Sozo church central

Dear Oaks,

YOU are personally invited.  For those of you who receive this in Canada, New Zealand and who knows where you are excused!

Sozo = saved, healed and delivered.

Tuesday evening is our monthly CHURCH CENTRAL which this month is being held at Acton Green Church, Cunnington Street, W4.  We shall start to look at some of the Sozo training course which has come out of Bethel Church in Redding, USA.

At times in church history there has been an obsession with getting people saved.  To put it bluntly “you must know Jesus before you die or you will be lost in Hell for eternity”.  In more recent times, and I realise I am generalising to an enormous extent, the church has rightly declared that salvation is about more than getting people “saved”.  It is about the kind of life the Christian lives on earth not just the reality of Heaven once they die.  I think it was Christian Aid that declared at one time that they believed “in life before death”.

The Greek word used for salvation is sozo which encompasses both understandings above and more.  It means to be saved, healed and delivered.  It includes this life and the next because in reality there is no such divide.  Once a person comes to Christ they are delivered at that point from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light and eternal life has already begun!  Physical death is just something you go through en route!

The training is something which I hope will stretch those who have previously done prayer ministry training.  It will also serve to get some of you started.  If you are new to the idea of praying for others in the manner we often do on a Sunday, then this course will really help get you going.

MY VISION FOR A SOZO TEAM INCLUDES YOU.  That is those on the present ministry team and those not yet!

It will take more than one Church Central to cover the training indeed several will be required.  But I want us to add to our present prayer ministry both in terms of personnel and the tools required to more effectively get people saved, healed and delivered.

But my vision is to have a team that can further expand Oak Trees ministry to other churches and beyond.  I believe we have great opportunities to do this. My role as leader of the international networks for New Wine (see www.new-wine.org) means that I have the great privilege of facilitating and speaking at conferences all over the world as well as close to home.  I would love to take YOU with me.

Until now I have randomly invited a few Oaks to join me from time to time.  But I want to raise the bar. I want a team to form that is passionately obsessed with being like Jesus Christ and doing His ministry (see John 14:12).  This will require standards of discipleship that include matters of character as well as a commitment to the supernatural ministry of Jesus.

If you want to know more come on Tuesday evening. If you really cannot but with more notice you would have liked to, then let me know.

I hope to see you at the meeting where more of my thinking will be outlined.  8pm, Acton Green Church, Cunnington Street, W4

Blessings,

Mark

Answers to prayer?

Dear Oaks,

What answers to prayer did we have last week?

Well judging by the many testimonies this past Sunday they were numerous and diverse in nature.  Here is some of the fruit as I have received it from others and in my own experience:

-The twelve year old nephew of one Oak family fell about 5 metres from a balcony on to his head.  Despite the initial fears he is now fully recovered.

- The new born baby of another family was thought to have an infection but hospitals tests all came back negative.

-The sister of another Oak was prayed for during 24-7 because Doctors could not get any heart beat from the 8 week old foetus she is carrying.  All looked extremely bleak but today we have heard that all is well!

Are they answers to prayer or just coincidence?  Nobody knows but as Archbishop William Taylor said many years ago “all I know is that when I pray coincidences happen and when I don’t they don’t”.

Others testified to depression lifting; the presence of God weighing on them; the joy of prayer and to hearing His voice.  Personally I delighted and marvelled at the enormous creativity that so many demonstrated.

One Oak struggling to enjoy her work situation and feeling “taken advantage of” to her surprise was offered a 25% pay rise!  How can I get that anointing?

Prayer was offered up for new accommodation for a man known to Oak Tree who had remarked that he wanted to live closer to Acton. He has been found somewhere nearer.

Other answers include the provision of work; new Christian friends, new creative opportunities at work and much more.

I know that one of the obvious responses might be to ask about the prayers that have NOT been answered yet.  Certainly that is a valid point but for now let us celebrate what God has done and is doing.  The whole subject of prayer raises as many questions as it does answers but what is not in doubt is that prayer is vital to a healthy Christian discipleship.  Jesus prayed often and the Apostle Paul even taught we need to “pray without ceasing”.

So do let me know more of your testimonies regarding the power of prayer, and do go on learning and encouraging others to learn how to pray more effectively.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a man just like us. 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 5:16f

You are as righteous as Elijah for you are the righteousness of God (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).   So keep praying.

In His love,

Mark

24-7 Prayer – Where will it take you?

Dear Oaks,

Well it has been a truly memorable week for all the right reasons! By the end of the week some 75 Oaks (including children) will have participated in this event. If you go down to 216 you will see that there has been an explosion of creativity. We certainly have our full share of artists, musicians, poets and writers!

How we pray is certainly less important than the fact that we live better when we do pray. The bible has very little to say about the outward form and it is far more interested in the presence of faith, clean hearts, humility and truth.

As I look at some of the outward expressions this week I see that there is praying with drums, dance, paint, pens, silence and loud cries. I have seen people stood, prostrate, sat, pacing, singing, silent and speaking in tongues (not to mention yours truly who takes the grunts of Romans 8 to an art form!).

In a few days the 24-7 event will be over. There will be testimonies of Gods goodness shared on Sunday -do please come ready to encourage others.

But the BIG ?

How are you already planning to develop your prayer life beyond this week? At least one person has already rightly asked ‘how do we keep the momentum going?’

Let me know any thoughts you have. In the mean time like the disciples of old who asked Jesus “Lord, teach us to pray like you do” Keep on learning, keep on going and He will teach the earnest seeker the way of prayer.

Blessings,

Mark

Spring 2010

Download the programme card here.

Prayer is both our deepest longing and sometimes the most discouraging aspect of our walk with God.  I am convinced that prayer should be what brings joy, peace and freedom as we commune with a Heavenly Father.  It was never meant to simply be a duty or even worse be something we associate with drudgery or guilt.

So how can we pray better?

During January and in to February we shall concentrate much of our teaching on how we can grow in deeper relationship with God as we learn to pray.  Every Christian I have ever talked to about this subject has confessed to feeling like a beginner.  We have so few living guides it would seem but we do have the bible and the Holy Spirit.

But it is not enough simply to teach on this subject.  As in most things we learn best by doing.  During the first week of February we are challenging every Oak (a member of Oak Tree) to participate in our 24-7 prayer event.

For an entire week and for 24 hours of each day we want prayer to be rising up from our church family from the prayer room in our new building on Acton High Street.  In the act of prayer we shall learn and what is more God will hear and respond.

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  2 Chronicles 7:14

If you want to learn more about the 24-7 prayer movement look at their website – 24/7 prayer.

I am convinced that nothing is impossible when it comes to what God can do through a people of prayer who follow Christ as Lord.  Lord, let your kingdom come in me, in us and in your wider world.

Mark Aldridge

Friends

Dear Oaks,

I have found myself watching episodes of the American comedy “Friends” over the past few weeks.  It has been around for years but like so many things had managed to pass me by.

I must admit to mixed feelings about it.  The sexual morality it portrays is certainly not consistent with following the way of Jesus.  That sometimes spills over in to a cruel view of others and more than a few lies and deceits along the way.  Yet in places I find it hysterically funny and there is something very attractive about the community of friends that is made up by Ross, Chandler, Joey, Monika, Rachel and Phoebe.

Here are six single (most of the time!) young adults living out their lives up close.   The theme song to the show perhaps gives us a clue to part of its great attraction.  Part of the lyric says something like “I’ll be there for you when the rain starts to pour”.

A recent study of young adults brought to light just how lonely many in our society are.  And it crosses every age group. Mother Teresa is famously quoted as saying that “the greatest pandemic in the world is that of loneliness”.

This whilst such a sad state of affairs is also potentially a great opportunity for the church.  One of the descriptions of the church is that it is the “family of God”.  We are called both in to friendship with Jesus Christ (John 15) and with each other.  This is a relationship that should always have as its default position that it is seeking to be inclusive and not exclusive.

Jesus described the kingdom of God as a wedding banquet prepared for His son.  In Matthew 22:9 Jesus says “go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find”.  Look at verse 10 and see just how inclusive it was.

Oak Tree must be a community of friends.  Friends of God first and friends of others, no matter whom, next.

So in that spirit may I invite you to come and show the friendly face of the church on the Mount on Saturday for our carol singing, market stall and live and un-rehearsed nativity play.  As I said last Sunday if all you can do is smile that would be great.

Oh and then invite someone from work or home or market place to come and be with us for the carol service on Sunday afternoon.

Let us build a community of true friendship so that we are there for each other when the rain starts to pour or when the sun shines or the snow falls!

Every blessing,

Mark

Breaking News This Eve

Dear Oaks,

Just a reminder:

BREAKING NEWS COURSE, this evening at the Kings Head. Starts at 8pm. It will help you to share Christ through the telling of YOUR STORY.

Even if you have missed the earlier sessions it would still be great to see you!

Blessings,

Mark

216 Update

Dear Oaks,

Just in case you missed the update in yesterday’s service on our new building, here it is in brief.

1 The planning permission was submitted to Ealing Council about 4 weeks ago. It normally takes between 8-12 weeks in total. So another 4- 8 weeks to go. An informal discussion with the planners has already had a favourable response and so we are very hopeful.

2 The costings for the project will be submitted to us within the next week. These will then be discussed next week before a meeting with Neville Simpson, who is heading up the project, on 6 November.

3 We then have the rest of November to discuss where we might need to alter the final plans/costs etc.

4 During December if all has gone well with the previous stages we shall go out to tender.

5 In the New Year, dependant on when the builders can start, work will begin. The total time for the project being about 5-6 months.

So work should begin on site within 2-3 months! Please do pray for:

-Neville Simpson

-The OTAF Project team headed up by Sarah Miller. Obviously I have input as well.

-For planning permission

-Unity and wisdom as we respond to costings etc

-The right builders and other contractors

At some point before work begins it is hoped to have some 24 hour prayer in the building. In the meantime keep praying anyway.

As I hope you can see thing are really moving forward now and once Christmas is over it will all start to move much more quickly and in front of our very eyes.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Soon we shall be able to see!

In His love,

Mark

S.H.A.P.E.

Dear Oaks,

Thank you for your prayers whilst I was away in New Zealand. I spoke at two conferences, led a three day course on kingdom theology with church leaders from across the north island (including ex Oak-Ian Hardcastle) and spoke at two other leaders days. It was very encouraging to see God powerfully on the move and to receive testimonies of His saving, healing and liberating work.

One of my reflections after completing a very full schedule was just how energised I feel despite some remnants of jet lag. It seems to me that one of the ways we discern our calling under God is by asking the question, “what energises me?”

I know all too well that all of us have to do some things that we really would rather not. The Christian life is about following a suffering servant (one image of the Messiah), but still it remains for me that when we minister within our calling we can be both exhausted and energised at the same time. On return on Tuesday I went almost immediately to the Breaking News Course at the Kings Head. I was tired after 23 hours of flying (Economy Class) but so stimulated at what it means to be part of a local Christian community seeking to reach others with the good news of the kingdom. I must admit I did hit “the wall” and have to retire early.

So, like me, you will be required to do un-glamorous and tiring work as a servant of Jesus. But what is it about the Christian life and ministry that truly energises? When is it that you feel truly alive and excited by what it means to follow Jesus? This is just one way you can discern how God wants to use you.

Your God given shape can be discovered in part by the following:

S is for spiritual gifts. How do these operate in your life?

H is for heart. What is your particular passion in serving Him?

A is for ability. What are your natural talents?

P is for personality. What best suits you as a person?

E is for experience. How has your past prepared you for serving God on the present?

In His service,

Mark

Duncan Campbell

Dear Oaks,

A man called Duncan Campbell was preaching in London when in mid sermon the Holy Spirit spoke to him telling him to go to the west coast of Scotland. Being a man of radical obedience, Campbell immediately stopped preaching, much to the bewilderment of the congregation no doubt. He left for Scotland without so much as finishing the sermon and headed off. This is no small journey in the late 1940’s!

Duncan Campbell had no further idea of why it was he was heading north or exactly what was to happen when he arrived. When he arrived he was met at the harbour by a boatman who had also been directed by the Holy Spirit to go and collect Mr Campbell and take him out to one of the nearby islands.

What was to follow is one of the most exciting and awe inspiring recent events in the life of the British church and mission in the UK.

On Sunday we shall look to both bible and testimony and discover some of the keys that open the doors to the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit.

The human agents of change were not only preachers like Duncan Campbell but also some of the most unlikely people. This is a story of hope for anyone who thinks that God could never use them.

Ordinary people who simply obey + an extraordinary God = the advance of the kingdom of God.

I look forward to sharing more of this message on Sunday.

Every blessing,

Mark

Hope

Dear Oaks,

Our theme over the next few weeks will be the hope that God alone can bring. In the bible the word “hope” means much more than wishful thinking. Rather it means that God has given a hope that will certainly become a reality.

Under the wicked regime of Idi Amin the church in Uganda went through terrible times but God as ever was ready to rescue. A great wind of the Holy Spirit blew through the nation and even the relative might of a dictator like Amin was impotent in its wake.

A leader called Kesto Kivengere relates the difference this divine wind of hope made in the lives of many people in the context of a church and community that had little knowledge of God.

“We listened in amazement.never before had we seen such glowing faces. Almost no one responded during these meetings. We were to unfamiliar with the truth and scared by exposure to it. But during the next month many things happened. Schoolboys went to the headmaster, weeping, to return stolen books and to confess breaking the rules. Lives were changed all around us. People saw visions and dreamed dreams. So many repented that pagans were afraid to walk up our hill, for fear God would lay hold of them. The fire of God spread and congregations came alive spiritually.”

I love it when I hear or see the Holy Spirit at work. He is so committed to conforming us to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8). Surely it is this which is the real hope for humanity. Regulation can try by coercion and the fear of punishment to limit the damage of lawlessness, but what is really needed is the change of heart that only God can bring.

I hope to see you on Sunday and to tell you the amazing story of a man called Jonathan Edwards who saw his town turned upside down by the new hearts created in ordinary people.

Oh Lord let it happen in Acton. Let us as the local church be the hope of God to our community. Amen.

Mark

Don’t forget the Breaking News course starts next Tuesday at 8pm in the upper room of the Kings Head pub on Acton High Street!

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