Saturday, September 2, 2017

A Cambridge God Adventure 11) Would God say yes or no?

Excitement built for developing this small shop!  With some of the deacons I walked into it for the first time.  It smelt musty and really was small - just 36 feet by 17 feet with one toilet. Could this be the stuff of our vision to serve the city?  Our prayers about discerning how best to use the premises were rather grand and short of detail. Yet, maybe this was exactly the kind of rapid breakthrough that God can give.

Through conversations, meetings and prayer the positives seemed to outweigh the negatives. The dynamic of persistent prayer built up expectations.  As leaders we believed it was right to present a solid proposal of a Coffee Shop in this run-down space.  No time was to be lost.  So, with enthusiasm we brought the idea to the July Church Members' Meeting ( a monthly meeting to discern God's will together).  The more I prepared and thought about the meeting and shared in daily prayer the more exhilarated I became.  Legally there were no problems about taking back immediate possession of the shop. Such imaginative possibilities lay before us.  Yes, on a small scale....but we were still few in numbers.

I challenged people to attend: On Tuesday July 15th. the Church Meeting will be sharing the possibility of a 'Coffee Shop' on the main street as part of our outreach. Please pray about and consider this idea which other churches have developed in other places, but which would be totally new to most of us.

The meeting proved to be the first of a long series of extraordinary occasions. Opening worship was no formality - we really wanted to be open to God's will.  I prayed that we might be gifted with something of 'the mind of Christ 'and that whatever the outcome we would experience that spiritual confidence that 'seemed good to the Holy Spirit to to us.'  Undeniably there were financial implications but wasn't this a case of the Lord providing a wonderful opportunity?  Would God say yes or no?

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