Little Paxton - Chat and prayer

This evening only Jim and Chris met as others were unable to join us for a variety of reasons.

We shared our news, discussed aspects of church life, and considered the Moggerhanger meeting planned for 16th November. We also prayed for people, organisations, and events in the area. There's not much in the way of notes this week, but we both enjoyed the time together and Yahshua's presence with us. He is working his plan out as the days and weeks roll by. Praise him!

Great Doddington - Dealing with junk

Last week, we decided that we should take turns to prepare something, a Bible passage, something we'd read that has touched us or helped us see something in a new way, anything the Spirit leads us to use. Jody had made the suggestion so she also took on the first week.

She shared a section from an historical novel she's been reading ('Revelation' by CJ Sansom). Amongst other things the book describes religious fanaticism in Tudor England. Henry VIII has dissolved the monasteries, the church is in turmoil, and the moderate lawyer who features in the book realises that the truth is not well-served by rigid and often horrific rule-following. Life and truth cannot be achieved by keeping laws or traditions or regulations.

Jody also read a passage from another book, 'Inside the junk drawer'. She drew our attention to Galatians 4:8-9 and we talked about the need we all have to let go our heart's junk.

Chris thought that our life is like a journey in a boat. First the boat needs to be pushed out into water deep enough to come free of the bottom, then we can get in and begin to row out to where there is a good breeze. Finally the sail catches the wind and after that there is no need for further effort. We need to steer but the wind does the work of moving the boat until we finally arrive at our destination. So in our lives we have to make the choice to push off and row out, just like deciding to let go of our 'junk'. But once we've done that we are free to float, moved by the Spirit in the way we should go. And he'll make sure we reach our destination even if we don't know the way.

Rachael saw a maze and realised that we're not separated from him even when sometimes it feels as if we are. We see hedges all around and we don't know the way to the centre, but from his point of view he can simply reach over the hedges to where we are. They are not obstacles for him.

She also spoke about the sound of a trumpet. Our voices are proclaiming voices, praising him. All our individual voices together make one sound like the trumpet. It is the sound of raising him up, lifting him to his rightful place!

And then Jody read 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 which speaks of the yeast and how we need to get rid of it (all our junk), and how Christ himself is the Lamb and our celebration requires sincerity and truth.

Great Doddington - Travelling nowhere

Discussing the church as we experience it, we recognised that people in the world see 'church' in one of two ways. Either they see it in terms of a building, often an old and historic building, or alternatively they see 'church' as a denomination - 'The ... Church' (fill in the dots - Baptist, Catholic, Anglican, United Reformed etc). But the Bible never mentions the Church as being a building or a denomination. We felt we need to get back to what the Bible means by 'church'.

Jody described a dream, she has been experiencing the dream repeatedly recently and it always involves an aspect of travelling. Sometimes her dream takes place in an airport or a plane, sometimes in a Canadian streetcar, a boat, or some other form of transport. In the dream she is travelling nowhere in particular, and she notices the same places and the same people over and over again. It's as if the journey is taking her round and round but she gets no further forward.

We then began talking about books and the Bible in particular. We considered how we get an impression of what was in the author's mind when the book was written, but it's not possible to understand fully what the author intended. Even so, sometimes we have the sense that we have grasped it. And then we feel excited - 'Ah, now I get it!' This is true of the Bible too. How much we need to 'get' what the Lord means, what was in his heart as he authored it.

Last week, Rachael wanted to pray for the ability to remain in the world without being affected by the world.

It dawned on us that all of these ideas are connected at a fundamental level. As the Church we need to be so much more than a building or an organisation. And we don't want to just go round and round in our journey like Jody's dream. Instead we want to walk with the Lord and arrive at a destination with him. And it's the purposeful journey together that is the true church and represents Christ to the world. To travel that journey we need to understand what he means when he speaks and acts, we need to know his heart and whether we have fully 'got' the message.

Rachael became aware of a heavy darkness. And we were given the word, 'A shark is a useful thing because it makes all the little fish swim together'. There's no further interpretation to this, though clearly it might mean that when times are good we might all wander and feel independent, but danger can be a useful thing if it causes us to draw together and act in unison.

Great Doddington - the door is open

We chatted over hot drinks for some time, thinking about forgiveness and other topics. Rachael prayed that we'd become free to forgive. She also described a picture she received of an ice house, it was like a huge igloo, or an ice hotel. The Lord showed her that we might think a structure like that is very strong, but all it takes is some sunshine and it will just melt away. Father said,

'Where my Son returns, the church as you know it will melt away. The church in the world is white like ice, you can't see through it. But as it begins to melt away it will become transparent. This is already beginning to happen.'

Chris also had a word, 'The only thing that prevents the truth being visible is a failure to look.'

Jody shared the thought that perfect love removes fear. Father spoke to her too,

'Take my hand, the door is open, don't be afraid to walk through the door. You will have the tools you need, the means to go. So take my hand, and don't be afraid. The things that happen to you are merely temporal, but your life in me is an eternal blessing.

After this, Chris shared a picture of a nut bush. There were squirrels in the grass and they kept running off with fallen nuts but came back again and again for more. Father said,

'Keep coming back to me where there is more than enough to feed you. Don't stop coming back.

The meeting tonight was rich with words from the Lord. Jody shared again,

'Invite me into your day. Place me in the centre and bring your thoughts and prayers. My Spirit is like a warm breeze that will come into your heart. Become weak in me so that I can make you strong. Stop fighting against things, I have won the battle - and most importantly - I've already won the war!'

Remembering right back to the early days of these meetings, Chris mentioned that Father had told us then, 'Don't try to do anything, just be my people.'

Rachael shared a last word for this evening. 'Think of me like an umbrella my people, I am always with you and I'll always protect you - wherever you go.'

Celebration meeting at Moggerhanger Park

Come and join us to celebrate our shared life in Jesus Christ. We plan to meet at Moggerhanger Park on Sunday 16th November from 16:00. We will provide tea, coffee, and light buffet-style refreshments - probably sandwiches and cake or similar. Do feel free to bring food with you if you wish.

There is no fixed plan for the evening. We are meeting early so that families with small children will be able to come, but we will continue as late as necessary until people need to leave. If you can't join us until the evening that will be fine too. There is no formal 'meeting' time and no agenda, but we expect to have an opportunity to meet and chat with those we don't know and spend time focused on Jesus in whatever way he leads.

This invitation is going out to small groups meeting in and around Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, and Northamptonshire. It is also going out to people we know more widely who might be interested in making contacts outside their own area. We don't wish to be exclusive so if you have been invited please feel free to prayerfully invite others. If you are reading this, do consider yourself invited.

For practical reasons, however, we feel it's important to keep the numbers small enough that people can get to know everyone else present.

Please let us know by Monday 10th November if you intend to join us (contact details below). We need to know numbers for reasons of space, food, and seating and there will be a cut-off when the numbers reach the maximum we can accomodate - first come, first served so let us know quickly if you feel you should be there on the night.

Contact details - get in touch if you wish to come, if you are also replying on behalf of others please include the total number.

• Email - chris@scilla.org.uk
• Home telephone - 01480 370459
• Mobile - 07775 805783

Date and time - Sunday 16th November from 16:00.

Location - we plan to meet at Moggerhanger Park near Sandy, Bedfordshire. Their website has directions. 

The map below is centred on the Park's buildings. You can drag it with the mouse and resize it to see more, Sandy and the A1 are about two miles to the right. You can click the blue marker to get driving directions.

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Eaton Ford - waiting and calling on the Lord

Ruth told us about opportunities at her local Anglican church in Offord d'Arcy where she is helping to run an art event on the theme 'Angels'. This led us to think more deeply about reaching out to others. We tend to think in terms of doing this as individuals but biblically we need to work together. Chris mentioned that Yahshua sent the disciples out in twos. We are called to be one (John 17:20) if we are to represent Christ in the world. We are his body and he has only one body, if we don't come as members of his one body we are representatives, not of Christ, but of someone or something else.

Ruth read from Isaiah (40:31), 'Those that wait (or hope) on the Lord shall renew their strength'. Hope involves waiting, but it's an expectant waiting. We need to wait in expectation for him to move, moving in our own inadequate strength just isn't good enough.

We were also reminded again of 1 Corinthians 13:1. What is love? The answer lies in the verses that follow, but basically it is selfless and is focused unwaveringly on the other. This is true whether 'other' is Yahshua or anyone else.

Roger mentioned a friend who has leukaemia, we prayed for him and also for Roger to be able to reach him with the good news. Ruth reminded us that we must 'seek first the Kingdom, and all the things we look for will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). She prayed for the youth work next summer.

And Chris mentioned the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:33-37:14). The entire army was restored, but it was done through the restoration of each individual person. This is just like the Bride of Christ, the Church. She is being restored in our day, person by person, individual by individual. And it was achieved by Ezekiel's obedience in prophecying over the bones. He was also called to prophecy over the breath (spirit) to come and enter them. Like the soldiers in the valley we began as dry bones, we were connected with sinews, the muscles were added, we were covered with skin yet we were still not alive. The final act is for the Spirit to come into us so that we are not only complete but also alive! We need to pray for the non-believers around us in the same way Ezekiel prayed.

Great Doddington - earthquake and desert

Tonight had a sober tone initially when we prayed for Pete Shortall-Strike, aged 29, who died suddenly and shockingly last week, and for his family and friends. It is hard to make sense of the death of such a vibrant, vivacious young man who appeared to have his whole life ahead of him.

Rachael had a picture of Father sitting in an armchair having a chat with his children. He was saying that His will and our will are like two techtonic plates under a continent, and that when they move in different directions they rub up against each other, and it's not surprising therefore that the friction causes a little smoke, and an earthquake sized shift in the ground beneath our feet, or a bit of a rumble.

A prophesy was heard, that the day is coming when it will rain in the desert, the day is coming when the rivers and lakes will dry up, and the time is coming when Father and His people will stand together, they will see Him and know Him.

Prayers were said for the political leaders grappling with the complexities of the global banking crisis, that they would be guided to make the right choices and that they would inject a moral code into the system to reduce the likelihood of this happening again. We also prayed for Abigail Maynard and her parents Chris and Judy, that the Lord would intervene with Abigail's liver failure and that her parents would be strengthened and their work for the Lord glorified.

Our prayers centred around 'praying' into God's will - being so much aware how easy it is to follow our own will, and sometimes when we translate our will as His; we all felt the need to be at peace with our situations even when we don't understand what is going on around us, our families, our friends...lets face it, the world!

Little Paxton - Caring and giving

Because some of us this evening didn't know about the amazing way Father's been touching us recently, we began by outlining the two strands that we are aware of so far. Jim and Chris explained how the youth camp for next summer and the networking of small house meetings had come about.

Jim read Psalm 115:1,4-8 which had spoken to him during the week. He reminded us that we need to give the Lord all the glory and trust only him. People in our day place their trust in so many idols that have no life. We have heard so much in the news recently about financial catastrophe, money and financial institutions are things many people have trusted greatly and now they are anxious as they see the system's fragility.

John prayed for revival in our part of the country, for Open Door as they move to the Priory, for the churches they have planted out in nearby towns, for The River, and for all the other groups of believers in and around St Neots.

Ruth mentioned the people who are worried about not having enough heat this winter and may not have enough food. She explained that love expressed in care is true spirituality, and she prayed for the spiritually hungry to come to the Lord's feast which is spread out for them.

Chris reminded us that Yahshua told his disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send harvesters. The harvest is ready now, where we live, so we prayed for the Lord to send his harvesters here.

Roger told us that it's good that small groups around the area will be meeting together on 16th November. Jesus prayed that his church would be one. The smaller kinds of groups make it possible for people to relate together more closely and look after one another when there are problems or difficulties.

Jim told us that we have a living faith. When we give our money, our time, or our family to bless others it blesses the Lord too. he can really use that kind of giving, and in the process he always seems to give us so much more back as well!

Chris said that because we had thought and prayed so much this evening about all these things, it would be good to read John 15:1-17 again and it would have even more depth of meaning than usual.