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In times of national uncertainty, God is doing a miracle inside His Church. The future of the Church has a lot to do with the destiny of the nation. God is restoring the Church because He wants to rebuild the nation.

For those who can see with the eyes of faith, there is an incredible future ahead. This is not the end. God is resetting the Church so that we are equipped and repositioned to complete the assignment He has given us. God raises up His Church in cities, communities and nations, sometimes out of times of difficulty and chaos. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that something has gone wrong. This is just part of the process, and we can see it many times through scripture.

When God begins to transition a group or a people, some can get left behind. Our whole nation is in transition. We don’t even know what it is transitioning to. We don’t know what the future holds. We don’t know what life the way it was last year won’t be the future. It will be different.

If we can trust in Him in our times of uncertainty, He will bring us to where we need to be. Through this, God will raise the Church in our nation and our communities to bring the answer.

 

“This is not the end. God raises up His Church in cities, communities and nations, sometimes out of times of great difficulty and chaos.”

 

Our number one enemy in times of transition is disconnection. One thing I am famous for saying is ‘the devil is in the disconnect’, because our enemy knows that if he can use stress, fear and doubt to disconnect you from your church, your relationships and His presence, he can disconnect you from your prophetic journey.

Below are six areas where we must stay connected during times of transition:

  1. Stay connected with our prophetic journey

When you walk with God, your life is an unfolding prophetic journey. The steps of the good man are ordered by the Lord (Psalm 37:23). I have made blunders and mistakes. You can’t go through life without doing that. But even when I think I have failed, God has continued to guide me.

He has guided Lynne and myself just as He guided the Israelites through their 40-year transition in the wilderness, with a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. God gave us signs along the way. God has given me dreams and prophetic words that have guided our future. Some have come directly to me, others have come through people who are connected to us. Either way, those words have come like it has been Jesus speaking directly to us, saying “come this way”. Our relationship with God can be that dynamic.

Over a 30-year period of ministry many have started on the course with us. But like the Israelites, not everyone who left Egypt made it to the Promised Land. But regardless of who falls and who continues, and what happens in between, we must determine to never give up on our prophetic journey. We must understand that times of transition are difficult, but temporary.

 

“Times of transition are difficult, but temporary. We must determine to never give up on our prophetic journey.”

 

One of the most major transitions in our lives came in our early days of following Christ. Lynne and myself were knitted into a church in Albury-Wodonga when God began to call us to Gippsland. I couldn’t reconcile it in my mind because we loved that church, the pastors and the people, but God was undoubtedly calling us out. On our last night in that city, God gave me a dream of a signpost with a number of inscriptions on it that showed me the future. The signpost had a date. Years later, I ended up being appointed to the ministry on that exact date.

It also had a verse, 2 Corinthians 2:14 –

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved…

This scripture has marked our ministry. Despite our highs and lows, God has always led us in triumphant procession and all we have to do is stay connected on our prophetic journey.

Then it wasn’t long after we came to Gippsland through a posting with the bank that God gave Lynne and myself a very clear vision of these beautiful stables, which is now the home of our church. He clearly showed me that these historic stables would one day become the home of a church. Over the years we have had a couple of attempts at fulfilling that vision in our own strength, but they failed.

Then out of a most unusual time, one of the members of our church rose up, caught the vision in my heart and knew how to make it happen. The vision started with one person, then two, then three and four. Then there was an entire company of people who ran with that vision and built these 140-year-old dilapidated stables into a house of God. On August 11 last year this building was filled to capacity at our opening service. This is supernatural. If we don’t lose heart but keep pushing in, we will come into our destiny in the perfect timing of God and the dreams He has put in your heart will come to pass.

2. Stay true to divine relationships

If anything has saved me, kept me on track and sustained me during the years, it is the people God has connected me with. These are relationships God has literally blessed you with. They are divine, eternal and built on covenant. Jesus spoke of these kinds of relationships when He said, “I don’t pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me…” (John 17:9).

As Lynne and myself began to answer the call in Sale to see this church and others around us raised up, God has given us people. They are amazing gifts of God. Firstly, it is my incredible wife. Then it is my family. Then my spiritual family and partners in ministry who are spread out across the nations. God has brought us all together for a purpose, to be fellow City Builders and Nation Builders.

You may feel alone, but I want you to know there are people God has ordained to walk with you for life. We must find these people and work on these relationships because it will unlock incredible blessing over you.

Take Moses and Joshua as an example. Moses led the people out of Egypt, but it was Joshua who took them in to possess the Promised Land. When we are in relationship with people we share destiny with, what one can’t do, the other can. We build on each other and continue the purposes of God. The journey doesn’t stop with me. Others who have walked with me will continue leading the people, not in a different direction, but into the purposes of God and the fullness of destiny. This is what legacy looks like.

 

“The strength of the church is never any better than the strength of the relationships in the church. When our relationships become unbreakable the Church becomes unstoppable.”

 

You are going to feel a bit outside of where you should be until you find your people, your tribe and your partners in destiny. This is what unlocks heaven over our lives. The strength of the church is never any better than the strength of the relationships in the church. When our relationships become unbreakable the church becomes unstoppable. In the Upper Room, God brought those 120 people to a place where their relationships were strong, tight in unison and harmony. They were together in one place and one accord, looking to heaven. This is a perfect atmosphere for God to pour out His Spirit. This was the birthplace of the Church. As we begin to reconnect on a deeper level in heart-to-heart relationship with the people God has given us, we are creating an environment for a fresh outpouring.

3. Stay in pursuit of His presence

As Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness, he said, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” (Ex 33:15)

I like this style of leadership. Moses was totally dependent on the Holy Spirit accompanying him. During the time of lockdown and global pandemic, we have witnessed the Passover and rediscovered the protective power of the blood of Jesus. We have also commemorated Pentecost, the anniversary of the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I believe God is calling us to continually return to the Upper Room because this was the place where Jesus instituted the Last Supper, prophesied His own death and poured out the Holy Spirit.

This is not only a literal place but a figurative one. It is a place in the spirit that has the same components laid out in Acts 2 – obedience, unity, synergy, prayer, purpose and deep spiritual hunger. Finding this place is such a key to completing our assignment.

My concern for the modern Church is that it has negotiated on the person of the Holy Spirit. In an effort to be more relevant we have made the Church for man, but it is only the Holy Spirit who can make the Church for God. Many churches have turned their backs on the truths that the Church was established on and they have resorted to other humanistic strategies for growth, people management and their need to stay modern and edgy. For that reason, we are not seeing the Church impact and lift the culture, we are seeing a Church that is limited by the culture.

 

“In an effort to be more relevant we have made the Church for man, but it is only the Holy Spirit who can make the Church for God.”

 

We need to return to the Upper Room with a passion and commitment to remain there until He pours out His Spirit afresh in this season. Just like the promise in Acts 1:8, we are going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us afresh so that we can complete the assignment He has given us. We have cities to take, giants to kill, people to reach, lives to restore, marriages to rebuild and the oppressed to heal (Isaiah 58:12, Luke 4:18-20). We are destined to do even greater works than Jesus (John 14:12) and we won’t be able to do it without the power of the Holy Spirit.

4. Stay guided by your divine assignment:

I strongly believe City Builders Church has an apostolic call to the city and the region. It involves the call to rebuild and restore what is in decay and broken. It is a call to the ministry of reconciliation. It is a call to reach out, influence and redeem the land. It is a call to take our place in society again and be salt and light (Mat 5:13-16). One of the scriptures we find our assignment in is Isaiah 58:12-

“Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” 

Many Christians haven’t pushed into God to find their assignment. So they have made Church their assignment. Church is not your assignment. The Church has an assignment.

The scripture says in Isaiah 60:2 that although darkness covers the earth and deep darkness covers the people, the Lord will arise over you and His glory will be seen upon you. This is the time for the Church to arise in the nation.

Jesus was the beginning generation, we are the finishing generation. What Jesus began in his homeland we are finishing in every nation of the earth. His kingdom is increasing, advancing and the job of the Church is to bring the word into every family, every heart and every sector of society, and see this nation turn back to God.

 

”Jesus was the beginning generation, we are the finishing generation. What He began in His homeland we are finishing in every nation of the earth.”

 

5. Stay in the realm of faith:

We are in a spiritual war that is playing out in our culture. Our wrestle is not with people, colleagues, family members or anyone else we may have friction with. We are wrestling with principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this age and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).

Ephesians gives us vital keys to fighting this war and overcoming. Firstly, you must take up the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the evil one (Eph 6:15). The attacks of the enemy are like fiery darts that come in our thought realm and our heart. When we are in a battle we can become hurt, weary and hardened. We can lose heart and lose faith. We can come into a realm where we are not believing what we should. The important thing is to stay connected. Every one of us needs someone who can challenge our concepts and help us find our way back to Him. We must allow God to restore our soul, soften our hearts and bring us back to where we should be.

The shield of faith will protect your heart in the battle. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the voice of God (Heb 10:17). It happens when you pick up your Bible and say “God I need you to speak to me”. Faith comes when you hear messages like this that bring an adjustment in your life. Faith sees what others can’t see. It speaks the future into now. Abraham, the father of faith, called those things that be not as though they were (Rom 4:17).

Faith comes from the heart and is spoken through the mouth. In times of transition check your own heart, because the words that come out of your mouth will tell you where your faith is at. Are you in faith? Or have you begun to believe the lies of the enemy? Faith has an overcoming power that is greater than the world (1 John 5:14). If you can stay in faith during times of transition and challenge, you will eventually overcome.

During these times of transition, we must make sure we are in the right church, connected to the right people, hearing the right message and going in the right direction so we can make it through this wilderness and into the Promised Land.

 

“During these times of transition we must make sure we are in the right church, connected to the right people, hearing the right message and going in the right direction so we can make it through this wilderness and into the Promised Land.”

 

If you would like to take the step of inviting Jesus into your heart, to be guided and led through these times and receiving an overcoming spirit inside you, I would encourage you to pray the following prayer and make contact with our church, or a local church near you that can help you on your journey.

Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you in prayer asking for the forgiveness of my sins. I confess with my mouth and believe with my heart that Jesus is your Son, and that He died on the cross of Calvary that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. 

Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you right now to come into my life and be my personal Lord and Saviour. I repent of my sins and will worship you all the days of my life. Because Your word is truth I confess with my mouth that I am born again and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. 

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

THIS BLOG IS BASED ON PASTOR BRIAN’S MESSAGE ‘TIMES OF TRANSITION’

Pastors Brian and Lynne Heath have been married for 40 years and served as the senior leaders of City Builders Church (formerly COC) at Sale, in the heart of Gippsland, for the past 27 years.

Brian is one of the longest serving pastors in the Gippsland region and has become a true father to many spiritual sons and daughters and a valued mentor to younger ministers and community leaders.

Brian has a strong prophetic dimension to his life and carries the apostolic grace to build strong churches and to teach, train, impart and prepare the Church for the last day’s harvest. Brian believes the church of the future will not only carry the grace to win souls, but to impact and influence every domain of society.

Brian is also part of an apostolic team that travels regionally and throughout the Pacific. He is also working with ministry partners to build an alliance of like-minded ministries, churches, individuals and organisations that desire to rediscover and rebuild the Christian foundations that this great nation was built upon.