Thursday, January 26, 2017

Church at the Manor is going 'deeper' in 2017



Church at the Manor 2017 

‘Deeper’

As a core team for Church at the Manor we have spent time in prayer together and believe that this year we want to focus on going deeper.  Sharon challenged the team to pray into this theme with an emphasis on listening to the Lord and journaling what each sensed.  As we came together to share, it was so good and affirming of how HE is leading us together in this ministry!
Here are some excerpts from what was journaled

Every week you bring me into the club and the spiritual light shines brighter as you worship and seek me together.  But I do not leave when you leave.  I stay.  My angels stay.  There is great power in your worship, in your welcome of Me.  Unlike others, I do not see a strip club, I see a space that needs to be filled with my Presence.  My presence that brings peace, my Presence that brings hope, joy… Love.

The lenses of ‘being perfected’ are those that afford the incredible journey of walking with others in brokenness towards wholeness.  So, going deeper isn’t about following a program, a list of resolutions or expectations or rules… remain in my love, go deeper in grace. 

The Manor is mine and will be used to glorify me.  Reflections on deeper water led one of our team to discover that  it was George Sleeman who sought to find the best water source in Guelph.  There is an artesian well right under the Manor!

You will go deeper in truth, in health, in relationships, in confession.  In your weakness is My strength. Go deeper in My Spirit to where you feel the flow of My Spirit.  Go deeper in engagement, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life.  Go deeper in the elevation of women in ministry.
More, more, more.  Stay faithful, stay true.  Look at what I have done.  Don’t count the numbers, but see the little things that happen.  The lions out front – remember the Lion of Judah.  This is my place.  Everything is preparation

So we want to focus on going deeper in relationships to going deeper in truth, from recognizing God moments to a greater awareness of His strength.

We started the new year by focusing on healthy relationships!  We began a conversation a few weeks back on the subject of what makes a ‘healthy relationship’ and we got great feedback.  The following captures what we shared: 

·         good communication
·         trust
·         faithfulness
·         respect
·         honesty
·         transparency
·         forgiveness
·         putting the other person 1st
·         patience
·         mutual interests
·         loyalty/ someone who defends you
·         love
·         kindness

We then flipped it and said wouldn’t these same qualities apply to our relationship with God and it was such a great exercise to look at these same words through the lens of having a deeper relationship with the LORD!  We did a study of verses that really hit home on every word!

·         good communication - – We talked about two way communication and the power of learning to be still and listen to the LORD as much as we share our requests. 
 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3; When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:4 
·         trust – Trust in huge in a relationship and it was so good hear verses called out like Proverbs 3:5,6!  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding  in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
·         faithfulness   -God has said,“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

And the discussion was lively as we walked out every quality of how God defends us from Scripture to the themes of respect, honesty, transparency, forgiveness and more.

 We closed with Proverbs 3:6 in The Living Bible complete with actions and a dab to finish the talk J

 In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success!


**It was also wonderful to see our Manor peeps raise $512.35 towards blenders for children with cleft palates in orphanages in Uzbekistan.


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