Serving Others

Sunday morning I spoke @ the Halifax Metro Vineyard on becoming servants of Jesus. Like Philip in the New Testament did everything from passing out lunches to disgruntled widows, to healing paralytics and driving out demons (see Acts chapters 6 & 8), every follower of Jesus is called to a life of practical and empowered service.

See, we’re called to do all of it:
Wash the dishes, cut the grass, help out our neighbors, lay down our rights, forgive people who offend us, get prophetic words, heal the sick, and cast out devils! Whatever is in front of you in the moment is the area of ministry God has for you.

After the message, we made space for the ministry to break out. A large number of words of knowledge for conditions like cold sores, TMJ, misaligned tailbones, arthritis, dental problems, thyroid disorders were given, and then everyone engaged with praying for the sick. The power of God was touching people all over the room.

During ministry time, I noticed a guy in his twenties with power coursing through his body. A few of our young adults were praying for him. He had suffered with a jaw condition for a long time that caused severe pain and limited his range of motion. As the Holy Spirit touched him, we spoke to the condition, commanding it to leave and his jaw to return to the way God designed it to be. His pain disappeared and he exclaimed- “It hasn’t felt this good in months!”
In addition the physical healing as the kingdom broke in, God grabbed his heart in a fresh way and encouraged him with a sense of His deep love. I got to speak prophetically to him about his destiny as a friend of Jesus, and he was deeply moved.

This is what God has told the Church to do when we come together: Worship Jesus, teach His Word and serve each other with the spiritual gifts He gives in the moment. When we catch this vision as a movement, we’ll witness this unstoppable force called the Kingdom of God advancing in ways that transform our world.

Regional Camp Update

The weekend of Sept 18-20th was our second annual Atlantic Vineyard Regional Youth Retreat @ Malagash Camp on the North Shore of Nova Scotia.

Everywhere I go recently I’m talking about making disciples. It is so crucial to call the next generation of the Vineyard Movement to embrace Jesus and His kingdom as a way of life. In typical Trevor style I talked for nearly an hour on this (Yes I lost track of time!), telling healing stories and speaking prophetically to different ones God highlighted.

During the ministry time, a large group of teenagers and young adults responded to Jesus’ call for their lives. Some came to him for the first time ever; others re-focused their direction and decided to pursue a lifestyle of obeying Jesus’ words and doing His works.
God visited many with power, encountering them through words of knowledge, prophetic ministry, healing and deliverance.

This whole thing of announcing Jesus’ kingdom reminds me of the parable of the Sower:
We throw the message out to people everywhere and it either takes root and grows, or it gets stolen away before it gets a chance to reach maturity. I’m going for thousands of people who want to become deeply rooted followers of Jesus, doing His works in this next generation.

Impact in the West

This past weekend in Calgary, Alberta went phenomenally well.
I arrived Friday night to a wonderful welcome, and taught the first session on “Becoming Apprentices of Jesus” on Saturday morning. The whole theme was that Jesus not only calls us to obey His words, but also to do His works (announce the kingdom, heal the sick, drive out demons, demonstrate authority over nature, care for the poor, speak words from God, raise the dead etc). Ministry time kicked off right away with both teenagers and adults being touched by the Holy Spirit in powerful ways. The sense was that God was opening up the environment to prepare people for all He was going to do that weekend.

The next session was a practical talk on healing and how we get started. During the ministry clinic, some youth received words of knowledge for physical healing and we found some victims!

A lady was there who had had severe arthritis in her hands for 8 years. She had also suffered a previously fractured knee, and was dealing with complications from that. She was in constant pain. A 13 year old girl got a word of knowledge for pain in the hands, and as the group began to pray, the power of God instantly hit this woman. She began weeping and shaking as power coursed through her body. Her arthritis pain immediately disappeared, giving her a full range of motion, and her knee was healed on the spot as well. She actually jumped up, ran outside and went for a run! She was so grateful to Jesus for bringing his rule to her, and days later, she had no sign of pain.

Asthma, allergies, depression and all sorts of pain disappeared as the kingdom of God broke into this world and touched various people.

The next session was on the gift of prophecy. The whole room engaged to give words to certain people, and the presence of God fell in tremendous ways. Some incredibly significant words were given to people, and you could see the Spirit of God visibly stirring their hearts.

By the end of the weekend, a number of people devoted their lives to this call to follow Jesus and to do what He does. God set up divine appointments and prophetic events all throughout those 4 days. It was a tremendous time of kingdom impact!
I’m looking forward to going back sometime soon.

Ministry Trip

I fly out to Calgary, Alberta this weekend to spend a few days with the North Calgary Vineyard, teaching on doing the ministry of Jesus. The sense of expectation for breakthrough is almost tangible.

You know when you get that surge of absolute confidence that God is going to do something big? That's what the author of Hebrews calls "faith"; the confident expectation that what we hope for will actually happen.

I'll be speaking at 4 different sessions on becoming disciples, doing healing, advancing the kingdom and growing in prophetic gifts. The whole goal is to equip others, who will equip others to do this stuff.

I'll post an update when I get back after Labour Day. In the meantime- invite the kingdom to come with me this weekend!