Everything conference

∞ Everything Conference 2010 from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

recommend again…

…After our prayer meeting on Tuesday night I felt prompted to recommend this talk again…

…the world tends to say that if you are looking to raise children that cities are not the place to do it. I listened to this talk, ‘It takes a city to raise a child’ by Tim Kellor recently which gives a different perspective. I would encourage you to listen to the talk whether you have children or not as it takes all of us…

(To listen to the talk simply click the title of the talk above and then click the title of the talk on the linked page)

Everything…

Came across the enclosed which is pretty helpful for a short devotion moment…

Everything from justin pae on Vimeo.

Prayer week: meeting 6 Social action

We concentrated on praying specifically for two initiatives we are running as a Church through this session. The Bridge, our work with those seeking to live free from addiction and the Well, our work seeking to support women struggling with postnatal depression.

Jackie Medler started by sharing some stories of the life change that has gone on at the Bridge, we didn’t really need much more motivation to start to pray for God to do more and for us to see more of the individuals from the Bridge coming into a living relationship with God and becoming pillars within the church.

From the starting point of the Bridge it led us to pray that we would always be a welcoming community as a church where no one would ever feel excluded.

Alison Stunt then shared how things were going in the Well and the need for wisdom to know how to take thing forward and the way inwhich the Well is gaining a positive reputation within the city. It was great to then give ourselves to praying for wisdom in knowing the right way forward and for increased influence to change how women are cared for in the city.

To finish off as we ran out of time we quickly called on God for provision for finances as we have lost £150k of government funding due to a change in policy. With faith we called on God who is able to provide all we need!

Prayer week: meeting 4 kids and youth

When you know you’re getting to pray for 75 kids and youth how can it ever be boring!

We spent time thanking God for the kids and youth we have and for those who faithfully work with them week in week out…from thanks we began to pray for each of the kids and youth that they would grow in their knowledge of God and that we would have increasingly more people serving in this vital area of church life as the need is very great! We specifically called on God to provide leaders that are needed in the XGT group.

We felt led to pray for the parents of Oasis that they would have wisdom to equip their children to understand how their faith can interact within the world that we live in…which naturally lead us to pray for our kids and youth that they would know God’s protection as they navigate their way through life.

One couldn’t help but leave with a sense of privilege in praying for the next generation to surpass all that we have done and known…and with a sense of excitment of how God is continuing to add more into this vibrant area of church life!

Prayer week: meeting 2 ‘everything’

This time really lived up to his heading of ‘everything’ as we got time to pray for the many ways Oasis is impacting and changing the city through the lives of those who are part of Oasis. It was amazing praying into the many areas individuals are working within, both employed and voluntary, and realising each individual was not alone but was being Oasis extending God’s kingdom in each of those settings.

As we prayed you couldn’t help but be impacted by the fact that what we use to dream of doing is now what we are actually doing!!

As we prayed God quickly encouraged us as to how He  values where each individual within Oasis is placed. How he yearns to affirm the call of where we are rather than us continually feeling like we need to hear God call us somewhere different.

Within the time we also felt drawn to pray for the continuing impact we can have together in and through the Cricket Ground and its staff…and from this focus to pray that we would be in more Sunday’s than not in the new marquee, not for a nice buildings sake, but to act as a large space to build many others in!

Most definitely an hour worth being out for!!!

starter for 10…

…or should I say 10:10 (sorry bad pun!!) This morning saw the start of our first prayer week of 2010. We picked up on the theme of the year 10:10 (CB code) that God’s message to us is clear to love God, to love people and therefore to rescue and he is now awaiting our response.

On the back of this call we looked at Colossians 1: 13 ^“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,”and then spent time thanking God for our rescue. We then went onto pray for God to rescue those we know individually and are in contact with directly as a church.

As we prayed God reminded us to continue to enjoy and explore our rescued status as the more we do the more it impacts our desire to rescue others.

Week of prayer…

Hi All, hope you have had a good week. We are nearly entering our week of prayer which I always find an exceptionally exciting time of community life as we give ourselves to calling on God. We have much to thank God for and much to ask so I want to encourage you to come along next week.

We will be gathering each day at 6.30am and 8pm at Edgbatson Cricket Ground each time for an hour and will be covering the following areas:

Mon am   10:10

pm   lives of  rescue – ‘everything’

Tues am Small groups and community

pm Kids and youth

Wed am Momentum and impact

pm Social action

Thurs am Birmingham and other churches

pm A big tent and an Olympic challenge

Fri am Nations in this city and outside

pm Everything: change, thanks and ministry

Together…

Hi All,

I hope and trust that you have had a good week! I felt prompted to write to each of you this week as I have been particularly reminded of the strength of who we are ‘together’.

My guess is all of us have different aspects that we love about Oasis, for me one of them is that Oasis church is never about an individual or a specific group but rather is always about who we are together. That we have found that there is a multicoloured richness in who we are and what we are able to achieve and celebrate as we come together. I know this particularly struck me last Sunday morning as different individuals shared their stories of what God is doing in and through their lives as I reflected on the fact that each of the stories were ‘our’ stories collectively rather than just individuals stories.

With this thought of together in mind I wanted to highlight two aspects of church life over the coming week that act as an opportunity to celebrate and stand together!

The first is this coming Sunday when we have Adrian Holloway with us and we get to meet for the first time in the ‘Big top’ aka the marquee. I wanted to encourage as many of us to be there both morning and evening not just to support Adrian Holloway but also to celebrate a moment for us as a church. I know for me when I stood in the ‘big top’ (which by the way has plastered walls and carpet – not much like a tent) I was filled with this sense of excitement of what it would look like one day for us to be gathering filling rooms like this! Of the richness of diversity that would continue to be revealed as we gather together. Of your friends and mine who might be there of people we don’t know yet being there of the way we will be transforming the city we are in.

I guess what I am trying to say is as we gather this Sunday let’s gather with eyes that see what we will be as well as who we are, and the excitement that both bring! An that we get to enjoy it together!

The second is the prayer week, as always I am not asking for commitment to 10 sessions but rather to encourage as many of us as possible to participate as it has to be one of the most privileged setting we have where we get to gather together to stand in the gap between God and our friends, family, city, nation and the nations. And to ask this God who can do more than we could ask imagine to come and change everything!

Thank you for taking the time to read this mail and thank you for privilege of being able to stand together!

With much love and peace,

Adrian

City centred