Archives for September 2018

‘Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind’ (Psalm 107: 19-21).

Next month we will be having what I refer to as “healing/miracle month”, for that will be the theme of our prayer and preaching. Last week we had wonderful ministry by evangelist Barry Raeburn, and we have had others like evangelist Joseph Lee, etc., who have stirred our faith. In November we will be having Kaylene Subritzky ministering with us, so that is something to look forward to.

Each week we give an opportunity for people to receive prayer, yet there is an important aspect that comes through preaching and proclaiming the message that God sends forth His word and heals people. We are seeking God for healing through prayer, but also through the preaching of God’s word. As we preach about God’s power expect to see amazing things.

The Bible says: ‘Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops’  (James 5:16-18).

Elijah was just a normal person like us, yet he prayed. His prayer touched God and he got results. He walked in miracle power. Please seek the Lord with specific prayer over the next month for His power and presence to be manifested among us in a wonderful way.

We are praying for Ranui revival, and a part of that revival will include salvation, healing, deliverance, and the baptism with the Holy Spirit. All of these blessings come through Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. Let’s continue to reach out to God for the glory of Christ to be seen among us in a greater way. Jesus is our King and He is the one we serve for His kingdom to come. Jesus is worthy of praise.

‘Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).

God bless you as you live for Jesus and walk in His presence, Pastor Matthew.

We are blessed to have Evangelist Barry Raeburn and his wife Richelle ministering with us for both the morning and evening services.

 

Barry came to Christ in 1989 in Hamilton, New Zealand. His conversion experience was a radical road to Damascus experience, transforming him from an avowed agnostic to a fervent follower of Christ. Barry has worked in Corporate New Zealand and United Kingdom. He is a qualified accountant and has worked in several Accounting practices in New Zealand as a business services and tax consultant. He has worked in London in the Investment Banking Sector.

Barry completed his professional ministry training, the Master of Divinity degree, at Oral Roberts University in May 2006. Barry then launched a global Gospel Festival ministry, the Barry Raeburn Evangelistic Association. His ministry conducts Gospel Festivals in towns and cities, mobilizes churches and promotes the event through secular and Christian media. The Festivals not only bring people to Christ but they have an uplifting and rejuvenating effect on the Pastors in the city. Many Pastors report increased numbers, greater enthusiasm for the gospel and a greater unity amongst the local churches. The ministry has been privileged to travel to many nations including India, Bolivia, Spain, El Salvador, Brazil, Ethiopia, Fiji and the Philippines conducting Gospel events.

Barry has a heart for revival and has ministered at Church services and Conferences in the United States, England, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and New Zealand. His ministry has seen the effects of revival producing lasting and ongoing change in the hearts and lives of people ministered to. Some services God has moved so powerfully and in such a dynamic fashion, the meetings have been extended for as long as six months. The Barry Raeburn Evangelistic Association has ministered in 26 countries and seen 20,266 decisions for Christ.

‘King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and
silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.
Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale, and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were
knocking.
The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. So King Belshazzar became even more terrified, and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled’ (Daniel 5:1-9).

There are five sins that I want to highlight from the life of Belshazzar, which are very common today. Is the writing on the wall for our generation?
1) Self-indulgence (verses 1-2)
2) Sexual Immorality (verses 2-3)
3) Idolatry (verse 4)
4) Witchcraft (verse 7)
5) Opposing God (verse 23)

“But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which
cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honour the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin
“Here is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:22-28).

Praise Jesus for His mercy and grace to turn people from darkness to light so that they can be saved.
Pastor Matthew

‘So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”
Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief’ (Hebrews 3:7-19).

1) Why did Israel go astray?
2) What is hardness of heart?
3) Warning signs that people are hardening their hearts today.
4) People cannot be saved unless they soften their hearts and believe the gospel.

I hope that your heart will be melted before God so that you can walk more intimately with Him.

‘Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened’ (Mark 6:51-52).
‘Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?” (Mark 8:17-18).

‘So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed’ (Ephesians 4:17-19).

God bless you as you listen for God’s voice with a soft heart, Pastor Matthew.

As families around the country celebrate Father’s Day, let’s reflect on the awesome perfection of our loving God, our Heavenly Father. He revealed Himself to the people of Israel in this way, and it was on that basis the prophets often pleaded with the Israelites to repent of their backsliding.

‘Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?’ (Deuteronomy 32:6). God is our Father
because He created us; He formed us and made us within our mother’s womb.

In Isaiah 63:16 the prophet Isaiah pleads with God to remember His people because “You are our Father.” He does this again: ‘Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay; you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people’ (Isaiah 64:8-9).

‘I myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord’ (Jeremiah 3:19-20). Here we see the Father heart of God in wanting a people who would be His faithful children. He thought we would love Him and call Him our Father.

When God draws His backslidden people back to Himself, ‘They will come with
weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble because I am Israel’s
father,   and Ephraim is my firstborn son’ (Jeremiah 31:9).

‘A son honours his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honour due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord
Almighty’ (Malachi 1:6). ‘Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?’ (Malachi 2:10).

We should be faithful in our walk with God because we have the special relationship, knowing that He is our Father. We are His children. He created us for a purpose, so let’s be the people who most love God. ‘This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in
heaven, hallowed be your name,’ (Matthew 6:9).

God bless you as you exalt and worship God as your Heavenly Father, Pastor Matthew.