The Vicar writes...

Dear All,

Andrew Moreland in his sermon at Christ church mentioned TD Jakes’s point about how to count to 100. He said all you have to know is how to count one to 9. And know how to get to the next level (10) and then all you do is do the same again (1-9) until you get to the next level (20) and so on. Andrew was not giving us a lesson in arithmetic but making an important point about levels in our Christian walk.

A new level is marked by change, new opportunities and challenges, and new choices which determine our character and our destiny (in the sense we can choose to run into or away from His will). The comfort is that we need to keep on doing what we have always been doing. The basics of our walk with God should not change. We should continue to pray, go to church, seek to be in agreement with the fellowship, read our bible and be genuine and humble, but we need to increase these things to match the new level, for satan will try to exploit whatever weakness he can, for any new level directly affects his schemes and strategies.

When I was on the committee for the Yorkshire Prayer conference , the chairman Frank Mwikwo, said to us all that we needed to pray more than we had done before because we were operating at a different level (not town but county) and without increasing our prayer to match our call, satan might be able to attack our spouses, children, families, or churches .. We have over the years, experienced moving from one level to another (evangelical to charismatic; charismatic to Wimber; Wimber to Toronto, community projects on site to town to key Centre, from parish church to network etc). In life there is no stay, and a living church will have this experience often. However many times it happens, there is a part of us that wants to stay at the old level, and there is the even more difficult part of us which felt the need for change, was discontent with the old level, but cannot see the new level as being the answer.

All of us will know some of this, and my hope every time it happens is that we all recognise (eventually) that this is the Lord who is doing this and will agree together to the extent that we are active and fully participating at that level which enables the full manifestation of God’s glory at that level to be seen.

May God continue to lead us on as we move in compassion for the lost, the young, the weak, the victim, the poor and the alone.

Jonathan

P.S.
We wish Andrew Moreland well as he leaves West Hill to train at St John’s Nottingham for
ordination. I would like to thank Andrew on behalf of the network pastors and West Hill for all he has done in the network. We will be praying for him and Liz in this time of transition