Tent of Promise- Sunday

We had a great meeting in the Tent this morning.

It was sort of a hybrid Tent + New Life church service.

During Pastor Leah's sermon on Saturday evening, I had become convinced that I should preach this morning. It was one of those faith situations where you know God wants you to do something but not sure exactly what. So I went to bed last night with no clue about what I would say today.

The notes from the sermon are below. It's about this being a prophetic period- a kairos time to use the New Testament word.

While we were having morning tea after church, a young man whom we know passed through the Bible Expo and emerged in tears. God had clearly touched him. Praise the Lord!

We are having another night meeting tonight and then it's time to pull the gear down. Grant & I will also be there in the morning to help drop the tent. In the middle of all that, we are expecting the Alleys to pass through so it looks like another busy "day off" !

Here are the notes from this morning's message, which we did not record as we didn't have the necessary equipment in the tent.

“Prophetic Times”
Mark 1:15

1. Intro.
This week with Tent of Promise... originally 18 months ago
Prophetic Period.. not sure what it means exactly, but it is a God-ordained time of three specific events directed by the Lord. Certainly New Life, possibly for the church of Narrabri, possibly for the town and region.
Organisation- set by God.
Time scale- set by God.

2. Kairos Time and Chronos Time
Two words for time
Leah- baby... changes everything.
Harvest time- busy time... but it's not chosen by people
Mark 1:15- the time has come.
Used in Scripture about coming of Jesus, and the end-times.
Kairos time is time to act, time to reach out and move according to God's plan.
Decisive time, time to act... an opportunity time or a crisis time.
Movies- it's the time to grab the girl, time to seize the day, make the bold move
Some modern kairos moments.
September 11th 2001... everyone remembers when they heard the news-- changed international politics
Hurricane Katrina, Cyclone Larry
collapse of communism
Personal times
Call of starting New Life
Change of job
Marriage, birth of baby
Getting saved, call to ministry

3. How to respond.
a. Act decisively.. Mark 1:15
Football- an opening in the defence, don't have time to think about it you go for it.
God calls, you answer.
No “what ifs?” in God's Kingdom
Salvations or non-salvations- people see the same opportunity
India trip... God spoke to me in June. thought way off, but when the opportunity was given me then I acted.
b. Be ready... you may not get another chance
Successful people see the opportunities and grab them
Having been told that I should go to India, I immediately applied for a passport.
Called to ministry, I got ready.
Babies come and you don't get a say in the timing... like that with God.
c. Kairos times are rarely convenient
Man called by Jesus said “Let me go and bury my father”
Leaving the UC- I wanted to give them notice but the hierarchy said “No”
There's always a reason to say “No.”
d. Kairos times mean more work
Revivals are busy times, inconvenient times.
“My food is to do the work of the one who sent me.”
e. Need to depend on God.
Chronos times you can get by on a bit of God- a hurried prayer, an occasional quiet time, but in kairos times you need to stay close to Him
Revivals fall apart because of the lack of holiness of the leaders.
Martin Luther. “I am so busy that I can not get by on anything less than three hours of prayer each day.”

Conclusion
These are kairos times- we need to be ready for whatever God tells us to do.