Anatomy of God's Faithfulness

We have been empowered by God to do His will - that power comes from the Holy Spirit, Whom we received when we made Christ our Savior.  And, He has rendered us sufficient to fulfill what He has
called us to do, according to 2nd Corinthians 3:
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

God wants us to use the abilities that He has given to us for His glory, to carry out His Kingdom plan. In and of ourselves, we are insufficient to fulfill His call, but in Him, allowing His power to flow through us, He can do incredible things.  If we are willing to use our gifts and then inviting others to partner with us in the Church, He can accomplish incredible things and people will see the presence of our Savior.  Some one person or group can get things going, as God appoints, and then we can watch Him build an incredible work through His people.

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The story we find in Mark 6 shows a picture of God's faithfulness and humanity's willingness.  The circumstances didn't take Jesus by surprise, and He instructed His disciples in providing for the
physical needs of those to whom He had preached. We read this:
38 But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."
39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.
40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.
41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.
42 So they all ate and were filled.
43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.
44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

The Luis Palau Association continues to be involved in reaching people for Christ all around the world, and in Great Britain the week of Father's Day, a major evangelistic event resulted in people coming to know Christ.

Andrew Palau was the featured speaker for the series of meetings; his father, Luis, is still battling stage 4 cancer.  The event was in Sunbury, England, at the Kempton Park racetrack.  According to ChristianNewswire.com:

The event was first dreamt up by Rowena Cross, director of mission, evangelism and discipleship at St. Saviour's Church in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey. While on holiday in 2017, her husband Ron, vicar of St. Saviour's, felt the Lord pushing him to increase his vision for the church.

Rowena had spent years dreaming about a large evangelistic event at the town's famous Kempton Park racecourse. She knew it was far from possible in her own ability. And for a church of their size, there was no way they could accomplish something of that nature on their own. But she felt the Lord challenging her to step out. And she took that challenge to the community.

Rowena first secured the facility - free of charge. She then reached an agreement with the Palau Association to come. Other groups came on board with "training, promotion, community service, and church relations."

A service project called Love Sunbury was organized, including, "neighborhood clean-up projects, home revitalization projects, and a massive 'feeding of the 5,000.'"  Hundreds of area Christians, including around 20 churches or ministries, helped to pull it off. 

On Father's Day, more than 2,000 people showed up, and a special treat occurred for Rowena Cross, as the article states: "As Andrew Palau shared the clear Gospel message and invited the crowd to respond to the call of the Savior, Rowena's own father raised his hand boldly in public confession and renewed commitment to the Lord. Rowena had been praying for him for years, that he would experience a special touch from the Lord."

This event is a great example of God putting together the pieces of an outreach that would glorify Him. The organizer, Rowena Cross, stated: "Only God could have done this," adding, "At every opportunity God has provided us with what we needed – sometimes before we even knew we needed it. We had no money, no budget, nothing. It's about going beyond what we're capable of doing as humans."

And, Andrew and the Palau Association do not want this to be a one-off.  The release said that Andrew met with Christian leaders throughout the U.K., and they desire to "see the Church come together to proclaim the Good News on a massive scale in their community." Andrew returns to the U.K. this fall for a four-day outreach with worship leader Martin Smith.

There are a few concepts I wanted to highlight here.  This press release shows a step-by-step template for an effective outreach.  Now, Rowena could have been much less intentional and organized, but she followed a plan.  That's not to say that God will not sovereignly show up in a city or a neighborhood with a spontaneous expression of His presence.  But, often, He wants us to follow a specific course of action, directed by His Spirit - it's not a matter of just getting a date set and some signs put up.  She arranged for the venue, enlisted the support of the Palau organization and developed a network...that reminds us that we can be more effective in our outreach when we are doing it together.

Now, Rowena was the vicar's wife - one person who was dedicated to seeing God work in her community.  We have to be careful not to underestimate the power of one.  Now, she didn't pull it off alone, but she was the person whom God laid on her heart to organize this effort.  And, as she said, God did far beyond her own human capability.  When we develop a heart for our communities, perhaps God will raise an individual or group up in order for Him to express His glory.