PROPHETIC SCHOOL BEGINS

“School of Prophets” began on Saturday in Innsworth Community Hall. The participants came from several churches in the Gloucester / Cheltenham area, and together experienced a great time of learning to hear God better, understanding prophetic giftings, and the history of Schools of Prophets in the Old Testament. There was plenty of encouragement in worship and sharing God’s blessings with one another.

The school is being run as a result of a prophetic word which Wes & Sharron received from Stacey Campbell a few years ago – awesome to see it beginning to come to pass.

As well as live teaching from the pastors of GVC, the participants received video input from Mark Virkler and Lynley Allan.

More Lord!!

THE FRUITFULL BOUGH

by Jean Packer

Sunday 31st January

It is so good to have Wes and Sharron back with us this week and there was great prophesy brought to us throughout the worship time. Wes sang that God wanted to take us to the banqueting table. He wants to take us by the hand and lead us there because of how much He loves us. His love never fails and He is always for us.  Muriel saw a vision of  ‘Sleeping Beauty’ who was trapped by the wicked witch. She slept until the Prince came and kissed her back to life. We were exhorted to allow God to kiss us back to life. Sometimes we have a film over our eyes and do not see with His eyes. He wants to come and embrace us until His face is all we see. Wes also pointed out a party balloon that was on the ceiling. He told us that God wants to take the ceiling off so that we can rise up with joy!! We allowed God to kiss us and we danced with joy through a fire tunnel and enjoyed splashing and playing in His presence.

Sharron shared what God had put on her heart this week from Genesis 49:22; a prophetic blessing over Joseph from his father – which we can step into under the New Covenant, as part of our Father’s Blessing.

“Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.”

The teaching was that a bough is not like a branch that can break easily. It is thick and stable. Joseph was a fruitful bough and stayed faithful to God throughout the years of captivity. At the right time, God brought him into freedom and raised him up into a place of great authority. He was second only to the King of Egypt. He was commissioned to organise the grain of the land into the storehouses throughout the 4 -7 bountiful years of harvest. This was so that there would be enough grain in the barren years to feed everyone in the land. Joseph could supply because even though he was initially rejected, he trusted God and stayed close to Him. He was faithful and stayed by the well of grace and drank, with joy. He was not a spindly twig but a strong fruitful bough. We are encouraged to close our eyes and imagine carrying the weight of Egypt on our shoulders. Daunting isn’t it? Joseph could do this because he stayed faithful throughout the years of trial. He had a wall in front of him but raised his eyes up, and over the wall to look beyond his present circumstances.

Fruitful means bountiful, liberal, prolific, full. If our ministry has been rejected we may become discouraged, but if we have fruit then even those who have rejected us in the past will come to us when they are hungry, as they did for Joseph.

John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give you”

A well is a drinking place of refreshment, saturation and deep drinking. We must let down our bucket and draw up the water that is always clean and pure. Drink by faith. This is an act and something is happening! Soaking is tuning into the Spirit realm by meditating on God’s word. Joy goes with drinking.

Isaiah 12:3 – ‘Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation’.

Our Father is committed to giving us water: Isaiah 41:17, John 7:37, Psalm 1:2-3, Psalm 87:7

Do we see walls in our lives that we can’t see over? Joseph was thrown into a  pit, and experienced prison through Potiphar’s wife lying about him Genesis 37:18. Yet he grew taller and his fruitful bough grew over the wall! The bough stretched across the wall so completely into new territory. He became the head and not the tail.

“The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, Deuteronomy 28:13

Sharron shared how she looked over her wall and saw an orchard with fruit all over the ground. The gardener was picking up all the fruit and storing it away in a dark shed until it was the right time to give it to others. Another time, when she looked, she saw a mighty lion and he shook his mane and all the fruit fell off the trees. We were exhorted to too over our own walls and see what we could see.

One testimony from Maggie was:
“I saw kids playing freely without a care and then Jesus walked into the garden carrying lots of candy sticks and the children rushed up to him and took them with such joy and he was so happy to give them away – there was no standing on ceremony asking politely – the children just took them AND HE WAS HAPPY THAT THEY DID!!! “

The meeting finished with us getting into small groups and praying for one another to drink of the Holy Spirit, and that we would look over our walls and take hold of all that God showed us!

BEHOLD HOW GOOD IT IS WHEN BROTHERS DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY

by Jean Packer

‘Behold! How good it is when brothers dwell together in unity. It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron. Running down on the edge of his garments’ (Psalm 133:1).

This scripture has been with me since becoming so refreshed during the past two Sundays at Golden Valley Church, especially through the worship, led by Bex and Colin one week and Paul and Helen the next. Their varied styles have brought enrichment to us. The worship has been wonderfully liberating and potent. We are constantly brought under an open Heaven and invited into the throne room to receive more of God’s presence into our hearts. The fire has fallen powerfully on both Sundays and we have been liberated to receive more of God’s touch as, one week a healing pool opened up and the second, we went through a fire tunnel individually and in family groups. Testimonies were shared firstly by Sue, of how the ladies on the Alpha Course are receiving God’s touch and through Jo showing us the miracle of diamonds appearing to her and Matt! The children also received, and were joyfully dancing and playing together. We have been blessed with such a kaleidoscope of colour and diversity!

Over these two weeks, great words have been brought to us, firstly through Penny, who shared what God has been laying on her heart through Acts 18. Paul was provoked to have compassion on people. He saw the value of a soul. He was positioned by God and spoke out whenever he could. Paul saw that ‘the fields are white and ready for harvest’. He was focussed on bringing light to the lost people around him and he gave his life for many souls. He didn’t concentrate on the difficulties and hardships that he suffered but glorified God with his life. The motivation of his heart was to this purpose. He was not alone and God positioned Aquilla and Priscilla to come alongside him and help him in his work when he needed them. He went to the Jews first and was rejected, so he went to the Gentiles. He didn’t get hung up on the rejection of others. Paul was prepared to roll up his sleeves. He was a tent-maker. His pay was in knowing he was serving God and reaching the lost.

Likewise, God gets us pointing in the right direction and He is positioning us to bring light to others. Because we have life, we can bring life to the situations that we encounter. No matter what difficulties, hardships and disappointments we are going through we are never alone. He brings us help when we need it. He can even use the devil’s agents to help us! ‘ ‘If God is for us, who can be against us!’.(Romans 8:31). We were exhorted to ask God for a download of the value of a soul because He loves each person so much wherever we are or whoever we are talking to. They are a soul-searching for God. Keep moving forward and to keep taking ground and ask ourselves the question of how can we encourage others to keep moving forward with us. The saints of England wouldn’t give up! Neither should we! Keep sowing, keep reaping and enjoy tasting the fruit! Changes happen around the seed and this will change the atmosphere. Enjoy the journey!

We then received prayer as we stood in God’s presence and individually asked “Where is my specific place to move into and take ground for our family, friends and workplaces”?

Last week Ian spoke from Acts 20: 1 -25. He shared how it was the love of God that constrained Paul to walk the path that he did. He ran the race with joy! He gave himself to serve others. When God speaks it does something in us. We become constrained. God’s will is for us to love Him first and then one another. We are urged to look after, and watch out for one another . He has made us overseers for one another. Yes. There is a cost that may be painful to us but as we raise our eyes to Him we see that it is worthwhile. Ian reminded us that we are justified by faith.

Ian specified four things that Paul gave and received and that the church cannot exist without:-

1/ Honour
2/Relationship
3/Self sacrifice
4/Unity

The church is not a building, it is a body. It is not an organisation but an organism.
The twelve disciples are the blueprint for God’s living body and we are one body related by the blood of Jesus and must love the Church as Christ does. ‘By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ ( John 13:35). We must build around what can I give? and not what I need. It’s not about me but about Him. We are to be interdependent with one another. Submission and friendship. Worship is a lifestyle and unity is the building block, being one in harmony and agreement. Paul took on the status of a slave.

Ian concluded his message by quoting scripture from ‘The Message’.

Philippians 2:1-3 (The Message)
“If you’ve gotten anything out of following Christ. If His love has made any difference in your life, if being a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart,if you care – then do me a favour. Agree with each another,love each other, be deep-spirited friends, Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”

BIBLE STUDIES

The subjects and venues for Golden Valley Winter Bible Studies during January and February are shown on the picture below. We are continuing with these studies for a couple of months after a very successful set of studies in November and December 2010.

DAVID’S DANCE

This Tuesday sees the last of our ‘Winter Bible Studies’ before Christmas, and is the second of our studies on ‘worship’, entitled, “David’s Dance Across The Line”.

It is part of a series from “Christianity Today”.

Based on the story of King David who was so abandoned in his love of God that he cared not about the opinions of others, we will discuss together our own lives and attitudes to worship.

Don’t miss what will prove to be another great evening.

This week’s study will be led by Penny Cordery.

WINTER BIBLE STUDIES

This evening we begin a series of Bible Studies as part of our home group sessions. There are six studies before Christmas and three after. We wanted to put in some more formal structure for a few weeks over the winter season.

Before Christmas, there will be three studies on “FEAR” and three on “WORSHIP”.

We begin this evening with “What is Fear”. There will be time to look at scripture together, discuss, share, and pray for each other.

We trust that this will be a profitable time for everyone who attends, full of fresh revelation, and being impacted by the love of God.

ANOTHER ALPHA COURSE BEGINS

Great News!! Another Alpha course has just begun on Wednesday mornings at the Churchdown Community Project in Coriander Drive.

It’s great to see the interest in “Alpha” and its non-threatening approach to evaluating the Christian faith.

Pray for this course, and for all those who are taking part. The gospel of Jesus Christ is Good News!

DALTONS RETURN

No it’s not the name of a pub or a football match but it is with great pleasure we welcome another visit to Golden Valley Church by Scott and Hilary Dalton from “Rivers of Grace Ministries”, and who are also itinerant ministers out of “Catch the Fire, Toronto” (previously Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship).

Scott and Hilary travel widely sharing the love of God the Father through teaching and prayer ministry. Their mandate is “to ignite a passionate love for Jesus in the hearts of all people”. They believe this passion will be ignited as people deeply encounter both the Word of God and the Presence of God.

Last year they were with us for a weekend conference entitled, “The Battle Belongs to the Lord”, which as the title suggests focused on finding the victory in life that belongs to us because of Jesus Christ. The teaching was Biblical, clear, practical and relevant, and the presence of the Holy Spirit evident throughout.

The Daltons are with us again in Golden Valley Church on Saturday and Sunday the 18th and 19th September. Meetings will be held in Innsworth Community Hall commencing 1pm on Saturday, and finishing about 4:30pm on Sunday.

“All things are possible to those who believe!” Maybe you are familiar with those words, and long to find a deeper reality of them in your life. the subject of faith can be confusing and challenging, and often bring pressure, disappointment, or condemnation.

In this conference we will be trusting God to assist us in removing some of the ‘roadblocks’ in faith, to renew our hearts and minds, and set us free to believe in Father’s love and the Word of God in much greater measure. Come expecting to be impacted by God’s loving presence and powerful word.

Further details can be found on our website, or on our Facebook event page http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=140551332643124&ref=ts