I really trust that God blessed you and your families over Christmas and that you have had a peaceful break. All things Jubilee are starting back with great expectation that God is going to continue to do wonderful things amongst us and increase all that He is doing. This goes for the Student and Twenties as well and I just know we are going to grow together this year like never before. Let me encourage you to really enter this new year and season prayerfully and faithfully, looking to the One who saved you, loves you and calls you friend to be your guide and provider for all that he has planned for you, for us a Students and Twenties and for us as a church.

I often think about the times that I have dedicated and set as side time just to be with God, focusing on certain things ahead that I needed His direction, guidance and Grace for. Every time as I spent time in the Word, praying or simply letting my thoughts churn and my hearts desires burn, God has always faithfully spoken to me and given me direction for certain things and my life. As I look back now, I am so thankful to God that the things he spoke came into existence, that He faithfully answered my prayers and, at times, carried me through. It is when I think of these times that my heart starts to sing out in worship and that my faith is increased for the future, knowing with full confidence that all things are in His hands.

As we come together as His Church this week to pray and fast, use these three days to really seek God for your own life. A new day is dawning, a new season is just beginning and my heart is truly excited for things that God is going to do. My prayer is that you will know God more and more this year and that your faith in Him will grow so that your life is truly blessed and the work of your hands abundantly fruitful.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:1-5)

God knows everything about you, you were fearfully and wonderfully made by Him and for Him and He has a wonderful plan for your life. May you know this truth in your heart and walk daily in the light of it in this New Year. Amen

By Matt Legg

Yesterday morning, we could not find our car key anywhere and my husband, Ben, needed it to get to work. We had to find it as I lost the only other key to the car almost eight months ago and neither of us know how to hot wire a vehicle. As we were hunting high and low for it, I suddenly remembered the prophetic word that Keith Hazell brought to the church last Saturday: that some who had lost things of value would find them. I immediately dismissed the thought as the key had gone missing after the word had been given, but I said a quick prayer asking God to help us find it. Almost immediately afterwards, and to both our complete amazement, Ben did not find the key we were looking for, but found the other key that had been missing for months!

Pondering the reappearance of the (long) lost key reminded me of a few things:

1. God can work in unexpected ways – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8). In our limited thinking, we sawone way to solve the problem (i.e., find the lost key), but God provided another solution that was totally unexpected. Only God knows everything and when we can’t see the way out of problems, take comfort in the fact that God has things worked out in His sovereignty.

2. God’s timing is perfect. The sudden reappearance of the long lost key was no coincidence but came at just the right time. I am so thankful that our times are in God’s hands (Psalm 31:15), including the times that will mark the end of our present troubles.

3. God turns situations around so that things are not always as final as they may look. God led us to find the key I had already accepted was gone. But, God gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist (Romans 4:17). Innumerable descendants were born of Abraham, despite his wife’s barrenness and his body being “as good as dead” at 100-odd years old (Hebrews 11:12). Like Abraham, may we not weaken in faith when faced with our circumstances and in hope believe against all hope (Romans 4:18-19).

4. God provides to meet our needs (Philippians 4:19), because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7, Luke 12:7, Matthew 6:25-34), and is looking after us day and night (Psalm 121:8). We needed one key to drive the car and God provided one.

5. God is good and gives us what we don’t deserve. Much more than the unexpected blessing of a key to get into a car, He has given us access to the Kingdom of God by His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself up for us, dying on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins, that we might be clothed in His righteousness and have eternal life.

Hallelujah!

By Lynn Ashworth

I’ve always been something of an underdog. The underdog mentality, like many others, can often be adopted by a person, or imposed on them by others. We can often grow into these labels and ideas almost to the extent to where they become part of our identity.

Interestingly, in the Beatitudes, Jesus, who Himself was often thought of as an underdog through much of His time on earth, ministers to this issue. “Blessed are you poor in spirit, mourners, meek, persecuted.” (Matt 5:3-11).

Jesus, the unlikely Hero, is saying to His followers, you may not think much of yourself, and others may not hold you in high esteem, but you are blessed! This means you are so highly valued by God! How precious it is to gain God’s favour! If you can come to the place where God’s favour is the only opinion that matters regarding your worth, this will set you free, and you will no longer live to please others or to achieve your own self-imposed standard.

Jesus says: “Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”.

Jesus says I will set you free of all these expectations and negative labels, and I will teach you and I will give you a new identity. An identity that is sourced in Him, and not what people say, your achievements or your past. So when the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36). And you know what? I’m not an underdog, because Jesus calls me blessed, and it is Him I want to listen to and Him I want to please.

And as a final thought, this Jesus, born into poverty and who died a criminal’s death, is now and forever the greatest Hero there was, is or ever shall be. “Jesus…who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning it’s shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2). Thank you LORD, that You yourself went the distance and achieved what no-one could do, to make us right with You. Amen.

Posted by Tom Coe

UCB (United Christian Broadcasters) is ‘a Christian charity and one of the UK’s leading Christian media ministries.’ It provides us with The Word for Today (a daily devotional which people have been using for many years), Christian Television and Christian Radio on DAB (digital radio) amongst many other things. I began listening to UCB Radio approximately one year ago after listening to it at my Mum’s house and I can honestly say that it has made a big difference in my life. Tope once said that we often have the TV on as ‘background noise’ whilst we go about doing our daily business, and this has definitely been the case with me. I always used to have the TV on whilst I was cleaning, cooking, studying or working. This is not always helpful as there is often a lot of junk on the TV which can be de-motivating rather than encouraging and can leave us with an unhelpful and ungodly mindset. Since discovering UCB my background noise has become the radio! We now have it on at home every morning (rather than ITV’s Daybreak!), every evening whilst cooking, during the day whilst cleaning and I even listen to it through my iPhone (yes… they have an app!) whilst driving to work.

The reason I find UCB Radio such a blessing is because of its Jesus-loving, Bible based, uplifting message that it sends out on a daily basis. There are several aspects of the station which I love. Firstly, there is the ‘From the Bible’ section which is a regular reading of different portions of scripture throughout the day, usually aired after the news. This means that whilst you are listening to this ‘background noise’ you are constantly being fed with scripture. Secondly, there are the worship songs which are played throughout the day. They play a mixture of modern and classic praise and worship songs as well as music by bands such as Delirious?, Rend Collective Experiment, the David Crowder Band, Third Day and Tree63. In the evening they have a worship hour which is very good, although it is on rather late at 11pm. On Saturdays they broadcast ‘20 The Countdown Magazine’ which is the Christian music chart based in America which plays all of the latest music by Christian artists such as Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, Sidewalk Prophets and Third Day. UCB also broadcast some great preaches by people such as Ravi Zacharias, Charles Stanley and Chuck Swindoll during the teaching hour on weekday evenings from 7pm. Every hour they give a news update which includes all of the top news items of the day as well as Christian news which means that you hear about things going on in the world which Christians are involved with. They also talk about the news from a Christian perspective at various points throughout the day.

I cannot recommend this radio station enough. I know that some people in the church listen to it already and find it extremely helpful in their daily walk with God. I love the fact that when the radio is on, my home is being filled with things of God, whether that be worship, teaching, scripture or small inspirational talks. There have been many items aired on UCB which have touched my heart and have moved me in my relationship with God. I have been encouraged, uplifted and inspired through UCB and I know that this can also be said for many others who tune-in. There are testimonies of people being saved or brought back to God as the Gospel has been shared through the radio and people getting in touch through UCB’s ‘Prayerline’. I pray that God will continue to bless this radio station and all who are involved in its work. If you are interested in listening to UCB you can do so by going online, downloading the UCB app on iPhone/iPad or getting a DAB radio. More information can be found on the UCB website: www.UCB.co.uk.
Blog Post by Louise Legg

I’M ONLY a quarter of the way through Bill Hybels’s book “Just walk across the room” and I already feel I can recommend it to anyone interested and stirred by evangelism. With the past series on evangelism at Jubilee Church, I’ve been challenged -not only in sharing the Gospel, but also in how I share the Gospel. And this book is helpful in both – reminding me of the importance of living and sharing what I believe – Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and those who don’t believe in Him won’t share in His eternal inheritance. And that evangelism means doing what God has called me to do -doing my part and that doesn’t mean I will be the one to pray the prayer of salvation with everyone I know.

Ok so the second point was revelation to me! Before, I thought I was responsible for leading everyone I know directly to the throne of God, and if I didn’t, then I had somehow failed. But actually my job is to lead people CLOSER to God, whether that means they move by an inch or a mile! The book uses a number of analogies to describe how close people are to God/accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and points out that sometimes after we’ve shared with people, they may still well be in negative territory, but moved from say a -5 to -3. But by God’s grace, another Christian comes along and helps that person to +1! Everyone plays their part, and God works it all out!

Evangelism is actually liberating! Because my job is to listen to the Spirit’s promptings and act on them (sometimes He will want me to share my testimony, and share the Gospel and sometimes He will want me to show love and kindness), as long as I do my part, they will be one step closer to accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour. I can be content with that, and not feel bad when that person doesn’t make a commitment right there and then! What I can do is invite God to use me in bringing every person I know and meet, closer to Him. Pray and ask Him to show me what He wants me to do. And then do it! Thank Him for letting me be a part of the plan, and leave the grand plan to Him, who in His perfect and mysterious Will is working it all out for our good and His glory!

I wonder what else this book will teach me about evangelism – and what it can teach you!

Blog Post by Roxana Willis

Back in July this year about 30 of us Jubilee student and 20s descended on the city of Brighton full of expectation for another Mobilise conference. Each year, Mobilise gathers around 2000 students and young people in their 20s from around the UK for a week of exuberant worship, incredible bible teaching and life changing seminars. This year didn’t disappoint by a long shot. We all went with our own expectations, prayers and hopes, to which God was faithful as He met with us by His Spirit in amazing, powerful times of corporate worship. The tangible presence of God amongst us was incredible, in which we encountered His holiness and awesomeness, but also His tender love, compassion and grace towards us.

God spoke powerfully through the main preaching series on ‘The fear of God’. We heard about what it means to fear God, the importance of having a healthy fear of God, and how that fear produces fruitfulness in your life, most importantly in persuading others to the faith. The series also looked at the fear of God in suffering looking at the book of Job, wrapping up with the fear of God and mission, looking at how Paul’s fear of the Lord was a constant driver in His missionary journeys.

Outside of the main sessions, we had a huge variety of seminars to choose from, which spoke into many areas of our individual walks with God. All were tailored to be extremely informative, encouraging and helpful in order to contribute to us progressively becoming more effective disciples of Jesus. Seminars ranged from teaching on the Holy Spirit, growing in the prophetic, church planting, running student Alpha, how to make a difference in politics and many more.

Probably one of the most invaluable aspects of our time away together was the fun and fellowship we shared with one another and those from other churches. Time doing life together is truly what makes church a living body of people rather than some sort of institution. Hanging out around Brighton and on the pier, praying together on the Beach and generally having a laugh completing loads of funny challenges was just brilliant. New friendships were made, continuing friends were enriched and we all came away closer as a group, more in love with Jesus and set for His great mission back in Enfield.

Next year you have the chance to experience Mobilise, which is going to be held in Prestatyn, North Wales between 10th to the 13th of April 2012. It is going to be a FANTASTIC time so check out the video below to get a sneaky peak of what it is going to be like.

Blog Post by Matt Legg

TRUTH be told, I had better plans tonight, but since they were cancelled I decided to write this blog post instead! I wanted to go out, but I think God wanted me to stay in (Prov 16:9). In my defence, I made those plans before Matt Legg’s talk on Thursday, when he spoke on decision making!

I feel God is trying to teach me about this, and seeking Him – the phrase “enquire of the Lord” has stuck with me, and now seems to keep cropping up in the Bible ever since Tope’s sermon on February 6th! Whilst I like to think I consult God in my decision-making, perhaps it is actually just on the “big” decisions in my life. Which has made me think – what about my day-to-day decisions, or my weekly plans? Am I out and about doing my own thing? Did God have other plans for me? Did God want to use me somewhere else?

As Matt pointed out, the decisions we make have major consequences. My decisions obviously determine what I am doing, when and how, but more than that, they actually shape my life, and have eternal weight (Matt 7:21!!). To follow Jesus, I want, in fact, I need, the decisions I make to be God-centred, so that my life glorifies God (Isa 43:21), and I do the will of the Father (Matt 12:50).

I’m actually glad my plans tonight were cancelled, and I decided to write this blog post (which is only by God’s grace; he had to cancel my plans for me, reminding me I had not consulted Him and He is sovereign!). God’s plans are much better than mine – so going forward, I pray I will seek the Lord and His will above my own, and in all things. Let this be your prayer also.

By Rox Willis – Saturday 26th February 2011

The second talk in our series on ‘Living a God Centred Life’ was on the Word of God. If we are to live God centred lives, which are honouring to Jesus’ name, then we need to have the Word of God inside of us. We looked at how the Word contains all the tools we need in order to live for Christ. Within the Word we find encouragement through times of trials, resources to fight the fight against sin and temptation and the all important accounts of how Jesus, the Son of God, brought the Kingdom near, giving us such an example of how to live our lives.

One of the many descriptions of the Word, given by an unknown author, was ‘It is the traveller’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter’. This really stayed with me; and as I thought about it more, I realised that the Bible is all of these things to Christians because God himself was those very provisions to the characters documented in this amazing book. He was Abraham’s map, Moses’ staff, Jonah’s compass, David’s sword and Paul’s charter. It is an incredible privilege to live in these times whereby we can learn from the experiences of Noah right through to the apostle Paul and also to think that most of the early Biblical characters did not have the Word as we do now. This phenomenal library composed by traveller’s, fisherman, tax collectors, doctors, priests and prophets is full of the character and promises of God, that can set a Christian on a sure and true path with God, one of boldness, hope, expectation and faith.

I find that as I read and allow the Word of God to infiltrate my soul and my whole life, I find myself crying out to God to see the things that I read within my own life and in the community where I live in north London. I also find myself pursuing to be more like Jesus, ready to live a life for Him and in doing so, by His Spirit and through the Word, He equips me to be a more effective disciple.

‘All Scripture is breathed out by God profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

In our midweek Student & 20s cluster meetings, we are currently doing a series on ‘Living a God Centred Life’. We are focusing on individual areas of our lives and looking to make them God centred by studying what the Word has to say about them. As we look practically at applying God’s Word to these areas of our lives, our prayer is that each and every single one of us would lead a life that is God centred and Christ focussed.

On the first week of the series we started with the Gospel. The truth is that it is because of the Gospel that we are even able to live a God centred life. We looked in depth at what Christ achieved on the cross, to remind ourselves of where we had come from before we were saved, to the glorious riches that we live in now, purely and simply because of the love that flowed through God’s Grace and his Son’s obedience and humble sacrifice. As Christians, having the Gospel written on our heart, being constantly thankful for it and humbled by it, is key to us living a God centred, Christ focussed life. It is actually our response and our Worship. The Bible puts it like this;

‘For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever. Amen. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.’ (Romans 11:36 – 12:1)

I have recently been listening to one of the latest Hillsong Albums, A Beautiful Exchange. One of the songs on the album has really spoken to me, it’s called Believe. It has everything that a great Christian song should have (I think); a sing-able beautiful melody and more importantly fantastic, Biblical lyrics that makes your heart want to sing them out to God. Below are the lyrics from the song.

‘You are my light, you are my strength
You are my Rock on which I stand

I lift my voice, I raise my hands
I lift my soul with all I am

In Christ forever I’ll stand
I will believe

You are strong enough in my weakness
God be lifted up and I will sing.
Lift Your praises high, Lord be magnified
You make all things new, I will believe

So, hear this song, receive our praise
You are my strength for all our days

We lift You up, our voices high
In every storm let God arise’

In an age of economic break down, low job stability, record divorces and family breakups, I am not massively sure that the ‘Great British Morale’ is enough to see people through. With a nation of growing skeptics, it is really a strong witness for a Christian to stand up and say that whatever is happening around them, however weak we are and feel, God is ALWAYS stronger.

This song reminds me in such a power way of God’s Sovereignty, that I have one who is higher than all things. I also love the emphasis on the importance of worship. Worship for a believer is the key to seeing through anything in life, from the mountain top experiences to the times of trial and testing. When everything around is crashing down, there is no more powerful picture than that of the church around the world lifting up the name of Jesus in songs that magnify, glorify and bless Him for the wonderful things He has done.

I guess that for anyone who has thought about writing a blog, the easy part is just the actual thought process of deciding to write a blog. The not so easy part is the important question, “what on earth will be your first blog post?” I have to admit that I am certainly a new-be to the blogging world, that’s reading and writing. However I have started to get into it by reading the blog of my good friend and well renowned Christian blogger, Mr Adrian Warnock. Having spent the last four years getting to know him, and more recently reading his excellent blog, I have discovered the one crucial element required to be a good blogger . . . you have to be chatty! I can do chatty, as those who know me well will more than testify.

So Hi, this is Matt Legg starting this blog. I am a 24 year old guy living in North London UK where I attend Jubilee Church London. I am married to my wonderful wife Louise, who I am sure will add her thoughts to this blog time to time. We both met in Portsmouth at the end of 2006 where we studied at the university for three years, Louise on a psychology degree and myself on a engineering degree. We graduated in 2007 and were married on the 1st August 2009 in sunny Bournemouth, Louise’s home city. I am now working for an engineering consultancy while Lou, as I will call her from now on, is a secondary school teacher, it’s an interesting mix for sure!

I am not sure exactly how often I will blog but I will definitely be cropping up from time to time to tell you a little bit more about myself, the wonderful things that God is doing in our lives and the life of our church and general chat about the things I have seen, read or heard. I will also log on to tell you wonderful stories of the things happening in our Student and 20’s Group at Jubilee Church, which I have the upmost privilege of leading.

There, the first post is on the road!