Better is One Day in Your Courts...

Felt really great to be coming to the end of a working day knowing we would be having special time with our heavenly Father this evening! We filled our room with candles, and it was great to hear the back door open and Jo come to join us in prayer. We set no agenda other than to pray for an hour, much like an hour slot in a prayer room, and God was imedeatly present from the moment we started. At the end of our prayer time Ros described it as being better than a week away in the countryside. God was able to do more with us in that hour than in a whole holiday of rest. Jo answered simply by repeating the scripture...'better is one day in Your courts, than a thousand elsewhere'.

Thou Shalt Always...

Sue&Drew hosted another great Bible study at their place on Sunday. We looked at the 10 commandments and got into discussions about law, New and Old Testament, and structures for society. We then naturally chatted more about ways in which this relates to our community and our hunger to see people come to know God, in whatever shape, place or form. This prompted us to begin praying for our friends!
Sweet.

J0N

Comunity Meal @ The Newmans

Golden Lion

Ros and I were at The Golden Lion last night...its been referbished! (historical features still intact!) The floor is a little cleaner, the back bit actually looks comfortable to sit in, the lights were a little brighter and the music a little quieter...which makes for good future chats! (not getting too deep here, but theres actually a real history of Christians meeting here over the years.)Whats more there was a folk club upstairs which happens every Wednesday night and is only £1 entry! We had a little look and was great to see violin, guitars and banjo all being played...though apparently we had just missed the belly dancing!
J0N

Dreams & Vision

Last night we gathered together, (Drew, Sue, Dewi, David, Rich, Phil myself and Ros)at our place to discuss ways which we can move forward as a community. We prayed and then wrote down dreams, prayers and desires on our hearts in our individual walks with Jesus and as a community.
Here are some of my *rough* notes...



Rich - already living the dream! Relating with people at Mangiamos, dealing with many organisations through work and meeting with local MP and Christian Aid with David.
(all in one day!) Feels privalidged to be walking this walk with Jesus!

DO WE FEEL SUPPORTED?

Ros - We need to be able to ask for help aswell as being aware of each others needs

Jo - Oppenness, its ok to ask for help

Drew - looking for ways to be supportive and sensitively aware of each others needs

Sue - finding the time, texting and emailing, but prefers face to face.

Drew - Knowing our gifts, often we are better equipped to help in certain areas

ACCOUNTABILITY

Dewi - one to one accountability, praying together,
Prayer beakfast allowing time for this.
Question we need to ask ourselves...
Is there anything in your life you need to be talking about?

Sue - So many different groups, communities, churches, difficult to know where to put our energies

Phil - We need to be looking; 'where are the relationships that are going to spur me on to seek first the Kingdom of God, where do I give deep'?
Challenging questions we need to be in the habbit of asking each other...not just how are you/fine, but how is your soul? Actively making ourselves open.

LOOKING OUTWARD...

Jo- Learning to love everybody in a way that doesn't seperate me as a believer from those that don't yet believe, we are all made in the image of God and all have God in us.

David - Hospitality and welcoming strangers and homeless to community meals.
Be great when this becomes ordinary!

Jon - Looking for things we can do together (as well as individually in our day to day lives)to serve the elderly and homeless in our area, maybe joining with other churches to do this.

Jo - Oppenness to healing

Drew - healing: needs will become known as we look for them. Our aim is to make Jesus known, mirracles should be seen as signs pointing to Jesus.

Phil - Go and love people! Hospitality must go beyond our homes, way of love, let your peace rest

Drew - 1. Be seeking the needs
2. Come together as a community to pray for needs
3. Take oppertunity as it comes

Phil - Lets take the risk!

Ros - Regular prayer walks in Romford, getting out there, having a vision for our town, seeing the bigger picture, our answers to prayer may not always involve us.

PRAYER & WORSHIP

Ros - Be great to go for 24-7 prayer!

David - ...or/and daily rhythms of prayer

Jo - WORSHIP TIME!


WHAT THINGS CAN WE DO PRACTICALLY NOW?

Jo - to take on hosting times of WORSHIP
Ros - to host TUESDAY PRAYER NIGHTS
Phil (and all of us) - to look for more CHURCH LINKS
Sue - organise a day where we act on WORLD ISSUES
Ros - STORYTELLING FOR SMALL ONES will be back on!
Jon - BLOG & ONLINE CALANDER

24 hours of prayer... (-1)

(extract from Toggie Tales...)



24 hours of prayer... (-1)
OK, so we cheated a little bit. The first '24-1prayer' in our community house was actually only 23 hours, because the clocks (in)conveniently leapt forwards one hour half-way through the night.

Amazingly, only 2 people missed their slots

It felt a bit like we were 'commissioning' the prayer room (just to the right as you come in the front door - plenty of you have visited, so you'll know where i mean [grin]). Although we've had the room labelled 'prayer room' since we moved in a few months ago, it's been a bit of a multi-purpose room until now.

As we set it up on Friday evening, Ian joked that Jesus would probably turn over the tables and rant something about "this room will be a Room of Prayer!" It felt good to be preparing the room for it's promised purpose. We're determined to keep it a place of prayer...

And it felt very good to welcome friends from around Romford (and beyond) over the next few hours, as they came to pray for their hour or more of the rota. Angela train-ed all the way across from West London to take the first hour. Ruth and Jamie dropped in, pausing a moment from their preparation to take a bunch of young people away on an Alpha week. Clare and David brought their boys later in the afternoon - the sounds of their enthusiastic Douggie Dug Dug (?) worship resounded throughout the house! Rosi and Jon bravely took two of the midnight shifts. And our girls signed themselves up for one in the afternoon.

Emma and I joined them for half of it, and we soon found ourselves in a circle praying for 'the one in the middle' (standard prayer practice - hehe). We prayed for Angel first - she'd had a bad dream the night before and had drawn a picture of the witch she'd seen in it. We prayed that the nightmare wouldn't come back, and then asked her what she wanted to do with the picture. "Screw it up!" she shouted. We cheered her on as she screwed it up, then stamped on it, then ripped it up and stuffed it in the bin. "Gone!" she announced. "Amen," we replied.

I love the simplicity of a prayer room. I love the fact that our children experience it as their space as much as we (adults) do. I love the creativity... I get inspired by Jon's art-work and Oscar's simple prayers. I love it that the prayer is as welcoming for those who are stumbling through valleys and darkness, as it is those who are dancing across mountain tops (and God is utterly present with both, of course). And I love it that this prayer room, like every other I've been involved in, inspires a stronger passion for prayer (we want to get back in there... but pray for longer this time!), and compassion for the lost (we've got to get out there... and be yeast in the dough of life).



~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We ended our twenty-three hours at midday on Sunday with a community meal... to eat and drink and celebrate together. It was a beautiful day. Nearly 30 of us huddled in the little prayer room, including Anna, who'd whizzed round the M25 from St Albans, and our long-time friends Ian and Gwen (now based in South Africa). We listened to one another's stories and reflections, and agreed that we "must do this again". And then we prayed together, and commissioned one another (because commissioning has nothing to do with rooms, of course, and everything to do with people... people on a mission) with these words;

"Let me tell you why you are here...

You're here to be the salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

Here's another way to put it: you're here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world.

God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this. As public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light-stand. Now that I've put you there on a hill-top, on a light-stand... shine!

Keep open house.

Be generous with your lives.

By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in Heaven."
(Matthew 5, The Message)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jesus, let your kingdom come in Romford...

Community Meal (Dewi & Sarahs)

Big Thankyou to Dewi and Sarah for cooking us all a great curry (with a much appreciated bowl of chilli's)! Was great to have the Griegs with us, and spend time sharing stories, eating food and trying our best to become appointed members of Poppies 'cool' gang.
J0N