Who Are You?

Recently, we have been looking again at what God has built in the midst of us and the commission He has placed before us as a house. We were studying the passages at the beginning of 2 Chronicles where Solomon steps forward to complete the building of the temple for the Lord. If you recall, it was David (his dad) who had longed to build the temple for God as a place where worship and offering would go before Him night and day. This was a deep desire in Him and was referenced a number of times in his writings. In Psalm 132, it states that David vowed before God that he would not allow himself in his own house until he established a house for God to dwell...in essence, the temple where God's presence would manifest and where the priests would worship Him. Unfortunately, the job fell from David to his son in the end. David acted wisely, though, and determined that he would support the efforts of his boy in getting this most loving of projects completed.

Following David's death, Solomon called the people to actively complete the structure, and upon completion, put out the call across the land for the people to come. The priests consecrated themselves, the musicians prepared themselves for the ultimate worship service and Solomon moved in all the appropriate furnishings for the temple itself. The final item, the ark of the covenant, signified that they had built this structure as a place for God to dwell. They were ready...

As Solomon prayed to God before the people, He expressed the obvious: "The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" (6:18) And He was right. He was asking for the eternal and unrestrained God of all creation to come and dwell in a building made by human hands. Yet, knowing that somehow this was what God had wanted, he asked of God: "May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive." (6:20-21) As he concluded, fire from heaven came down and consumed the offerings and the presence of God in a cloud descended into the temple. The presence was so strong that the people could not enter or stand in the midst of it.

Shortly after, God came and visited Solomon. He gave to him one of the most famous verses in the Old Testament, the wonderful promise of 2 Chron 7:14. But, even more, He ended the encounter by promising "Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there." (7:15-16)

God wants to dwell with people. In His holiness, it is appropriate that His people draw near consecrated before Him and aware of the their fallenness. Singers and musicians offered Him worship and thanksgiving then because it was His idea. He still loves it today. It was designed to go around the clock because He is worthy of it all. And, His promise is that those who would turn to Him with a repentant heart and love for Him as the motivator will see Him act on their behalf. He will heal the land. He will hear the prayers offered up in a place such as this (ie. the place of worship and devotion). And, His eyes and heart will always be looking this way.

So, do you know who you are? Has God asked you to stand before Him as one who would minster FIRST to Him above all other needs and demands? Are you called to be in a place of dwelling where God is raising up those who will seek Him on behalf of the city they live in? Are you a musician or singer and you feel you NEED to be offering your gift to the creator and lover of your soul in a more direct way? God is raising up Sanctuary and many other prayer expressions right now so these people can find each other and fulfill what God is calling for. Make your way forward and stand before God alone. It matters! And He is worthy of it all.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

No Building? No Problem!

The date for our building purchase financing for the deal to come together has come and gone, but we are not discouraged. In fact, we had some significant moments where God encountered us in our efforts and REALLY showed us things about ourselves and how we are living. It was a treasured time, one that was exciting and humbling all at once. We continue to look for a permanent home but now with a greater sense of God's intimate working in our midst. We have a new confidence that this journey is not about acquiring property, building infrastructure or feeling like we are accomplishing something that people will think is pretty cool.

Recently, God has been pressing us to think more deeply about what it means to be wholehearted. The more I study the concept, the more I realize that God is looking for wholeheartedness from us more than anything. Its not about what you do for Him but how much you are willingly saying YES to Him on the inside as you step out and try. Even in our weakness, in our immaturity, He looks for the YES! His heart is moved by people fully turned to Him. He relents from sending calamity when people turn with their whole heart back to Him and His way. Check out Joel 2 and 2 Chronicles 7:14 as good examples of this.

Jesus taught that we needed to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and all of our strength. It leaves little room to think there is much else that should occupy our mind, emotions, will and spending habits. He follows this with a direction to love our neighbour as ourself, something that is obviously connected to the first statement. In my view Jesus is saying "its all about me, guys". In our relating to our neighbours, the people in our sphere of influence, treat them as you want to be treated, but love God as you love them. Everything in life that we give ourselves to can and should be an expression of our love and devotion to God. We want to be known as people who loved God with everything we had in us and allowed that love to be manifest in our role as parents, co-workers, actual neighbours and servants of those in need. The One we serve will meet us in eternity one day and our eyes will meet. We will know so much more about Him than we ever thought possible. He will know everything about us. It's all about love for God, folks.

Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director

HELP!

This is a very exciting time for Sanctuary. We are closing in on our one-year anniversary and plan to celebrate a little bit on May 7th! Thank-you God!! We are still here and still doing what you asked of us, and for that we are so grateful.

At the very same time, we are in the process of buying a building. We found the building above a few months ago sitting empty and crying out for some worship and prayer to happen once again inside it. We talked and prayed, kept taking steps forward and now we have an agreed-upon price, an accepted offer and are now looking for the finances. What a ride! This building would be a great fit for us. It is the right size and shape, has classrooms and a kitchen ready for use and even has a parking lot! The stage is HUGE...this was a Salvation Army church building so they needed room for the brass band. We'll take it, though...we need the space.

I knew things were looking up when, during our first walk-through of the place, I asked Joel (one of our worship leaders) "How would it feel if we set up a keyboard for you right now? Does it feel good in here and can you imagine worshipping Him in this place?" His eager response of "Oh yeah" was just what I was thinking...there had been lots of worship in this place in years past and you could feel it.

So, now we are putting the word out to any who want to help us in this. We need to raise money, plenty of it, for the purchase and we have 45 days to get it together. If you are interested in sowing into this adventure and helping this part of the prayer movement in Winnipeg find a permanent home, you can send us a cheque and a donation receipt will be returned to you. Go to the "Donate" tab on the upper right of this page and you will find info on ways you can give.

We are moving forward toward our goal of 24-7 night and day worship and intercession for this city. Imagine...a place in the city where you can go any time of the day or night and find a team of people singing, praying and ministering to God, the source for all good things to come in our city! We are thrilled at what He is establishing and invite you to be a part of it in this hour of history. God is doing something significant...when people turn to pray, when the cry goes up night and day, justice comes to a city speedily (Luke 18). God is getting ready to do something unprecedented here. Let's do it together!

Blessings,

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

It's a Promise!

Still studying the Sermon on the Mount. I counted the number of verses in the sermon. There are 106. We are currently on verse 3! This is rich stuff...

Shane spoke again recently. He gave us an explanation of mourning and what it means for us to embrace this feeling in a heart lovesick for God and not where we were created to be. He showed us that mourning was not uncommon even for Jesus. There is a greater future coming, a culmination of a journey bigger than you or I, that will "bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Eph 1:10). We were created to love Him and be loved by Him. Our future home is with Him forever, joined in intimacy and moving in step with His heart. The King of Heaven is going to split the sky and come to this earth for His people, His bride made ready for the wedding day seen in Revelation.

The key to the time in between is to know the end of the story. Though we mourn our own lack now, realizing the wickedness of our own hearts and how easily we give ourselves to lesser pleasures than to the One who loves us, there is an amazing future ahead. Embrace the lack in your life, He says, for you will be comforted. It's a promise! The Son of God has said it is so.

Embracing the Sermon and building well produces changes now. But, they are not always what you expect. Jesus said you are blessed when you realize your povery of spirit. He said you are blessed when you mourn your lack. The word for "blessed" is an interesting one...from the Strong's concordance, it says:

G3107
μακάριος
makarios
mak-ar'-ee-os
A prolonged form of the poetical μάκαρ makar (meaning the same); supremely blest; by extension fortunate, well off: - blessed, happy (X -ier).

Hmmmmm...supremely blessed! Well off. Happy. Some have even translated the term "extremely happy". Embracing your lack, knowing that there is more and longing for it, from the viewpoint of Heaven, is being well off, happy and supremely blessed. I love it! It's what we don't know about God and His kingdom that makes me excited and hungry for more. As a friend of mine loved to say, His kingdom is upsidedown!

Be blessed to embrace your weakness before Him! He is so wonderful. And, your future is secure and wonderful as you press forward into the One who waits for you. He is doing a good work in you and you are going to love how it ends :)

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

For HIM!

I love this photo. It is a recent shot taken from one of our sets. These are just some of the many singers whose main task it is to "prophetically" sing through and in response to scripture passages prayed for this city, the church found in it and the lost who need Jesus. They are a crucial component to our house of prayer. They are much more than back-up singers. We rely on them to hear the words the Spirit is speaking and bring that forth in song. We need them to know the scriptures for they are helping us as we sing and pray through the written word of God. They often carry us as we pray. The help us connect our weak and sometimes cold hearts with a God who loves us more than we know. They are people just like the rest of us, with the same weakness and struggle that presses in on them daily as it does to all of us. But, they are bold! They are willing to take the lead and minister to the heart of God as their first purpose in our house. They have seen something of their bridegroom that has captured their hearts. And they are convinced that they are to sing it out to the Audience of One! Sing, Zion, sing!!

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

Build Well

We are studying the Sermon on the Mount line-by-line, section-by-section, these days. At the speed we are going we will be in this section of scripture for many months, if not years. But, we are in no hurry to move on. We have a firm conviction that the teaching laid out in Matthew 5-7 is "Christianity 101", the basics of the faith. It is a plan given to every believer to guide them along their journey toward eternity. It is meant to be taken seriously. It is meant to be lived out and not just given mental assent. If it takes us a year or two to cover all of the material, so be it. It is going to take a lifetime to make it a reality in our hearts and actions.

I think the end of the Sermon ties it together well.

Matthew 7:24-27

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Jesus is telling his disciples (and the rest of us) that hearing these words, even believing them, and doing nothing with them will make you a fool. A wise person actually builds these teaching into his life, believing that this is wisdom for living. Even more than that, it is direction from Jesus, the uncreated God standing before them in human flesh. He knows everything, has infinite wisdom, power and strength and is giving them direction for life. He is right...only a fool would ignore the words of such a man.

But, why is this so critical to act on? The key is found in the image of a house standing (or falling) under the force of a storm. Jesus is saying this life is going to bring storms and they are unavoidable. Every person will experience them at some point in their life. They come in the form of sickness, economic hardship, even death of a loved one. They are rarely expected and hit us like a storm out of control, powerful enough to knock us off balance if not well rooted to the ground. Seasons of uncertainty sometimes bring out the best in us, but all too often bring out the worst instead. Jesus is saying, "You are going to experience difficult times, some of which will hit you with force when you do not expect it...build well, for your house can fall if you have ignored my counsel".

There is a second "storm" that has the potential to strike us off balance as well, but is experienced on a national or even global level and is entirely out of our control. Living in the Western world, we only sometimes think of this kind of trouble, but the suffering church in China, the hungry and AIDS-inflicted children in Africa or those running from military fallout in Iraq and so many other nations will tell you differently. Trouble can come from outside your sphere of influence and completely change your life. The scriptures say that before the return of Jesus to the earth again when He comes to establish His reign on the earth, there will be "there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again (Matt 24:21). This earth is going to feel the storm like no other in that hour.

The final and perhaps most severe storm is waiting for some on the other side of this life. Again, the scripture teaches that there is a judgement awaiting all, an evaluation of our lives and real decisions will be rendered to correspond with it. He is going to judge the earth. He who knows everything about us; every thought, every action, every choice ever made by every person. There will be nowhere to hide on that day. The eternal God of infinite love will not suspend his eternal and infinite justice as He looks into our very being. His evaluation will be right. We will know it.

Be wise...build well!

Brian Creary

Ministry Director

Fasting Again...

We are on the final day of a 3-day corporate fast and it has been a good time. We have decided to join in with our friends at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City and take on a 3-day fast on the first Mon-Wed of each month. They call it the "Global Bridegroom Fast". Catchy title :) We have taken part twice now and have mostly focused around the ideas found in Revelation 22:17. It has been a joyous adventure to turn our hearts (and stomachs) toward the idea of the return of Jesus to the earth. It is not something most people think much about. It is almost never included as part of an intercession meeting. But, we are finding it to be critical to who we are and what God is calling us to pray for in this hour of history.

This passage is a real motivator for me. I love the phrase "the Spirit and the Bride say COME". What an amazing thing that the Holy Spirit is initiating an ever-increasing cry from deep within the Bride for the return of the Bridegroom to the earth! Hearts will be stirred to the reality of His return. Eyes will be open to who it is we really long for and how much better it will be to have Him with us here in this place. The Spirit is leading us into truth. He is stirring our hearts for a greater reality than what we now know. He is ushering in the culmination of the kingdom. The "not-yet" will finally overtake the "already" and we will see the plan that the Father has designed before any of us ever took a breath and called this place home.

As well, the passage says, "let him who hears say COME". The call to any who are listening and can understand what the Spirit is saying to the church right now is "COME". Agree with what God is stirring in His bride in this hour! Join our voices to His purpose. In fact, we like to ask that He will "come to us before He comes for us". We want God to pour out His Spirit in a move of power in this age that will sweep oh so many into the kingdom. We want Him to have mercy on our city and break the controls of darkness that keep people in bondage and despair. Before you return for your Bride, add to it significantly in our city!

The issue is not when Jesus is returning exactly. The issue is agreeing that, in fact, He really is coming back and we can have confidence in this. We can agree with His plans, ask for his compassion and justice in the place we live and look with love and expectation for our great and glorious hope.

Brian Creary

Ministry Director