Tribe Byron Bay: Recent Episodes
Tribe Byron Bay
Tribe Byron Bay is a community of passionate lovers of Jesus. We have intentionally built a community based on all that Christ taught His disciples to do. Our passion is to live in His presence and walk in His love.
In our new series, we dive into messages and conversations on how to be a missional community. For us to grow and prosper, both individually and corporately, God wants to resource us with His Kingdom economy. Many people have come to believe that it will all happen supernaturally, and God will foot the bill for revival. That is true on one level, but on another level, we are instructed to employ money to grow the Kingdom through entrepreneurial means and through Kingdom wealth. God has an economy, and we get in on it by participating in His strategies for Kingdom wealth!
In the scriptures, we see 4 key principles to step into the Kingdom's economy and financial blessings!
- Stand firm in a good God who provides for what He orders. And who desires to give us the desires of our hearts to see the Kingdom grow. Immerse yourself in Biblical truth and proclaim His goodness.
- Give, and it shall be given. The 2nd principle is the principle of giving out of our income regardless of what has come in! We covered 5 ways to give: tithe to a local church you belong to, give to leaders who sow into you (Terumah), give random gifts, bless others with blessings of gifts, and lastly, invest in Kingdom projects.
- The third principle is that God will bless your plans if you bless His. He is passionate about His Kingdom, so do whatever you must to grow the Kingdom.
- The last principle is to use what you have in your hand and make as much as you can to become a blessing in this life! Start businesses and prosper! Leave a legacy for the next generation!
We must repent of bad attitudes and bitter root expectancies, wrong theology and other things that are binding our minds and hearts so that we go forwards in His economy. His ways are not ours, so we must get our minds renewed and, in particular, come away from all poverty mindsets that bind our thinking.
God is so good and wants to bless us so the Kingdom can increase!
In Malachi, we read: “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.”
This week Phil brings a message on expanding our influence. Scriptures teach that God’s kingdom is constantly expanding. “Of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end.” (Isaiah 9:7) Everything begins in seed form but grows and expands. Jesus told parables to teach us this principle. We are all called to be a part of the expansion of the kingdom and to be looking for opportunities to share Jesus with others, using the gifts God has placed in our lives. We live in the tension between Jesus’ command to abide and to go. The deeper we abide, the more effective we will be when we go! The kingdom of God is within us and as the kingdom grows inside us, that expansion is expressed through the kingdom expanding in the earth. We are poised for great expansion so let’s all take our place in God’s ever expanding kingdom.
In this message by Ken Fish (off the back of our School of Discernment), Ken unpacks an amazing revelation that we have crossed over into a new era in Church history. We must now take possession of new lands and spaces in this time. In Joshua 1 we read:
“Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now, you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”
We are in the season of the first wave of the harvest! It’s time to begin to believe again for the billion-soul harvest that God has promised. It’s time to take the land and enter into this new place. Yes, the battles have been fierce but we must continue to fight and move forward now.
Never think that your gifts will cover your sloppiness. You must be diligent. Let us overcome and prepare for what is ahead!
Ken went on to share 6 key areas that we must not let go of. This word was followed by a time of breaking off intimidation and impartation—an amazing message filled with fire and courage.
Today’s message is from our friend Glenn Rowbotham from the House of Prayer in Mount Carmel in Israel. In Mark 11:17, we read: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
Jesus calls us to pray. He calls us to pray for the nations and to give our lives for His purposes.
Inspired by David's tabernacle, where 288 singers and 4,000 musicians were employed as their full-time occupation to minister to the Lord and serve the community, Houses of Prayer are rising up all over the earth. Many of these prayer houses are fuelled by young people. The current average age of the people manning these houses in prayer worldwide is now 22!
God is on the move! Never before has there been a time when so many have been praying.
When we partner with God, in prayer, we cannot lose. It’s a divine strategy to help us build a relationship with Him. We get to enjoy God, and He gets to enjoy us. We are called to drink of Him and contend with Him for breakthroughs. Corporate prayer is everything! Glenn and Coralie carry a passion for seeing warriors rise and take their place as leaders. We must stand up in the Spirit for this to happen. We must quote the Word of God. We must never go it alone, and stand on His promises.
There are two purposes for Houses of Prayer: to send out the harvesters, and to call in the harvest! We had a major outpouring of the Spirit at the end of this message.
In Psalm 23, we read, “You prepare a table before me in the midst of my enemies!” What a stunning word picture, that in the midst of our troubles and even in an intense battle - God says to stop at a table and feast on Him.
Here’s how it reads in the Passion Translation: “You become my delicious feast even when my enemies dare to fight. You anoint me with the fragrance of your Holy Spirit; You give me all I can drink of You until my heart overflows. So why would I fear the future? For your goodness and love to pursue me all the days of my life.”
The presence of God is a continual feast for our souls. Learning to come to the table of rest and restoration is everything. As David said in Psalm 110, we are called “to rule in the midst of our enemies!” God doesn’t wait for things to get better, He trains your hands for battle on the battlefield. He teaches rest as we advance and even when taking spiritual retreats.
It’s all about rest!
Our rich heritage as believers includes the contemplative tradition where stillness and quietness are spiritual disciplines. Being still and quiet and taking time to wait on God sets us up for being filled up in our reserve tank. This infilling is not so we can serve more, it’s so we can know Him more! We learn more about God when we stop and let Him fight the battle for us. As we stop, rest, take communion and focus on Him, we are allowing Him to rule over us and ultimately through us.
In the continuation of the Life of the Warrior series, Phil focuses on the theology of spiritual breakthroughs. This is a contentious topic. Some love it, and some loath it. There are times when God calls His people to engage the enemy by pressing in for a breakthrough through prayer and praise. If we don’t respond to the leading of the Spirit, we will miss the breakthrough that God has for us in that moment. Why do we have to contend for what belongs to us through inheritance? We must fight for what is ours because the devil contends against us to prevent us from obtaining our inheritance. The battle has come to us. Therefore we must fight! Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force!” (Matthew 11:12) Just as the Israelites had to take the Promised Land by force, so do we.
The prophetic has taken some big hits in this last season, but the true goal of the prophetic is to restore our hearts to one another, to each other and to the Father.
Many in our current Pentecostal and charismatic world see the prophetic as one dimensional - to receive the word of the Lord for revival. I believe it’s also for the cultivation of the atmosphere of heaven on earth through Upperoom cultures of worship and prayer that are not afraid of discipleship and the fire of God. It is to build heart culture that is edifying and comforting to even the most traumatised heart.
So many leaders have thrown the prophetic out because of the fire it brings. It is true prophets go through many fires but it’s so we can come out more in love with Jesus. It’s so we can be pure and dedicated to hearing the word of the Lord.
In Acts 3 we see a blueprint for an open heaven culture that is established through the culture of repentance, restoration healing, and then times of refreshing will flow.
Heart prophets call us to a deeper discipleship and healing, alongside revival prophets. Both type of prophets speak life and freedom. Neither is more important than the other, but the heart prophet is like a divine physician who brings the healing voice of God closer to the heart.
God is raising up an army of anointed heart prophets and heart specialists who bring waves of healing upon communities.
Cate Lewis is the founding Director of Freshwater Ministries and as a prophetic Minister, Cate loves to see people connected to the heart of God as she equips and trains people to hear God's voice, and live transformed lives as confident Kingdom people who bring heaven to earth.
Cate, along with her husband Greg also leads the Australian Network of Local Houses of Prayer, a ministry flowing out of Ffald Y Brenin in Wales, practising the Ministry of Blessing.
They are witnessing many testimonies of healing and transformation taking place as they travel extensively around Australia and overseas, running seminars and speaking in conferences and local churches.
In this message Cate talks about how God is raising up an army or ordinary people to do extraordinary things. God is looking for ones who desire what He desires and who have a heart to see the transformation of lives, communities and the land we live in take place.
It’s time for the Church to step into maturity to establish the rule of heaven on earth through every believer in Christ. In this season, God is releasing ancient keys of the Kingdom.
The Ministry of Blessing is a key for such a time as this. Ffald Y Brenin is a ‘thin’ place in Wales where thousands go to experience an encounter with God and now Local Houses of Prayer flow out to the nations and now Australia.
Through Local Houses of Prayer, stories of healing, salvation, deliverance and restoration are being experienced across Australia as presence carriers speak blessing with authority, demonstrating the power of the Kingdom in the earth.
This week we were blessed to have Tim Ferris come and share a word at our Tribe Sunday service! Tim is the Pastor at i61 church in Sydney; a church that Tribe has partnered with for over 10 years.
In this life giving message, Tim unpacks God's heart for maturing the Bride of Christ through addressing rebellion. Sharing his prophetic sense that this season is one where the Father is putting His finger on our immaturity to help us grow up. This is the Father inviting us up to a new place of greater authority, anointing and power that innately attracts His presence.
Tim wonderfully illustrates the importance of living under God's kingly reign, by emphasising how the Israelites' understanding led them into idolatry. Tim states that the Kingdom of God is not a democracy, but one where He reigns with rank, order and authority, and this order is setup so we are blessed, empowered and protected.
Tim talks on the Godly structures of authority that God has made in family and leadership, and how it is important to seek God's understanding of honour in responding to good and bad displays of authority.
Tim shows different examples of good and bad leadership in scripture, to how we should respond with honour and Godly character in each test. He highlights where people had honour, accusation and rebellion, and how a Godly response differs from worldly wisdom.
Tim also uses the story of David and Saul, to illustrate that even when everything points towards judgement and we can feel justified in acting one way, to always seek God's heart.
As believers, how can we sustain pouring our lives out over the long haul? The only answer of course, is through an intimate and connected relationship with the Lord where He fills us up with fresh revelation and encounters as sons and daughters on a daily level!
Without this ongoing empowerment we can slip into performance culture and even burnout - especially as leaders and pastors who somehow miss their own needs in the rush and business of life!
Our sonship identity is everything, and causes us to be secure, not grappling for significance from what we do, but from who we are.
In our livestream today, we are discussing how as leaders we need to be equipped to lead in an emotionally healthy way. Our vision must be to to create healthy culture and healthy teams, where our connection to the Father is vital and our connection to our hearts is equally important too!
Heart Revolution is all about bringing the Father back into the picture by creating culture that puts these values first.
He can help us develop and steward the emotional rest and healing we need to get stronger in hosting His presence and glory.
Our Heart Revolution Pastor’s and Leader’s Day is coming up November 22, 2022, in Byron Bay. Please email prueflipo@tribebyronbay.com to let us know you are coming. Registration is free but we would love to get you on our email list for event details and schedule!
The theme of kingdom expansion runs through the entire Bible. God’s kingdom is an ever-expanding kingdom that is destined to fill the earth. In this message Phil traces the theology of kingdom expansion throughout the Old and New Testaments. The kingdom advances through the preaching of the gospel. At the heart of the expansion of the kingdom realm is adoption unto sonship. Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you!” (John 14:18) We can reframe evangelism into a vision of adoption, transforming spiritual orphans into a great company of beloved sons and daughters. The kingdom looks like an ever-expanding family of sons and daughters. If it doesn’t look like family, then it doesn’t look like the kingdom. The prayer of Jesus in John 17 reveals the centrality of kingdom family in the fulfilment of Jesus’ master plan. The strength of our witness is the depth of our love. Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” (John 13:35 NLT) The church is heaven’s adoptive agency and evangelists are beloved sons and daughters who carry the Father’s heart to adopt an entire generation. We are calling the lost sons and daughters into kingdom family. The success of Jesus’ mission is entirely contingent upon the manifestation of an authentic spiritual family that loves God and loves one another and who powerfully express a supernatural unity. The kingdom expands through love. May this message inspire you to reach out to the lost by reframing evangelism as an expansion of the love of the Father throughout the earth.
In this third instalment in this series Phil explores the role God’s power plays in the transformation of our will. Outside of Christ we may have positive intentions and aspirations but because of in dwelling sin we are fundamentally disempowered to act according to our best intentions to love and to walk in holiness and righteousness. However, in Christ we now have an empowered will to do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Every command is a promise of God’s provision of strength do God’s will. Human will power will not get us there but God’s power woven into the fabric of our being empowers us to please Him in every way. Revelation is central to the transformation of our minds, love is central to the transformation of our emotions and God’s power is central to the transformation of our will.
In Matthew 22, the Parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus teaches us that to attend and join in the wedding celebrations both now and, in the future, you must be clothed with the robes of righteousness. These robes, described as fine white linen in some locations of the scriptures and at other times as the breastplate of righteousness, are vital to our new identity in Christ being formed. Positionally, we are already “in Christ”, but we must step into revelation of right standing with God to lay hold of all the benefits Jesus died for. We must choose to go through the door of salvation and pick up our new clothes that protect us.
You cannot participate with confidence without these garments, and you will no doubt get hammered by condemnation or even orphan thinking can creep back in without this vital covering.
In Revelation 19 it says: “Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad and let us give the glory to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”
Some of the righteous acts we are called to a wild- signs, wonders, and miracles! However, some of the most understated and yet powerful righteous acts we participate in are the powerful prayers that according to James 5, avail much! Step into your new garments and step up to your position as a warrior- dressed for battle.
We are exploring the theme of receiving the kingdom and in Part Two, Phil examines the mechanics of emotional transformation. In Part One he discussed the mechanics of the transformation of our mind but in this new episode he turns his attention to emotional healing and our deliverance from toxic emotions. Do we just confess our way into a life of love, peace and joy or is there a missing piece in the process? Phil suggests that ‘self control,’ one of the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, is front and centre in the journey of emotional transformation. Take the time to absorb this message as it holds a key to your emotional well-being and your journey into true and lasting freedom. We hope you enjoy it and find it beneficial.
In this message in our ongoing series on the Kingdom of God, Phil explores the words of Jesus at the close of the prayer He taught His disciples to pray. “For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:13) What is the relationship between the coming of the kingdom and the glory realm? Jesus is the King of glory and there is no kingdom without a king. We were made to be radiated by the glory realm of heaven and to be transformed through encountering Christ’s glory. A great spiritual battle rages around the unveiling of the glory of Christ. Satan has only one weapon against the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Christ. He seeks to blind our eyes through unbelief in order to hold us in captivity to darkness. This battle is played out daily in every church. The spirit of religion seeks to keep a veil over our eyes lest we encounter this King of Glory. Christ’s call to discipleship is a call to encounter the King of Glory and to be transformed by His glory. His call to forsake all and follow Him is offensive but it is the key to advancing His kingdom on earth. The cross is the gateway to the glory realm!
Faith is a key ingredient to the kingdom of heaven breaking out in and through our lives. In fact the writer of Hebrews tells us that it’s impossible to please God without it. We can therefore conclude from this statement that our faith brings pleasure to God. Jesus often acknowledged and honoured the faith of the people who came to him to receive healing and deliverance, but there is only one time were we are told he was “amazed” at the faith that was displayed. As we look into this story we will discover that amazing faith is birthed out of a heart and culture of honour. This message is an invitation to bring a gift of amazing faith to the Lord today.
Long before the bombshell news of divorce hits a family, or the announcement of an organisation’s leadership team collapsing, or even the shocking vision of smoke and debris where two towers in a city used to stand – long before these things – contempt is at work in the hearts of people.
Simply defined, contempt is being dismissive towards another and ultimately devaluing them. This attitude of the heart distorts perspectives and taints speech. A work of contempt will lead to multiple waves of reciprocating behaviours, whose crippling effect can be seen upon our families, our communities and even our nations.
It’s the very heart attitude behind cancel culture.
Contempt runs rife through social media, politics and sadly, the global church today.
The good news is God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us identify when contempt creeps into our hearts and speech. Additionally, Jesus is our example of the greatest remedy to contempt, which is: honour. Jesus exampled how to honour our heavenly Father and all of His creation.
By following the example of Jesus and maturing as sons and daughters of God who are led by the Spirit of God, we can be a part of God’s plan to clear out the desolations caused by contempt and usher in the beauty of honour.
Proverbs 18:10 teaches us that the character, authority and honour of God is a strong tower and we who are righteous in Christ Jesus, run to it and are made safe. It’s through our relationship with God and His grace that we can clean contempt out of our hearts and be restored to honour. Our Father in heaven, who loves us, is wanting to also heal the wounds that have come from other people’s dismissiveness towards us. This is essential to receiving and imparting the kingdom of God.
As the battle between contempt and honour is held across the earth, the promise of the ‘as it is in heaven’ kingdom lies before us. It’s time for the global church to persevere, mature and not run from these trials that challenge our character so that we can participate in the fullness of God’s kingdom revealed here on earth. It’s time for us with God’s help to resist being influenced by the contempt that the world holds towards God and the church. This humbling invitation into refinement and restoring honour faces us all today.
“And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61:4)
Our Kingdom series continues this week with Maria Mason bringing a fresh look at Matthew 6, where Jesus taught us: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This is the call to surrender our ability to trust in our capacity and go after God’s supernatural provision.
The Lord promises us that He will provide when we build the foundation of trust and placing Him first! What a promise! God’s plan is to get our attention for a fresh foundation in our walks with Him. A life of surrender where we are completely confidant and trusting that He will come through when we place the Kingdom as the first priority.
When we build this foundation of committing our ways to Him and pursuing Him radically despite the cost, we are setting ourselves up for “all these things” being added. There is nothing He won’t do for you, according to His perfect will. There is nothing that He can’t supply. His provision is limitless, and He says to trust His nature like the birds do! Simple steps of childlike faith produce amazing results.
Maria Mason takes us on a journey that starts in Acts 12 with Peter being freed from the prison of confinement to liberty as a son who comes alive in the power of God. His journey was from the orphan (who has the wrong reactions to everything), to a son, and then on to an heir! This is an outstanding prophetic picture of our walk with the Father.
Peter was later instated by Jesus as the founding leader of the church, and went on to write such profound epistles that are of course emotional discipleship material! How did he grow? He submitted to the processes of God and moved from resistance to courage, from fleshly responses to Spirit inspired ones. He was a stunning example to us of the inner transformation that God does and wants to do, for all the children of God.
In Luke 15 we see the son who comes home to the Father to receive of the Father’s provision. To do so, he had to let go of his pride, fear, and independence. The alternative is we can become like the elder brother who is “smouldering with resentment” at not getting what he feels owed. Gods plan is to mature us, so we living in awareness of the ample supply to do all He asks regardless of the outcome.
Our sonship journey starts with meeting the Father. He has an outstanding plan for us to become fathers and mothers in nations, who change the course of history. Sign on afresh for the greatest maturation/discipleship course -the journey of obedience and trust. Real maturity is hearing from God as our Father and putting to death anything that would hinder that maturity.
Under the heading of The Kingdom of God, Phil Mason introduces a new series titled ‘Receiving the Kingdom.’ In this introductory message Phil outlines what it means to personally receive the kingdom. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom and Jesus said we must become like little children to receive the kingdom. How do we posture our hearts to receive God’s kingdom into our hearts? And what is on the menu? Phil revisits the theme of revelation, power and love as it applies to the transformation of our mind, will and emotions. Join us in exploring the theme of personal kingdom transformation.
Our next talk in the Kingdom Series, comes from the Saturday morning of our great weekend with Ken Fish!
Ken is a powerful American revivalist with over 40 years of ministry under his belt, of traveling the globe preaching, teaching and doing the work of the Kingdom!
This weekend marked his 100th trip to Australia and we were SO thrilled to celebrate this milestone with him, and privileged to receive his equipping to our community!
In this message Ken refocus' us to the power and importance of the prophetic, in catalysing revival. Stating that each move of God was preceded with an extortionary prophetic word or sign! These were steeped in anointing and backed by not only scripture, but multiple signs and markers .Referring to many of the messianic prophecies, then the angelic encounters Joseph experienced, Ken uses the lead up to Jesus' birth to unpack this process.
Ken also uses a prophetic word he received during the worship time, 'prophecy is designed to extrude us'! He goes on to show how this extrusion process builds patience and hope, both in us and the church to prepare the way for Gods move.
In this extrusion process God takes a word, he delivers it, then later fulfills it and updates it for the now.
In this next instalment of our Kingdom Series, Rosie looks at the kingdom principle of honour. Rosie unpacks the connection between honour and authority in the kingdom and the importance of understanding and walking in honour both towards each other in the church and towards those in positions of authority in our wider world.
In chapter 10 of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples that there is a reward attached to the kingdom principle of honour. Jesus sends them out to minister with authority in his name and tells them that, anyone who receives them also receives him, and anyone who receives him receives the one (Father) who sent Him.
In the next sentence Jesus then goes on to tell them, “anyone who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and anyone who receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward”. Then finally, whoever receives any of his disciple and gives, “these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, shall not lose their reward.” (Matthew 10:40-42)
Practicing hospitality, walking in honour, letting go of familiarity and recognising the grace and God given authority on our leaders and on the lives of other believers, are some of the key’s to us accessing these kingdom rewards.
In part 3 of this series, Phil Mason introduces what he calls the Seven Pillars of Kingdom Ministry. Based upon Luke 4:18, the seven unique expressions of Jesus’ kingdom ministry outline the scope of all that God has on the menu for each of us as we posture our hearts to receive everything He came to earth to release. The Seven Pillars also outline the kingdom ministry to which Jesus calls us as we join Him in advancing the kingdom. Let this message spark in you a kingdom revolution as you become activated in kingdom ministry.
In Part Two of Phil’s series on the Kingdom of God he explores the nature of the coming of the kingdom. God’s kingdom is revealed in three dimensions. As we explore the ministry of Jesus, we discover that He ministered in sign, word and deed. The sign dimension unveils the power of God. The word dimension unveils the revelation of God, and the deed dimension unveils the love of God. Kingdom ministry is 3 dimensional. It is the outpouring of revelation, power and love, sometimes singularly as when Jesus was teaching or when He was healing the sick but sometimes, He would minister three streams simultaneously. Once we establish that the kingdom is poured out in 3-D we can position ourselves to receive each of these three streams. This is how we receive the kingdom as little children. Jesus said, “Let the children come to Me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” (Matthew 19:14 NLT)
We are beginning a new series on the Kingdom of God. Phil is passionate about kingdom theology and in this message he gives an introduction to Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom. The kingdom message was always front and centre for Jesus. He proclaimed the presence of the kingdom and He demonstrated the power of the kingdom. God wants the kingdom to be front and centre in the life of every believer. That is why Jesus commanded us to “seek first the kingdom of God.” Join us on this journey as we explore the kingdom theme and the way the kingdom message is intended to define the church.
Does God minister to the imaginations of our hearts? Yes! In this podcast, Christopher takes us through some of the many biblical accounts of God ministering to our hearts and the visions we hold there.
God’s prophetic ministry to our imagination is a ministry to our hearts. It’s a combination of firstly exposing what’s in the heart, limiting our vision, and encouraging us to let go of those imaginations. Secondly, energising us towards receiving God’s ways and God’s vision in the imaginations of our hearts. For us to engage in this ministry our hearts need to soften before God. This is done through persevering in our faith, abiding in God’s loving presence and beholding God’s Word. Allowing His Word to paint pictures in our hearts of what it looks like to live in full agreement with what His Word promises.
God is wanting to build up our awareness of imagination and how it connects to our hope, faith and the realisation of God’s promises. It’s time for the church to not shrink back but instead boldly and creatively live from God’s vision in the imaginations of our hearts.
Our Perspective matters as it affects everything in our lives.
In part one we talked about the battle that rages over our perspective. In this second instalment Rosie unpacks the power of having the perspective of the Father and what our perspective as adopted children of God is called to look like.
The Father is calling for us to live from the Truth of who we are as his children, to throw off and turn from all other perspectives.
In Part 2 of this message, we touch again on the uniqueness of Godly relationships. The key feature of Christ centred friendships is the cross. We must have the cross in our relationships if we are to live in the Spirit with one another. The cross is described as a sword in Matthew 10:33 dividing the soul and the spirit deep within our hearts.
Our tendency is to be “soulish” to get our needs met by being one with everyone and not having to stand up in our convictions or values. The way of the Spirit is to teach us to stand up in our connections by being powerful to our own values. Sin will ultimately destroy us or our friendships if we don’t keep the door shut and live in the Spirit together – learning the way of deepening love.
One of the most outstanding ways God has provided for us to go deeper in our friendships is to pray together. There is a unique “glue” that bonds us when we pray. Meals and lots of sharing is also obviously a way to deepen our connections, but the greatest way to deepen Christian connections is to pray and worship with others.
Ultimately though, if we want a deeper friendships, we must learn to communicate our feelings and needs. Choosing to be powerful in our crucial conversations and conflicts.
Lastly we look at 5 areas for Christian friendships:
*Pursuit people all the time and go after them.
*Pray for people all the time. Both with them and then on your own.
*Peace will guide you if you allow God to show you the way in each season and even new friends.
*Be powerful in your own journey
*Godly relationships bear great fruit – they are prolific! Watch for the fruit of the Spirit in your connections.
Be blessed as you listen to this message today and may you receive wisdom for the journey!
Pentecost was a massive corporate God encounter. It was an unforgettable, life-changing experience for those who were there. Encounter is the best remedy to the snare of dead religion. We lapse into religion when we are not encountering God. One of the great lessons of the Day of Pentecost is that God desires to pour His Spirit out upon us again and again and to keep our experience of Him fresh and vital. Paul warned us against “Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:5 NIV) Another translation is: “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” (NLT) The Day of Pentecost teaches us that God desires to bring people into corporate encounters. We ought to expect a fresh Pentecost every time we come together as the New Testament people of God. We hope you enjoy Phil’s message delivered on Pentecost Sunday.
Our perspective affects everything in our lives. There has been a battle raging over perspective from as far back as the garden. The serpent came to Eve, challenged her point of view on who God is and told her, that if she ate the forbidden fruit, she would get to see in a new way. Our perspective is framed up by our proximity to what we are looking at and the angle from which we are positioned. As we draw close to God and his presence, we are able to gain his perspective and see and feel his heart and intention towards us and the world around us. Gaining God’s perspective is a foundational part of our faith journey and builds hope and resilience into our hearts.
Today we dive into a conversation about how rich the Word of God is in growing in a grounded life. Further to that if we want to be deeply grounded in faith, we must dwell in the Word of God deeply. Currently, there is a growing culture of deconstructionism in our Christian world. This culture is deconstructing the church, the Word of God and ultimately your connection to Him in a personal Way. Many have lost their faith because they deconstructed so much -there is nothing left to believe in! This is tragic. Our faith rests on His character as revealed in His Word. It’s vital for your own spiritual survival as a believer that you are filled with a deep reverence for the Word of God.
Our message today covers four key points:
- How to build a relationship with the Word. 1 John 1:1
2.Fellowship is connection. You have to fellowship in the Word with God and others to grow strong.
3.A life of love of the Word grows. We fall in love with His Word as we abide in it. Colossians 3:16
4.A lifestyle or disciplined life in the Word. How can singles, married and households stay strong in God’s word? Father, we pray the Body of Christ lives in, breathes in and digests your word - daily! We pray for a revival of love for Your Voice which is the aim of reading your Word. We are asking for a renewal in our relationship to you - through your Word. We pray for revival in Jesus Name.
Ever feel weary? Or do you feel like giving up? In this message our dear friend and visiting minister, Chris McRae, unpacks some great wisdom and practical encouragement from the book of Hebrews from chapter 12: 1- 3. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Chris looks at four unique portraits of Jesus Christ from this text that give us a clear picture of who He is in the midst of every opposition:
Jesus as finisher
Jesus as race leader(pioneer)
Jesus enduring the cross
Jesus with the prize at the end of the age
Be encouraged to see Christ the overcomer in your life and circumstances today! He is worthy of our laid down lives and will never disappoint us as we keep enduring in the race.
Today’s message is a simple encouragement to have a Godly vision for your friendships. We all need great friendships! Friends love and support us and are there for us in hard times. In Christ however, our friends are those who fight for us to fulfil our calling or destiny. They confront us and say, “come on!” or “grow up” or “you’re doing awesome, or you’ve got this!” We all need fun and we need support and all the lovely things that are a by-product of our close connections, but we need comrades who fight for us to be over-comers in the love tests and spiritual battles that are presenting. The downside of friendship can be that we lose our fire when others around us are in hard times. Beloved, we cannot be passive in how we approach this area as our friends are also our influencers. They help us discern, they affect us, and they leave a deposit in our lives. Having a vision for spiritual connection versus the soul realm, is the key for Kingdom people. Watch out for those who are only about their needs or their world. Counter that soulish realm by loving them but setting firm boundaries around their access to you. Further to that, in the Christian world there can be confusion about being alone or being lonely. Alone is normal and very necessary. We need to learn how to walk alone with Him. But loneliness is more a spiritual reality. We each have to endure the loneliness of a battle that is uniquely ours. We grow when we let others into that battle by being real and powerful about our unique needs, knowing only God can meet those needs ultimately. Remember that keeping your love on is the key to staying connected. It’s so worth it! REFLECTION TIME: are my friends helping me to become a better person? Are my friends getting in my face about staying on course in the Lord and in the Kingdom? Am I willing to build Godly relationships by being powerful and not passive? Am I keeping my love on with all those in my life?
God has a dream! His desire is to see apostolic communities emerging all across the globe, filled with on fire radical disciples who join Jesus in His passionate vision to expand His kingdom across the nations. This is central to the prayer of Jesus in John 17. That the world may know and that the world may believe that the Father has sent His Son! This is the “apostolic project” and it hinges upon the establishment of five fold communities arising through the restoration of the five fold ministry. The flourishing of local churches as cities set upon a hill, are central to the fulfillment of God’s dream and He doesn’t have a Plan B. Join Phil in this compelling podcast as he continues the theme of vision in 2022.
Easter is a time when we as followers of Christ, are once more reminded that God’s ways are not our ways. On the first Easter Sunday Jesus disciples woke up full of grief, thinking and believing that everything they had hoped for in Jesus, their promised messiah, was now lying dead in a tomb.
Fortunately for all of us this was not the end of the story. Jesus had risen and he revealed himself to many women and men that day including two disciples as they walked the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. As they walked Jesus came along side them and set their hearts ablaze as he spoke to them and revealed himself to them in the scriptures. He then he broke bread with them and opened their eyes to the reality that he was indeed alive and risen from the dead.
Jesus comes to us in the same way today and walks along side us, in the midst of life and circumstances that we may not fully understand. Out of his great love for us and kindness towards us, he meets with us, reveals himself to us and fills us with his living hope. (1 Peter 1:3). This is very good news!
The Gospel is the power of God for salvation, and the preaching of the cross is the way into our God given free gift of resurrected life. Our vision must be framed up by this extraordinary reality. We died with Him and are raised with Him anew. As we surrender our lives and pass through the cross, we move from death to life. Jesus had to prepare for many years to go to the cross for us to be made free. He was the sinless one, but he had to learn how to obey the Father. He had to see the joy set before Him and cast out any tendency to go to the “victim mindset” even when falsely accused and rejected. If we want to live in the fullness of the gospel reality, we have to cast out the tendency we all have to be victims instead of trusting God in the process. The Lord has great things for us, and He is pouring out His Spirit in these days to get us ready for even more. Let's keep our eyes on the cross, and although it is offensive to the mind, renew your mind to believe and know that the cross is the power of God for freedom and salvation and resurrected life. A life full of love, hope and real freedom! Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice and for resurrection life! Happy Easter everyone!
Life is full of storms! Relational storms, emotional storms, health storms, actual storms, floods, pandemics, earthquakes, wars, fires, tsunamis etc. And there seems to have been a lot of them lately! Our highest priority in the midst of the storms of life is to find God in the storm. David could endure the valley of the shadow of death because he found God in the storm and discovered that God was with him. We know we are finding God in the midst of life’s storms when we experience the comfort of heaven no matter how intense the storm gets. God is present to comfort us in every trial and tribulation but His comfort is found in the context of hearing His intimate voice. As the storms increase with the threat of far worse storms on the horizon, now is the time to build a deep connection with our Father and to access the unlimited comfort He desires to pour out upon us. Join Phil in this journey of finding God in the storm
Special guest Chad Mansbridge joins us today from Bayside Church in South Australia to bring a message of life and hope for those who have suffered death or division in their relationships. God knows what it is like to be the Father of a fractured family, and He has provided the solution to reconciliation through the Gospel—the power of Christ’s death and resurrection life! Beginning in Ephesians 2, Chad then walks us through the meta narrative of Scripture revealing the many causes of broken relationships, before circling back to the themes of resurrection and reconciliation in Ezekiel 37. Find out more about Chad, and his excellent new book ‘You Can Handle the Truth’ at www.chadmansbridge.com
Todays message is part 2 in a series on Grace. Grace is the empowering presence of Jesus. The Kingdom is a kingdom of grace, and we now live in the administration of grace. The old covenant is obsolete in that it wasn’t a Spirit empowered culture. Our new culture in Christ is fully Spirit empowered and Spirit led. God is brilliant at showing us how to live in His grace and stay in His grace. If we lose our way, we just have to come back to what grace is resting on us in a particular seasons. There are of course many spiritual practices that set us up for being empowered: real relationship with God, prayer, the truth in His word, being engaged in worship, communion, impartation as well as being still and resting. Further to that, there are natural joys that God has given to multiply grace such as family times and doing good for others. Another key way of posturing our hearts for more of His Spirit is by dealing with our stuff! Making room internally for more of God by emptying your heart of pain and wounds will mean you have the supernatural grace increase within you. Our key text today is from 2 Corinthians 12: My grace is sufficient for you! When we are under pressure there is a provision for us to grow, but its only when we choose to wait on God that we will step into the next level of grace on our lives! Step into His grace on your life today!
In this message, Phil continues the series on vision as he explores the topic of cultivating passion for Jesus. Passion is not something we can generate or muster in our own strength. It emerges as a by-product of encountering Jesus’ incredible passion and love for us. Only Jesus can set our hearts ablaze with a burning fire for Him. It’s apparent that Jesus’ words in Matthew describe the current world mood. “There will be such an increase of sin and lawlessness that those whose hearts once burned with passion for God and others will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12 TPT) The only way we can survive and then thrive in this season of increased spiritual lawlessness is to receive an impartation of heaven’s passion for Jesus. Lord we position our hearts for more!
We continue with a fresh vision for the Kingdom in our new series. Today’s message focuses our attention on the need for the grace of God in doing all the impossible things that God has got for you in this life. If the Kingdom were do-able in your own strength, you wouldn’t need the Holy Spirit to fill you continually with fresh grace! We were made to live a life of fullness and that is supernatural. We must understand that we can never do the works of God in our own strength. Grace is not only unmerited favour, but it is His empowering presence to do the works and wonders of heaven on earth. From the miracle of the heart journey of love, all the way through to the miracles of physical healing, it’s all by grace. From living in supernatural provision to living out the dreams and adventures of His passions for you, it’s all by grace. Grace is the atmosphere of heaven that is available to you to fulfil this wild and crazy journey. Today there is a unique grace available to you for your life! Don’t try and live in some one else’s lane but just access His grace for you and walk in partnership with His plans. Truly “His grace is sufficient” is the best news ever!
In this second part in his series on vision, Phil Mason explores the theme of the kingdom of God as the Realm of the Father. Viewing the coming of the kingdom through the lens of the Realm of the Father is a game changer as it shifts the conversation to receiving the Father’s adoptive love and our subsequent integration into His glorious kingdom family. If it doesn’t look like family it isn’t an accurate representation of the kingdom. Receive this conceptual paradigm shift and find your heart drawn closer to what it means to receive the kingdom.
This week’s message by Phil Mason focuses on the vision of the Kingdom of God. The new birth gives us new eyes to see the kingdom and to begin to align ourselves with heaven by praying “Your kingdom come!” A huge spiritual battle rages over seeing the power of heaven invading earth and the powers of darkness work overtime to blind us to the infinite supply of heaven. Join us as we journey into the unfolding revelation of working alongside Jesus in bringing His world into ours.
This morning my message is entitled walking through walls. But it could equally be called walking on water or scaling mountains! You get the idea. The image here is doing something that you cannot do in your own ability no matter what!
Our subject matter is all about intimacy with God! There is a connection that God has for you that is so supernatural, that it is literally impossible to do in your ability or strength.
Many believers stay in safe spaces because the trials of pressing into a deeper oneness with God is a battle! In fact, the battle is always about intimacy!!
Walking through life as believers, is not just a move from one feast of fellowship to the other, but a rich tapestry of both community in the Spirit with others and total alone time with God. The soul realm and the world will always be pulling you towards noise, togetherness, busy and so on. We must silence all that to meet with Him and walk with Him alone. Solitude is the life Jesus modelled to us, so we can go deep into communion with the Father. He showed us it was an avenue to prepare for major tasks, to hear from God in decision making, to grieve, to grow in authority and to just be in rest. The Father has so much to say to you for the coming year. Now is a great time to come aside and have a time of solitude and listening prayer.
As humans on a journey there are some very lonely seasons. Friendships go through pain or pruning in order to drive us deeper to God. There is a loveliness to seasons of loneliness. God has allowed you to feel lonely in some spheres of our lives, so that we will walk with Him. This is the normal cross centred Christianity that Jesus, the apostles, the mystics and the saints have modelled to us through the ages. Come aside this season and be with the Lord. Take time to listen. Take time to hear. Take time to be with Him and don’t despise it. Embrace the journey of being alone. It’s a special time, a special season and a special place to walk with Him. Break off the fear that you will miss out. You will gain and it will set you up for every breakthrough you need in this time.
In todays podcast Amos Tieman walks us through Psalm 23 whilst drawing upon personal testimony from his own experience of “the valley of the shadow.” Because we live in a fallen world due to the consequence of sin we will walk through valleys in this life. However, the most important lesson that we can learn and experience is that God is with us and that we can get to know him more deeply in the midst of these trials. We can experience his peace and presence in every circumstance we find ourselves in because he is good.
During his reign King David was given a revelation of the importance of the role of gatekeepers in the Lords temple, to the point where he appointed 4000 Levite gatekeepers during his reign alongside another 4000 worshippers. In Psalm 24 David called to his generation to cleans themselves in order that they might ascend the hill of the Lord and become gates through which God, the King of Glory, would enter. Part of our calling and mandate as believers in our generation is also to act as gatekeepers. We are a royal priesthood of gatekeepers over our own lives, hearts and families as well as over the earth. As gatekeepers there are many different kinds of gates that the Lord has given us keys for. He has given us keys to unlock prison doors of injustice and unforgiveness in hearts and lives. He has also given us corporate keys to open up gates over nations and regions so that we can usher in the King of Glory over our generation. The key of David is a master key that opens doors that not one can shut and shuts doors that no one can open. As we cleans our hands and hearts and let go of our idols, we ascend the hill of the Lord together as a royal priesthood and usher in Jesus the King of Glory, who will come in and release his glory and justice on the earth.
Fasting is a continual prayer before God that brings a deeper intimacy with him. It releases the anointing and favour and the blessing of God in our lives. I’m talking on three areas today. 1. Breakdown 2. Break up and 3. Breakthrough. It says in Matthew 6:1-18 “When you fast anoint your head and wash your face.”We are going to look at what anointing is and how important it is in the three areas I just mentioned. Fasting is a tool and a weapon of our warfare; an act of worship for you and a spiritual feast. Fasting is amazing. I want this word to inspire you to make fasting a part of your lifestyle.
In John 12 many of the followers of Jesus and the disciples heard a thunderous sound from heaven. At that point the heavens opened and the Father spoke in a loud audible way over Jesus: “I am going to glorify You!” This verse is a revelation of many things! It says that some heard the thunder and some heard the Father! In other words their perception filtered what they heard and who they heard! This is stunning! We live in a busy world and we are all busy people. There is so much to do nowadays just to earn enough money to live, yet we must take the time to be trained in the hearing the voice of our Father. As we do that, we find we are naturally overcoming the voice of anxiety, the voice of fear and the voice of intimidation. These voices are the relentless voices we must overcome. God moves at a higher frequency. He is love and has a great plan for each of us. We must cultivate a listening ear as a big part of our spiritual life. We must sit with Him and learn to hear how He speaks and why He speaks and what He speaks. The Father speaks to our heart. He speaks words that are helpful, revelatory, creative, plans for the week, plans for the day, hopes, His heart and much much more. Beloved if we do not go into the secret place and shut the door we will just be listening to the voice of the enemy, others voices or the voice in our heads telling us what to do and what to think. Today is a great day to practice listening. Take your journal and stay in His word till you hear Him speak to you. Tune into the flow of the Holy Spirit. You will be freshly amazed at the practice of listening prayer!
Prayer and forgiveness are a dynamite duo and they are not just linked by virtue of what they are, but who they are. One is talking to God about many things that we desire or want. The other is an attitude of heart that determines whether God is going to answer the prayers you just prayed! They are inextricably linked and carry much weight in the Spirit!
In Matthew 6 Jesus teaches us how to pray and it’s here we receive the Lord’s Prayer, as it has been named, or the Our Father. This prayer of Jesus is stunning, because Jesus links it to forgiveness at the end of this in verses 14 and 15. “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Prayer and forgiveness are a dynamite duo and they are not just linked by virtue of what they are, but who they are. One is talking to God about many things that we desire or want. The other is an attitude of heart that determines whether God is going to answer the prayers you just prayed! They are inextricably linked. Forgiveness is a powerful manifestation of love. It is an indicator of maturity, obedience, and more! But the big thing that is highlighted in this message, is that our ability to flow in forgiveness is linked to our prayers not being hindered and our lives being radically blessed. Forgiveness is a life skill, and is based on a spiritual principle that if we sow we will reap. Henry Wright says: “our forgiveness from God the Father begins vertically, to the degree that we make it work horizontally.” Again in John 20:23 Jesus takes this further by linking us as family in the culture of forgiveness! “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven, if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven!” Beloved, if we retain or hold on to judgements towards others, we will find that our sin is a stumbling block to their healing! How can that be? Because we are one in the Spirit! your healing and my healing are linked! We are a body of believers and our hearts are one. So let us go on to maturity, let us learn the deeper end of the pool of love and forgiveness and let us learn and re-learn how to be a people of the heart who keep no record of wrongs, no lists of grievances, no book of debts and no remembrance of the hurts. Keep letting it all go!
We can find many incredible examples and promises throughout the bible of the power of God’s Word and ways in which people were used by the Lord to release his word in order to bring breakthrough into impossible situations. In the New Testament Paul wrote to the Ephesians exhorting them to take the sword of the Spirit which is the “Word” of God and to pray. In the Old Testament God told Moses to "speak to the rock" so that its water would be released. As we take hold of the word of God over our lives, we are able to speak to different situations in our lives and in the world around us and release the promise, provision and breakthrough of the Lord into seemingly impossible situations. This is part of our mandate and inheritance as children of God.
In today’s live stream and podcast, Serena Gallagher unpacks Isaiah 60:1-7 as a template for having hope. Through this teaching, Serena opens up a revelation of how knowing the truth of God’s character and His Word is then knowing God’s goodness in the midst of any darkness that might surround. For that to be a consistent change agent in our lives, we need templates. A template is an example that is useful in knowing what something should look like or how it works. Good teachers will always provide their students with a template for them to look to, to gain further understanding on a particular topic. God is the most masterful teacher, who has always provided templates for us to see what the Kingdom looks like. For example, His creation is a template. An Old testament example of a template is the story of Abraham and Isaac. In this story we see the gospel narrative. The Father sacrifices His only son for the sake of the world, or in this case in a model of obedience. Jesus used parables as templates to teach us in the New Testament. As “God students” we need to see a model for Kingdom life, so we know what the template is. In the prophetic book of Isaiah we see not only the mandate for Kingdom life, but Kingdom hope. Friends, we can have confident hope that God’s dwelling place will have fruit that will cause our hearts to throb and swell with joy regardless of what is happening.
The Isaiah mandate is the call to live the exchanged life in Christ. It is also the call to Kingdom ministry that Jesus inaugurated in Luke 4. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us to break the power of sin, trauma, shame and even our bad choices or sinful patterns. Kingdom ministry is prayer ministry, and it’s meant to be our normal everyday prayer life! Shame is an internal response and narrative to our sin and failure. All humans suffer from it, as it’s basically the human condition. It is also a toxic and unhealthy response (emotion), to this flawed state of being, and causes us to hide and avoid. The bottom line is that shame says, “I am bad,” however, that narrative is not true! The truth is “I did bad” and now I need to be healed and washed clean!
It’s a relief that the powerful message of a “shame-free culture” is getting out there. Shame needs definition. If we say that “all bad feelings” are the same as shame, then that does away with the powerful need for conviction and guilt, which help us come to a Godly repentance. A “feel good” culture has no place for bad feelings like repentance, and will cause us to slip into false grace, away from discipleship and ultimately Lordship. God uses our shortcomings to bring us to repentance. It’s then we experience sonship! Knowing I am loved, worthy of His grace and that I cannot be separated from Him because of that love is a phenomenal freedom. Coming into right relationship with God is everything. He loves us and is calling us to live as His adopted kids – filled with His love and grace, able to discern shame and step away from it to the fullness of a double portion.
Isaiah 61 is the call to the live the exchanged life. Jesus came up out of the wilderness in Luke 4 and declared this at the beginning of His ministry. He commissioned us to be a redeemed people who shine because we are healed in our hearts to carry His presence. In verse three of this chapter, we read that we are to have the “oil of joy for mourning.” Beloved, it’s a season of stepping into a greater anointing of joy. We acknowledge the radical suffering going on world-wide, but without joy, we will not have strength to overcome and be part of His healing team! Instead we will wither and die. There is a Spirit joy that is violent. It is overwhelming and completely not of this world. It’s the heavenly joy of Jesus and it’s time for the church to be anointed again with this joy. Joy will heal you. Joy will fill you. Joy will make you feel well and able to do all that He has called you to. Sorrow may last for a night but His joy is coming!! It’s time to plan for a joyful response as we walk through the calamity and suffering of this world. We are not able to control the next thing that goes on. You can’t stop the trauma, the loss, the pain, the grief, and suffering. It’s all around us. But we can control how we respond to the tribulations that are upon us. He is calling us up. He is asking us to pray and be anointed afresh with new joy and new hope and new life. Don’t despair. Pray. Don’t give up. Pray. Don’t look around you and try and figure it all out. Instead pray and keep on praying and joy will be our outcome. We are a people marked by Heaven. And Heaven is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. I pray you hand over your pain today and let the new joy touch you and fill you!
We are in a unique season and therefore it requires unique responses. I believe the Father is giving keys on how to position our hearts to overcome in this time! It’s not a time to be passive but strong. It’s not a time to burn out - but burn on! It’s not a time to quit but keep going. Keep praying! Keep building the House for His glory and being filled with His grace.
In time, the fruit of this season will be evident. Are you in training alongside Jesus to reign over all the enemies plans? There are 10 key areas I believe the Lord is giving keys in during this unique time! 1. Relay your covenant relationship foundations with Him- intimacy and first love anointing. 2. Passing your fruit inspections – eg your love tests and battles. 3. Go through the gates and thresholds God has for you in this season. 4. Invest into the prayer movement – the House of Prayer. 5. Receive fresh intel from Heaven – not from the world. 6. Overcome the fear and intimidation manifesting as conspiracies and "hear say". 7. Sit under the Spirit of Wisdom and of Revelation. 8. Get Healed from past wounds, traumas etc. 9. Pick up your prayer assignments and align yourself to His plans. 10. Position your heart for fresh Waves of Grace and Glory as persecutions and troubles increase in the earth
As we journey with the Lord we grow to realise that there is an ongoing work of healing and restoration that He is doing all of our hearts. As we walk this out over time, we see that this is not only a work of healing but also a work of preparation that is unfolding within us for the sake of the world around us. In this word Rosie looks at the life of Nehemiah and the role that prayer played in preparing him to step into the mandate on his life to repair and restore the walls of Jerusalem.
The Isaiah Mandate is the call for a full restoration of our hearts now. Isaiah prophesied that the power of the gospel was for the healing of the broken places – the broken-hearted places. In modern terms, brokenheartedness is the traumas we have been through. Most likely there are many traumas from your huge life - some of which have not been processed nor healed yet. Some of the deepest traumas, are not things we want to revisit ever, however, when we push those things down in our trauma tank, we are doing the worst thing ever for our hearts. The good news is, God wants to heal you firstly because He loves you, secondly because you must deal with the lies that hinder you moving forward, and thirdly because your traumas will only fester and increase when left. Further to all that, the mandate to process our hearts, is actually evidence of our self care or sense of worthiness (ability to receive His love). The Father wants to build up our love tank or self worth tank, so that we can process all the hard things - not avoid them! Beloved, the bad news is - additional traumas are coming! Yes… that’s right.. more traumas are on the way! This is not something you can avoid as a human, nor is it something you can control! Life is hard and becoming an expert at resilient responses to pain, betrayals, disappointments, sickness, death, loss or even persecution is our address. Of all the people on the planet we need to be learning “healing”… it’s not an add on extra but a necessity to life! Some might say a survival skill. Jesus simply calls it love! Feast on His presence today and allow His love into the journey, by processing, forgiving, receiving revelation and the key thing- through receiving prayer ministry! Jesus heals !
Isaiah 61 is the call to the live the exchanged life. Jesus came up out of the wilderness in Luke 4 and declared this at the beginning of His ministry. He commissioned us to be a redeemed people who shine because we are healed. The year of Jubilee is our inheritance in Christ! By His grace, we are given back a healed life (beauty) for the ashes of our brokenness. For this to occur, the gospel must be applied to our souls for the fullness of Isaiah’s mandate to be fulfilled. Beauty for ashes comes because dead places within our hearts are restored and resurrected. This is a call to New Testament prayer ministry! Humans are like “lie magnets” and often internalise experiences as lies which exacerbates them. For example, most people struggle with a root of rejection from childhood. The fruit of rejection unhealed, often looks like deep insecurity and a sense of self-loathing which can manifest as envy, comparisons and even as criticism and judgements. Right now, there’s a shaking going on, and its revealing all the unhealed things. Our mandate is to keep on being healed (it’s not over yet) and then become an army of heart healing specialists! One of the best ways to begin to heal, is to first validate our own heart. If it hurt -then it needs to be validated and healed. Beloved, of all the cultures in the world, we should be the most validating culture, that brings this healing! Let’s remember the admonition from James 5: “Pray for one another that you may be healed!” Let's receive this ministry and give it away this week!
Today’s message from Liz is about the fire and the fragrance and how important they are to our prayer life individually and corporately. Drawing from a prophetic picture the Lord gave Liz, comes a model for the house of prayer. Our lives are like incense ascending to His throne. We become a great picture of His heart as our homes or households become individual houses of prayer. The work that Jesus does in our lives, of transforming us by the fire, produces such a sweet fragrance and incense that goes to His throne. As we yield to Him as a “burnt sacrifice” His Holy Spirit breathes on it and produces something of beauty. The importance of getting healed is so we can carry more of Him to others. He is amazing! He takes the dead wood in our lives and with His fire burns off the judgements, attitudes and wounds that need to go, so we can display His love and glory on the earth. Through the prayer room or houses of prayer, we are becoming portals where we bring heaven down to earth. The fire and the fragrance rising from our hearts and our houses of prayer produce a brilliant light, like a beacon on a hill. Our best days are ahead as we see how powerfully His work is in us. He will do all that He said and more! Get ready by attending to the fire in your heart today!
Everyone loves that feeling of finally reaching the mountain top and having a clear, vivid vision of the surrounding region. We stop and gasp at the view, taking in all the beauty of the landscape below! We breathe in deeply, the beautiful crisp mountain air and instantly feel incredible! Like Jesus, we are called to live from the mountain top. The Christian life is an elevated one. High above the earth, not on the ground where you can not see with the chickens, but like eagles we rise up in the thermals and glide about in the Spirit - living free and unencumbered from this world with all its stresses, issues and neurosis. Ascending the “the hill of the Lord” is the way David referred to the life of prayer and worship in Psalm 24. What are the benefits of a life of ascension? Apart from being refreshed and invigorated, the body of Christ will be filled with an unusual discernment that comes from sight. It’s time for a much greater seer gift to kick in for the church, but it will not happen if you don’t turn the TV off and enter the worship zone where the Master mountaineer, Jesus, will teach you to ascend the high places. When we live like this, no matter what the devil throws at us, we will overcome, and we will do it with great joy and a sense of lightness as we leave behind the warfare below. My prayer for you in this teaching is that the glory and grace of ascension comes on you and over you -lifting your heart and even your head to a realm where He dwells. Leaving you feeling as light as a feather and addicted for more!
Many Christians like to convince themselves that there is no battle in the realm of the Spirit because of the finished work of Christ, and probably because it might seem a more convenient theology! Nothing could be further from the truth, and the scriptures support this idea completely as does life! There are many battles we must fight and win!
In Ephesians 6, we read that after applying the spiritual armour of God, that we “can take our stand against the devil’s schemes.” In the Passion Translation, it says of Ephesians 6: “Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you”!
Further to that, the battle that we are in, is not one that can even be waged with the world’s weapons, but through the powerful weapon of prayer! Through 1 Corinthians 10 and other key New Testament verses, we are given many keys to fighting the battle against internal and external strongholds of our hearts and in the realm of the Spirit.
Through this message we look at how taking our thoughts captive to Christ’s obedience is a key to winning the battle. There is also the powerful tool of binding and loosing through deliverance prayer and intercession. Beloved we are not left to our own devices; we are given such power through the privilege of prayer!
Our engagement to this reality is of the utmost importance in wining people to the freedom that is theirs and ours in Christ, and besides that, it is actually the most fun! Winning is your address! Beloved let us engage the battle and enjoy the journey with Christ as your light and armour!
To pray is to participate with God in the divine. This wonderful opportunity is so easy to take for granted. We can get lost in our own problems and needs and get distracted from this royal work of the Kingdom. Praying for another is an invitation to release the royalty of heaven over someone else. This opportunity can be our greatest act of service, unto the Lord, as we serve another in their need through prayer. The powerful act of praying for another shifts the focus off ourselves, places our eyes on the Lord and releases blessings toward another.
Never before has anxiety been so talked about! Is it really increasing or are we just finding language now for the human condition without the Father’s security to our precious hearts? I believe it’s a mixture of both. We are living in times where research is proving an increase of anxiety in society, and at the same time we now have a lot more reason to be worried with an increase of calamity in the air.
In the Kingdom, there is a supernatural provision for both the internal issues of anxiety and the external atmospheres of anxiety in our society. In Philippians 4 we read “be anxious for anything.” We are guided to replace this feeling of terror or fear with God’s peace through the practice of prayer! This is the kind of prayer that leads us to hand over our burdens to the Lord.
Is it that simple? It’s both complex and simple!
In some respects, because anxiety is symptomatic of deeper issues – it signals where our trauma is stored and needs healing. This is so real and must be validated and processed in each person’s journey. This part is complex.
From a Biblical point of view, there is also a simple answer that will increase peace. In the Message translation of this verse, it says: “It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life.”
It’s time to learn many new skill sets. As believers, we must learn what to do with the anxiety that is being highlighted right now, but also how to minister to the anxious places in others. Don’t believe the lie that anxiety is just mental health issue, and that you’re stuck with it. We are not stuck with anything! God moves and changes things as we co-operate with His ways. Be transformed by gaining a renewed mind towards this very important issue of anxiety in our world today. Beloved, learn to be a funnel of the supernatural peace that passes all understanding!
The call to prayer is a call into partnership with heaven but also into a partnership with each other as the body of Christ. Jesus tells us as his disciples that whenever two or three of us come together and agree on anything in his name he will be there with us.
The “prayer of agreement” and the corporate prayer meeting releases epic breakthrough in the earth and is one of the most powerful things that we get to do in the kingdom this side of heaven.
Praying with other believers teaches us to pray and helps us persist in prayer as we stand and fight together for different breakthroughs that we are still contending to see. It is also a place of celebration and prophetic encouragement and the place where we receive fresh impartation and fire to fuel our walk with the Lord.
Jesus is releasing a fresh commissioning to his bride in this hour, for us to form powerful partnership in prayer that will release epic breakthroughs and the fire of his love on the earth.
The church in western culture has very little understanding of a theology of suffering. This is quite surprising considering our Lord and Saviour was crucified on a cross and calls His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him. The Apostle Paul knew all too well what it meant to suffer and makes comments like “I take pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, needs, persecutions and in distresses, for Christ’s sake” (2 Cor 12:10). This message looks at the reality that many suffer through the circumstances of life without ever seeing the healing they desperately need. This stirs in the believer the hardest of questions. Where is God in suffering? As the church we need a theology that helps answer these deeper questions. I invite you on this journey to discover something more profound than simple answers. Come and experience the fullness of Christ in the mystery of suffering.
Loving our neighbour is not always easy. Loving our enemies is the next level, and biblically we don’t get an “out” on this! Today, we continue our series on prayer, by looking at a portion of the Beatitudes where Jesus confronts our often-selective process in who we spend time praying for. We don’t have to agree with people to bless them. We are called to love even our enemies- those we disagree with or even those who have deeply betrayed us and used us! Let’s dive into a conversation about judgment, hate, race, gender and even ageism by studying the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. The power of blessing others is uniquely Christ centred value, that releases divine reaping! We gain His heart, and they gain a witness of love! Nothing is more powerful. It’s time to deal with some old things to become the new thing in the earth – one body, dedicated to kindness. In the famous words of Anna Voskamp:“If Jesus can dip from the same bowl as Judas, we can share the same table - the same space- with anyone - with grace!”
Jesus calls us to follow Him, but what does that actually look like? It looks like following the lamb who was slain to the cross. Jesus won the greatest victory over His enemies by defeating them on the cross. That was us. He defeated us on the cross. It was our sin He defeated. We were once enemies of God but are now beloved sons and daughters called to follow Him. Now it’s our turn to love our enemies and in doing so we love like He loved. He is worthy
Throughout the Bible God is described as an abundant God! His character is to be abundant. In this message Serena Gallagher unpacks God’s nature of abundance in His willingness to answer prayer, and uses the confronting stories of Luke 8:26-56 to illustrate there is no place where God can not be the answer to even the most trying of our needs.
We live in the busiest time in the history of the world. We have more access to information than any other generation and are constantly bombarded with it. Mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and burnout are all on the rise. How do we as followers of Jesus show the world a better way? Silence. To spend our silence on the Lord is to sever every other distraction. To be with Him just resting in the fact that He is near refreshes our soul. There are so many voices demanding our attention yet there’s only voice we need to hear. Come and spend some silence with the Lord; His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Our lives are of series of miracles. Honestly, if it wasn’t for God’s grace, we would all be dead! Most of us can count at least 5 miracles of His hand, but lots of us can count 100s if not 1000s! The more we live in our bodies, fight battles, drive cars, dodge hectic situations, the more we realise we are protected by an unusual grace. If we then go on to think of the miracle power of God that manifests in and through the healing of the sick, the provision of finance (always a miracle), then we start to acknowledge an aspect of God’s nature, that is SO worthy of praise! Fasten your spiritual seat belt and let’s dive into the life of miracles that is opened up when we pray! We are all learning how to access His grace in this area, and it’s time to keep learning as disciples of faith, hope and love. We were made for the miraculous and the extraordinary! Lets press in together!
(this message was originally given at our Father’s Heart Prophetic School)
~
Our message today is all about maturing into a unique version of you! There is so much emulation and copy in our society because we often look for models to look up to but can end up not quite being ourselves. True maturity is being yourself not someone else! Further to that, Christian maturity looks like becoming more like Jesus. Many prophetic people have strong personality features like being black and white. We look at how to manage that and stay away from being kooky! Maturity as prophetic people takes community and kindness. In short it looks like the Father’s love, moving from the head to the heart, learning to host His glory, growing in discernment and obedience and ultimately it manifests as being an open heaven in whatever way God would desire! It’s time to mature in love through His grace and for His glory. Be you, and be powerfully activated in your growth and maturity so your life is filled with joy and fulfillment!
Mark 11:11-26. In this story Jesus acts out a real life parable. The parable of the fruitless fig becomes a lesson/ metaphor about the tables we put up that stop people coming to Jesus. The temple is to be a house of prayer for the nations, but something is stopping the nations coming to God. The temple is filled with tables that are getting in the way. Jesus has come to remove the things we put in the way of the nations coming to know the Father. In this story the tables are doubt, unbelief, lack of faith and unforgiveness. What tables is Jesus calling you to address in your life to help the next generation come to Him. God calls us to speak to those mountains and throw them in sea.
This week we study the Biblical phrase “praying in the Spirit”, and both the idea of going deeper in the experience of the Spirit, as well as how to get there! Paul’s reference to this in Jude 20 says: “But you, my delightfully loved friends, constantly and progressively build yourselves up on the foundation of your most holy faith by praying every moment in the Spirit”. There are several references to being in the Spirit in the New Testament. As we learn to step in deeper into His presence, we find that we encounter heavenly realities, see explosions of the gifts, of miracles and of grace. One of the ways that Paul encourages us to move deeper into the Spirit is by praying in tongues. This exceptional gift is for the body to be edified and blessed. We often don’t know how to pray, or what to do, but the answer lies in praying and getting immersed into a cloud of His glorious love and goodness. It’s then, we become absorbed in His being - we become focused, intentional, clear, and full of hope. Beloved, go to prayer, get in the Spirit, and even get caught up in the Spirit! Don’t resist, but instead go after the Spirit with all your heart. There is so much more awaiting us all!
In Luke 11 Jesus was approached by the disciples and asked “Lord, teach us to pray!” Jesus of course responded by teaching the Lord’s Prayer as it is commonly called. The focus of this message is on the concept of our relationship to prayer life. If we want to grow we must be willing to learn – to listen, to grow and to mature. We must be willing to walk with Him and learn how to release His authority. There is a great example of this type of discipling from Jesus in Mark 9, where the disciples were not able to cast out the deaf and mute Spirit. Jesus taught them that this type of Spirit comes out only through prayer and fasting. The real question is are you signed up to learn? Are you signed up to grow in the school of prayer? Have you let go of your life and given the Lord permission to be a radical prayer person who contends for breakthrough? The Kingdom is valuable to the degree that we participate in this most Holy School of prayer and fasting!
In this message we look at God’s call to us as his chosen ones, into a lifestyle of persistent prayer.
Jesus highlighted persistent prayer, in Luke 18: 8, as one of the expressions of faith that he would be looking for when he comes to the earth.
James exhorts us in chapter one of his letter, to count it all joy as we pass through trials of many kinds, because God is using these things to mature and perfect us.
In this hour God is looking to raise up his children as a mature bride and as mature sons and daughter in the earth, in order that our lives and prayers might become a gift to the world around us. One of the ways that he does this is by training us in the discipline of persistent prayer.
In Mark 11, when Jesus drove the money changers from the temple, He released a key statement that set a standard for all New Testament culture. After confronting their distraction, He said that His House, was to be called a House of Prayer for all the nations! This is stunning! Jesus set a radical standard for the whole church , to be on page, in the building of the Kingdom! Prayer is not just talking to Jesus, but also singing in His presence! Our study in prayer today continues, by looking at the model called HARP AND BOWL prayer, and worship. This model is based on a scriptural understanding of Revelation 5:8 where John prophesied about the house of prayer being both prayer and worship. This type of prayer is powerful, and overwhelmingly addictive. Those who have tasted of it, are ruined by it, and fall deeper in love with Jesus. This is perfect! A model of prayer that leads us to radical first love anointing and sustains fire as we go out to the nations to love on His Bride and obey His call to the Harvest - which is white! Beloved- its time to grow in love with the Prayer room where the Glory is expanding right now in this season! More Lord!
In today’s message we are studying the power of the practice of gratefulness and thankfulness. This is like the essential vitamin that sustains all of life. It is indeed the most beautiful thing in our hearts to God. It’s the soil where so much grows. If we lose it, we become hard, cold and ungrateful. We then compare ourselves, and judge others, and then even fall into accusation at God for the things that are not. Without the giving of thanks and the lifting of hands we are like spoilt children – entitled and unaware of the blessings. Beloved let us incorporate this ancient practice of thankfulness in the most precious way in our lives. Let us become thankful for small mercies, great mercies and everything that is available to us. Let us be so aware of the simple things and learn to give thanks in all seasons.
The will of God for our lives is both simple and profound. It is often spoken of as something we can’t achieve or even know if we are in it. This teaching helps us to see that being in Gods will is something we can achieve and know. His will for our lives might start with a small seed planted, but with prayer the seed begins to grow into a tree. It’s prayer that ushers us into His heart more and more. The deeper we go into His heart the more we realise we are exactly where we are meant to be.
This week’s Live Stream comes to you from Canberra at the end of the inland prayer journey, after a 10 day trip through NSW cities. We have had an extraordinary time going to key locations, indigenous massacre sights, churches, mountains, old revival locations, cemeteries, houses of prayer and any spot the Lord led us! We have gained much joy and grown in our connections with the most extraordinary believers in each place. God is so on the move in our nation! In Luke 11 the disciples asked Jesus to “teach us to pray!” This needs to be the cry of every disciple in each season. Paul reiterates this in Romans 8 where he says - “we don’t know how to pray!” Learning to pray is a life long adventure with the Holy Spirit as our guide! We must keep on asking Him for wisdom to know to what to pray, and we must keep on leaning in to the prayer assignments that are ours, in every season of our lives! Beloved, let us not grow weary and give up, but instead become the encouragement for others to pray too. It’s time for a massive prayer movement in our nation. Australia - let us pray without ceasing! Now is the time!
This week Serena Gallagher brings a word outlining the role of forgiveness within our prayer lives and God’s role to be the Restorer of the breach. She exhorts the believer to strive for maturity in their lives, seeking to go after the uncomfortable places of pain, and grow in the freedom of forgiveness and love.
We continue our prayer series with a powerful word from Psalm 110, where David prophesied to “rule in the midst of your enemies”. This ties in completely with Psalm 23, “you prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies”. The Father’s authority is in us and on us, to reign over our strongholds and over the strongholds in cities. How do we engage the cosmic level powers of darkness that prevail over a region or a city?
1.We need to identify these powers through spiritual mapping.
2.We need to first overcome these issues in our own personal lives.
3.We must live a life of prayer, praise and worship and watch as the powers of darkness are displaced by our rulership with Him.
We can expect great victories when we defeat in roads on the ground with hand-to-hand combat, destroying strongholds like rejection, shame and fear. Then at the cosmic level the larger powers will be displaced. Cities can be transformed, but we must take up the fight in the prayer room, the counseling/deliverance room and our personal prayer rooms too. The Kingdom suffers warfare, and so there is a fight - but the outcome is always victory if we don’t quit! Don’t give up, but put on the armour He provides, and stay in the peace and joy! God is the winner with you at His side beloved!
This week Serena Gallagher continues our prayer series with a focus on the power of having a vulnerable personal prayer life. John’s gospel reveals the way that Jesus’ life impacted those around him; in this talk Serena draws from John’s account of Lazarus and his sister Mary, highlighting how we too point to Jesus’ life death and resurrection by how we engage with God in our personal lives.
Jesus and the Exodus story have some amazing parallels. The plagues of the Exodus start with water into blood and finish with the death of the firstborn. Jesus starts his ministry by turning water into wine and then becomes the crucified first born. Jesus is the great deliverer who pays the debt for all sin. He becomes a plague to the powers of darkness. He is the great Jubilee freeing Israel, Egypt and the nations.
In this message Phil seeks to normalize the practice of spiritual cleansing. Nothing we do is done in a vacuum. The enemy of our souls is always looking for an inroad into our inner world. Paul taught that we can all experience defilement from the invisible world of spirits that surround us. The remedy for defilement is to cleanse ourselves of every fleshly and spiritual defilement. (2 Corinthians 7:1) Spiritual stuff comes on us and we need to learn how to break it off ourselves and one another on our spiritual journey. This is a normal part of the Christian life.
This week, in our Prayer series, Maria teaches us on Crafted Prayer for our spiritual maturing. Crafted prayer is a great tool to stand in our authority and see the promises of God fulfilled. This teaching is a practical unpacking of how to form a crafted prayer.
Crafted Prayer is a prayer that we write down for a specific battle. It is layered prepared prayer to be used in proclamation and decree! In crafted prayer we also speak to our mindsets, attitudes or heart conditions calling our responses to be Godly and faith filled. We declare the promises and purposes of God for freedom, life and breakthrough.
We are in a battle. Some of our battles are tough! It may be a battle for our emotional or mental health, a finance battle, marriage issues, singleness issues, parenting, career issues, business or others. Our ability to engage this battle is vital! We must move out of being a victim to becoming a victor and use everything to overcome.
The crafted prayer will also have many other benefits: we are speaking life not curses, it will renew the mind, forming new neural pathways and it helps create our culture and increase our faith!
The enemy has a plan to keep us ineffective as Christians, but we are bearers of victory, we are bearers of the good news and God has equipped us with so many weapons to fight these battles. When we pray a crafted prayer, we engage with the Spiritual Realm with prepared declarations that prophesy that we will win this battle! Jesus our victor will show us the way!
The Exodus story demonstrates Israel’s need to be delivered from both the powers of darkness, and from Pharaoh who had come into total agreement with the demonic realm. King Jesus came to deal with both realms; sin and Satan. He is from both the line of David and is the Son of God. He rules over both realities. Deliverance is something that happens in both realities. We break agreement with the demonic realm so we can be free in the natural realm.
Throughout Paul’s epistles he finds himself praying specific targeted prayers over those for whom he was pastorally responsible. Paul taught in Romans 8 that the Spirit teaches us what to pray and how to pray. Paul’s apostolic prayers become a powerful template for our personal and corporate prayer life. Join Phil as he journeys through the Apostolic Prayers of Paul, highlighting the themes of Spirit-born prayers that are designed to accelerate our transformation.
Rosie continues our prayer series on the live stream this week by talking about prayer as an invitation from the Father into the secret place.
In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches us how to pray and exhorts us to build a secret life of prayer with God, as he unpacks what the reward culture of heaven looks like.
The communion meal is a dinner appointment with God. It is a covenantal declaration of how eternally we are connected to the Father, because of Jesus death and resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul gives several powerful truths that occur when we take the bread and the wine. The communion table is a time to remember, proclaim, repent, cleanse and declare the finished work of Christ by engaging our hearts to the gospel. There is a blood stronger than all defilement. There is a body broken that can take all the pain. What will the outcome be? Simply put – miracles occur when we live in the fullness of the blessing of communion practice and communion prayers! Let’s do this sacred practice daily!
In this message Justin talks about our walk with the Lord and a lifestyle of prayer. Prayer walking our towns is such a great way to serve the Lord, the church and our local communities. We have seen demonic manifestations and witchcraft exposed simply by prayer walking on a regular basis. God so delights in his sons and daughters as they pray.
Prayer works and exposes the plans of the enemy. It’s time to raise the bar and be expectant in prayer and see the Lord break through in our regions.
Phil continues our series on prayer with a survey of the themes that Jesus prayed in His epic prayer in the Upper Room. Each of these themes create an excellent template for our personal and corporate prayer focus as we join Jesus in praying for His people.
He is still praying these prayers for the emergence of vibrant communities all over the world that pursue oneness with the Father and the Son and that are immersed in the glory of the Father’s love.
Phil continues the series of teachings on prayer with his message on ‘Praying with Jesus.’ He explores three prayers that Jesus either taught, exhorted or modeled and using these prayer templates he draws out the major prayer themes that occupied Jesus’ prayer life and prayer focus. Jesus lives to intercede for us. He is praying for heaven to invade earth, for kingdom workers to arise and for his church to experience His Father’s transforming love. Let’s join Jesus in praying through these epic prayer themes.
God’s original intention for local church, was to be a literal portal of heaven on earth. When the saints get lit up in the praise-soaked prayer room watch out! Explosive passion, fire and glory will be the result. It’s always a good season to be equipped, trained, and to receive fresh impartation from the Father for His house of prayer for all the nations. Get re-activated in 2021, get on fire and build a prophetic prayer community that is filled with shiny lovers of Jesus. There’s nothing quite like it in all the earth! What other plan could equal this master plan of the Lord of all!
If there’s one thing we need to help set us up for the greater things of God it’s the fear of the Lord. It anchors us to the reality of who he is. It helps us discern the plans of the enemy. It humbled us to hear God’s voice. So how do we increase the fear of the Lord in our lives? Prayer. The sometimes hard and lonely work of prayer in the disciples like keeps us intimately connected to Lord. It bears much fruit and allows us to see God and know God with greater clarity. This is how we grow in the fear of the Lord
In this commissioning message, Maria Mason addresses our hearts to be fully awake, alive and lit up in the glory and the fire that Jesus has reserved for you this year! Everything about the Christian life is impossible and outside of your capacity yet the supernatural anointing God that He has for you will propel you into the very dream of God over your life for 2021. It’s time to wake up and get rid of any offence that has built up against the cost of the cross filled life. It’s time to address any privileged mind sets and any entitlement. It’s time for us to grow up and move on! Did you fall asleep in 2020 or are you awake to the purposes of God to step into a fresh fire and fresh glory? Awake, my soul and sing, awake my heart and burn, awake my life to the glory you have for me! Jesus is here to awaken us fully from sleep – let Him grab your hand and pull you to standing up, eating His Word, nourished and ready for the next year of adventure!
This is a re-post of the final message from Phil Mason’s “Foundations of Emotional Health” series from the first half of 2020. It is titled “Mature Sonship and Emotional Wholeness.” In this final installment of the series Phil contrasts the inner emotional world of a spiritual orphan with the inner emotional world of a mature beloved son. God is calling us all to mature in our Sonship journey and this message provides clear goals of emotional growth in our pursuit of this vision. We hope you enjoy the message and find it challenging in your call to grow in Christ.
In this message, Phil Mason takes his audience on a journey into the heart of biblical theology. Hermeneutics is the science of biblical interpretation and there are a set of guiding principles that come into play whenever we seek to interpret the Bible. The greatest principle of biblical interpretation is unquestionably Jesus’ revelation of the heart of His Father. If this is what God is really like (a passionate loving Father) then all of His actions need to be seen in the light of this singular reality. Using the lens of the revelation of the Father heart of God we can tackle some of the greatest contemporary and historical theological challenges, as we seek to understand the biblical narrative. Join Phil on this fascinating journey as he singles out four hot-button topics as case studies. In each case, the Father’s heart becomes the key to arriving at a clear revelation of God’s will on these controversial theological issues.
John saw an angel proclaiming “Is anyone able to open the scroll and loose its seals?” And John wept and wept as no one was found worthy. But there is one who is worthy. He can take the scroll and open it. He is able to loose Lazarus from the grip of death. He is the one whose own tomb was sealed and yet lays open. He is the one whom John the Baptist wasn’t worthy to loose the strap of His sandal. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is worthy. It’s from this place that blessing and honour and glory and power flow. And now he makes us worthy; kings and priest to reign on the earth.
It’s Christmas time again and each year we are invited to meditate more deeply on the glory of the birth of Jesus and the sublime mystery of the incarnation of Christ. The Christmas event was gloriously choreographed by Jesus’ Father. Together Jesus and the Father planned the entire thing. Not only were there hundreds of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus, He stood out from the crowd because of a number of unique characteristics that affirmed that He was the one and only Son of God. Phil Mason explores the exceptional circumstances of His birth, the absolute uniqueness of His teachings, the dazzling brilliance of His miracles, the glory of His resurrection from the dead and the 2000 years of personal experience of His followers in encountering the glory of His kingdom. Each Christmas we reflect on the brilliance of it all. God has made Himself known to humanity in the person of Jesus and, more than the star of Bethlehem, Jesus is the “Bright Morning Star” who shines brighter than the sun in all its brilliance.
Love is the essence of who God is and how He reveals Himself and it is the platform by which all other platforms are built. In our current cultural climate, the polarization of the various views and ideas has divided the world and even now has brought great pain into the church as the worldwide church has taken this hit quite hard. This division is being fuelled by a rampant political spirit that seeks us to turn on our brother! What a plan! The enemy knows exactly what he is doing! He has crafted the political spirit! This spirit is an actual principality or power that seeks to overtly draw us as believers into battles we were not created for! Further to that, when the church tries to dictate righteousness through the flesh it fails at knowing the Kingdom is in the realm of the Spirit, not the natural. We can’t fight the ways of the world with the arm of the flesh. Jesus Himself said “if My Kingdom was of this world my servants would fight!” (John 18:36) His remedy was quite different! That’s why He said to “come up higher!” And He wasn’t kidding. For us as prophetic company, this means being made into supernatural people who live from Heaven and are not terrified of the days we are in because God has a plan to prosper the Bride even in dark days! Beloved, be filled with love so you don’t buy into the political spirit!
Colossians 1:15-27 is one the great Christological passage in the NT. It lays out how Christ is supreme over all things, and has now reconciled all things to himself through his death on the cross. He is both the firstborn over all creation and the firstborn from among the dead. This means His death on the cross didn’t just save sinners and release forgiveness to them. His death defeated all the principalities and powers in the invisible realm and reconciled all of creation in the visible realm to Himself. We now get to partner with Him as the first fruits from among the dead, to see His Kingdom ushered into the here and now. Salvation is both a future and present event, so let’s start ruling and reigning on the earth with Him today.
In Romans 14 we read that the Kingdom of God is “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” His personality and nature can be known and understood through these three means!
Righteousness is right standing which is imputed to us as a free gift. Peace and joy however are both emotions and fruits of the Spirit. We are given the keys to grow in both these manifestations of His nature. Joy has many manifestations, depending on what we are walking out.
There is a quiet joy and then there is loud inexpressible joy! God has a joy package for each and every season! Joy is as important as love or peace but we just don’t hear as much about it as we need to.
In fact, in the coming decades, we are going to be living from joy as we handle all the changes on the planet. We are going to become brilliant at joy! This is a supernatural joy that doesn’t actually make sense and defies reality!
Let’s get our minds renewed to walk in this brilliant fruit that displays His personality- a smily happy God who is not mad or sad but actually glad! He is full of joy!
The way of salvation revealed through the gospel is a product of absolute divine brilliance! No human being could have dreamed this up. The wages of sin is death but through Jesus’ death He has forever “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Jesus’ gift is eternal life instead of death and all who receive this gift will live forever.
God invites us into the most wonderful opportunity. We get to live our lives For His Name Sake. We get to live under the name above all names. We get to pray in His name and call on His name. Understanding how important His name is reveals more and more of His brilliance to us.
In this final message in the COMMUNITY and VULNERABILITY series, we are looking at how shame is the thing that takes us out from vulnerability and connection. God wants us to be powerful by choosing to be seen and known. Our greatest enemy is the voice of accusation and shame that will take you to a place where you are isolated and alone - even tempted to judge others and hide. Instead, Christian maturity is being able to grow in love by living in the tension of possible rejection, disagreement and even persecution. You have Christ in you, so move towards Him and be clothed in His protective armor of light and of humility. Clothe yourself in meekness and gentleness and live with your heart wide open. He is showing us this lavish love is even for our enemies! Don’t fear – instead, live with the risk and courage of Heaven to be a vulnerable and generous hearted believer who breaks the power of shame by being seen and known. Vulnerability is the key to this kind of love and humility!
In this message Phil explores a vital element of community building. If we are to build community according to the New Testament pattern it has to be an apostolic community. Phil unpacks what an apostolic community looks like and how to integrate the apostolic into community life, especially as this pandemic has forced us to become a house church movement. A cluster of house churches in an apostolic paradigm looks quite different to a collective of independent house churches.
Psalm 23 describes to us how God can be found in every moment. He can even be found in the valley of the shadow of death, and more often than not is the one leading us into valley. He champions us on in the dark moments of life so we learn how to feast on Him. This is how He prepares us for ministry. Just as the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be faced with himself and Satan. So to the Lord leads us to the valley of the shadow so we learn to feast on Him.
In our final in this sub-series on building community, Maria tackles some practical ways to build with vulnerability! The first is with yourself – the inner art of self-reflection and awareness builds an internal culture of vulnerability. The second is in your relationships – and we look at some great communication skills for “going deeper” and the third area is some ideas for building in community. Our communities grow more vulnerable when we work on us and our relationships. It’s also important for leaders within Christian community to model, teach and build up the culture that helps foster “real” connections. We CAN move forward, we are not stuck, and we all have to choose in this busy world to connect more deeply and with hearts wide open. This in turn leads to open hearted communities that can host the glory (presence) in tangible ways leading to an increase of love and empathy. Its so worth it even though its costly, to build from the heart and live in His light and love.
When there is no vulnerability in our church cultures, we accidentally end up with performance culture and avoidance culture which is basically a set up for shame and hiding! In today’s message, I want to talk about some values and help define this new creation vulnerability a bit more. There are a lot of pitfalls and imbalances to getting this right in community. The biggest issue of all is boundaries. Boundaries is basically self-care! The setting of Godly limits. I am responsible for my own health and my relationships and no one else can do that for me. Jesus, Himself, had boundaries and was extraordinarily clear about the things He was going to talk about and to whom! He demonstrated how being powerful was His responsibility! He did not give His power away! It’s time to choose to be seen, choose to be vulnerable and therefore choose to love more whole heartedly in community and in all our relationships!
The Kingdom is all about the community from on high - a community that builds with the open hearted practice of vulnerability. Vulnerability gets a bad rap but its such an important thing for New Testament life to be full and to be vibrant. The opposite of living with an open heart is to live with a closed one, and the result of doing this will, without doubt, be shame and secrecy - which leads to judgement and fear! Because we are called to build a confessional culture (James 5:18), we have to make sure we are learning the practice of truth and love together. It’s not easy and we will fail as we learn but we are called to speak the truth with the powerful ingredient of enduring love. We can not close over and let our hearts be shut down or we will suffer as a result. It’s time to get back out there with courage and build relationships and communities of the heart! The kind of one you would want to visit and maybe even join! New Creation Communities!
In this pandemic season everybody’s relationship to the church is being refined and purified. In this timely message in the new ‘Building Community’ series, Phil invites us to explore the state of our heart toward Jesus’ bride. Paul described the church as “the mother of us all.” (Galatians 4:26) Many of us carry unresolved ‘mother issues’ and church wounds. These wounds hinder our ability to love the bride the way Jesus loves His bride. This is a good season to get our heart right toward the universal body of Christ.
Prayer is for everyone in the body of Christ. It’s a beautiful sacrifice that God allows us to participate in. It’s how we learn the language of Heaven and release His Kingdom on the earth. It breaks the strongholds of the enemy and exposes Satan’s plans in the earth. If one persons prayer can move mountains imagine what a group of people prayer could do for His name sake.
Jesus outlined in John 15 that the Father’s desire is for us to bear much fruit and that the fruit would remain (leaving a legacy)!
This week we examine 3 ways in which believers can grow naturally in bearing spiritual fruit and spiritual gifts:
1. Abiding – dwelling in and being aware of the goodness of His love and presence
2. A lifestyle of Devotion – setting ourselves apart to Him through prayer, study the word, worship and faith etc
3. Through receiving and releasing impartations of the Spirit – dwelling with the saints and doing “body ministry”
In this message Phil Mason explores the story of the lost son in Luke 15. The Father celebrates every son and daughter who comes home to the Father’s house but they older brother “refused to go in and celebrate” his return. Can we celebrate one another or do we refuse to celebrate one another because of offense? If we cannot celebrate one another we end up outside the Father’s house. We are all called to carry the Father’s heart for one another.
Conviction plays a vital role in our walk with the Lord. It’s supposed to lead us to repentance but often it leads us to point out sin in others. Jesus demonstrates true conviction in the story of the woman caught in adultery. He does not condemn her but also tells her to go and sin no more. This is what love looks like.
The Holy Spirit is so powerfully at work in us to do the ministry of Jesus our prayer warrior! He lives to make intercession for us and to call us forward to fulfill the Father’s plans in our lives! He is fighting for you on the inside at any given time. The enemy however is the Father of lies and desires to send as many fire filled darts your way to affect your faith, hope and love! It is time to pick up your sword and the full armor of God, in partnership with Jesus, and defeat what ever is attacking your faith. Stand strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might!! Ephesians 6! You will defeat the enemy with prayer and praise!
In this third part in our Holy Spirit series, Phil opens up the teaching of Jesus from John 7:37,38 where Jesus promises that rivers of living water will flow from our innermost being. The Holy Spirit indwells the people of God as a river, not as a lake. There are keys to releasing the flow of the Spirit and this message unpacks the most significant keys to letting the river flow in and through our lives. Let’s get in the flow of the river and see where it takes us!
Jesus breathes on the disciples and says “receive the Holy Spirt”. Ever since the fall mankind has experienced chaos as a result of sin. The first words Jesus speaks out over the disciples, after the resurrection, is “peace” and then “peace” again. It’s a new day, the new birth has begun. We are now sent as the father sent the son. It’s time to come out from shame and step into the power of the gospel.
We all talk about it and pray for it but what do we mean when we cry out for a ‘move’ of the Spirit? In this inspirational message Phil Mason explores the theme of the moving of God’s Spirit. God is always in motion and He is always seeking to move. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity who is always moving upon us just as He moved upon the face of the waters in Genesis. He is the mighty rushing wind of Acts 2 and He is never stagnant. This is the first message in a brand new series on the Holy Spirit.
PODCAST Prepare Series: 2020 Hindsight or a Season of Foresight and Deeper Insights by Maria Mason
In this season we have all had a chance to pause and build a deeper walk with the Lord, in preparation for the days ahead. Jesus is the truth, the light and the way. How we relate to this person called truth and light is vital to our growth and ultimate outcome! Truth itself is often jarring or inconvenient and can even be negative at first! Our relationship to light and truth affects many things especially how we grow in the Spirit of Prophecy. Prophecy is not just about your destiny but very much about a collective sight and outcomes for the whole body of Christ! Each day is another opportunity for our stories to look like His plan – full of life, full of hope and free from all shame and fear. And further to that the biggest fruit is to be in the very middle of His perfect will! Let the person called TRUTH supply you in this season with His light and truth – no matter what the cost! It’s so worth it to pay a price for the prophetic anointing!
It’s time to start believing we are in a new season and to start praying for the breakthroughs we haven’t yet stepped into. Humility gives us access to the things of heaven and intimacy with the Father. It’s from this place we ask in prayer. Lets climb the mountain of the Lord together. Father, reveal yourself through us and be glorified!
In continuation of the Prepare theme, Serena Gallagher shares a word from Acts 8 highlighting the kingdom value of having a humble heart to prepare the way for encountering God.
God is a God of promise. When He poured out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost, it wasn’t a one off - but a down payment for the Christian life - a life of fullness! We’ve been called to host His presence in such a way that it leads to an overflow! Don’t allow anything to rob you of that, and don’t allow your heart to be stuck!You were created for revival in all its fullness! You were created for a life of surrender and fire! Live in the light of His glory and allow God to consume you! Our God is a consuming fire!
The heroes of the faith stood firm during times of great trial and received their reward from the Father. Though they all died without seeing the fulfillment of the promises of God. Paul tells us that what they died waiting for, is here now. We have the joy of entering into God’s promises and receive the ultimate reward, which is God himself. In such unprecedented times, God is the firm foundation we all need and is inviting us to know Him and to work and build the unshakeable with Him.
We are currently in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic. This is a defining moment in history and in our lives. Scripture gives us a blueprint for moments like these and shows us that from defining moments come divine opportunities. This is a threshold moment and an invitation to create a new culture in every area of our lives
Psalm 23 tells us that The Lord has prepared a table for us to feast in the presence of our enemies. This is a table of Transformation where the Father feeds us his truth, confronts the enemies of our soul, heals us deeper and raises us up as warriors in his Kingdom.
References to preparing and getting ready appear over 160 times in scriptures. Without losing the sense of the present we have to prepare for the future! In fact Revelation 19:7 says “His Bride has made herself ready!” One of the key ways we prepare is by letting go of the natural world and stepping deeper into our spiritual inheritance of Bridal intimacy with Jesus! God uses prophets to help shape our heart journey - like John the Baptist we say: “prepare the way of the Lord!” We find ourselves paused in a unique moment that supplies us with time for preparation for the days to come- take advantage of this season and go deeper in love with Him.
We have such a wonderful opportunity to set our eyes on things above. Let’s take advantage of this moment. There’s a grace and an ease to know him more as the world is on ‘pause/’ This is a season to rest in the shelter of the most high.