Quite few of you guys have asked me to do an update on Sanctuary in Ealing.
So here goes.
We have been operational for nearly a year now. As you can imagine it is an enormous task to set something new up from scratch, get it off the ground and eventually make it solid while at the same time guard against maintenance mode and keep it fluid. Dawn and I are the people who have a record of getting projects up and running while attempting to build in some solid foundations that future generations can build on. then someone else will come in and build on those foundations. That is what we have been busy doing this year. The prayer rhythm is solid. The hospitality has developed at a fantastic rate, with many needy people being drawn to the sanctuary including the homeless, the sick, the addicted and the alcoholic. Our practical assistance records are hard to keep up with and range from food to sleeping bags. We have compartmentalised and sharpened our need based hospitality down to afternoons where soup and other food is available to those who need it. We are so grateful that God has sent many volunteers to the Sanctuary who give their time and effort to serving the broken and the lost and they have contributed to making the soup and other food and serving the needy. But we are about to take that to another level we have signed a deal that little cash outlay with the chef at Sunbury Court who will cook the soup and we are setting up a collection and refrigeration service to constantly supply quality soup to the people. We serve an ever increasing Polish community of which some are desperately in need of help, as well as a multi national community that makes up the Ealing wider community. We have some guys working with us who have been released from prison and we are mobilising them to try to build up some self respect and confidence in themselves. We serve the wider praying community providing space for them to pray and make use of the prayer centre as well as hosting both local and national prayer events. I have recently launched and am developing a weekly prayer/pastoral surgery where people make appointments and come to pour out troubles, just chat, or be prayed with. Sanctuary kids is growing nicely and the team we have developed to look after that do an amazing job cooking tea on a Friday and then doing Christian based activities with the kids. Thursdays at the sanctuary are always very busy, we have developed a community meal at lunchtime which now attracts a capacity weekly patronage. The team who do thursdays work so hard to show love and respect to mainly elderly set of people. Thursday evening is a developing discipleship evening. Currently we are looking at what monasticism has to teach the church of today. This is mostly video/discussion based approach. We brought back from the old SA Corps here the mothers and tots session we do this on a Monday, We brought a different approach led by an amazing girl called sue (Who also does the Kids stuff) We are constantly up to capacity on this. Every day is a vibrant day we open every day of the week now apart from Sundays. The charity shop is doing very well and we are currently discussing ways in which we can improve this.
We have seen some great missional successes and victories.
For example a guy called Sam released from an 8 year stretch in prison, then straight back in to the deathly grip of drugs and alcohol. He came to the Sanctuary in a completely sorry state, heading for oblivion basically. Ive watched as the team have lavished patience and love and showed respect to this young guy who had no self respect, he had lost his family, he was blighted by alcoholism and drug addiction, and he had absolutely no chance of a job. Fast forward to today. After being disorientated by the love of Jesus through a Christian community, he has been clean for a number of months and was so excited to tell us he has just been taken on by a drug and alcohol outreach agency to help other addicts. That has taken people showing love, Dawn and I speaking with him telling him about Jesus, praying with him, and the people who work at the Sanctuary especially Nicky who has really taken care of Sam. he is now heading in a very different direction. He has an awful long way to go but the turn around has been only that kind of miracle that Jesus can provide.
There are a thousand stories like that, that I guess every team member could share with you.
We have a long way to go to bring about the solidity of the project in West London.
And there will be others after us who take this project forwards.
But.
Ealing Salvation Army Corps has turned a massive corner.
It was heading absolutely, and make no mistake about this, nowhere.
It is now beginning to make an impact in kingdom terms.
Many exciting days lay ahead.
And I want to add a bit of a prophetic word to this today.
Its all about being totally open to the whatsoever and the whosoever.
In other words dealing missionally and lovingly with whoever comes in our path and whatever situation occurs.
It's about what God says in Isaiah 56, "My Salvation is for everyone." The key is total inclusion.
Every morning I walk to work about three miles there three back. On my way I pass a row of low rent shops that have seen better days. In amongst them is a coffee shop. Outside they place an A frame sign every day. On the sign they write something like this, "If you are wearing a blue jacket and your name begins with the letter S come in and claim your free coffee." The sign transported my mind back to about four years back Christmas in a Northern UK City. I had been asked to speak in the cathedral at Christmas service. Richard , a local homeless guy had asked could he come and hear me speak, I said yeah and I'll take you for coffee and some chips afterwards. There was around 2500 people at the service and it was obvious I was going to have difficulty locating Richard. I couldn't see him so presumed he had forgotten or something. The next day I saw him in a doorway in the city. I asked him where he had been.
He told me a churchy horror story that sadly I here way too often. he told me he had got to the door of the cathedral and explained to a person that he had come to hear his mate speak. This person said sorry we can't let people like you in here tonight.
That is people picking and choosing who salvation is for.
That is a scandal of christianity.
What did that say about Jesus to a man in great need.
I guess if he was wearing a blue Jacket and his name started with S he may have got a free coffee.
In other words he needed to be a certain type of person to be allowed int a church.
Let me say this.
Our hope is built on nothing less than jesus and his righteousness.
And.
Jesus does not close his arms to anyone.
Yeah.
Anyone.
And I think that open arm strategy is building the sanctuary here in Ealing. Not some great church planting strategy drawn up a missional development plan that really no one is remotely bothered about.
The spirit of God says today.
Open your arms.
Because they are my arms.
Open your eyes because they are my eyes.
Open your heart because it is my heart.
Sam has been grabbed by those open arms.
And he is being saved from total destruction.
So.
I pray the church will open it's arms to this world.
It just might be saved.
So here goes.
We have been operational for nearly a year now. As you can imagine it is an enormous task to set something new up from scratch, get it off the ground and eventually make it solid while at the same time guard against maintenance mode and keep it fluid. Dawn and I are the people who have a record of getting projects up and running while attempting to build in some solid foundations that future generations can build on. then someone else will come in and build on those foundations. That is what we have been busy doing this year. The prayer rhythm is solid. The hospitality has developed at a fantastic rate, with many needy people being drawn to the sanctuary including the homeless, the sick, the addicted and the alcoholic. Our practical assistance records are hard to keep up with and range from food to sleeping bags. We have compartmentalised and sharpened our need based hospitality down to afternoons where soup and other food is available to those who need it. We are so grateful that God has sent many volunteers to the Sanctuary who give their time and effort to serving the broken and the lost and they have contributed to making the soup and other food and serving the needy. But we are about to take that to another level we have signed a deal that little cash outlay with the chef at Sunbury Court who will cook the soup and we are setting up a collection and refrigeration service to constantly supply quality soup to the people. We serve an ever increasing Polish community of which some are desperately in need of help, as well as a multi national community that makes up the Ealing wider community. We have some guys working with us who have been released from prison and we are mobilising them to try to build up some self respect and confidence in themselves. We serve the wider praying community providing space for them to pray and make use of the prayer centre as well as hosting both local and national prayer events. I have recently launched and am developing a weekly prayer/pastoral surgery where people make appointments and come to pour out troubles, just chat, or be prayed with. Sanctuary kids is growing nicely and the team we have developed to look after that do an amazing job cooking tea on a Friday and then doing Christian based activities with the kids. Thursdays at the sanctuary are always very busy, we have developed a community meal at lunchtime which now attracts a capacity weekly patronage. The team who do thursdays work so hard to show love and respect to mainly elderly set of people. Thursday evening is a developing discipleship evening. Currently we are looking at what monasticism has to teach the church of today. This is mostly video/discussion based approach. We brought back from the old SA Corps here the mothers and tots session we do this on a Monday, We brought a different approach led by an amazing girl called sue (Who also does the Kids stuff) We are constantly up to capacity on this. Every day is a vibrant day we open every day of the week now apart from Sundays. The charity shop is doing very well and we are currently discussing ways in which we can improve this.
We have seen some great missional successes and victories.
For example a guy called Sam released from an 8 year stretch in prison, then straight back in to the deathly grip of drugs and alcohol. He came to the Sanctuary in a completely sorry state, heading for oblivion basically. Ive watched as the team have lavished patience and love and showed respect to this young guy who had no self respect, he had lost his family, he was blighted by alcoholism and drug addiction, and he had absolutely no chance of a job. Fast forward to today. After being disorientated by the love of Jesus through a Christian community, he has been clean for a number of months and was so excited to tell us he has just been taken on by a drug and alcohol outreach agency to help other addicts. That has taken people showing love, Dawn and I speaking with him telling him about Jesus, praying with him, and the people who work at the Sanctuary especially Nicky who has really taken care of Sam. he is now heading in a very different direction. He has an awful long way to go but the turn around has been only that kind of miracle that Jesus can provide.
There are a thousand stories like that, that I guess every team member could share with you.
We have a long way to go to bring about the solidity of the project in West London.
And there will be others after us who take this project forwards.
But.
Ealing Salvation Army Corps has turned a massive corner.
It was heading absolutely, and make no mistake about this, nowhere.
It is now beginning to make an impact in kingdom terms.
Many exciting days lay ahead.
And I want to add a bit of a prophetic word to this today.
Its all about being totally open to the whatsoever and the whosoever.
In other words dealing missionally and lovingly with whoever comes in our path and whatever situation occurs.
It's about what God says in Isaiah 56, "My Salvation is for everyone." The key is total inclusion.
Every morning I walk to work about three miles there three back. On my way I pass a row of low rent shops that have seen better days. In amongst them is a coffee shop. Outside they place an A frame sign every day. On the sign they write something like this, "If you are wearing a blue jacket and your name begins with the letter S come in and claim your free coffee." The sign transported my mind back to about four years back Christmas in a Northern UK City. I had been asked to speak in the cathedral at Christmas service. Richard , a local homeless guy had asked could he come and hear me speak, I said yeah and I'll take you for coffee and some chips afterwards. There was around 2500 people at the service and it was obvious I was going to have difficulty locating Richard. I couldn't see him so presumed he had forgotten or something. The next day I saw him in a doorway in the city. I asked him where he had been.
He told me a churchy horror story that sadly I here way too often. he told me he had got to the door of the cathedral and explained to a person that he had come to hear his mate speak. This person said sorry we can't let people like you in here tonight.
That is people picking and choosing who salvation is for.
That is a scandal of christianity.
What did that say about Jesus to a man in great need.
I guess if he was wearing a blue Jacket and his name started with S he may have got a free coffee.
In other words he needed to be a certain type of person to be allowed int a church.
Let me say this.
Our hope is built on nothing less than jesus and his righteousness.
And.
Jesus does not close his arms to anyone.
Yeah.
Anyone.
And I think that open arm strategy is building the sanctuary here in Ealing. Not some great church planting strategy drawn up a missional development plan that really no one is remotely bothered about.
The spirit of God says today.
Open your arms.
Because they are my arms.
Open your eyes because they are my eyes.
Open your heart because it is my heart.
Sam has been grabbed by those open arms.
And he is being saved from total destruction.
So.
I pray the church will open it's arms to this world.
It just might be saved.
