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Listen to our new Liberty Church Podcast! Liberty Church Newsletter and Notes Oct 5th 2008 Prayer Requests Please pray for John who is in hospital. Alvamar; Please continue to pray for her. ‘Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it. ‘Max Lucado. Please fill in the online LGBT Alcohol Survey co ordinated by Brian. www.gaspuk.net Funding for LGBT alcohol services will be influenced by the results of this survey. Free Debt Advice and Support Problems with Credit Cards, Personal Loans, Bank Loans, Overdrafts Liberty Church Can Help Tel/txt 07 9555 9777 1 Working with professional debt advisors. Gene Robinson's interesting interview on 'the Beeb' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7504003.stm Launch of Blackpool Council’s new Hate Crime Reporting System With Interactive Workshop at St John’s Community Centre, Tuesday 16th September 2008 2pm to 5 pm Extract from preaching Sept 28h 2008 Man knows more than he understands Habakkuk 2: 1-4 1 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. 2 Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. 4 "See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous will live by faith
Romans 1:16-17 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Habakkuk was an Old Testament prophet and he spoke what God told him to say ‘The righteous(those in right relationship to God) will live by faith.’ Martin Luther was a German monk in the 1500’s and he discovered the truth of the statement "The righteous will live by faith." and because of it started to reform the church in Europe. Jim Parker, a French Viking from Blackburn discovered the truth of that statement , ‘The righteous will live by faith’ in 1990. In Galatians chapter 3 verso 1 Paul says to the Galatians Christians ‘ You set of prats!. You are now keeping rules to get your spiritual goals but you didn’t start like that, you got your faith simply by hearing….!!’ (paraphrase) Paul followed his own advice and in Galatians 2:20 wrote ‘ ……I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’ Luther wrote about his life ‘in the body: “My life seems to be a mere animal life ‘in the body’, but this is not my true life; it is but the mask of life under which lives another, namely, Christ, who is my true life” What Paul, Luther and Jim had discovered was union and communion with Jesus as inspired according to John 17:21-23 making us one in Him. 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; In Hebrews 11:2 it says ‘by faith we understand’. On the road to Emmaus, when Jesus met two of his followers after his resurrection, He opened their minds so that they suddenly understood scriptures they had known all their lives. In the story of the Garden of Eden there was the tree of knowledge of good and evil’ and the ‘tree of life’. God said don’t eat from that tree of knowledge of good and evil, eat from all the other trees, including the tree of life. It was by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that Adam and Eve lost their innocence and their close relationship with God. They gained knowledge but they did not gain wisdom. They were able to judge things with their head, but not with their hearts. Earlier in my Christian life I was very good at judging according to knowledge. I had my Bible which I used as a rule book to judge myself and others. I ended up condemning myself and others according to my knowledge. The serpent in the garden said eat from the tree that gives knowledge and you will become a judge like God. I had found myself inadvertently living according to what the serpent said instead of what God said. ‘Don’t eat’, and what he wanted is reliance upon His guidance through life by His Spirit who dwells within you. I discovered that eating from the tree of life, trusting in the life of Jesus, living by faith in Him, the judging fell away – it simply wasn’t in me any more. Instead of judging I was more able to love because I understood. In that I found release and freedom. Prayer for LibertyChurch: Lord give us the understanding that comes by revelation straight from you. Understanding and a deep knowing of you and your love for us. Understanding that is pure and holy that brings us your love and peace. Bring us into a place of rest from endless trying and failing . Give us the faith to rely totally on you and the grace you freely give.
Extract from Sarah’s testimony Sept 21st 2008
Sarah said that as a child, in her heart she was looking for God. She attended an Anglican church and remembers frequently confessing her ‘sins’ because that is what she was taught to do. Sarah didn’t know what ‘sins’ were, only that saying sorry repeatedly was required. Discovering her sexuality at the age the age of 13, and coming out was a very painful, lonely process involving self rejection and a belief others would reject her. She could not understand why a God would have created her to suffer in this way. She concluded that as she had been to church a lot and not found God then he could not exist. She now saw herself as an atheist. Homophobia in school caused her major stress and unhappiness. She then made contact with the LGBT young people’s group run by Hayley and for the first time found support from people who understood her sexuality. She became active in that group. As she understood herself more, she was able to support others and she eventually chaired the group and represented them to different official bodies. Hayley was keen for the young people’s group to be aware of all the LGBT groups locally so suggested that they visit all local groups including Liberty Church. Sarah couldn’t understand why Hayley wanted to visit Liberty but came along anyway. The evening of the visit Hayley and two young people, including Sarah, came and had a meal at the mid week meeting. After the meal different people around the table spoke about their relationship with God and what Liberty Church meant to them and answered questions that came up. Sarah had never heard people speak openly about how they related to God before. She felt God was saying to her ‘This is it’ and she knew this was what she had been searching for. It was nearly a year after that first visit that Sarah followed up on that ‘inner voice’ and came to Liberty one Sunday evening. It was not as she expected a Sunday service to be. It was lively, not miserable and a bit strange to see people singing with their hands in the air. However she felt at ease, liked it and wanted to come back. A few Sundays later, during the worship, she felt she connected with God. It was like receiving a great big hug from Him and gave her an incredible sense of peace deep inside. Sarah now knows that God loves her. She senses He is with her and she talks to him in her heart. She has more peace within her and her friends have noticed that she is calmer. She concluded be saying that in the past her church had taught her to seek forgiveness and strive to be perfect. At Liberty she has found that God loves her as she is and she has come to know Him for herself.
Jim spoke following Sarah’s testimony : He adapted Paul’s letter to the new Christians in Corinth and said:
2 You, Sarah, are our (Liberty’s) letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a living covenant— not what is written in ink, but of the Spirit; for what is written in ink will kill you, but the Spirit gives life. 2Cor 3:2-6
Sarah’s experience of Liberty has the power of eternal life as she tells her testimony to others. For it is the truth from beginning to end. In reality it is the testimony of Jesus in her life. According to 1Cor 1:8 He will sustain you (Sarah) to the end, blameless and free from guilt or shame until the day of the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Extract from Brian’s testimony on Sun 29th July 08
Brian spoke about how he was impacted by God last Sunday and now knows Him and knows His love. Brian first came to Liberty Church because he was checking out LGBT groups in town to link with his alcohol outreach project. At first he thought we were weird and that people being expressive in worship were putting it on ‘because no one could be that happy’! However he kept coming back because he wanted ‘a piece of what you had’. Two weeks ago he called round to see Nina and said he wanted to pray that if Jesus was real He would come into his life. He prayed a simple prayer and went away. Last Sunday Brian was at church and during the worship he suddenly felt wrapped around in a sense of love that almost physical, like a warm, cotton wool blanket. He was overwhelmed by a feeling of safety, security and incredible happiness. The presence of God was so powerful to him that he was almost unable to stand and wanted to shout out ‘Its true! He’s real!’
He left church straight away at the end to get his train to Chorley and all evening felt overwhelmed by this love and could not get his head around it. That night he didn’t want to go to sleep in case the feeling went but when he opened his eyes in the morning it was still there. At home, for the first time in his life, he started to talk to God on his own and found himself pouring out all the pain of things that had happened in the past to Him. He experienced a relief that felt like a weight lifting off his chest and he knew that the pain had gone. He said he now walks down the street knowing that God is with Him. He has gained a ‘Buddy’ who will be there to help Him and guide him through life. He has given his life to the Lord to lead him through life and he feels incredibly happy that he knows His love in his life.
In Scripture It Explains What Has Happened To Brian.
Brian has now been born again by a work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has infused his spirit to make him aware of his connection to God and is able to relate to God. ( John 3:3)
In Galations 3:2 it says; I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Brian has received the Spirit who brings faith in God, not by trying to follow rules and regulations but by recognising what God has done in others and wanting that and then responding to what God is doing in him. He ‘heard’ God calling him with ‘spiritual’ ears. Brian’s powerful sense of God’s love, the sense of security and safety and the overwhelming happiness are some of the fruit of the Holy Spirit and are written about in Galations 5:22 which says ‘….. the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’ Brian now has the sense that God is with him as his ‘Buddy’. This is exactly what Jesus promised. Jesus said: ‘I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!’ John 5:16-18 Message. Brian knows him already. Brian wants his Buddy, the Holy Spirit, to lead him through life. We will see, in the next months and years, how God leads Him and the wonderful things He will do in Brian’s life. Extract from John’s Testimony on Sunday 15th June 08
John spoke about attending a Catholic Church as a child and being confirmed there but not actually knowing Jesus. The Catholic Church taught that being gay was wrong and John believed it and suppressed his orientation. He was even homophobic to a friend who came out to him. As he grew up and when he was 20 years old and had moved to Accrington he was more able to accept himself being gay. He found the Liberty Church website and came to be in church with other gay people. It was a big change from the church he had been used to and at first he thought it was weird! However he kept coming back as he felt drawn. The third week he came he felt he saw Jesus in people’s eyes. During worship he felt a wonderful peace inside. He felt so full of this beautiful peace he felt floaty and slightly dizzy and almost a bit drunk with it. That night at home he started to say his catholic prayers and found himself speaking in tongues and didn’t know what it was but it felt wonderful and again there was that peace. Soon after, at church Jim spoke about getting out of the boat, daring to really trust God. That night John asked Richard and Nina to pray for him. He ‘went out in the Spirit’ i.e. felt so incredibly relaxed and heavy with peace he sank to the floor and lay there bathing in this really relaxed, warm, gorgeous feeling. It was like being filled completely with peace, from the ankles, up to his knees, and up through his body. Then he felt joy bubble up inside and he started laughing and laughed and laughed and couldn’t stop. Afterwards he felt he now really knew Jesus and his tremendous love. All his life he had felt there was something missing and now at last he had found what it was. It seemed the laughing had caused him to let go of lots and lots of things that had restricted his life. He went home and had the BEST night’s sleep ever and woke up feeling free to be completely himself. He went to WH Smith’s and openly bought a copy of Gay Times. Before he had always asked someone else to get it for him and had hidden it. Now there was no guilt or embarrassment. He felt free. A few days after, at home he shouted out ‘I love you Lord’. It was the first time John had said he loved Jesus. Then, for the first time he felt able, not only to accept himself but to love himself. Soon after this John had a picture in his mind’s eye. It was of him dressed in a magnificent white robe. Nina told him it was a robe of righteousness and showed him Isaiah 61;10 that talks about these robes. John could see that Jesus was not looking at what was wrong in him but was looking at him dressed in the righteousness that Jesus himself had given him. John said: ‘I used to think if you were a priest or a ‘High Up’ you were holy. Now I know that we are ALL equal in his sight and He makes ALL who trust in Him holy and worthy to know Him.
I thought I was a Christian before but I wasn’t. Now I KNOW Jesus. He’s everything to me. He’s my King, my Friend he’s everything. He’s awesome!’
Also see Preaching Social, Bible Study/Discussion Wednesday at 7:15pm. The meeting starts with a meal at 6:30pm. All are welcome to this 'round the table' conversation. There is no charge for the meal.
Also see Teaching
Texts often used to condemn people who are Gay was the subject of our first three bible studies. We have copies of the notes made on all three studies which are available for anyone who would like them.
On Sunday the 7th of May Jim preached on Rejection. CD’s or tapes are available free of charge. Ask Jim To Contact Us email nina@libertychurchblackpool.org.uk or Tel/txt 07 9555 97771 or write to Liberty Church Blackpool, PO Box 75, Blackpool FY1 1DD |
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