RB churches from all around the UK gathered at Emmanuel Church Durham’s spacious building to meet with God and reconnect with one another. We were thrilled to be joined by Terry and Wendy Virgo, now based in Burgess Hill Sussex, as well as J.W. and Marlinde from Utrecht in Holland.
The first gathering was given over to worshipping God and praying for one another. Many received personal prophetic words, which was wonderfully encouraging after such a long time since our last ‘in-person’ event.
Daniel McLeod (Trinity Church London) wonderfully opened up Psalm 23 to us, speaking into our desperate need for our Good Shepherd’s leading in difficult circumstances. Daniel spoke of how Jesus leads us, fights for us, and hosts us at his table, expanding memorable images of a peaceful shire, a dark place of fighting, and a table prepared for us by Jesus himself.
The title of the event, Reset, was picked up by Terry Virgo in his teaching session. He explained how his ministry had begun with a period of ‘restoration’ and how he had gradually seen the church restored to New Testament values. He used Ezra 1:1-5 as his text and reminded us of God’s heart for and promises to his chosen people. In the early days of NewFrontiers, leaders always seemed to be drawn to Ephesians chapter 4, praying for and seeing gifts emerging so that God’s house could be rebuilt on Biblical principles, and Terry urged us to recover the presence of God in our churches.
We were reminded of a significant prophetic word brought to the RB movement by Rodney Haggar at Marathon 19 which spoke of restructuring in preparation for a much wider vision. Steve Oliver mentioned this in his recorded message, encouraging us to look to the new horizon with pioneering passion. His message was to hold fast; hold fast to our togetherness, renewing our devotion to one another, and to hold fast to what God has told us to do, seeing again the work from a heavenly perspective.
Both evenings were spent in fellowship together over meal tables, as old friends were able to catch up with each other and significant new friendships were established. Emmanuel Church Durham were wonderful hosts, and Alan and Sandra Bell and their helpers modelled servant-heartedness brilliantly.
Leaders, interns, and all those who attended were grateful to the worship leaders and technical teams who facilitated wonderful times of worship where we knew God’s presence amongst us, and all will return to their home-church settings reminded of our values as a movement, now reset and ready for all that God has for us in the future.
