Power Unleashed

Most people are usually willing to let you pray with them, they may not want to hear about Jesus, but they are thankful and glad when you pray. I’ll never forget Sharon and I being led to pray for someone on our way to Missionsfest. The mission had started long before getting to the event and ended up taking a detour at Subway. The thing that really struck me was when he said to me, ‘no one has ever prayed for me before’.

Prayer with all its breakthroughs can be one of our greatest gifts. However there is an area of prayer where we are very weak, corporate prayer.

Often our prayers are focused on circumstances, health, stress relief, job and normally we are good with praying for that as well, but Paul shows us how to take prayer to a whole new level when praying for others.

1. Healthy prayer begins with praise and thanks.

Praise should always be the parallel element to our intercession. It is thanks given in advance for the confidence that we already have in what we have yet to experience, but know full well!

For this reason...we begin in light of everything that we have received as a eulogy a blessing given on our life even before it begins – the initiative of the Father, the redemption of the Son, the promised seal of the Holy Spirit, in light of all of this and the reality of the faith and love they were expressing outwardly...Paul expresses his thankfulness for their progress in the faith.

It is not just thankfulness for crossing the line of faith, but clearly it has taken root in their lives and they have entered the story of God. The only way he knew what was going on was because the news was spreading and what I like to call ‘good gossip’ was getting back to him in prison.

2. The BIG ASK! Going for it with our prayer requests

• The Spirit of wisdom- wisdom in spiritual things – insight into the true nature of things.

• The Spirit of revelation – the communication of God to your soul, it is an uncovering, the ability to unveil. It is the spiritual powers of wisdom and vision that we receive only because of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This is where prayer can become very exciting and bring incredible confirmation into people’s lives. . However, sometimes we think we don’t know how to pray and we say things like. ‘I don’t know their circumstances’ and that is where praying and trusting the Spirit for revelation is an amazing gift that God can give.

At Southside, we encourage you to read your Bible, to get into small groups, to study the Bible, to get into the Word so that the Word can get into you because it is part of God’s plan for us to know Him better and His Spirit is the one who illuminates our minds to understanding beyond just breaking down the words. It goes beyond being a little Bible scholar to becoming more and more in the likeness of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:10-15 Here we learn about the fact that it is the Spirit of God that brings understanding and light to what we are reading. He brings the discernment and clarity to all that we are reading.

3. The BIG Reveal! When God shows up and the Spirit takes us places we never thought possible!

To enlighten is to illuminate.. spiritual enlightenment. When Christ came, his presence was described as the dawning of a new day, the breaking in of God’s light into the soul and without it we would remain darkened in our knowledge of God, our hearts closed and wandering aimlessly in the sin of ignorance and despair. Matthew 13:16,17; Acts 26:18; Hebrews 6:4

Paul pray that the eyes of their heart may be enlightened.

We are called to a prayer of prayer of opening our spiritual eyes to:

• The hope to which we have been called – a calling rooted in His divine initiative 1 John 3:2,3 It is a full and complete awareness to spiritual formation that begins with our identity in Christ. We are becoming more and more like Him

• The riches of our glorious inheritance . Acts 20:32; Acts 26:18. The truth of God’s purpose becomes known and it is declared by the believer. Paul is walking us through our completion in that we have a rich and incredible inheritance with all the saints. That inheritance is God himself, a new heaven and a new earth in which to dwell in fellowship with him forever. History continues to move swiftly toward that ultimate conclusion and Paul prays that they will understand the big picture.

• His incomparably great power Colossians 1:29 – laying hold of it

When we came to faith in Christ and entered into the story of God, our life was transformed, and the Holy Spirit began taking residence in us. His power was unleashed as we surrender to Him and often the filling of the Spirit is a very distinct time and place in our life. Paul does not want us to forget for one minute just how great that power is that pulsates through our very soul.

This is no ordinary life or empowering. This is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the deadall the way to the place of total exaltation! It is a supernatural power that we have flowing through us to do awesome and amazing things.

Paul wants us to grasp what it means to be a follower of Jesus in terms of the resources of God
himself to live out our calling in every area of our lives, as we face challenges, as we seek to bring Him the glory, the Holy Spirit is there. We’re not left to figure it out for ourselves and ask God later for His blessing on it. Remember it all began with His blessing and we need to get in tune with that before we walk every step of this ‘what should be’ incredible life changing journey.

He often thought of these mighty acts of God as not only the power that we possess but the divine strength that they enable us to live the Christian life happen on a level that goes beyond human understanding. It is that power that raises us to new life in Christ. Philippians 3:10 Honestly, that is very hard to wrap your mind around, so let it sink into your heart.
Christ’s power is reflected here is two incredibly decisive acts:
1. Christ’s resurrection which is a completed picture with His ascension to number 2.... His place at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms .

Our ascension Life is fuelled by the Holy Spirit and He releases us into newness

Joel 2:24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
Matthew 9:17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Many different OT passages refer to a time when God will bring the new wine. The new wine is the realization of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the refreshment that He brings. New wine was never meant to come in the old package of the truth being dropped in your lap. The new way of receiving was that it would be revealed in the heart by the Holy Spirit. The old way had everything to do with appearances, to conform to a code of behavior and in doing so to bring change. However, real change cannot happen from the outside in. It is the very reason that if your walk with Jesus is about following the rules, you have a lifeless walk with God.

Ezekiel 18:31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.

Ezekiel 36:26 will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
I not only want Christ’s words; I want his tone, his joy, his love of life, his fondness for stories, his favour towards children, who are deeply, deeply loved – but most of all, his passion for giving glory to God. My most common prayer is this: “May the risen and ascended Christ manifest himself in me as I submit to be his servant today.” Gary Thomas


As I mentioned in the e bulletin, I want to share with you how I believe the time is now for us to act to realize our potential as a church going forward in faith. God has blessed us with a very unique opportunity and provided resources to take this church to a whole new level of ministry!

2010

It is my BIG ASK that we ‘turn Southside INSIDE OUT for good so that we realize our God given potential now more than ever before’.

For too long we have been sitting on our ‘potential’ and I believe now more than ever before we have been called to keep moving forward. The Word of God challenges us to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me... may we keep pressing onward and upward to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, to take hold of what God in Christ Jesus has taken hold of us. (Philippians 3:13) First and foremost we have to get serious about the power of prayer. The attitude to corporate prayer in this place has to change!

There have been many milestones along this journey that have brought us to this crossroads.
We began with an offer to sell part of our land and gain an acre to the west of our church.
With the anticipation of the sale of the land, we held visioning sessions to hear what the greatest needs were for our present ministries. We sought your input through surveys in 2008

We entrusted the firstfruits of the sale of our land by giving over $50K towards local and global initiatives, to build a school for an orphanage in West Bengal India through Partners, blessing Pathway Camp Ministries of First Nations Reserves through the Greers, building a dorm facility in Papua, Indonesia for future missions initiative, ministry at the Deck here in Milton and Crossings Community, a church plant in Acton.

We formed a Transition Team at the beginning of this year who continued to seek out the needs of all of our ministry leaders in developing a comprehensive report for Schiedel Construction to work on plans that addressed all the needs of our current facility and addressing the needs.

God has been clear that the time is now for us to act. We have sat on our land sale money for one year now. The landscape around us is changing. We are losing almost half of our existing parking lot within weeks.

To fail to plan is to plan to fail.

We can either be reactive or proactive to the change that is taking place all around us. As people move into the communities that will completely surround us, the state of our facility will speak volumes to them whether we are ready for them or just barely holding on. My fear in not moving now will also lead us to rest on ‘the money in the bank’ and we will watch our funds dissipate because there is no compelling vision or plan of action to give.

This year alone I realize has been a tough one financially; however we cannot afford to wait to step out in faith when the townhomes will soon be occupied and letters will be sent to every resident living around us potentially blocking us from building anything of significance that will enable us to fulfill our vision of equipping our people to be turned inside out to reach this community for Christ.

The longer we wait for others to act, the more we will lose focus. Where there is no vision, there is no excitement, no desire to give sacrificially. Hear me out!! We are calling people to realize this church’s God given potential, not to build a building!!

However by creating space for our ministries to expand and grow we can expand our ministries to reach out to young parents though more daycamp, offer more services to those in need beyond clothes.

We will be gaining space back as the school seeks new options for this upcoming fall as they are quickly growing out of our present facilities.

God’s Girls and King’s Sons have grown exponentially and could use better defined ministry space

The rEVOLution Youth will continue to expand their focus with Pastor Mike’s full time focus and are cramped at best sharing their space with the GFN store.

To make disciples we must first evangelize or we will quickly just become self-serving. When a person becomes a follower of Jesus they will need to be developed through the teaching ministry of our church, through small groups and /or mentoring.

Our mission is to pursue Jesus passionately and connect people to their God given family.

The vision for Southside is a church that will be turned inside out in such a way that our focus becomes how we become the church in ministries and acts of love that are felt in our ministries, our community and our world. We will call out of people what God has created them to be in fulfilling their God given mission

We will identify new leaders for our ministries and come alongside them and equip them through regular workshops on spiritual formation, gifting, evangelism.

• We will provide ‘living’ spaces in our church where our people can do life together,
• We will create a facility where we can invite our friends to connect with us through missional events – We want to have a multi-purpose foyer and expand in such a way that it allows us to have great welcoming events.
• We envision a church where everyone is actively sharing the good news of Jesus with their unsaved friends
• It will be a place where the youth and children can connect in an environment that captures their imagination.
• We envision a church of small groups both inside and outside of the church where everyone can experience biblical community, where everyone is accepted and loved for who they are in Christ and where everyone, no matter what stage they are on their spiritual journey can find encouragement, forgiveness and healing!
• We envision a facility that serves the needs of our congregation and growing community both in size and function.
• Unfortunately our present facility in the way that it is set up works against us in creating a welcoming and inviting place for people to connect with narrow hallways, leaks in our roof, our children’s ministry rooms that look more like school than a place to inspire.


In the fall, I was seriously looking at buying a home on this side of the road and God gave me
Haggai 1:6 Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"
5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD. 9 "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.

It is not easy to hear this, but God is calling us to prepare the way of the Lord...We make room!!

The BIG REVEAL is coming!

The Takeaway

Take your prayers to a whole new level as you make the BIG ask and trust God for the BIG reveal through the Spirit of God, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation
Review

Paul prays for the health and vitality of the Ephesian believers’ prayers. It is my prayer as well for us.

We always need to soak our prayers in praise and thankfulness. Never grow weary in giving thanks in all circumstances. Make the BIG ask, ask God to open your spiritual eyes to what is available to you, what is available to Southside. May we continue to see the BIG reveal as the Spirit of God gives us the revelation, the strength, the power to accomplish the supernatural in this place.

Paul is praying for the believers at a level beyond the present circumstances of their lives. If we only look at the surface, we will not see the big picture. It is a circular thing: the more we pray for understanding, the more we understand His ways, the more we understand His ways, the more we pray for understanding that brings direction, peace and the fullness of His will.

Let us go deeper than our present circumstances, let’s step out in faith with mud on our faces believing Him every step of the way. Let’s trust that when we go to the place we are called, He will open our eyes and show us how amazing that view really is!


Questions For Small Groups and Discussion


1. What does it mean for you to have the eyes of your heart enlightened?
2. What charges you up the most about the spiritual resources available to you in Christ? What is your BIG ask?
3. Share a time when the Spirit of God revealed something very specific to you about a situation through His Word. If you can, share a time when the Spirit of God gave you a word for someone. Did you follow through and how was it received?
4. Where do you see yourself as it relates to the big picture of Southside? How can you become part of God’s BIG reveal here in this place?