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Remembering God's faithfulness is an important part of our relationship with God. Often, because we are positioned at the beginning of an event, and may not have the privilege of seeing it unfold and blossom, we forget that if God is in it all, any project assigned to us will certainly prosper. There will be many milestones, some of them places where we experienced challenges, where things proved particularly difficult, where the fruit was in the ground decaying and all we could feel was the seeming nothingness of it all.
However, our journey with God is incomplete if we failed to pass through such stations. Small beginnings, particularly, encourage us to hope only in God whose infinite abilities can make the acorn produce the great oak tree!
Our annual anniversary is just one other way of declaring humbly that the desire of our soul is to serve God forever, no matter the circumstances of our life.
There is a tradition at Living Hope Church to remember annually the humble beginnings of our Church. The maiden meeting was held on Sunday 8 November, 1998. We have a lot to remember about that meeting:
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Firstly, the call that preceded it in the manner of a distinct prophecy to Pastor Kemi to step out and lead a brand new Church in the City of Leeds. The Lord gave specific instructions on how to follow this call and provided the necessary resources to obey the call, including premises and friends.
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Secondly, the gifting that came with the call. There was a precious anointing from God to minister, to lead, to teach and to preach. God's Holy Spirit spoke concerning the direction of the ministry, the timing of events and the involvement of like-minded people in the presentation of the gospel of Jesus.
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Thirdly, the presence of the Lord. Moses was right when he appealed to the Lord in the wilderness for His presence to abide with His people.
And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here."
(Exodus 33:14-15)
God is still the same, He has not changed. We have found Him faithful every bit of the way. The annual remembrance of our humble start is to focus us afresh on the vision that He gave us, to assess our journey so far, and re-commit our lives to His plans for us.
Most of the time, even the greatest visioner only sees the brilliant outline of God's purposes. But the outline is sufficient because God has all the time and all the resources to work out the substance, to call into existence those things which ordinarily do not exist. At Living Hope Church, we are working with an extraordinary God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that we will continue to see His goodness in the unfolding of His plans for us as a Church.
There is a story about Moses and Hobab, his brother-in-law in Numbers 10:29 - "Now Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the LORD has promised good things to Israel."
This is how we feel in the hands of God. Now you know why we cannot keep quiet: we must invite you to come and taste the goodness of God. If you do not yet know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, today is your chance. Don't push the decision away: ask Him into your life. That is all our annual remembrance is about: proclaiming Jesus as the living Saviour in whom there is eternal life for everyone that puts their faith in Him. Psalm 34:8 - "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"
For more information, check our calendar. Write to us, we will be pleased to introduce you to new depths of personal knowledge of God!
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The way of the just is uprightness; O Most Upright, You weigh the path of the just. Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O LORD, we have waited for You; the desire of our soul is for Your name and for the remembrance of You. With my soul I have desired You in the night, yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Isaiah 26:7-9
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree." Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word."
Jeremiah 1:11-12
God is performing His word. Living Hope Church is a New Testament Church, apostolic in its traditions, evangelical in its outlook, charismatic in its worship and biblical, in a very modern way, in its approach to life.
The vision that we have is drawn from Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13:31-32:
“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Jesus Christ has started Living Hope Church from the least of all seeds, but He is nourishing us all like the good Shepherd that He is, and He will multiply us all according to His gracious plans and purposes for us in the City of Leeds and beyond.
Join us anytime you are in Leeds. |
