God wants us to remember His faithfulness in fulfilling smaller promises so that we are encouraged to go after bigger promises with “faith and patience” (Heb 6:12). As David reflected on the faithfulness of God in delivering him from the lion and bear when shepherding his father’s sheep, he was filled with faith that God would, in the same way, deliver Goliath into his hands (1 Sam 17:36).
Ps 145 picks up on this theme of reflecting on God’s faithfulness...
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise, his greatness no one can fathom. One church planter (my addition) will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”
Notice the transition in the above passage…“they speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works”…“they will tell of the power of your awesome works and I will proclaim your great deeds.” My purpose in writing this blog post is to humbly fulfill the roll of “they” – I want to commend the works of the Lord at Church in the City to you; I want to speak of the glorious splendor of His majesty; I want to tell of the power of His awesome works. As you read of what God has done in us I trust you will fulfill the roll of “I” – firstly meditating on God’s “wonderful works” but then transitioning to “proclaim God’s great deeds” in your church and in your city. Hebrews teaches that being a people of faith, a people who go after the promises of God – a people who are sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, a people who have faith in the faithfulness of God – is something we do together; “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24)
These are the highlights of what God did in us and through us at Church in the City in 2010…
- Over 20 teams ministered into the city, nation and nations (we’re working with 3 churches in our city and with churches in 6 nations around the world)
- Sent a medical team to Haiti to assist after the disaster in that nation.
- Taking our prayer meeting on the road to other churches in the city gave birth to “Together 4 the City” a quarterly prayer and worship gathering of over 15 Chicago churches
- Hosting RT Kendall for a weekend of ministry; attended by people from more than 10 churches
- Our elder & deacon team both doubled as the church grew
- Finances increased more than 25% in the midst of a recession
- We moved location to a facility with double the seating capacity, in the heart of arguably the most culturally influential area in Chicago
- Because of the impact and success of an outreach initiative into our church’s neighborhood (Wicker Mic – an open air open mic for local artists) the city invited us to host the event 3 times through the summer of 2011
- Business deals, breakthroughs and start-ups as well as new jobs and testimonies of His favor all in response to a word of knowledge of what God wanted to do in people’s lives
- Many salvations, healings, marriages, engagements and babies born
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise, his greatness no one can fathom. One church planter (my addition) will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”
Notice the transition in the above passage…“they speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works”…“they will tell of the power of your awesome works and I will proclaim your great deeds.” My purpose in writing this blog post is to humbly fulfill the roll of “they” – I want to commend the works of the Lord at Church in the City to you; I want to speak of the glorious splendor of His majesty; I want to tell of the power of His awesome works. As you read of what God has done in us I trust you will fulfill the roll of “I” – firstly meditating on God’s “wonderful works” but then transitioning to “proclaim God’s great deeds” in your church and in your city. Hebrews teaches that being a people of faith, a people who go after the promises of God – a people who are sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, a people who have faith in the faithfulness of God – is something we do together; “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24)
These are the highlights of what God did in us and through us at Church in the City in 2010…
- Over 20 teams ministered into the city, nation and nations (we’re working with 3 churches in our city and with churches in 6 nations around the world)
- Sent a medical team to Haiti to assist after the disaster in that nation.
- Taking our prayer meeting on the road to other churches in the city gave birth to “Together 4 the City” a quarterly prayer and worship gathering of over 15 Chicago churches
- Hosting RT Kendall for a weekend of ministry; attended by people from more than 10 churches
- Our elder & deacon team both doubled as the church grew
- Finances increased more than 25% in the midst of a recession
- We moved location to a facility with double the seating capacity, in the heart of arguably the most culturally influential area in Chicago
- Because of the impact and success of an outreach initiative into our church’s neighborhood (Wicker Mic – an open air open mic for local artists) the city invited us to host the event 3 times through the summer of 2011
- Business deals, breakthroughs and start-ups as well as new jobs and testimonies of His favor all in response to a word of knowledge of what God wanted to do in people’s lives
- Many salvations, healings, marriages, engagements and babies born
I am continually reminded that God can move upon a city through the availability, faithfulness and obedience of just one flawed man - that was Jonah’s testimony. May our families and churches be that “man” whom God can use in our cities and nations.
good stuff! awesome to look back on God's faithfulness!
ReplyDelete