A few weeks ago, someone from AMIRI, the company building the extensions at the MBC, was commenting that up to that point all the building works have been below ground, but in the next few weeks we will see the building, quite literally ‘shoot up’.
Following this conversation, I felt God speaking to me. I felt Him say that just as the building works up to that point have been unseen, similarly, so has his work in shaping our church culture. However, just as the extensions start to go up quickly, so God is about to do something of significance in the life of the church.
On the last evening of ‘Following Jesus’ we were considering what it means to share the gospel with those around us. As a finale, we watched Sean Duggan being blindfolded and helped to walk across a bridge of linked chairs. People stood behind each chair helping him on to the next person. On reaching the other side, Sean’s blindfold was removed. I feel that this is a vivid picture of us working together with the gospel. All of us are ‘links’ in the journey of people encountering for the first time the God who loves them.
In our January Prayer Week, Marian brought a prophetic word. She saw a tidal creek when the tide was out. As the tide came in, it filled pools and seeped in to other fingers of the creek. Before you knew it, the creek was full of water. It is all too easy to miss what is happening when the tide is slowly, but surely rising.
At the moment, there are signs of a rising tide all around us, with story upon story pouring in of people connecting with us through our Marriage Course, Foundations Course, Debt Advice Centre, The Ark and more. Recently at an MBC conference, a delegate signed up for Alpha and a few weeks later came along to the course – with a friend in tow!
As Isaiah says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
When the tide is turning we need to lift up our eyes and watch what God is doing!
Much grace
Steve