This weekend we are excited to welcome Janice Seney and Sandra Gans for another visit with our Jericho Road family in Port Alberni and Parksville and what we believe will be an encouraging time of teaching and ministry. Their focus and gifting is around teaching and helping people like us hear God’s heart for our lives. They will demonstrate the power of the prophetic word spoken without hype, anger, or negativity. The heart of God the Father is to encourage and to equip us to step into the adventure of living with him that we were always designed for. To not settle for the safe and status quo but to dare to go for more....
In the prevailing world-view the tired and rather bland focus for life and priorities tends to be on surviving, vacationing, satisfying, retiring, having, playing, and reluctantly dying. God’s focus is entirely different when it comes to priorities and what makes life worth living. He demonstrated through Jesus that life is to be experienced most fully in knowing his love on the inside, serving, healing, helping, sacrificing, giving, receiving, inspiring... that our joy may be full!
Remember when the fishermen Simon (later called Peter) and the brothers James and John were first called by Jesus? He invited them to follow him, leave their boats and nets, and embark on a journey into the future with him that they would never have imagined possible. What rested on their willingness to risk, let go, and walk was the possibility of adventure and fulfillment far beyond anything they could ever have orchestrated themselves.
What inspired them to do such a crazy thing in the first place? I’m sure it was because they met Jesus and witnessed his power first-hand as they cast their nets in broad daylight and caught a couple of boatloads of fish. He captivated their hearts and imaginations by his demeanor, his teaching, his authority and his power.
After Jesus’ death and resurrection he appeared to them again on the same shore and called them out of their disillusionment, despondency, and sense of failure and shame. They’d been shattered by his crucifixion and broken by the revelation that they had run away, hidden, and placed their safety first when he needed their company and support during his worst hours. Jesus called those same disciples back to his side, reassured them of his love and mission, and once again invited them to follow him ... in their weakness but now empowered with his Spirit. Just read the book of Acts to see how changed, transformed, and empowered they were. If they had merely looked after their own interests, continued fishing, buying new boats and better nets, forming a fishing franchise, and playing it selfishly safe we would not know about Jesus or the love of the Father. We only know of the love of the Father and the extraordinary good news of Jesus today because they and people of every generation before us left their stuff and gave away their lives in the service of God and others.
Now it’s our turn. Jesus is always on the move and this weekend we will be hearing how God has a destiny and purpose for each of us to walk into if we would like to. It’s the pathway to us becoming more alive, invigorated, inspiring to others, and finding the longings of our hearts fulfilled as we step out, reach out, and believe that he has an amazing adventure ahead of us if we’ll drop our nets and that boatload of fish.
Janice and Sandra will be speaking on Friday, Jan. 27th (7 - 9 PM) and again on Saturday, Jan. 28th (9:30 - 12:30, lunch [provided], 1:30 - 3:30) and Sunday, Jan. 29th (10:00 AM) at the Jericho Road building (5100 Tebo Ave. - former Mt. Klitsa school building).