Community meal #1
27 March 2019
The first of our new community meals. We were glad to be joined by one of our new hosting team and look forward to others joining us in future weeks.
Worship
A powerful time of worship, where we each spoke out words to describe our experience of God and our worship and praise to him. It was simple, it was very inclusive and accessible. It was very much corporate and it was very much worship. This is what we want!
Vision
We shared more about our vision about how we understand the house of prayer works.
We are being built into a temple which God lives in by his spirit (Eph 2).
This is not a house of admin, but a house of prayer.
Right from the start of our journey we had the revelation that the reason for developing a rhythm of prayer together was that the Holy Spirit would dwell amongst us. This presence of God amongst us as a community is the power, life, uniqueness, key… of the house of prayer.
So our Community Meal rhythm is to provide a shape, a structure, a pattern for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. To grow into the holy temple, that is the whole Body of Christ.
This is what is in God’s heart as we come together to pray. We are not a church. We are not leaving our churches. We are recognising the body of Christ and encouraging all in the Body of Christ to seek God’s presence and to take up our role as a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.
Tonight we are going to pray about SoHOP. We are custodians, we are stewards, we are servants. We are listeners and watchmen on the walls.
Eph 2: 21-22
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Is 62: 6-7
O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls;
they will pray day and night, continually.
Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work,
until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.
Praying all night?
Last week one of our leaders took a 4 hour slot in the night. This raised some concerns. It was good to see care expressed for that person, and questions asked about if they were doing it because no one else had.
As a community, we need to have this understanding about the rota:
no one will fill a slot out of guilt. Out of trying to make the rota complete.
we will sign up because we can be there and want to be there.
we will be responsible about the sustainability of our commitments.
Yes to praying all night! (See the Isaiah 62 reference above).
Yes to our vision of eventually praying 24/7 not just 24/1!
Brexit - for or against?
Some of us are for Brexit. Some of us are not. We have strongly held beliefs. What is our common ground?
"Your name be honoured, your kingdom come, your will be done!"
We have received some good prayer resources from 24-7 to help us pray for the United Kingdom.
Prayer
Next we prayed. We got on our knees and poured out our hearts to God about the House of Prayer and how we want it to be what he wants.
This was another time of real encounter with God and with such a strong sense of community together.
Diary
Next meal: Wed 10 April.