Threshold Celebration Update - June 2011

 

Dear All,

 

Many of you will be aware that Threshold Council have been considering what God might be saying to us at the moment about how to go forwards as a church, especially in the area of how to sustain the work that we begin. The council is made up of the overall leadership of Threshold, the congregational leadership teams, the trustees and Adam (worship), Vin (Overseas mission) and Jo (Youth). Over the past month or so we have taken it in turns to fast and pray and listen to God then share with each other what we think we have heard. Out of this have come some themes which I have summarised below. Some of you who are not in the council may also recognise contributions you have made – thank you so much and keep them coming. If some of the phrases are a bit mystifying – and I suspect they will be - please do chat to any of us about it.

 

Main themes:

 

1. Jesus our first love. Corporately and individually we are turning to God, renewing our first love and worshipping Him alone. There may be ways in which we need to build this into our life together structurally, but we must remain in covenant, not stray into contract. We are rebuilding on our rediscovered foundations of love for Jesus and His word. Further though we may need to do the equivalent of Baal and Asherah destruction, put our repentance into action, be courageous and put prayer and worship first and let everything else work around it. A rhythm of life may also help with this. Like bees we need times of rest as well as activity. There has been repentance individually and corporately, we have/are crying out to God, He has sent His word, we are responding and the tide is turning.

 

2. A different approach. We know we need to change – and build for tomorrow on our “ancient” foundations. We have received a “base band update” and can’t go back again. We are in the midst of “culture change” or a different approach (Circling around behind the enemy). Our current thinking and the issues involved seem complex but the far side of this will be simplicity. We must be careful as we seek to build in a sustaining of the life of the church that we do not prejudice the ability of future generations to do the same.

 

3. One church and movement. We are re-emphasising the one church/movement nature of Threshold. We do not in any way seek to risk the effectiveness of each location but we are rediscovering strength in each other. Threshold is the “primary unit”. Threshold can be seen as one garden with different plants, growth rates and seasons. Threshold can be seen as an orchestra with different parts, scores, use within the piece etc but there is one overall score and conductor. We need a place from which we can come and go; like penguins who return for warmth then go foraging again, like in Acts 5:12 (Colonnades and the streets). We seek to be discipled together; like Cornelius et al or Matthews household or as in Colossians 3:12. We are one body or possibly one big mushroom!

 

4. Central support. There are various ways of describing the need for a central support system which makes the rest of the church more sustainable and effective: the fabric at the end of a beach ball, support command, a spider’s web with central communication hub, a monastic model, a support structure for Gideon’s army etc.

 

 Other themes:

 

Pursuing our callings. There has been emphasis on not missing what purpose God has for us as individuals whilst recognising that we are “earthen vessels” and it’s the treasure we contain that makes a difference. I guess this is linked to finding our right place in the garden or orchestra.

 

It’s a battle. There is a cost to following Jesus. We are reminded that we are in a battle, encouraged to know that God is with us in it and that He determines the weapons we need for a particular time. We are earthen vessels but if God is for us….We move out together when we hear the signal and change from retreat to advance. Marching in unison will break enemy structures and strategies. Preserving our unity will be important in the future as the enemy may try to divide us.

 

 We are still navigating the way ahead and are wonderfully aware of God’s hand on us and a sense of His leading. We feel it really important to keep praying together as a council and as a whole church. The picture for the future is becoming clearer and is exciting but there is much we have yet to “see”. So keep praying. We have arranged another whole church prayer meeting at 7.30 on the 10th July. A Venue has yet to be sorted. Please do come to that as we continue to seek God as a whole church.

 

Pete.

 

 

 

Our congregation was asked to put together a report on our recent Weekend Away at Stathern Lodge (Near Melton Mowbray). A few people who were there for the weekend have written about their experiences:

 

Anthony wrote:

 On the Friday I arrived and helped Sarah cook tea. I like catering for people and helped out last year too. That night, Hannah and others prayed for me and over the weekend I felt closer to God and was learning to hear from Him for myself and others. I had pictures and words for other people – including those I don’t normally chat to.

I am trying to understand Jesus more and concentrate more on studying the Bible so I get to know him more.

 

Thanks to Su and Alysha for great meals! Please come again!

 

Tammy wrote:

When I was at the meeting on the Weekend Away, I felt God’s presence while Ali sang at our Worship and when Hannah Atkins (Latty) spoke the Word. I have never felt as peaceful as when I was at Stathern Lodge. When I was at home I felt stressful and a lot of anger but as soon as I went into our first meting Friday evening I felt peaceful.

Hannah and Sarah prayed over me for healing of my back. I had injured my back when I fell over on wide step when I was eleven. Since then I have suffered from a chronic back pain which gets worse when the cold weather hits us.

When Hannah and Sarah prayed for my back, the first time since I was eleven years I felt no back pains and slept rather comfortable as well.

 

Christine wrote:

I arrived on Friday night with Sarah and the children, put notices on the toilets and showers and got all the rooms sorted out – who was sleeping in them - and had tea.

On the Saturday, Sarah’s sister Hannah had spoken to us about Spiritual things and healing. There were three people who were healed. Ali gave us our stone. This stone was to feel if there was any sign from God or pictures. There were a couple of times that there were people who I saw that they were going to go a long way in their lives. 

There were more people who came for the day on the Saturday for the day and we all enjoyed ourselves at the Weekend Away.

 

Rick wrote:

We met at five pm on the Friday for lifts. When we arrived at Stathern Lodge we put our stuff in our rooms and the food in the kitchen.

Our guest speaker, Hannah arrived and we had our first meeting. The theme for the weekend was communication between us and God and healing by prayer and the laying on of hands.

We had great food prepared by Su and Alysha Mcintosh.

We had a great time; we bonded with each other and got to know God more. It was awesome!

We were truly in God’s presence. We prayed for people who needed healing and learned that we should listen to God and trust Him and obey Him even if we feel like a fool.

 

George wrote:

The weekend at this year’s Weekend Away was pretty immense!

I have never felt God’s presence so strongly. First off, having Hannah there was a privilege. She helped me to hear from God more than before and taught me about God’s healing.

The main highlight of the weekend for me was being healed myself. Firstly, I was physically healed from my broken back and am now pain free. I still have the scar on my back from the operation but I see that as a reminder to the pain I once felt but how God healed me. Also, God healed my heart and my mind. He set me back on the right track, walking by his side and shining a light for everyone to see.

I feel like the physical and mental pain that God took away, he replaced with His Spirit, and hence why I now feel much closer to God. So… absolutely awesome Weekend Away – Wowsers!

 

Enough said! Apart from to say another massive thanks to all who contributed and an even bigger thanks to God for being so faithful and gracious to us. Our prayer is that the fruit we are seeing will be long lasting, that we keep putting into practice what we have learnt and that it will also result in more people coming to know and love Jesus!

 

Carl and Sarah Belcher.

 

 

We mentioned the Big Lunch to our Parish Council group in May: they were very positive and asked us to arrange it with the Village Hall committee who decided to combine it with a Car Boot Sale. They did a good part of the publicity and asked us to run the tea and cake stall.

 

Helen Waby already had a vision to do something to help Street Children so we made that our charity and Helen and Yola and ourselves enjoyed brewing loads of tea and coffee and selling cakes etc. Giving us a chance to chat to people. The event went well and had a very positive atmosphere. One lady who had recently moved to the village said “This is what I came here for”, and others turned up at our usual “Tea Together” gathering on the following Tuesday and enjoyed that.

 

We will certainly be thinking about running a BL next year for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee on Sunday 3rd June 2012. Get it in your diary now!

 

Simon and Ann

 

 

 

Preparations only began a month ago, in true (last minute), Threshold style! On Saturday the ladies of Wednesday Church had wisely organised their men to erect gazebos (even Marvin who had been Street Pastoring all night, was dragged from his bed to help Mark, Chris & Ian man the poles and fight the canopies), and the garden was prepared for THERESHOLD BIG LUNCH!

 

The day dawned bright and we thanked God the there was a good chance of it staying dry - prayers to anchor the gazebos and stop them from being blown away were offered up as well, more importantly, for good relationships to be made. The aroma of slow roasting pork filled houses in Stainton and Langworth: Ian brought and set up the PA opera filled the garden as we dashed around our last minute jobs before our guests arrived. Our teenagers, Ben and Alex, were dispatched to “organise traffic and parking in the next field” and Emily was set the task of buttering millions of baps: the music was adjusted to Sounds of Summer (although we are all very high brow in Wednesday church!!!), and the people arrived bearing offerings of sumptuous salads and divine cakes.

As people talked and ate and talked some more, we would like to think acquaintances became friends, new friendships were formed and the new couples in the village were welcomed and introduced.

 

Jesus was at the centre, not because we shared the Gospel in words, (even Sue managed to refrain from asking who wasn’t saved yet!!), but because Jesus loved community and served community, and He was our model. We did hang the Threshold banner in the garden and told people the event was financed by the church and felt happy in our spirits that was all we had to say out loud.

 

As the afternoon drew to a close, the music changed and a new event, “community dancing” raised itself up to strains of the Congo, Birdie song and Can-Can (Jacki can certainly kick high!): sadly Jacki and Sue discovered they could no longer “twist again like they did last summer” without repercussions….. all prayers for healing are gratefully received!

 

This was the first time Wednesday Church had branched out from a Wednesday: not everyone could attend but Sue, Jacki, Pam, Angela & Joy could not have done the practical bit without the prayer support of Michelle, Gilly, Helen, Helen, Ailsa and Meryl. Thank you to everyone who helped and prayed….. next year is the Diamond Jubilee and Big Lunch so maybe we should start praying and planning now!

 

Mark and Sue Protheroe, Jacki and Ian Myers.