Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the day arrived that all history had been building towards. The Holy Spirit was poured out, meaning God could move into and change the lives of all who put their trust and hope in Christ. That day is called Pentecost, and we celebrate it as the birth of the church. Jesus presence and power were no longer contained to a human body, but manifest through his body the church, wherever his people are located in the neighbourhoods of the world. 

 

One of those neighbourhoods is ours. It was Pentecost Sunday 2021 when we celebrated the Grand Opening of our church building. We declared our new spiritual home open to the glory of God, to bear witness to Jesus in our neighbourhood and be a place of welcome, life and healing to all who come. We also set in the foundations, that this building would be a house of prayer. 

 

This week we have been praying the Lord would Heal our Land. For the Holy Spirit to be poured out over our church and neighbourhood, healing hearts, souls, bodies and relationships. On Sunday afternoon we finish the week with a prayer and healing service at 3pm. Everyone is welcome. 

 

So one week of prayer finishes and another one starts - the QB week of prayer in two week’s time. You might wonder why we keep promoting prayer. Well, it’s because the bible is crystal clear in its teaching and stories that prayer changes things. It was not a coincidence that Jesus followers gathered for ten days to pray before Pentecost. Prayer always precedes movements of the Holy Spirit. The Grove’s story is one marked by prayer at every defining moment in the church. 

 

With this in mind, I will leave you with words from the director of our movement, Jason Elsmore:  

 

Thanks for being a part of QB One Prayer for 2024. We have been witnessing a new move of God in Queensland. In the last year, we have seen older people come to faith that have been resistant to the gospel for decades. Younger people are turning to Jesus that have tasted the things of this world and found them empty and meaningless. Last year we baptized more new believers than ever before in 170 years of Queensland Baptist history. God is moving across Queensland and He is not finished with us yet. 

 

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20) 

 

From 2-9 June 2024, we are inviting all QB churches to pray together as one, for God to do immeasurably more than what we have ever seen before in our Movement. 

There are daily devotions based on Ephesians 3:14-21 and we would love as 

many people as possible to gather on Tuesday 4 June 2024 at 7 pm to pray for a 

mighty move of the Holy Spirit across this great state.  God Bless, Jason.

 

God bless, Marty.