A Call To Pray For Matt Chandler
Posted on Thursday, December 03, 2009
Keep Up To Date
Looking Forward To Dave Stroud and Baptisms
Coming up this Sunday, I am really looking fwd to a visit from David Stroud who will be preaching for us. We will be having baptisms, and its a guest service. We are praying for lives to be transformed and that our worship will be vibrant. I am sure that Dave's message will be helpful. Dave leads Newfrontiers UK and we enjoyed his visit a couple of years ago.
Tope
Posted on Friday, October 09, 2009
Tope Tweets From Africa
Tope's Twitter and facebook pages have been humming as he sat in an airport lounge reflecting on his time in Zimbabwe:
Back in tweet world. Zimbabwe Internet Quite bad. Missed tweet world. And now for some report on my Zim trip. The Zim conference was a success I believe. I am grateful and humbled. I preached 8 sermons in 3 days to A.O.G leaders.
I preached Jesus again and again and again until they could see that - it's all about Jesus. It always was. It always will be. I challenged them to stop playing games with Gods Word when preaching. If it's not about Jesus, it's your gospel not His and it won't save
For me, I come back home thinking how much we have. Books, mp3's, gifted thinkers. To whom much is given much is expected. We have much.
I also think about what we are missing in the west. True Holy Spirit filled Worship and presence of God that leaves you joyful and fearful. Whatever happened to AWE? Act 2:43 "And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles."
Awe is not emotionalism. It is not mere exuberance. It is sensing the presence of the only one to whom the word "ASEITY" truely belongs. AWE makes you say depart from me a SINNER (Lk 5:8) - But when he says- FORGIVEN, GRACE makes you say- My Lord and my God.
Well, that's enough for now. At least I used 30 mins of my 5 hour wait in Joburg airport.
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009
Back in tweet world. Zimbabwe Internet Quite bad. Missed tweet world. And now for some report on my Zim trip. The Zim conference was a success I believe. I am grateful and humbled. I preached 8 sermons in 3 days to A.O.G leaders.
I preached Jesus again and again and again until they could see that - it's all about Jesus. It always was. It always will be. I challenged them to stop playing games with Gods Word when preaching. If it's not about Jesus, it's your gospel not His and it won't save
For me, I come back home thinking how much we have. Books, mp3's, gifted thinkers. To whom much is given much is expected. We have much.
I also think about what we are missing in the west. True Holy Spirit filled Worship and presence of God that leaves you joyful and fearful. Whatever happened to AWE? Act 2:43 "And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles."
Awe is not emotionalism. It is not mere exuberance. It is sensing the presence of the only one to whom the word "ASEITY" truely belongs. AWE makes you say depart from me a SINNER (Lk 5:8) - But when he says- FORGIVEN, GRACE makes you say- My Lord and my God.
Well, that's enough for now. At least I used 30 mins of my 5 hour wait in Joburg airport.
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009
Jubilee Church Prayer Meeting - A Visitor's View
It was a delight for us to have two sets of visitors from two different continents this past weekend. Andrew Fountain from New Life Church Toronto was one of them. He has posted a report on his time with us, which included the following view of our prayer meeting.
Our prayer meeting will be happening most Saturdays over the summer, check with one of the leaders, however, as there are a couple of weeks where we will not be meeting. Our prayer meeting is 8am to 9:30am at the Wheatsheaf Hall (for directions see http://bit.ly/yvcT4)
The first 20 mins were a time for coffee and fellowship and as more and more people arrived I wondered how we were going to fit into the meeting hall. (I counted over a hundred—more people than chairs.)
We began with Tope Koleoso talking about current prayer needs—the baptisms and dedications on the following day, the upcoming youth event, and a few other things. I was asked to talk briefly about Newlife church, Toronto and a prophetic word was given which was amazingly appropriate to our situation.
Then the main prayer time began which was loud and passionate. From time to time someone would begin a song and we would all join in. I felt a very strong sense of the presence of God as a warm and powerful sweetness. I would say that there have been very few occasions where I have felt it more strongly.
As the meeting progressed, prayer began to be focused on particular issues. In the picture below, all those going to be baptized the next day are being prayed for.
The meeting drew to a close around 9:30am. What a way to start the day! I could understand now why so many people were willing to get up early on a Saturday morning. It was time for a good English breakfast at a local cafe . . .READ MORE
Posted on Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Power Of The Internet
The embedded video teaches a simple lesson
The internet is a curse and also a blessing
The individual now has a voice;
No longer just the "big boys"
You can complain from your room;
and even bring others doom.
May the Christian never forget;
the internet is a huge asset,
Not to hurt innocent people,
But to propagate the gospel
Tope
Posted on Friday, July 24, 2009
The internet is a curse and also a blessing
The individual now has a voice;
No longer just the "big boys"
You can complain from your room;
and even bring others doom.
May the Christian never forget;
the internet is a huge asset,
Not to hurt innocent people,
But to propagate the gospel
Tope
Posted on Friday, July 24, 2009
The Official Jubilee Church Facebook Group Just Launched
For a while now there has been a 20+ group for Jubilee on Facebook as well as a Youth Group. The elders have now decided it is time we had a church-wide facebook group for people of all ages who attend Jubilee.
If you would like to match a face to a name, join a conversation, or be kept up to date with future events then pop over to facebook and join us right away!
Posted on Thursday, July 02, 2009
Small Group Cluster Meeting
If you have been at Jubilee Church and are looking to get connected there is no better way to do this than to attend one of our small groups. These meet in homes, but most wednesdays at 8pm "cluster" of 3 or 4 small groups meet together at 8pm in the Enfield Cineworld premier bar for worship, bible study and a chance to get to know a group of around 50 people. These are great meetings and very important in helping us maintain some of the benefits of smaller meetings as we grow.
Why not join us this Wednesday 1st July when Adrian Warnock will be speaking. Come along and we will introduce you to some of the small group leaders.
If you would like to come another week, email info@jubilee-church.org to check if a cluster is meeting or ask at the welcome desk on a Sunday morning.
Posted on Monday, June 29, 2009
Why not join us this Wednesday 1st July when Adrian Warnock will be speaking. Come along and we will introduce you to some of the small group leaders.
If you would like to come another week, email info@jubilee-church.org to check if a cluster is meeting or ask at the welcome desk on a Sunday morning.
Posted on Monday, June 29, 2009
Why I shout when I Preach
“Do it from the heart, or don’t do it at all”
Tope Koleoso
As I preached on Easter Sunday, about the resurrection, a 10 year old boy (Jake Bennett) who was in the congregation, whispered to his grandfather – “why does Tope have to shout when he is preaching”. It is a good question.I don’t ever shout for effect, for preaching is not acting. I shout because I mount the pulpit to preach with three overriding emotions bubbling up in my soul – Anger, Joy and Love. These three however, have an effect on how I preach.
When I have prepared well, I know the text and the structure of my sermon, but it doesn’t mean that I am ready to preach. It just means that I have a mental understanding of what the text says. Good preaching however, is not just about the science of exegesis. That is too easy and cheap and even a non Christian can probably do a good job of that.
No. Good preaching happens when the Holy Spirit moves the heart of the preacher by the text, the preachers experience, and the “now” Word of God to his soul. All of these move me at an emotional and spiritual level. Emotional because my heart is involved. Spiritual because the Holy Spirit is involved.
This means that during the sermon, any one of the mentioned emotions, (Anger, Joy or Love), spill out without warning or apology. This is because when I am preaching, I am angry at satan and sin, I am joyful about salvation and hope, and I am eager to show the Love of God to the lost.
Therefore, I shout, I laugh, I cry, and I dance. Therefore, I use my voice, my hands, my legs and my eyes. Therefore, I will do it with utter conviction and passion for if I will not do it from the heart, I will not do it at all. Therefore, I engage the crowd, the best I can for I will not be ignored seeing that I carry the greatest message the world has ever heard. Therefore, I will be even more undignified for I do it all to the glory of God. Therefore I will be careful and calm lest I become the message and distract from the cross and by so doing, sin against the Lord I love.
I have been entrusted with the gospel. I do not “have it”, it has me. It has grabbed me by the throat and now I will only speak what it demands. It has my mind, so I will think of the gospel alone. It has me by the lungs, so I breathe and live for Him alone.
One day, this mortal body will die and be rendered useless. Until then, I will preach loudly, and softly and deliberately, and carefully, and lovingly, and angrily, and demonstratively, and powerfully until the prodigal comes back home, and the lost is saved, and the glory of God cover the earth like the waters cover the sea.
SOME HELPFUL QUALIFIERS
1. Shouting alone does not accomplish anything by itself. It is just noise. There must be something to shout about and a context to shout in.
2. Let the display of emotions be true to yourself for preaching is NOT acting.
3. Let it be rightly calibrated for the people so that it is engaging.
Whitfield said of John Bunyan and Pilgrims Progress: “The book pilgrims progress smells of prison”. The point he was making was that Bunyan’s suffering comes through in the book.
Piper says, the reason the puritans are still read today is because they lived their lives on the precipice of eternity, alive today but perhaps dead tomorrow. When you write out of that experience of life, your experience shapes your preaching. Whitfield said, we all write better when we are under the Cross
When I have prepared well, I know the text and the structure of my sermon, but it doesn’t mean that I am ready to preach. It just means that I have a mental understanding of what the text says. Good preaching however, is not just about the science of exegesis. That is too easy and cheap and even a non Christian can probably do a good job of that.
No. Good preaching happens when the Holy Spirit moves the heart of the preacher by the text, the preachers experience, and the “now” Word of God to his soul. All of these move me at an emotional and spiritual level. Emotional because my heart is involved. Spiritual because the Holy Spirit is involved.
This means that during the sermon, any one of the mentioned emotions, (Anger, Joy or Love), spill out without warning or apology. This is because when I am preaching, I am angry at satan and sin, I am joyful about salvation and hope, and I am eager to show the Love of God to the lost.
Therefore, I shout, I laugh, I cry, and I dance. Therefore, I use my voice, my hands, my legs and my eyes. Therefore, I will do it with utter conviction and passion for if I will not do it from the heart, I will not do it at all. Therefore, I engage the crowd, the best I can for I will not be ignored seeing that I carry the greatest message the world has ever heard. Therefore, I will be even more undignified for I do it all to the glory of God. Therefore I will be careful and calm lest I become the message and distract from the cross and by so doing, sin against the Lord I love.
I have been entrusted with the gospel. I do not “have it”, it has me. It has grabbed me by the throat and now I will only speak what it demands. It has my mind, so I will think of the gospel alone. It has me by the lungs, so I breathe and live for Him alone.
One day, this mortal body will die and be rendered useless. Until then, I will preach loudly, and softly and deliberately, and carefully, and lovingly, and angrily, and demonstratively, and powerfully until the prodigal comes back home, and the lost is saved, and the glory of God cover the earth like the waters cover the sea.
SOME HELPFUL QUALIFIERS
1. Shouting alone does not accomplish anything by itself. It is just noise. There must be something to shout about and a context to shout in.
2. Let the display of emotions be true to yourself for preaching is NOT acting.
3. Let it be rightly calibrated for the people so that it is engaging.
Whitfield said of John Bunyan and Pilgrims Progress: “The book pilgrims progress smells of prison”. The point he was making was that Bunyan’s suffering comes through in the book.
Piper says, the reason the puritans are still read today is because they lived their lives on the precipice of eternity, alive today but perhaps dead tomorrow. When you write out of that experience of life, your experience shapes your preaching. Whitfield said, we all write better when we are under the Cross
Posted on Friday, June 26, 2009
Jubilee Church And The Internet
If you have discovered this page, then you probably already realized that we have been busy making some adjustments to the way in which we at Jubilee engage with the Internet. So, new developments this week include:
- This page, which aims to be a combination of a news or update section and something of a blog.
- A Twitter page for our pastor, Tope Koleoso
- A Jubilee Church Vimeo Channel where videos from Jubilee and some other clips that will help you understand Newfrontiers are shared and where you can get clips to embed on your own blog.
- A similar Jubilee Church Youtube channel
- A revamped section of our website where you can watch streamed video sermons as well as downloading the audio and video files.
Terry Virgo On Prayer
One of the many things we at Jubilee admire about Terry Virgo is his strong personal devotion to prayer. In this video he speaks from the heart and on the story of Elijah. To watch the second half you will need to click on part two within the video player. You can also download the video in high definition from vimeo, or lower definition as well as audio from the CCK website.
Posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009