January is "Solemn Assembly" at MWC. A time we set aside to seek the face of God for the Church, families & our nation. We discontinue all activities other than those related to Word, Worship & Prayer and focus on crying out to God for His intervention in the affairs of the world around us. Through Him we will tear down the strongholds of the enemy...through Him we shall overcome. I pray you are blessed....
The Message Bible: 2 Timothy 3: 1-7 “2As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, 3dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, 4treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. 5They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people. 6These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.”
Joel 1:14 - “Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God and cry unto unto the Lord.”
Intro. In II Timothy we see the condition the world will be in when the last days come upon us. Sound familiar? In Joel, we hear the heart cry of a prophet who has heard from God. He sees the condition Israel (Nation / Church) is in and the judgment that has come their way and the continual judgment that is coming because of their sins and he calls for “all the people” to come together and do whatever it takes to stay the hand of God’s judgment. He “Called For A Solemn Assembly”.
SOLEMN ASSEMBLY IS: Note Eccl. 3:1-4, 1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Solemn (demonstrating sincerity and gravity) assembly (the coming together of people for a common purpose) is a corporate and personal call to separate ourselves unto God for a time of…
a. Consecration: Declare sacred; devote to a solemn purpose.
b. Prayer: An earnest request for something; one who asks (as for a favor or gift) humbly. Ps.55:15, “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.”
c. Fasting: An abstaining from food or drink. Ezra 5:21-23 “Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. …. The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him. So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.”
d. It is a time of seeking His face for a specific purpose. Ps. 27:7-9, “Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.”
Bartimaeus - Mk. 10:51, And Jesus said to him, What do you want Me to do for you? And the blind man said to Him, Master, let me receive my sight. (Mark 10:51 AMP)
e. It involves humbling ourselves before God in repentance. II Chron. 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
f. It is a time of prayer-intercession as we wait on God. It is God finding someone that will stand in the gap and make up the hedge for a people who have gone astray from His way. Eze. 22:30 “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
g. It is a time of preparation. Make or get ready. Ex.15:1-2, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 2The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Conc. The easy thing to do is to say what we want…I want my family saved…I want a good marriage….I want peace,….I want revival…I want Jesus first in my life….but.....
“our wants are never accomplished by what we say but by what we do.”
Note James 1:22, "Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only."
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