Stretch out

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Tent
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“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. Fear not, for you will not be ashamed…”

I feel that those words from Isaiah 54 are a prophetic word for us in this season. We have experienced rapid growth in the last couple of years and then a plateau for the last couple of months. I feel the Lord wants us to keep on stretching out and preparing for that wave that Keith Hazell prophecied was come as we first started The Gateway Church.

Whenever I stretch my muscles after a run, they get longer in the stretch and burn a bit – I often wonder will they will ping! They don’t! And in the same way I feel like the Lord is telling us not to be fearful of the stretching that is happening in church life. There’s a miracle in the stretch, where God creates a new normal, just as muscles get a bit longer when stretched in the physical.

One of the hassles of life that is common in and around King’s Lynn (and I suspect to everywhere) is worry and anxiety. The Lord says “Fear not for you will not be ashamed”, Isaiah 54:4. Elsewhere John writes – “for perfect love drives out fear” ( 1 John 4:18). Keep looking to Jesus and He drives away fear and worry. When Peter got out of the boat in Matt 14, it was a growth moment for him. He was being stretched in his faith and obedience to Jesus. But when he took his eyes of Jesus and looked at the wind – “he was afraid”, fear gripped him and he began to sink. Grace came immediately as he cried out to Jesus, who lifted him up.

So let’s be believing God for growth and not holding back – in our personal lives, ministries and as The Gateway continues to stretch and grow, possessing nations! Get stretching…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR - ANDY MOYLE

Andy planted the Gateway Church in Sept 2007. He and Janet love to gather different nations together to grow in Christ while eating good food! He also helps to shape and serve a couple of Relational Mission's church plants in mainland Europe. Andy and Janet run regularly, largely to offset the hospitality eating! He also runs a popular WordPress plugin Church Admin