Adopting an AUDACIOUS faith

Have you ever used the word 'audacious'?



Last Wednesday night, I had a chance to attend Hillsong Stockholm's Sisterhood United gathering. I was supposed to go with my sister but sadly she couldn't make it due to her work. So I went on my own instead to the venue  Rörstrandsgatan 7 in Stockholm - the Filadelfiakyrkan (Philadelphia Church).

Karlberg is my favorite railway station and I'm getting familiar with the area of Vasastan. The first time I went here, I got a little lost but it was a good experience. I enjoyed it. I love this city and its beautiful Scandinavian buildings. Here you'll also find the awesome Stockholm Stadsbibliotek.


Hence, it was easy for me to find the venue for last night's event. I was also surprised that the photo I took a month ago, GUD❤️STHLM, was displayed on its facade. Destiny it is that I'll have a memorable experience in this place.



Filadelfiakyrkan

I entered the church and noticed that almost all the volunteers were men. There's an impression that it's really a night for women to relax and enjoy. They welcomed everyone with sparkling water.

I didn't know anyone except for some familiar faces. Somehow, I felt a little lonely.

But as we were all waiting for the sanctuary to be opened, I already claimed that God is going to do something amazing and His anointing would be poured out to everyone especially the worship team members, organizers and our guest speaker from Hillsong South Africa: Pastor Lucinda Dooley. I prayed that the Lord will touch our hearts and renew our minds to amazingly refresh us.

Doors were opened at 6:40PM and thanks God I got a good seat in the middle row and near the stage. I had an Asian seatmate, she's a mother and she loves to smile. She also went on her own.

By the way, I also borrowed a Translation radio but mine was having static noises from time to time. So it's good that the preaching would be in English.

The worship time was great and one of the song we sang was Hillsong Worship's 'What a Beautiful Name it is'. I believe the band will officially release its new album later this year. And Brooke Fraser-Scottwood would be the lead singer of this track.

Back to the event, the ladies prepared a guessing game and they divided the crowd into half. It's a fun game where some popular international and local artists were flashed on the screen and one of the girls will sing a song and her partner have to guess the name of its artist. Our team didn't win but since the church is so generous, as always, all of us got a pair of Lindt's Lindor chocolates. Yum!

Hillsong Stockholm's Worship Team (top); Pastor Lina Nielsen reading from the Scripture (center);
guessing game and chocolate prize (bottom)
Pastor Lina Nielsen, wife of Hillsong Stockholm's head pastor Andreas, hosted the night.
And read Isaiah 60:1-2 followed by her invitation to register for the Shine course, join the A21 walk on October 2016, and the Colour Sisterhood Conference in London next year.

A photo posted by Lina Nielsen (@linamnielsen) on

Then Pastor Lucinda Dooley opened her message sharing her own moment when she felt some inadequacy to do what she usually does and be victorious in it for the year 2016. But after she prayed, God gave her a message through SMS from a friend. This friend sent her a Bible verse from Isaiah 46:3-4:

“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born.Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

And that moment she knew that God was telling her to 'adopt an audacious faith'.

A kind of faith that is:
  • Mountain-moving;
  • Giant-slaying;
  • Miracle-building;
  • Walking-on-the-water; and
  • Taking-territory
She gave four points to remember:

1 We can't let our inadequacy anchor us.

Remember that in Genesis 3:1-7, Eve felt that what she had was not enough for she thought that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.

And in reality, sometimes we're like that BUT what we have is actually more than enough. Jesus is more than enough.

We know that it is impossible for God to lie and we have this  hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  (Hebrews 6:17-19)


2 We can't let our hearts hinder us.

We must always guard your heart above all else… (Proverbs 4:23) and turn to God for He heals the brokenhearted.

For our hearts are sensitive; can get damaged and offended. Keep in mind that the condition of our hearts can affect our impact to others. This is perfect for me since I'm a ministry leader in our church.


3 We can't let lies limit us.

We will know it is a lie if it is contrary to God's Word. We can read what Jesus said to people who were unable to hear and accept Him - the truth (John 8:42-47).


4 We can't let struggle stop us.

Just like Apostle Paul who endured hardships and even boasted about it. (2 Corinthians 11::22-27 NLT);
and though God did not approve his request to have his thorn in the flesh, his weaknesses, be removed: Paul decided to quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on his weakness(2 Corinthians 12:7-10 MSG)

Because we must know and accept that the struggle is real (at times).




Just like Nick Vujicic's great testimony of he became limitless/unstoppable because the God he believes is greater, sovereign! You can read from my old post about his amazingstory and how he challenged every viewer to have faith in our BIG GOD.

So we don't have any excuse not to live our life limitless.

We must decide to have an audacious faith.

I truly believe that it's only our own self who can hinder God's purpose.

I knew about most of these already but since there's no accident to God - His plan was to let me hear this message once more  especially while I'm in a country that is not my own. So I can remember that truly His purpose prevails and He can work all things together for good.

Pastor Lucinda closed her preaching with a Bible story from the Old Testament, 2 Kings 4:18-30. It's about the woman from Shunem who lived with an audacious faith. She didn't let her inadequacy anchor her, her heart hinder her, the lies limit her and struggles stop her. She chose to arise and shine.


It's kind of wonderful experience to attend @hillsongsthlm #SisterhoodUnited night 👸🏽 this week at #Filadelfiakyrkan ⛪️. Pastor @lucindadooley from Hillsong South Africa preached about 'Adopting an AUDACIOUS faith'. 😇 Read more at my recent #blogpost ✍🏽 http://goo.gl/JmEACX 📝 It is a kind of faith: Mountain-moving; Giant-slaying; Miracle-building; Walking-on-the-water; and Taking-territory🙂 1 We can't let our inadequacy anchor us. 2 We can't let our hearts hinder us. 3 We can't let lies limit us. 4 We can't let struggle stop us. Because God is more than enough (Isaiah 46:3-4) thus we should choose to arise and shine. ☀️✨ #theStruggleisReal #TheStruggleWontStopUs #bettercurly #pambihirangpagkakataon #yeyvacay #wheninsweden🇸🇪 #faith #preaching #WordofGod #audaciousfaith #churchevent #inspirational #motivational #encouraging #powerfulmessage #Godissovereign
A video posted by curlymadz (@bettercurly) on



Thanks God that when I left the church, there's a smile on my face and a wonderful feeling because of God's power. I even got a Bible translated in Swedish from one of the volunteers and I thanked Pastor Lucinda personally. I know that the Lord also wanted her to know that her message is really God's message to everyone so we won't feel alone and down anymore. Sisters/Siblings in the Lord must encourage one another.


Sisterhood's Be Found Catalogue and Bible in Swedish

I really hope that many will find their lives anchored on God.It's really easy to feel insecure and hopeless in this worldbut we must know that we are not aloneand what we have is more than enough.

Today, I claim in the Name of Jesus that whoever reads this post will have her mind renewed, heart encouraged and life turned around to greatness. It’s no accident that I'm writing this and you're reading this. God bless you.


Hugs!
Love, MM  

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