VIDEO: The Walls of Jericho are COMING DOWN! - Pete Brookshaw Preaching

The Walls of Jericho are Coming Down!

Have you ever had barriers in your life?

In a sense the walls of Jericho symbolize for us today, walls and barriers to the promises of God. We read the story of Joshua leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land in the first few chapters of the book of Joshua. Watch below as Pete Brookshaw preaches a timely message to Salvos 3064 (Craigieburn), about the walls of Jericho coming down!

I hope the Lord inspires you and gets you fired up as you watch this message!



Let me highlight some things for you about the walls of Jericho and this story in Joshua.

Before the people of God entered the Promised Land and with a loud shout brought down the walls of Jericho, something significant happened.

Joshua 3:5 says, that the Lord challenged the people to consecrate themselves. What does consecrate mean? Consecrate means, to make holy. To consecrate yourself therefore, is to make yourself holy before God.

God wanted a consecrated people, a people willing to be devoted to him. God even required the Israelites to be circumcised before they were to take Jericho.

What do you need to consecrate in your life? Without holiness, it's impossible to see God.

Now, after the circumcision and the challenge to be holy, the people began to walk around the walls of Jericho. They walked around the walls of Jericho six times on the first six days. Then on the seventh day, they walked around the walls of Jericho seven times. So a total of thirteen times, they circled the walls of Jericho!

As recorded in Joshua 6:1-5, they gave a loud SHOUT, and the walls of Jericho came down!

In the message given above, the congregation spends a few moments, symbolically breaking down some walls.

We chose to pray that God would break down the barriers that hinder people becoming followers of Jesus, also, barriers to people regularly being healed, and the barriers of religiosity.

What are walls you need to break down, by the strength of God?

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Healing Testimony VIDEO Hot off the Press - Stirring the Pot on Healing

Does God still heal the sick today?

Some people will absolutely love this post. Others will hate it. Others will sit on the fence. I just happen to love it.

God just healed a new guy that came to our Church. Well, watch the video for yourself. 

Let me say a couple of things. God still heals the sick today.

Wait a minute. Did I just say that?

God still heals the sick today.

The problem is, too many people are simply praying nice prayers (and no doubt God hears them). Prayers that go like this:

"Lord, bless my friend today, who's feeling sick." (Praying for blessing, not healing)
"Give peace to Mary during this difficult time." (Praying for peace, not healing)
"Please be with the family, while John is unwell." (Praying something that Jesus already promises)
"Lord, please bless the hands of the surgeons."(Again, praying for blessing, not direct healing)
"Please comfort Lucinda during this ordeal." (Praying for comfort, not healing)

Nice prayers. God hears them. Sure. Agreed. BUT, what if we actually prayed for the person to ACTUALLY be healed?

I want to stir the pot a little here. Can we stop namby-pamby prayers and begin to ask that Jesus would in fact literally heal someone?

Let me stir it further. We have embraced for too long, a watered down theology of healing, and lacked the bold, Spirit-filled faith to speak to a sickness to be gone!

It's time to usher in a new theology of healing. One that not only respects and honors the idea that God wants to bring love, peace, hope and joy into someone's life, but also that God may well intend to bring physical healing into a literally broken body.

Too controversial?

That's fine. Stick with a watered down version of healing. Stick with a theology that justifies your lack of faith.

Or begin to embrace the idea that Jesus still heals the sick today. Not everyone, sure. God doesn't take away third world hunger, agreed. There is still war in Syria; I know that.

Though, God wants the fullness of the Kingdom of God to come. That's why we pray, ''Your Kingdom Come..."

When the Kingdom does come in all its fullness, that will surely mean healing of every sort.

I'm not sitting on the fence when it comes to that.

*****

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Pete's 3064 VisionCast June 2013

Hi guys,

Welcome to my first ever VisionCast for Salvos3064. I want to share with you the amazing things that are to come at Salvos3064. There are some things brewing that God is laying on my heart and I want to communicate them with you.

I understand a majority of you reading this would be a part of the Craigieburn Salvo community, but for those that are not (e.g. those who are subscribed to this blog), you still may well be inspired by what you will read.

As Jo and I took on the amazing privelege of leading this awesome church in Jan2013, I sensed right from the start that God would take this church from strength to strength. I am witnessing the reality of this. In the past couple of months we have seen a regular 30 come along to our new community lunch, including a man choosing to follow Jesus after having a plate of tuna mornay. We are witnessing many people responding to the Lord in prayer on a Sunday morning. We are launching new connect groups very shortly, and already have 9 groups set to start in the next month or so, (more information to come). We have also seen people visit our church and begin to become part of our faith community, including the enrolment of a Salvation Army Soldier a few weeks back.

Though, this is not what I am really wanting to share with you. Right now, I want to highlight some amazing things the Holy Spirit is laying on my heart and the future opportunities we have of fulfilling our vision of "Broken Lives Made Whole".

In December of 2013, we are seeking to expand our reach within the 3064 postcode. In previous years Salvos3064 have run a Christmas Spectactular with 300 tickets booked, and the venue packed with people singing carols about the birth of Jesus and loads of food afterwards. We are excited to say that we are seeking to run the Christmas Spectactular over two consecutive nights, with the hope of selling 600 tickets to the great people in our community. There is more information to come, but I believe that God is going to use this event in a really significant way in late December.

IMPORTANT CHANGE: The leadership team at Salvos3064 have decided to discontinue our Sunday night meetings, due to smaller numbers coming and because the discipleship that has been happening on those nights, will be happening through the launch of our new connect groups. We also want to acknowledge that as Salvos3064 grows, we do not want to 'Over' programitise church activities. Those seeking further and deeper discipleship should ensure they become connected to a Connect Group. Please share this information on, as it is effective immediately.

But there's more.

Maybe you've heard of a thing called Messy Church; maybe you haven't. Messy Church is church for the whole family, that does well to integrate all ages into a fast-paced, exciting, faith-filled time together. Messy Church generally starts with 45 minutes of craft/activities, followed by 20 minutes of worship and interactive bible story, and then dinner as a group.

If you want to know more about Messy Church, check out this 6 minute video.





Here's an annoucement for you:

We will be launching MESSY CHURCH in late January 2014!

Sunday Nights, every fortnight, 4pm - 6pm, from late January 2014, we will have Messy Church at Salvos3064!

This is how it will look in 7 months time:

4pm - Craft Activities in the Rock Climbing Room

4:45pm - Worship and Bible Story in Main Worship Hall

5:10pm - Dinner in Foyer

At the Christmas Spectactular we will launch Messy Church (or rather, give people a glimpse of what Messy Church will be like), but that will be the main event in which we will publicize our new congregation!!

I am believing we will launch Messy Church in Jan2014 with atleast 200 people in attendance.

On the nights of the Christmas Spectactular in December we will also launch our new Messy Church Worship BAND, called 'The Crazyburners'. Bram Spencer is going to lead this new band, and they will be playing some of the latest Hillsong Kids songs, Colin Buchanan, etc. We will be organising an audition night for The Crazyburners in the next few months, and so keep an ear out if you want to be a part of that.

The gospel of Jesus transforms lives. The power of the Holy Spirit sets people free and equips them for ministry. We seek to fulfil the work of a 21st Century Salvationist by reaching broken, hurting people and allow them to feel absolutely connected to a community of faith, where they will find unconditional love, joy and hope for their lives. We aim to fulfil ministry that reforms our society.

I am beyond FIRED UP. I am absolutely convinced that the Lord is guiding us, and we will see the fruit to a greater measure as we continue to lay our lives down at the cross of Jesus, and offer our lives as a living, holy sacrifice to the glory of God.

Thus ends the 3064 VisionCast June 2013.

Is anyone excited??!

*****

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John 21:1-14 - Fish, Friends and Fellowship. Guest Blog: David Mackertich

There is something so special about people coming together to share in a meal and fellowship. The more that I have thought about it the more I have come to realise that it is such an important part of life.

Some of the best times of my life have been around a dinner table or a camp fire with friends and family.  You are always guaranteed to have a great laugh. There is just something about that atmosphere. Those that have experienced it might just know what I am talking about.

See, God created us to come together. We were not made to spend our whole lives in isolation from each other.

There is a story in the Bible that I want to share with you about fellowship, found in John 21:1-14. This story begins after Jesus’ death and resurrection. After Jesus had died and risen again, he stayed upon the earth for 40 days to show the disciples that he had conquered death and had in fact been resurrected from the dead.

When we look at the biblical account of John 21:1-14 we see Peter telling a few of the disciples, John being one of them, that he is going fishing. The disciples said that they wanted to join him. During the course of the night they had not caught any fish.

John 21:5 tells us early that morning Jesus stands on the shore and calls out to them and asked them if they have caught any fish and they reply they hadn’t. Now, they do not know it was Jesus, as they had not recognised him (John 21:4). Jesus tells them to then cast the net over the other side of the boat. As they do so they begin to pull in many, many fish (John 21:6). The Bible records there were 153 fish (John 21:11). 

Even though there were so many fish the net still did not break. As they are pulling up the fish, John, the disciple whom Jesus loves, has a revelation that this is Jesus, and he tells Peter. Peter puts on outer garment and jumps out of the boat. When Peter and the disciples had all arrived ashore, Jesus tells them to come and bring some of their fish over so that he may cook it and that they may all have breakfast together (John 21:12).

We see here that Jesus is inviting the disciples to come and share a meal (fellowship). Jesus is the host of the meal. This is a very significant thing in Eastern culture. The coming together to share in a meal is more than just the eating of the meal.

The offering of the meal itself is an offering of peace and protection to the guest. When you sit down for a meal, no matter if you are a stranger or even an enemy, this meal is a peace offering. During the time of the meal, the guest is under the protection of the host themselves. If at any time during this meal someone was to try to harm the guest in any way it is customary for the host to protect the guest, even if it is with their own life.

The host is also to be the one to serve the guest and make sure that they have all that they need. There is much shame on a person if they are not great hosts.

The guest of the meal is the one that is honoured and served during this time of fellowship.

How was this offering to share a meal so significant to the disciples? Here we see that they were honoured guests of Jesus. They were the ones being invited by Jesus to share in a meal. He was the host and they were the guests. They are the ones to be served and protected.

Jesus desired to do all of this even after his death and resurrection. This is Jesus showing that after being glorified by God he still desires to serve the disciples, protect them and to have an intimate relationship with them.

If you were to be invited to share in a meal with a King, you would definitely be served. But the King would have servants to do that for you. What King would actually serve their guests himself? The King is the one to be served. But Jesus is different; he is unlike any other King. In the Kingdom of God the greatest is to be a servant to all. This is Jesus, a servant to all. Philippians 2:7 picks up on this, when it says, ‘he made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant.’

Jesus calls us all to come and fellowship with him. Jesus is offering us peace and protection with God, through a relationship with him.

This peace was given to us when Jesus gave his life on the cross and payed for our sin; He died for us so that we could live in this freedom with him. It is so important take up this invitation to come into fellowship with Jesus and find peace with God.

There are a number of ways in which we can fellowship with Jesus in our lives.

Personal Prayer

Jesus has called for us to go and spend time with him by being (focusing) in his presence and talking to Him. I have seen in my life that when I spend time with God in prayer I feel a great sense of peace. I have found that this sense of peace lasts throughout the day and week.

Community Prayer

Jesus also calls us to pray with other people within our church. This is prayer for one another and prayer for the church itself. This is a wonderful time that we can come together to strengthen each other and the church. I have been encouraged so often through this time. I have had prophecy over my life and have been able to help strengthen others.

Fellowship in Community

There is also Fellowship within the church community. This is lived out primarily through small groups in many churches. At Salvos3064, we call them Connect Groups, where we have dinner together and then a time of bible study on a fortnightly basis. God speaks to people through this time. For me, this is a great time to learn more about God through others in the church. God speaks through the people in my group to tell me things that I did not know or things I needed to hear. This is a great time of fellowship with God and with each other.

Worship

Jesus calls us to not only follow him but to worship the Father through Him. This is a time where we can honour him with thanksgiving. For me, worshipping God makes me come alive, I feel as though I connect with Him the most during this time.

Will you notice Jesus calling out to you?

Will you be like John and recognise Jesus?

Jesus brings peace and protection. This counter-cultural as we live in a world where there are so many people living without peace and don’t feel protected.

Jesus is calling you to draw near to him and have even greater fellowship.

You may enjoy dinner with the family, hanging out with mates, and having a good laugh; though nothing beats having that close fellowship with Jesus. You can deepen that fellowship with him and with those around you, through personal prayer, community prayer, fellowship with others and worship.

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Guest Blogger: David (Macca) Mackertich is a candidate in The Salvation Army, hoping to enter Salvation Army Officer Ministry in the near future. He currently serves in ministry at Salvos3064 (Craigieburn, VIC).

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See Pete's Blog that unpacks John 20:19-23 - Another appearance of the resurrected Jesus to his disciples.

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I Have a Dream! Read the DREAM and listen to the PODCAST

On February 3rd, 2013, I shared this vision with the Craigieburn Salvation Army Community. I hope you are inspired to dream big when you read it:

I have a dream:
That the suicidal in our community will find Jesus will give them hope for living.

I have a dream:
That the depressed will find joy in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I have a dream:
Every hurting person in our community will have an opportunity to respond to Jesus.

I have a dream:
That this church would be used of God to restore broken marriages and broken relationships.

I have a dream:
That family members will give their lives over to Jesus.

I have a dream:
That this church will help people find a deep sense of purpose and calling to live for Jesus Christ.

I have a dream:
That God working in miraculous ways through the people of this church, would be the norm and not the exception to the norm.

I have a dream:
That God will abundantly finance the work of His church, primarily through the people of this church.

I have a dream:
That every idle back-bencher will find their role in the life of this church to help fulfill this great mission.

I have a dream:
That every hurting person would find hope.

I have a dream:
That every person would understand their God ordained giftedness and would use their gifts and skills to honour God.

I have a dream:
That 'Blood and Fire' would not be some cute ideology tucked away on some Salvation Army flag somewhere, but that it would characterize the essence of The Salvation Army movement.

I have a dream:
That The Salvation Army would understand that the best days of the Army were not in the days of William and Catherine Booth, but the best days are actually still to come.

I have a dream:
That this church would powerfully and prophetically impact the wider body of Christ. Not just people in our community but the wider body of Christ right around Australia, if not the Globe.

I have a dream:
That Salvos 3064 will have people waiting in the foyer hoping they will find a seat in the second or third morning service.

I have a dream:
That prayer meetings would be overflowing with passionate people seeking after God's heart.

I have a dream:
That these last few weeks have not just been a nice start to 2013, but it is just the start of something more, what God wants to do in 2013.

 

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Listen to the "I have a dream" podcast below. The dream is near the end of the podcast. The middle of the podcast has a video playing in the background, which you will need to skip while listening.

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