Welcome to the All Nations Church Blog! This is our space to explore in greater depth some of the things that the Lord is saying to us and to discuss how we can put them into practice. So whether you are an existing member of All Nations Church or you have happily stumbled across our blog, we trust that the following articles, interviews and testimonies not only give you opportunity to reflect on what the Lord is saying to you personally, but also equip you for your part in God’s eternal mission: to establish His Kingdom on earth as in heaven.

For this reason we are thinking about this blog as both a table and a toolbox. A table because we trust that as you read this blog, whether it’s over your lunch or with your morning coffee, you will find just what you need to nourish, strengthen and refresh you. But more than this, we trust you find inspiration and wisdom to put God’s Word into practice in your day-to-day life. Take the tools that you find in the following articles and put them to work. Because God’s way, His word, His will, when implemented, does just that: work!

It seems like more than ever the modern world needs a way that works. It can be so easy for us as Christians to look at the scale of the problems the world faces and feel overwhelmed. Or equally to look at our tables and toolkits and think we do not have the resources required. Don’t worry. That’s nothing new. In John 6, Phillip and Andrew responded in these ways when Jesus asked them how they could feed 5,000+ people who had come to hear Him preach on a remote mountainside. But while His disciples saw only a crisis, Jesus saw a good work that His Father had planned for him beforehand (Ephesians 2:10). The solution was not in might or strength or riches but to trust in God and to do things His way.

And it is this same perspective that Jesus wants His people to have in these days. That just as He did as a man all those years ago, we would do by the power of His Spirit living in us now; that as we walk through the challenges of our own lives and face the problems facing our world, we would take heart and trust in God. In fact, the Lord spoke to us as a church, saying that in the days ahead we would have new opportunities to trust in Him. The implication of this is that we are all going to experience situations where our own tables and toolkits don’t seem enough to match the challenge we face, where our personal limitations make a situation impossible to overcome. In those moments we can either see opposition or opportunity. Because the Lord has only led us into those situations so that we might grow in our trust in Him and that He might display His glory. In those moments may we find that our limitations and seeming lack of resource become the very means by which we overcome!

So, it is essential that we as Christians are being thoroughly nourished in the Scriptures and continuing to be equipped by the Holy Spirit. So we humbly submit this blog as one of the means by which you can do that. Don’t despise your small acts of devotion: the 5 minutes you give him over lunch, the humble loaf of revelation you receive or the tool God gives you to unlock the answer for a situation, for in the very act of pausing to listen and then obey God’s will, the Kingdom of God comes.

Let us finish with this. In a popular current affairs podcast, one of the well-known hosts claimed that in a society saturated with constant news, flippant soundbites and instant information the primary challenge we face is a lack of opportunity for reflection and meaningful consideration of how we live our lives. Leaders, politicians, people in their private lives are making decisions in a tired and busy state, without considering the motivations or the consequences of those decisions. Of course, reflection is a practice that cuts right to the heart of the Christian faith. Throughout history and around the globe, whether meeting in cathedrals, caves or cinemas, the Church has gathered around the Lord’s table to fulfil Christ’s command to reflect: “Do this in remembrance of me.” If our friendly podcast host is right, then by simply doing what the Church has done for centuries, pausing to reflect on our lives in light of the Scriptures, to pray, and to implement the ways of Jesus, we in fact embody the very solution that the world is crying out for.

We trust you enjoy the feast in the following articles and find yourself being sharpened as you trust in the Lord.