ARISE BRISTOL INTERCESSIONS

PENTECOST SUNDAY 27 MAY 2012: 14:00-18:00

A GATHERING FOR THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST

TO:

REPENT BEFORE GOD,

IN A SPIRIT OF TRUE RECONCILIATION BETWEEN EACH OTHER,

RECOMMIT OUR LIVES TO OUR REDEEMER &

RECEIVE HIS CALL

TO REFORM OUR SOCIETY

December 2008 while I was praying and fasting, deeply aware of the Lord’s passion for His people in this City/Region, and His heartfelt cry that ‘they should be one as I and the Father are one, so that the world may know…’ (John 17:21) I was looking across the City at sunset and saw a single large cloud settle above the Bristol City Stadium becoming redder as if on fire. It was at that point I felt God alerting me to His deep desire to see a large gathering of His people in a spirit of true unity in the City of Bristol.

In the following months, numerous supernatural promptings by the Holy Spirit fuelled my desire and passion to bring together the believers of the City to Ashton Gate Stadium this Pentecost Sunday. A gathering from all the different denominations, races, age groups (especially the children and youth), ministries and representatives from all spheres of society throughout the wider geographical area, all coming together as the corporate Body of Christ. United in our longing and passion for the lost, we will cry out for a spirit of conviction and repentance of our personal and corporate sins and then re-commit our lives to God and rededicate Bristol to its redemptive call as a City of Refuge/Sanctuary, Faith and Mission. God is enabling us to identify the broken walls in our city and is revealing His strategy so we may rebuild them in righteousness.

The foundational scripture for this call is 2 Chronicles 7:14-18

"If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, seek My face and
turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."

As the picture of the island of Britain resembles a figure on its knees, it fits in perfectly with God’s order that Bristol should lead the way in falling on her knees before the Almighty in repentance for our sin as His people, so that our land can be restored.

As we meet in His name, He will send us out ‘on fire’ with His love and compassion to see our City turned upside down, and in so doing, affect our entire nation at such a pivotal time (2012 being the year of HM the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and the Global Day of Prayer at Wembley Stadium on September 29th)

Even though the time is short, Luke 1:17 reminds us that with God nothing is impossible!

Nehemiah rebuilt all the walls and gates of Jerusalem in 52 days!!

Bristol’s position as a pioneering city in the Kingdom of God has long been recognised.

As the home of George Muller (great man of faith) and the Wesley Brothers (Bristol was their centre for missions for over 30 years), Bristol was also the forerunning city in the drive to abolish the slave trade in the early 19th Century. As Brigstowe – ‘the place of the Bridge’, it is appropriate that we engage with the ministry of reconciliation – within the church and the spheres of society so we may be united for His Kingdom purposes – so that the world may know…

We need to reclaim our spiritual heritage, to seek what the Lord can do in 21st Century Bristol, and to cry out for the Lord to release His Pentecost Fire once more upon our City, that we might be once again united in mission and proclaim the Gospel in word and deed.

Amazingly the Holy Spirit has already been connecting many individuals, prayer groups and even whole fellowships to whom He has given the same desire for corporate unity. Pentecost Sunday is not a one off ‘event’ that will have little lasting value but a significant part of the journey to unite the Body of Christ and to prayerfully formulate a strategy to enable ongoing committed foundational societal reform. As we see God’s purposes established, this foundation which is being laid has the potential to provide a template to assist the entire United Kingdom to arise and walk in His plans and purposes.