The Maranatha Community celebrated 30 years of service to Our Lord with a National Assembly on Saturday 1st October.  This was a wonderful opportunity to come together for a whole day to declare the Lordship of Jesus, and to praise and worship God as Christians drawn from many churches and backgrounds under the banner “We Are One”. We looked back only briefly. We looked to the future with a revelation that the last 30 years was preparation for this new season. The essence of this day is captured in this 9 minute video:

We were reminded of the resurrection power of Jesus in which we live and move and have our being; the importance of personal intimacy with our Father – to “sit, sit, sit” in His presence so that we can “run, run, run” in His strength – and the immediate need to be a people who live and speak as one and declare the truth in love in a culture that needs life instead of death and absolutes instead of relativism.

We were encouraged to hear that “the hand of the Lord” –  His anointing – is upon us and the Maranatha Community and to realise that we are “catalytic converters”, agents for change in the power of His Spirit. We were challenged to respond to the calling of God on our lives as individuals and to receive and accept His “marching orders” in the spiritual battle.

We were moved, inspired and filled with hope by the young people who called us to be their spiritual mothers and fathers and spoke of their own desires to serve the Lord in their generation.

This anniversary is a defining time for Maranatha. The rock of Ebenezer has been raised. A new season has begun. The Lord says “Behold I am doing a new thing!” And our response? Yes, Lord! Amen!

Ishmael Evans, one of the participants commented: “One of the unique and amazing things at Maranatha gatherings is the genuine sense of unity in worship and this occasion was no different. Paul Barnsley led the Morning section of worship and the beauty of it, along with the heartwarming singing, was the flying of the national flags of various countries around the world. The sense of holding up a nation before God; declaring his Lordship over that nation in worship and prayer was phenomenal. It will take an outsider great investigative skills to identify that the gathering was made up of Christians of various traditions and backgrounds. The solidarity messages given by ministers, parliamentarians and other great associates was more than re- assuring.

However the challenge of the new season after 30yrs in celebration is the hope that we all share as a community that God is not finished with us yet. The next chapter begins now. In a statement by the leader of the community Dennis: 30yrs has been a great preparation period and in the new season God is calling on us to listen more, readily available to be more involved, visible and ready to leap forward as He leads.”

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