Category: Faith

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People of Advent Hope

Isaiah 61:1-2

Jesus quotes Isaiah 61:1-2 during what many people see as the very start of his ministry, the Nazareth Manifesto. What can his choice tell us about Jesus’s mission, and our mission as Jesus’s followers? For one, it reminds us that the Advent hope is a trinitarian hope. God sends Jesus as the servant figure, equipped with God’s spirit, to bring about the promised restoration and healing. Jesus extends this vocation to the church, as we ourselves are equipped with God’s spirit and enabled to be people of Advent hope.

How can you bring a hopeful light to dark places this Advent season?

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Sold into slavery in order to minister Christ to slaves

John Taylor, Missions Director at Bethel Church recounts in a Leadership Minute that Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf – of the Moravian church said this of  Christ …..  “I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.”

Johann Leonard Dober was a potter and David Nitschman a carpenter. Men with ordinary occupations, but possessing an extraordinary love for Jesus. From these seemingly insignificant two, the Moravian missionary movement was born, that ultimately catalyzed the Great Awakening. In 1732, they heard about the plight of African slaves on the island of St. Thomas in the Caribbean. These slaves had spiritual hunger but no one to share the gospel with them. Johann and David determined to go to them by any means necessary, and sold themselves into slavery in order to minister among the slaves. As they stood on the ship departing from the wharf, they raised their voice and cried,
“MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN
RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!” Continue reading “Sold into slavery in order to minister Christ to slaves”

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Jesus was never a people pleaser

Jesus was unafraid to stir the pot, flip tables, or offend religious naysayers. He wasn’t a peacekeeper, He was a peacemaker.

So often we are concerned about keeping conflict at bay and harmony on the horizon.

But the truth is, the Prince of Peace is not concerned with pleasing people, instead, He is concerned with making peace. Sometimes that means offending the crowd to ensure that His Father is pleased.

Jesus knew and lived out the truth of what it meant that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). He cut through cultural and religious barriers in order to bring the Truth about who God is to the hearts of men.

Over the last couple of years, we have seen the deep destruction of division portrayed across cultures, nations, and political propositions.

The cultural climate has felt turbulent and tense to say the least. Yet, the truth is, often it’s not the storms of life that create the conditions of our hearts, they simply reveal them.

It might be easy in our own frustration and offense to decide that the decisions, sins, or outcasts of society rightfully deserve to be treated differently. But, it’s the beautiful humility of Jesus portrayed in John 13 that rocks the cultural concept of justice, unravels our perceptions of people, and transforms the condition of our hearts.

Moments before what Jesus knew would be the greatest and most grievous day in history, He knelt on His knee, poured water into a bowl, and washed the filthy feet of His disciples; knowing that two of the twelve would betray Him, He still invited them to take a seat, displaying a true act of humility.

extract for a blog by Kris Vallotton 22.03.2023

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Keys to Partnering with God’s Breakthrough

If you could draw the word “breakthrough” what would it look like? A sledgehammer crashing through a wall? A dam bursting its banks? A sapling pushing through the hard dirt? Perhaps you would use words to describe its process like hard work, grit, tenacity, and maybe even weariness.

At times in our good-hearted, passionate pursuit of breakthrough we can ever so subtly shift our focus onto our own effort and will. We begin to carry the burden for breakthrough on our own back, and grow weary in the struggle. But if we turn to the scriptures to define this powerful word, we see a picture – not of humanity breaking through barriers – but of God as the One bursting through on behalf of His people.

When David faced the Philistines, in what was called the Valley of Giants (Rephaim Valley, 2 Sam 5:18), he watched the Lord burst through upon his enemies, and win the victory on Israel’s behalf. There David renamed that Valley of Giants to ‘The Valley of The Lord Who Bursts Through’.

What valley of giants are you facing? God wants to burst forth against your enemies with such power that you rename that valley after Him – The Lord Of The Breakthrough. Right now, all of heaven is breaking through on your behalf. Heaven is bursting at the seams, breaking into our churches, our cities, our cultures and our workplaces. May we simply “show up” in the valley, give God our “yes” and see Him burst through. Continue reading “Keys to Partnering with God’s Breakthrough”