As we continue to meet each week to worship the Lord and receive from His Word, He is knitting our hearts together. Even though the daylight savings time change was a bit of a challenge, most overcame it and was able to receive a timely word of encouragement along with prophetic prayer.
We’re getting closer to our church anniversary celebration and as that weekend approaches, God is positioning us to be ready to receive a fresh anointing and a special impartation for our next level.
We are still a very small gathering, but each of you has come to a place where you are willing to do whatever it takes to be healed. Your simple acts of obedience and perseverance have brought you to the brink of a major promotion in God’s purpose for your life.
As we prayed for one sister during last Sunday’s gathering, the Lord brought forth a wonderful revelation about this ministry. In the exhortation, she was encouraged to invite friends and family to come to Urban Life even though it would be like dipping in the Jordan River for many people.
To understand that reference you must read 2 Kings 5:1-16. In this passage you will discover the story of a Syrian king whose name was Naaman. He was stricken with leprosy and was told about a prophet in Samaria who could heal him.
When he visited the prophet, it turned out to be the prophet Elisha. The prophet did not come out of his dwelling to greet the king and just merely sent instructions for him to go and dip himself seven times in the Jordan River.
Naaman was insulted and left in a rage. How dare the prophet treat him so disrespectfully! He ranted about how the prophet could have come out and called on God and waved his hand over the leprosy and healed him. Instead he just sent instructions to go dip in the worst of three rivers.
However, one of Naaman’s servants humbly reminded the King that he had been instructed to do a very simple thing. If he had been told to do something difficult, he would have gladly done it.
Basically his healing was all based upon the king humbling himself. When he followed the servant’s advice and did what Elisha told him to do, he was healed after dipping himself seven times in the Jordan River.
We believe that this narrative depicts the Urban Life Church experience. In a sense, there are nicer churches with better facilities in Harrisburg. Many have choirs or worship bands. They have scores of volunteers and are able to enjoy numerous exciting activities.
Yet, the Lord has sent His Word to many people about Urban Life Church. He is leading them to a small gathering where there will be no spectacular displays of waving hands and calling down fire. It will just be them, God and the simple instruction to dip themselves in the waters that flow through this house.
We believe that in the weeks and months to come, you will receive many opportunities to tell people about a place where they can be healed of their spiritual leprosy. They may ask questions like, how many members does your church have? How big is your choir? What kind of multimedia equipment do you guys use? What is your pastor’s title?
That just means they might want to dip in the other rivers that seem to be nicer. Some may have a picture in their imagination of how God is going to heal them. You may have felt the same way before you visited Urban Life. However, they will discover, as you did, that this ministry is not about its pastors, the music, the singing, or the facility. This is all about the presence of the Lord and our willingness to humble ourselves to receive what he has for us.
