This past Sunday night was the first week of the training class I'm doing at the Halifax Vineyard. There was a great group of people, and we all got together to explore God's tremendous invitation to us to join Jesus in his mission.
One of the key emphases of the night was that Jesus came with both the announcement of the kingdom (God is arriving with power and he has the right to rule), and the actions of the kingdom. The ministry of Jesus is Words AND Works, a Message AND a Ministry.
When Jesus tells people that the rule of God has come near to them, he also demonstrates that rule through what we call the signs of the kingdom's presence: healing the sick, driving out demons, works of compassion, caring for the poor, forgiving sin, authority over nature, and raising the dead. This is the way it's done throughout the Gospels. Jesus teaches/announces the kingdom's presence and then allows that dynamically present kingdom to come to people in need.
On Sunday night, we explored the reality that as followers of Jesus, we have been given the same mandate of announcing a message and doing a ministry. So,after looking at the words, we tried out the works. Somehow I am always amazed that it works for people like us!
A lot of people in the room were prayed for, but here's a couple of stories:
-During the clinic time, there was a word of knowledge for someone with chronic headaches. A woman who had suffered from daily tension headaches responded and a group gathered around her and invited God's kingdom to come to her specifically. She experienced tremendous power going through her and her headache immediately lifted. With tears flowing down her face, she was reminded again how near Jesus is to us.
-A young mom brought her newborn baby who was suffering with intestinal discomfort. As the infant was prayed for there was immediate and dramatic relief. She became perfectly happy and able to rest.
The training runs for another 3 weeks. This week we're looking at how we're empowered. I'll write more in the days to come.
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