Last week, we held a day of Prayer and Fasting over God's future direction for us as a church.
As we gathered together, God gave Richard Davies the following prophetic direction:
From Joshua 3:4: "since you have not been this way before". This phrase is part of a conversation Joshua is having with the Israelites who grew up in the desert, they were not the generation who saw God parting the Red Sea.
We may be used to buying buildings and it might be a familiar process to us but we, like them, have not been this way before and because of this we need fresh faith, fresh vision, new courage and a fresh realisation that God is going before us again. They were called by God to cross over and so are we. And, like them, crossing over simply takes us from here to there.
From Joshua 1:12-14: Joshua gives a reminder to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh: "You asked Moses, can we stay here because the land is good for our flocks and Moses agreed but said you must cross over first."
I believe God is saying some of you will cross over from here to there but the youth and children's work will stay here. But when the time comes they need cross over first to see what they will eventually inherit because children and young people become the next generation. We won't live for ever, they will replace us at some point and so they need to lead the way when we cross over.
From Joshua 2:1: Rahab was an unusual source of help, and God has some unusual surprises as a means of helping us on this journey.
From Joshua 2:10: Rahab says to the spies: "We have heard what God did for you at the Red Sea."
That was 40 years ago and this generation preparing to cross the Jordan were not present when God performed that miracle. But the miracles of God cause the enemy to be afraid; we may forget some of the miracles and some of us were not around when God performed them but the enemy remembers and is fearful. God wants us to leave a legacy of miracles for future generations that we can only have by crossing over, a legacy that causes the enemy to fear.
From Joshua 3:3: "When you see the Ark of The Lord move out then you will know" ... A hallmark of this church is its pursuit for the presence of God. We must keep our eyes focused on Him. We must keep making room for Him. Then we will know when to move since we have never gone this way before.
God still has awesome prophecies to fulfil through this church. Acts 13 is a clear New Testament picture of a church that was a resource centre. And God wants this church to be a Kingdom Resource Centre to the nations and for the nations. The nations will come to us to be blessed and be a blessing. They will come to be refreshed and to refresh us but as a Kingdom Resource Centre we will send our people to the nations. For some it will be more permanent, for others it will be short term visits, but always to be a blessing. God is calling us to cross over so that we can have the kingdom resource centre He wants us to have.
From Joshua 3:4: we need to keep following God since we have never been this way before.
Also, Richard felt God would ask us this question: "Why do you think I placed you here with such a good neighbour?"
If you have a testimony or word from the Prayer and Fasting, email: info@emmanuel.org.uk