today. She had prepared some material on various aspects of our personal calling. She explained that she and Ron are part of a small group that meets regularly at home, for prayer, Bible study, and to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit. Steph based today's session around a series of Bible verses and short extracts.

Hebrews 3:1, Ephesians 1:18, 2 Timothy 1:9, and 2 Thessalonians 1:11 explain that our calling is something that we need to discover. I believe this is true, and for me these verses speak powerfully about the fact that we have been called out of darkness into Jesus who is the light of the world.

We thought about the fact that we need to be faithful to the Lord, we need to be worthy and fulfill all that he has for us. Our hearts need enlightening. There are practical aspects to this as well, for example finding a framework for Bible study that is right for us.

1 Peter 2:9 shows us that it's about sharing in a group, not just an individual matter. We are part of a priesthood, we are part of a holy nation. And it's not merely up to us (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, 2 Peter 1:1-11).

ANNOUNCEMENT - Moggerhanger Meeting - 7th February 2010

Hi everyone, here's a date for your diaries - 7th February 2010 for a regional gathering at Moggerhanger near Bedford. Come and join us for fun, a shared lunch, invited speakers, and more.

We plan to meet at 13:30 for a snowdrop walk in the woodlands at Moggerhanger Park followed at 14:00 with a light but warming lunch in the old house. It will be something like jacket potatoes and a choice of fillings, more details nearer the time.

After lunch we have some invited guests who will share about events in a wider context. These will be short sessions of no more than 20 minutes each.

• Peter Farmer from Nottingham has been invited to speak about organic church networks and church planting movements in the UK.
• Someone from South-West England may be coming to tell us about church planting and growth in that region.
• I will describe our experiences with the Church of Two (CO2) concept in and around St Neots.
• We hope to hear about the work of X-treme Youth Camps in north-Bedfordshire. 

There will also be an open time for prayer, praise, and body ministry, as well as an opportunity for open discussion and a Q and A session with the invited guests.

There is no charge for attending, but to help with catering please let me know if you are coming, how many adults and children are in your party, and whether any of you have special dietary needs. There will be an opportunity to donate to the work of Moggerhanger Park if you wish to do so.

More details in mid January,

Grace, peace and joy to you all in the new year,

Chris Jefferies
chris@scilla.org.uk

124 St Neots Road
Eaton Ford
St Neots
Cambs
PE19 7AL

Eaton Ford (day) - Church of Two

Paul and I met and shared information about the people we have been praying for. We also made a first trial of Church of Two (CO2), I explained how useful Sean and I have found it, ran through a brief description of the VIRKLER and SASHET components, and then we simply made a start.

Afterwards we both felt it had been a useful exercise and we will certainly try to run through it again, daily if we can.

Church of Two (CO2)

At the House2House Conference in Dallas in September, John White demonstrated Church of Two (CO2). We all had a chance to try an aspect of it for ourselves, there and then. I was immediately convinced of the value of CO2 itself and of its constituent parts, SASHET and VIRKLER. Read more about CO2, SASHET, and VIRKLER on the CO2 Flyer.

In early December I began CO2 with a house church friend, Sean. After the first week we were clear that we very much wanted to continue, and after three weeks we both agree that our relationship with one another and our relationships with the Lord are deepening noticeably.

Because we can't meet face-to-face every day we decided to use Google Wave as our primary CO2 channel and I can tell you it works very well indeed. It's much better for this purpose than email. We create a new wave each day and we use clickable links to connect the days together, with an overall index to keep things organised. If we both happen to be online at the same time we can each see the other typing right on the screen. And when we're online at different times we can both add comments and make additions. Google Wave is a bit like email, instant messaging, and a wiki all rolled into one - but better than any of them alone.

Our experiences are similar to those reported by others commenting on 'Stories from the Revolution'. I had expected CO2 to be good, but it was trying it out for myself over a period of days that really convinced me. It's sometimes been difficult to keep going on a daily basis, but it is so worth the effort. My advice - don't give up, keep on keeping on and you will benefit.

Even if you don't have a partner for CO2, I would recommend doing the VIRKLER and SASHET exercises on your own each day. You will still see some useful benefit. But working in pairs or small groups will amplify the value greatly.

VIRKLER (particularly the hearing and journaling aspects) has deepened my awareness of the Lord's constant presence in my life.

SASHET has brought us closer to one another in mutual understanding, respect and trust.

As we pray with and for one another in the light of hearing the Lord's direction to each of us, I'm fully convinced we'll be led into church life and sharing the gospel in ways we could hardly have imagined at first.

In mid December I shared the idea of CO2 with the Christian Union at work and this is likely to lead to at least one more pair. Then this morning I did a first CO2 session with Paul, a friend from a different local gathering, and we'll try it for a week. I also expect to demonstrate CO2 to a group of friends some miles further west. And finally there's an opportunity opening up to begin sharing CO2 with a friend in the USA.

CO2 is not an end in itself. It is, however, a really useful framework for hearing from the Lord and at the same time developing broader and deeper relationships between individuals. In this way it stimulates spiritual growth and can act as both a building block for church and a platform for sharing the gospel. What a versatile tool!

Note: For a more recent update on CO2 see my article at 'All About Jesus'.

Movements - Long term success

There have been many movements in the world's long history. Political movements - philosophical, art, and literature movements - scientific and technological movements - and not least, religious movements. Almost all of these have failed after a few decades or centuries, many are forgotten, consigned at best to dusty tomes on library shelves.

Every organisation created by human ingenuity and effort has a lifespan and runs its course. Consider Communism, the idea that the Earth is flat, the Roman Empire, ancient Greek culture in what is now Turkey, the Gaulish language once spoken in Europe, the British Empire, Woolworths, or Real Tennis. All gone!

Some of these movements depended on repression, terrorism, crushing military might, or technological superiority for their spread and survival. Communism, Islam, and the Roman Empire are movements of this kind. Others have depended on ideas or beliefs that have been accepted freely, and paramount among these is the church. The first disciples followed Jesus by choice; he called them and they decided freely to follow him. And although the church sometimes depended wrongly on abuse of military or political power (as with the Crusades or the Inquisition) these were temporary and clearly contradicted Jesus' teachings about love.

Even within the church there have been monastic, doctrinal, denominational, and revival movements to mention just a few. Again, most of these have failed sooner or later. Consider some of the great Catholic and Anglican monastic orders. Most of these still exist, but as mere shadows of their former selves.

So what distinguishes successful and failed movements? It seems to me that coercion sooner or later fails, and fails absolutely. But the teachings of Jesus remain as powerful today as they were 2000 years ago. They are still seized upon eagerly by those who understand that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He was, is and will always be a success in the hearts of ordinary people because of his love and compassion. Alone among the originators of the world's religions, Jesus is an entirely attractive character who harmed no-one and called his followers to do the same. And his movement is alive and well today.

Where it has been complicated by methods and organisations it has failed again and again. But always the ideas and teachings of Jesus have moved on, leaving the methods and organisations behind and growing again in fresh pastures.

So let's be very careful to avoid any kind of worldly power, control, or system of management. And let's get right back to the roots of our faith - loving the Almighty with everything we have and everything we are, loving one another and our neighbours with the love we apply to ourselves, and yes - even loving our enemies. Those are the hallmarks of a movement that will know no failure or premature end!

Jesus alone is the one who leads us, our role is always to follow. He speaks clearly to his people, individually, day by day, guiding and encouraging. We must die to self in order to truly live. In poverty we are rich, the humble are lifted up, the powerful are brought low, it's an upside down Kingdom. But it works! And it lasts!

But all human ingenuity, system, power, and organisation will eventually fail - within the church and outside it. For only the Almighty can prevail, and he is love.