Releasing the Kingdom

Isaiah 61 reminds us of what God has anointed us for, what we were called for, our job description if you like… which is proclaiming the Kingdom wherever we go. We get to bring good news to the poor.

When people are in despair we get to release hope, when people are sick or broken we get to bring healing. When people are anxious and distressed we get to bring peace…

Basically we get to deliver the good stuff…because God is good ALL THE TIME and he wants people to know him.

This morning a few of us were in the town looking for ways to love people and show them the goodness of God.

Tony and I said hello to Brian who was sitting on a seat and asked if he was doing ok.

This led to us sitting with him and just being interested in him and his day.

He straightaway told us he was trying to avoid someone who wasn’t being kind to him and he was anxious. We showed him love and acceptance and he relaxed and seemed more peaceful.

After a little while we asked him the question ‘If God could do a miracle in your life, what would you ask him for?’ His answer was “to give him a new life and new friends”

We told him Jesus had come to give him a new life and that he had died on the cross to make that possible. Brian knew some of the story of why Jesus had come and we told him some more and then got to pray for him to know the love of Jesus for himself. He told us he would like to come to church. He kept calling us his friends and repeating our names and asked if we would chat to him again. We gave him an invite to the Kings Arms.

One of our other friends met a young Romanian man who approached her on the street for help in finding his way to an appointment. She quickly realised he was in the wrong town and wouldn’t make it there in time. She offered to ring for him and explain why he would be late and to rearrange it for him for the following week. She also got to thank the person on the other end of the phone and tell them how amazing they were. She could tell the employee didn’t often get encouraged in that way

Another friend met a girl she had met the street before. The girl asked for prayer to help her stop drinking and my friend got to pray for her and to buy her a coffee and a jumper because she was cold.

There are so many ways we get to bring the kingdom. Jesus knows exactly what is going on in people’s lives and the way to their hearts.

His desire is that they become oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified and that cities might be restored.