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Jesus makes it possible

The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. Luke 3:5


There have been many words written by people throughout the centuries after they had done something remarkable.
There is one person who had many words written about him before he was born a man, that person was Jesus Christ.
Prophets wrote about him, God spoke about him and a nation of people longed for him. They spoke about his personality, about where he would be born, where he would live and die and what he would do while he was alive. I believe that you would agree with me that this is absolutely unique in relation to the rest of humanity.
Not only did they speak about him before he was born, but what was prophesied came true, 100% of the time.
Sometimes the prophesies are not totally fulfilled in one go but on going and to each generation who are born.

Some are clearly physical, where he was born, how he would die, for example. some are spiritual; while others are both.
In this verse Isaiah (the prophet) writes about Jesus being one who will put things that are out of order, right.
Spiritually our lives are full of valleys, and mountains, curved paths and rough places.We face them physically but it is the mind, where the battles are won or lost. Jesus came to put these things back together, to change the way we think, to alter our paths, to raise us up above the valleys and to take away the crooked paths of our life. We can try on our own and fail or we can allow Jesus to stand in our place and be the answer to our lives which at time seem out of control.

Knowing God through Jesus is not a quick fix, even though he can mend life's heartaches instantly at times, but a journey, a relationship that grows and develops. Heaven is when everything comes together, but even now Jesus starts to change our lives so that we have strength to carry on and that we know he is there and therefore the future is secure.

 

Pakistan Flood Update

Pakistan Update by Sohail (Release International)

This is report on flood-hit area of Muzafar Ghar, Punjab. There were more than 400 villages, which have been collapsed because of thunderstorms and the 80 % agricultural area of district Muzafar Ghar is also destroyed. According to SLMP team member’s survey, there are 5% Christian families, who were living in different villages of the flood-hit area; they all have come together to Chowk Munda, District Muzafar Ghar, whose houses were also demolished by flood water. Government is providing shelter to the Muslim flood victims in the camps while there isn’t any camp for the Christians. Christians are taking refuge with their relatives, they are scattered in different areas. Some have gone to their relatives while some are being supported by local church. . This is an alarming issue for Christian victims of flood that they are not been recorded in Government’s record so that they could not get any relief from government.  According to SLMP’s survey report no government official reach them, and no Christian organization provided them with any kind of support. SLMP team interviewed some Christian victims who told that only local Christian villagers are providing them with little support; they are in desperate need of food items, clothes and other stuff.
On August 24th, team members Najam and Ashir reached Chowk Munda. Christian flood victims told us August 8th, 2010 we have informed by government about flood, so when we heard that gradually flood water is coming near our village then we evacuate our houses and took refuge in this camp. Our houses are completely demolished and we have nothing left, we can’t go back to our houses and can’t do any work because it will take 2 to 3 months to decrease water level from our village. The flood level in our village was 7 feet but still there is 3 feet water in our houses.
Christian flood victim Saleem Masih (38 years),married with 6 children stated that “I used to do labour work to feed my children. My house is collapsed by flood water and household items are also damaged. There is not any Christian NGO for our relief. I need food items, clothes and bedding.”  Latif said “I used to do labour work in the fields. I was expecting my wages from the owner of the field. There was corps of cotton almost ready to sale that has been waist in flood water so my labour has also been gone. Now I have nothing in my hands as saving for survival.”
Nazir stated “My house is completely demolished. My elder daughter’s marriage ceremony was going to be arranged in November, there were her dowry articles in the house that have been also completely destroyed. I am very much concerned about my daughter, how I will arrange dowry articles again for her. I have nothing left, that all have gone. He also shared the message of God with Christian flood victims “Although this is a miserable situation we can understand your situation that you have lost your entire belongings and now you are empty handed, homeless, hungry and seeking someone to help you out. Some of you are sick and really need medical assistance. Some have great mental shock because of the loss but this is time to fix eyes on God’s provisions, He is the king of kings, the owner of heavenly treasures and being a Christian we should be confident and assure about His love to us as a heavenly father, He is faithful in his promises and the most beautiful promise He made to us in the Holy Bible that He will never forsake us.” SLMP planning to provide them with food items, (Flour, Sugar, Tea, Milk, Dry Milk, Pulses / Grain, Spices / Pickle, snacks (biscuits, sweets for children). Toiletries tooth paste, tooth brush, Clothes, Sweaters, Shawls, Shoes, woven Cart (Charpaee), etc. It is requested to our entire prayer partner to keep remember our flood victims sisters and brothers in Christ who are in great problems. (Please let us stand with them in prayer)
 

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Are you Thirtsy and Hungry? Part 1

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Matt 5:6


Every 3.6 seconds someone in the world dies of hunger over 75% of them children.

We live in a desperate world, food is plentiful but in many parts of the world there is little to go around. If we don’t feed ourselves with nourishment or satisfy our thirst with water we will soon die.
This verse from the Lord’s beatitudes meant so much to the people who received it from Jesus on the mountainside as they listened to his teaching. For those living in the Middle East, food and water was not made up of luxurious eating, but was a struggle just to survive, like many nations today. In the west we have no idea what the majority of the world experience every day and we’re blind to the perils they face.
They understood all so clearly that if you don’t eat you die, they saw death through starvation with their own eyes.
There are many things that we can have a longing for today  but there is that which is right and that which will destroy and leave us empty and eventually kill us.

In Psalm 42 David wrote “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.” He would have observed the deer who had been running in the hills through the day and seen them come down to the streams in the evening to  quench their thirst. I have seen herds in Loch Muick in Scotland at dusk lapping up the water as if their lives depended on it. The reality is that their life did depend upon it. They could never survive on the mountains without the fresh streams to satisfy their thirst.

As Jesus taught this verse, he knew the significance of what he was saying. If you do not hunger and thirst after righteousness you will never be satisfied and you will die. The opening statement is truly saddening but how much is it true about us in the spiritual realm. If we do not hunger and thirst after the things of God, we will go weak and die. Where is your hunger met, is it in God or is it in this world? Are you full or is your life still empty..?

 

Humble Beginnings

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” Zech 4:10

When church planting or working in evangelism it is so easy to get disillusioned. We can see the success of others or even see that what we are doing doesn’t seem to bring results. There have been many entrepreneurs who have started out with very little, some of our greatest business minded men and women started with a barrow on the market or a few pounds in their pockets. They have since gone on to be millionaires and more.
When it comes to the work of the gospel or faith, the stories are even more impressive, of how men and women from humble backgrounds achieved greatness for the Kingdom of God. Gideon, David, Joseph, Esther, Jeremiah, Peter, James and John are some of those we could mention. There are countless others, unknown to most, living across our planet who in faith and determination for the Lord’s work are seeing roots and shoots appear in dry ground experiences. The Lord is not looking for the Professional or the experienced, or the educated or the popular (not that we should scorn these either) but he is looking for the man or woman who has the expectation that through the Lord great things can happen. Zerubbabel had  a plumb line, David had a sling, others a staff. We may only have a bible, but have we the purpose and belief to see great things happen? I believe we have, there a spark that is within us that is waiting to burst into life. In Zechariah it wasn’t the good intention of the people that rebuilt the city and the temple; it was the will of God that was caught by the leaders and the faithful who went against the opposition and did the impossible. The people were small in numbers, defeated and had little to give, but they gave all they had. The Lord rejoices in what we are doing, so let us keep doing it, and wait for him to bless us and build his church. Just be ready for when he instructs us and keep on with the small things, holding the trowel and the plumb line or whatever the Lord has given us to use. He will achieve what he has set out to do.
 

Going, going...summer is gone

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Eccl 3:1-2


It was announced this week by the met office, that the summer is officially over. It seems that no sooner have we had some good weather then it is all over. Soon we will welcome in for another year, the dark nights, fresh mornings and cold nights.
But not all is lost, maybe BBQ season is coming to a sudden close, the paddling pool will soon be put away for another year. Along with the camping equipment and lawn mower, the patio furniture will be put under cover, but as we move from one season into another what have we to look forward to?

Traditionally the end of the summer marks the start of the harvest season, Solomon reminds us that under heaven there is always something going on, there is always an opportunity, there is always a time for...
The past few months we have seen a blessed time as a church, from humble beginnings we are now starting to see shoots appear, new people have come and praise God for each one of them. There has been a lot of planting going on during the summer, with missions in the open air the market and so forth, but this season is coming to a close. Don’t despair, this is a great time for us, after the planting and watering comes the harvest.
Let us have faith to believe for a bumper harvest this season. Let us not settle for meeting people and sharing our faith with them, let us believe our mighty Saviour for salvation and repentance. That those who have tasted of his love, would acknowledge him and recognize their need of him. We will never really know the impact of the Word of God in the open air, but one thing we do know that it will never return without achieving what our God set it out to do. Let us be a praying people for all those who heard the message and those that we invite to Alpha, the cafe church services and other opportunities as they arise. Let us not settle for friendship but until we see real salvation and lives being set free and changed from glory into glory.
We may not appreciate a short summer, but unless it ends, there can never be a real harvest...Believe for one.

 

Beautiful (Phil Wickham)

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Doing, for the right reasons

Show your fear of God by ... Lev 25:17


This might sound a strange phrase for a blog, but it was one that I was drawn to by the Holy Spirit as I was reading through Leviticus in my own study.
There are many reasons why we do things, there are many things we do for various purposes, but in our modern  society  how often do we live to show our “fear of God” -- in fact, do we ever? In Leviticus 17 "fear of God" appears three times.

v17 Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I am the Lord your God.
v36 Do not charge interest or make a profit at his expense. Instead, show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative.
v43 Show your fear of God by not treating them harshly.

The people of God were commanded to show their fear of God by the way they lived their lives. How they treated their friends, neighbours, family. How they acted in relation to money and possessions and so on. It wasn’t enough to go to the temple or to pray or study the scriptures. It was the practical outworking of the result of going to the temple, reading the word and prayer. It was not enough to just attend.

The fear of God is recognising his Lordship over your life, recognising that he is holy and nothing but his commands is enough to bring about salvation and a change in the society that we live. If we do anything for any other reason other than because we are wanting to serve the Lord and be in reverence to him, we will give, or do, or say all as second best and we will be powerless in this world and dishonouring to his name. This is why we have to stand up for truth when the world says no, we are watchmen standing and living for the values and principles of the Lord of heaven’s armies, not mine or yours. If the church refuses to live in this way, how can we expect the world, who don’t worship him, to do so. Show your fear of God by living honesty and righteously, not because it makes you feel good about yourself, but because you want to honour your Lord and your God and you want to do your uttermost to represent him in a way that befits him.

 

Independance Day

“So Christ has truly set us free. ” Gal 5:1


In the United States, Independence Day,  (Fourth of July), is a national holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. The colonialists had become disillusioned with the British Government who kept increasing taxes to pay for their increasing debts back in homeland of Britain. Which finally led to the signing of perhaps the most important  document of the last 500 years.

declaration-of-independence

Independence cost, it cost lives, lots of them, but the reality of it was true freedom for the lives of Americans which continues to this present day.
There have been many independencies over the century’s including many in recent times in Africa and Eastern Europe.

There is one independence day that rises far above them all. It doesn’t just affect one nation, but all nations, all peoples of all generations. It will never be bettered or beaten, it will never be re-written or lost and the effects will last longer than any constitution and even life itself.
The independence that we experience as children of God who are “in Christ”. He has paid the price, he has given his life for us at a great cost. The greatest declaration of independence was proclaimed from a wooden cross on Golgotha hill in AD 32 from the lips of the greatest and only worthy freedom fighter that there has ever been. When Jesus Christ said for the world to know and hear, “It is Finished” The announcement was confirmed as he rose from the dead and is written for all to see in the Book of all Books, the Bible. The lasting testament that all who come to him will experience true freedom from sin and hell. From Satan and the power of death and freedom from the wrath of God. Freedom has brought us access to know and dwell with God, it has given us back all that was once taken from  us by sin that had such a grip on us. Praise the Lord for his  act of love, that has and is still transforming our lives.

 
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Lakeside Church meets at 10:30am every Sunday at

Nine Locks Community Centre

Hill Street,
Brierley Hill
DY5 2UE‎
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We offer a warm welcome to everyone, young and old. We pray that we will all be drawn closer to the Lord Jesus by meeting on a Sunday morning.

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