Sunday, September 5
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Pre Sermon Music
1 – Famous One – Chris Tomlin & Jesse Reeves
2 – Cannons - Phil Wickham
3 – Your Name - Paul Baloche & Glenn Packiam
Post Sermon Music
4 – Jesus Paid It All - Kristian Stanfill Version
5 – Jesus Lord of Heaven – Phil Wickham
6 – None But Jesus - Brooke Fraser
7 – Glory in the Highest - Chris Tomlin
8 – Stronger - Reuben Morgan & Ben Fielding
Thank you so much for praying with and for us. We were blessed to see God move mightily on this trip – not only in the city of London, but in each of us. By the time you read this we will be safely back in Los Angeles by the grace of God. To cap off our trip, we wanted to leave you all with a few thoughts and burdens God impressed us with.
Nathan – Ephesians 2:14-21 was impressed early on me as something to pray for the city of London. While attending a West Ham football (soccer) match I saw men treating their young children like beer buddies and teaching them to hate and attack others over a sports club. Pray that the working class, burdened with hopelessness, hatred and alcoholism, would see their hopes fulfilled in the One True God, and that the men of this city would stand to show the love of God the Father to their children, raising up a new generation who walks in righteousness.
Ian – I went on this trip expecting God to do incredible things in London (which He does), and ended up getting rocked by Jesus myself. The Lord revealed a lot of stuff in me that needed doing away with – issues with pride and such – and taught me more about Himself in our devotional times and teachings. It was a time of great breaking down and building up for me. I also fell in love with Mark and Lizzie and can say, like Tim ‘I don’t need to be reminded to pray for Mark and Lizzie, I just do. They’re on my heart.’
Denise- Galatians 3:2 – God really impressed upon my heart the people of Islam. When we went to the London Central Mosque I felt an overwhelming spiritual darkness. My heart breaks for the deception of their works based theology and their slavery to their god. I love that Jesus calls us His children and loves us regardless of how many times a day we pray. He knows the conditions of our hearts, and grants us mercy in the work of Christ. God has expanded my heart for the people of Islam, and I will continue to pray that the true Lord of all reveal Himself to them.
Theo – I was particularly grieved by how the devil keeps people ignorant of, and hard-hearted towards the gospel even within Christian churches. After touring John Wesley’s house my heart was burdened for the many churchgoers who turn to religious idolatry and historical tradition instead of Christ. Pray that those within the churches of London (and in our own country for that matter) would place their faith in Christ alone for salvation, and that the Lord continues to raise up laborers who preach, rather than assume, the Gospel.
Michelle Terry – My biggest burden came from our time at Wesley’s Chapel and talking to Jeannie, a tourist from Chicago. Pray for all who are ‘religious’, calling themselves Christians but having no desire to know Jesus, the true Savior and cornerstone of the Church. Pray the Lord would shake these people up so they see the power of the Gospel to salvation and know that without Christ there is no Christianity.
Myrrhia- Firstly, all glory, honor and praise to Jesus! In many ways, this trip was confirmation for what my heart has been previously burdened with – namely God’s work in the London youth, and my potential place within that mission. I was blessed to be able to meet with Mark Walley, the youth pastor of All Souls Clubhouse to discuss God’s work among the young people of London. Pray for wisdom for Mark and the Clubhouse staff as they lead this biblical, Christ-centered ministry in the heart of the city. I could go on about all of the opportunities God provided, but I will conclude with this – God adores His children with an all-consuming fire.
Kaelie Baer – God did more than I expected on this trip. Not only in burdening me for the city and helping me to build solid relationships. The Lord dealt with my own heart issues, making me more broken and available to His will for London. My biggest burden came from the amount of dead churches throughout the city. There are some amazing buildings made for glorifying God, but are now used as money makers and historical landmarks. I pray that they would be revived through the preaching of the Gospel, and sharing the love of Jesus with the city. I was also touched by Mark and Lizzie being completely honest with their struggles in London, but trusting in Gods plan and being dedicated to following the Spirit.
Westminster Abbey
Sunday, August 29
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Pre Sermon Music
1 – Not To Us - Chris Tomlin & Jesse Reeves
2- The Highest and Greatest - Tim Hughes & Nick Herbert
3 – Love Came Down - Ben Cantelon
Post Sermon Music
4 – Came To My Rescue - Joel Davies, Marty Sampson, and Dylan Thomas
5 – Only You Can Satisfy - Caleb Clements & Todd Proctor
6 – Yes and Amen - Matt Redman
7 – Awakening - Chris Tomlin & Reuben Morgan
8 – Mighty To Save - Reuben Morgan & Ben Fielding
Sunday, August 22
Click on song title to be redirected to iTunes
Pre Sermon Music
1 – Beautiful One – Tim Hughes
2 – How Can I Keep From Singing - Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, & Matt Redman
3 – I’ll Follow You – Evan Wickham
Post Sermon Music
4 – From the Inside Out – Joel Houston
5 – Everything – Tim Hughes
6 – You Hold Me Now – Reuben Morgan & Matt Crocker
7 – Awakening – Chris Tomlin & Reuben Morgan
8 – Savior of the World – Ben Cantelon
A day full of church services – observation – participation – Jesus put on full display in many different ways. What could have been exhausting in a debilitating way was instead exhausting in a filling way.
We began the day by visiting All Souls, Langham Place ( an Anglican Church formerly pastored by John Stott). The scripture taught on was 2 Timothy 3:10- 4:5, which reminds us that the Bible is God speaking sufficiently and supremely to us.
Paul writes to Timothy. “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, the will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
This verse says much of our observation of the people of London.
It was a very traditional and structured service, “Welcome,” Opening prayers,” “The Lord’s Prayer,” “Song…” etc. Within the structure, the Gospel was preached. The sufficiency and supremacy of scripture taught, and Jesus and His living Word were exalted. We again heard the history of Tyndale, who was strangled and burned to death for the sake of Christ after translating the Bible into English so that every man could read scripture for himself and not only depend on the teachings of the church. The current pastor, Hugh Palmer, drove home the supremacy of scripture over any teaching that the church might formulate that may be out of line with the Word of God.
Our next service was at HTB, Holy Trinity Brompton (a reformed Anglican Church). Ordered, wooden, All Soul’s pews were replaced by peach colored wide stairstep stadium seating. The tall ornate old pulpit towered from the front but was now unused. A time of contemporary worship bled into teaching on Mark 10:17-31. A relaxed “story style” weaved together teaching that cumulated in another point that has been recurring throughout our stay in London.
The destructive and detrimental tendency for self sufficiency. He taught specifically that wealth enables self sufficiency. It was convicting to realize that every person in the United States, even those below the poverty line are still in the top 10% of the world. We are all wealthy. We all attempt self sufficiency at times.
We need to be desperate broken people for Jesus.
After a delicious lunch at Paul’s (a bakery), where everyone was able to fellowship and refuel, we all went our separate ways for reflection, prayer, and rest before our REALITY LONDON SERVICE!
to be continued…
Sunday was our marathon church day, 3-4 services. We started at “All Souls” which preaches the gospel, is scripture based and is awesome. Then we headed to Holy Trinity Brompton. Then off to Hillsong London. Crowning it off with Reality London
It was amazingly refreshing and encouraging to see other Christians in London worshipping the Lord, desiring to know more about Him! please join us in prayer for the unifying of these churches- we are all one body.
I know that there is so much more to share, but as we are coming up on our final day in London, please pray for us to be led by the Holy Spirit and to grant us favor with the people of the city, to let His will be done.
The devotional this morning was so encouraging as well, while some of us are planters, some are waterers and in the end all the glory goes to God who gives growth. On this trip it is so evidently clear that God has given each of us different strengths. It has been beautiful to see all the different gifting and to see this church family come alongside each other for His glory!!!! Praise Jesus!!!
A Visit to Regent’s Park and Camden Town:
God has been so faithful to orchestrate each day of this trip so that we would be strengthened, encouraged, challenged, and stretched. After seeing God’s hand unite us on a deeper level the day prior, He lead us into some slightly heavier circumstances on Friday.
Our first stop of the day was the Islamic Cultural Center, casually known as Regent’s Park Mosque. Each of us could say that upon entering these grounds, the heaviness and spiritual oppression that surrounded us was apparent, and rather odious.
We hesitantly entered the main foyer which eventually made way into the huge room underneath the high dome ceiling. Inside the giant room, bodies prostrate themselves in silent prayer to Allah. Sidelong glances from temple patrons seemed skeptical and brief, as they were engaged in conversation with one another or seemed not to care to welcome our rag-tag crew of foreigners who were obviously not comfortable in this environment.
The women could not enter the main prayer room, so some of the females on our team went into the women’s prayer room and were asked to participate in some basic ceremonial cleaning (hands & face) before they could enter the upstairs room to pray. They politely refused and remained downstairs in the women’s foyer. A few of our guys went into the main prayer hall and had only to remove their shoes.
A few other team members engaged in conversation with a very zealous Muslim man named Ziaa. What began as an informative dialogue soon spiraled into a pious rant against Christians, their beliefs and their practices. He did not know that we were Christians until we finally had to defend the gospel and our faith which he attacked very forcefully.
God graciously gave us peace, patience and boldness throughout the whole 45min conversation. Though Ziaa was not willing to hear anything we had to say, and we were not trying to convert him, we were thankful for this opportunity to have some light shed on some of the beliefs of a very dedicated muslim man who seemed to have some influence within his community. Our hearts broke even more as we filtered out and swarms of muslims filed into the temple in response to the call to worship.
Our prayers in response to this visit were desperate cries for God to move somehow and in someway through this community, and to disable the growth of this religion throughout the world. We were also reminded of God’s sovereignty and the fact that He has enabled them to have such influence in modern culture, and that He, in His infinite power, has control over every movement of man and every scheme of the devil. Pray for people to be delivered out of Islam, and for Christian laborers to be raised up to minister to them!
Our other destination, Camden Town, is an area of vibrant chaos. Venders gather weekly to sell eclectic offerings to the thousands of locals and visitors who flock to this iconic punk and bohemian culture scene. It is not much of a place for conversation when winding through the stalls of clothing, food, trinkets, and crafts, but the presence of such a diverse crowd makes it a great place to see the many cultures that thrive within London.
Pray for those we encountered that were filled with bitterness and anger (about what, we don’t know), for the artists that flock to this area and make a living at these street markets, for the youth that are lost and are desperate for stability and community.
It’s been a few days since we last blogged, so we thought it would be a good idea to fill you all in on what has been going on the past the few days with our group.
England, unlike America, has a National church. Many church bishops have differing views, which causes for much diversity in the Anglican Church of England. We went to three different services, each one being very unique from the rest.
It started with St. Paul’s noon eucharist service that we went to Wednesday, August 18th , which was a very traditional, very orthodox. It felt similar to a Catholic Mass service.
On Sunday, August 22nd, we went to two different Anglican churches. One of them was called St. Mary’s Church. This was a semi-charismatic non-traditional Anglican Church.
The same day, we went to All Soul’s Church (where John Stott used to preach). All Soul’s service was more in the traditional Anglican manner. Their preacher (Hugh Palmer) taught on how the Bible alone is authoritative as supreme truth in the Christian’s life. This, he said, is what the Anglican Church is built on. Even though there are some Anglican Pastors who have forgotten many of their articles of faith, the articles themselves have not changed.
It was interesting seeing the differences that exist within a single denomination. It showed us that we can be praying that the Anglican Church would be unified under the headship of Jesus Christ.
On Friday, August 20th, we went to the financial district of London, known as the City. We met with our friend Hanna, who was born and raised in the London area, but lived in LA for a while and was a part of the Reality LA family. Her father works in the financial industry. She told us that there are over 100,000 people who work in the City, which is roughly 1/15th of London’s population. Some people will work till 3 AM, while having to get up for work the next morning at 6 AM.
Business, money, and social status according to these are huge idols in London for many people. Pray that people would become Christians in this industry and realize that their identities are in Christ and not their position. Pray that the Christians who work here would stand firm in their identities in Christ.
We will post more detailed updates soon as we have been out all day each day. We have been praying for everything from the Church of England in front of St. Paul’s, to the British Government in front of Westminster Abbey and for those involved in the sex industry in SoHo. Here are a few snapshots of those moments… 
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