Mwanza
12th July 2012
Thursday is our second meeting, with an early start time of 9:30 am. The church is a very dusty 15 minute drive away, along a road that’s under construction. We arrive safely to a packed hall, everyone is eager to hear Brother Neil again.
Brother Mpule welcomes Neil and Neil’s interpreter, Amas. Neil encourages us to be good ambassadors of the Lord and to allow the work of the Spirit to take place in our lives, so we can walk worthy of His calling. He continues by reading Philippians 2:1 where Paul carries a spirit of gentleness and grace in his preaching to the people. Paul had the heart of Christ. He reads Matthew 11:29 and encourages us to have the same character that Jesus has.
This gentle spirit is formed in us through the work of the cross; as we carry our cross daily and follow Jesus. When the Pharisees brought the women who was accused of adultery to Jesus, it wasn’t their legalistic spirit that changed her, rather it was the heart of grace in Jesus that brought her to repentance. Neil encourages the elders of the church to carry this same spirit so that the people of God can feel the heart of Jesus in them, and come to repentance.
Neil reads from 1 Thessalonians 2:7, and shows us how Paul wasn’t ‘killing’ people by the Letter, but was once again opening the door to the gospel by his gentle spirit. We see more of Paul’s heart in Galatians 6:1. Neils says that when death is taking place in us, the cross is at work to form this heart in us.
Neil warns us about different character traits and gives examples such as anger or insolence, and how these attitudes harden our hearts. When our hearts become hard, the work of the Spirit can’t take place. He reminds us of the solution; dying to ourselves so that the Lord can help us, work in us and change us.
Neil closes by reading Titus 1:15, “to the pure, all things are pure…” By this time many in the congregation are broken before the Lord and Neil feels to pray for husbands and wives. The Spirit of God is moving, exposing hearts and bringing restoration.
