Ephesians 3:10 -12 and 16 – 21 NIVUK
So that through the church the
manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in
the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has
realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with
confidence through our faith in him…………… 16 that according to the riches of his
glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your
inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may
have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length
and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses
knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him
who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according
to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ
Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen
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grew up
in the South Wales Valleys, were the common themes for many were Chapel, Rugby
and the Colliery, the threads that would often hold those communities together
would be those mentioned above, the hymns of the Chapel such as Guide me, O
Though Great Jehovah would be sung with at least equal gusto on a Saturday
Afternoon watching the Rugby.
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n many ways, our lives would have been
influenced and affected by the strong religious traditions of something best
described as chapel culture, when we spoke of the church, we would often have
of thought of the Anglican Church with their vicars etc., to many people from a
chapel background the church was a strange place that could be described it’s
church, but not as we know it!.
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he traditions of Chapel Culture would be at
least influenced by protecting and promoting Welsh Language and Culture, and to
distinguish it against the English Language and Culture. I would say that in
the Village where the Church I was raised in, half the Chapels would speak
Welsh in all their services. I love Wales, its Language, Culture and its People
but there aren’t The Lord who died for my sins and the sins of the entire
World, and rose again in Victory and is coming back for us when He comes to
reign and rule and establish His Kingdom in its full splendour and glory.
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e have made idols of so many things in the
Church, whether that be our traditions, heritage and our national or cultural
identities, our churches have become monuments to past moves of God, or to the
men who God raised up to move his Church forward. The Church has become known to what we’re
against rather than what we for, we fight battles and wars with society rather
than supporting and encouraging society, yes there are anti-Christian
influences and challenges facing us today, with the prospect of Gay Marriage
and the attempts of our politicians to force change in the legal definition of
marriage.
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hen people think of Church they think of a
dying religion and something that is part of the establishment. We should stand
against the enemy, the devil but our weapons aren’t the weapons or the
strategies of the world, see 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 .We try to convict the people
we meet whose lives aren’t in accordance with scripture of their sin but we
aren’t the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin and shows them God’s
righteousness see John 16:-8-11 instead we’ve alienated those He sent us to
show His Love and Compassion to.
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hen Jesus walked the streets of the lands of
Bible Times, he wasn’t part of the
establishment, whether than was the political or the religious establishment,
Jesus is God’s ultimate revolutionary, he isn’t some kind of Jewish Che
Guevara, he was and is the Son of God, who came as baby, lived a normal life, then for the last
3 years of his life, bought God’s message of transformation, hope, redemption,
salvation, deliverance and peace to those he meet regardless of their sexuality,
disability, cultural or ethnic background, he raised up normal men and
women, that were often the lowest and sometimes the most despised people in
society, like his ancestor King David, who’s mighty men came from those in
debt, distress or the discontented, see 2 Samuel 22:3, he died an agonising
death on the cross, of all the tens of thousands than were crucified by the
Roman and other empires, only one death made a difference, Jesus took the
entire sin of the entire world from that day until he day He returns, and died
as the sacrifice for not only the sins of the church, but the sins of those yet
to know Him. He arose Victorious from the tomb, and entered Heaven after
preparing His early disciples and sending the Holy Spirit see John 20 so that
His Church may go forward and see people saved, lives transformed, hope
restored and renewed and salvation bought to the ends of the earth.
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oday, we the Church like David’s Mighty Men and
the early Disciples are God’s Mighty Men and Women of Faith, who have been
tasked by our Saviour and Lord to advance His Kingdom and His Church into our
streets, neighbourhoods, communities, regions, nations and the nations of the
world.
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hen God commissioned the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah
6:8 see here for context. Isaiah 6:8-9 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord
saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I!
Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
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hroughout the History of the Church, God has
called and commissioned Ordinary People just like You and Me, he’s not called the seemingly best equipped
or seemingly the most talented or indeed the best gifted, when God sent the
Prophet Samuel to anoint Israel’s next King he sent him to the home of Jesse in
Bethlehem, and when he looked at Jesse’s Sons he saw some great and talented
warriors but they weren’t God’s choice see
1 Samuel 16:5-13, God is calling the Ordinary People to rise up for Him
see 1 Corinthians 26-29 but let us not be like the Prophet Jonah, who when God
called him to Nineveh went in the opposite direction!
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oday God is calling again Whom shall I send, and who will go for us,
will we say Here am I send Me, and will we be ready to Go to those who sends us
and where He sends us ?
Yours in His Grace
Blair Humphreys
Southport, Merseyside
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