Season of springs - Steve Oliver | FUSION 2016

This message was preached by STEVE OLIVER at the Fusion 2016  RegionsBeyond gathering in the UK.
This was the opening session where Steve shares a prophetic word that is going to change the shape and momentum of things to come.
The audio /video link please click here.




Numbers 21 : 16- 20

We are in for a fabulous time. Fusion is a key for as we go forward. I believe God wants to launch us into something in the months ahead.
In the past conferences have always been about gathering to big names and speakers and I do receive from them. But God is changing the wine skin. Its not about big speakers but about gathering to God. As we do that he will lead us in new ways.

We need to surrender fully to his purposes. God us called us from Dubai to the UK. Leaving  Dubai was a big thing. We feel the purposes of God burning in our hearts.

While in Clarens God spoke clearly to me. He spoke to me about wells in a beautiful picture. Wells are nice, refreshing, important for water. Those of us on farms know that. As I was seeing this picture of well with beautiful water.  As I was seeing this picture Gavin Northcote came and prayed with me and said God has called you to change wells into springs. We have the privilege of having a spring on our farm stead. Wells are nice but hard work. 

God is saying we are going into a season of the supernatural where we are going to begin to see a flow of God which is from him and by him. God is going to transform churches . Even as we begin its going to be a supernatural work as we push forward. Very quickly we will begin to multiply in gifts and measure but in the number of churches planted in this nation.

Let us gather to your presence. Num 21:16-18 

16 From there they continued on to Beer, the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.”

17 Then Israel sang this song:

“Spring up, O well!
    Sing about it,
18 about the well that the princes dug,
    that the nobles of the people sank—
    the nobles with scepters and staffs.”

Beer - well. Gathered them together so that I may give the water. Is sang spring up O well!! 
God has begun a deep work in us already. God is going to refresh us with his water. We will see springs burst up from among us. We will start to see a shift in the momentum.

We will see springs burst among us. Not wells which is hard work.

Rob Rufus said in 1993
I believe that we are living in times when 7 years will be like 7 months, and 7 weeks will be like 7 days.WE are living in those times. I have seen manifestation of that in my times in Dubai. 
Its a steeping into the promises of God for what God wants us to do. Start believing God for things.


Though faith we have to believe God for this. To quicken things.
Times are going to multiply.It will be exponential.
Things that are stale in your churches will quicken.

We are going to trust God for great things. People are going to do great things. 
All the pioneers started like us and believed God for great things.

What Soil are you?| Austin K

This message was preached  by Austin Kudalkar at Word of Grace Church on June 12th, 2016. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

When we use the word of God, the enemy gets confused. Today I want share about the condition of the heart of man.

Jesus heard a lot of insults. But he is concerned about the kingdom of God.

In Mark 4- Jesus goes to the seaside and a crowd followed him. He stepped into a boat and preached this sermon. He probably saw a farm nearby. He starts speaking about the different soils that the seeds fell on.

When the disciples go to ask him for the meaning of this parable, Jesus says do you not understand this parable? This soil is like the heart of man. The seed is the word of God.

1.      Jesus says, the first kind of soil- the seed which fell on the pathway- they hear the word and satan quickly comes and takes it away from their heart. When you share the gospel with someone, some people don’t show any interest in it. That is satan taking it away from them. Satan is not taking the fruit but the seed.   

2.      On the rocky soil, they receive the seed, the word with joyful hearts. They say amen to everything! They are excited! But when persecution comes, they fall away immediately. Why? They don’t have strong foundations. They are superficial. When they have a bad situation, they become angry, their passion for God is gone. The things of God that used to interest them don’t interest them anymore.

3.      The other kind of soil that Jesus talks about is the thorny soil. They are worried about the cares of the world. Their priorities are different and they don’t seek God first in their lives. These are people who’s identity is in their talents or status. Our identity comes from God alone.

4.      Then you see the good soil- Jesus says that they are the ones who hear the word of God, accept it and bear much fruit- 30, 60 and a 100 times!

We need to have this kind of heart. The person who accepts and obey the word of God- Hebrews 10:24-25- “do not neglect meeting together”. These are people who give importance to the body of Christ. The kingdom of God is what matters and the rest falls in place. When we do this we will bear much fruit. The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Do we have these in our lives?

Hear the word of God and accept it, you won’t allow Satan to come and take away that word. The psalmist says, I have hidden your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

Jesus went through rejections in his life, Pharisees, Sadducees, even his own family made fun of him. We need to press on. When we seek the kingdom of God- we reach out to the lost and share the gospel boldy. We go through rejection, but we press on like Jesus. Jesus did good on the Sabbath. He healed the sick and cast out demons. He has given us this authority to do good.

Q. Where is our heart today?

My heart is all over the place. There are so many distractions. But we have a chance to change the condition of our heart. Proverbs 15:11- “Death and Destruction lie open before the Lord—how much more do human hearts!”. Our hearts are open before God. We have an opportunity to come before God to set our hearts right. 

 Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.

There remains much land to possess | STEVE OLIVER | FUSION 2016

This message was preached by STEVE OLIVER at the Fusion 2016 RegionsBeyond gathering in the UK.
The audio /video link please click here.

Regions Beyond is not about a movement but its about reaching the lost, building up the broken hearted etc. Regions Beyond however does have some distinctiveness. 




We have a heart for multi generational leadership where : 

• Everybody is involved - we are an apostolic people group. 
• There is a deep reliance on relationships. 
• Its about multiplied leadership where we raise up and invest in one another. 
• Its not about one man etc.
•  Its about a heart for the poor.
• The glorious church where every community is helping one another and where we are an expression of Jesus in the neighbourhood.
• We are here for one another's success.

The world does not know this. If we can do this we can quickly go across the world.

JOSHUA 1:1

This great giant is born under the fathering and leadership of Moses.

If we walk in humility and faith,  we have started the most wonderful journey together.

so, Pack up and get ready!!!

Joshua must have had so much anticipation. We will remember this day- when God sent us packing!! ( due to a storm warning, we had to break camp, take down all our tents , pack up a go home a day early).

As they crossed the Jordan, they knew that they had Jericho to face. One of the things that make a church community great is encouragement and celebration. Keep encouraging your people.They need encouragement to be strong and courageous. Promises don't come without a fight!

No sooner had they received a call to pack up in chapter 3, they come to Jordan. There is the word "all". That is what God is looking for.

Ch3:10 the people crossed over on dry land when the Jordan was in full flood!! They had battles to fight - Jericho, then Ai. 

Every step Joshua established a place of worship. It was all about God! Such pioneers! We are doing the same thing again. Maybe you have been isolated and momentum is not easy . Go back in faith this time. We walk and live by faith. Call the people in.

Josh 8:30

I was carrying in my heart the promise of a world wide move of God.Joshua builds an alter on Mount Ebo of uncut stones. .This must not be a work of man but by the spirit. Stones shaped by fire and each one will have its shape. Its not one size its all. God wants to raise up people who are birthed in the Spirit. One linked to the other and holding each other up. We don;t have 23 boxes to tick and sign. We are welcoming and accepting  and lean heavily on one another. There is no place for individualism.

Ch 9 More campaigns and more battles are fought and more cities taken. Church planting is tough and many of us know that

Ch 13:1-

God speaks to Joshua when he is old . You would think that God would tell him you can relax now! But God says, there remains very much more land to possess.

We can think we are old, but there is no settling.

This is the beginning of a journey. There remains land to take.

It raises the question : how do we go forward , here in the UK?

1. Its a season of wells to turn into springs. Resource basis that will become springs. No more hard work o drawing water up. Divine resources . Teach this to your churches.

2. Prayer must become the vehicle of going forward. Look at how you do prayer. Its very important.

3. Strategically we want to establish and recognise HUB churches. We want to see numerous Hubs established.

For exponential growth we need many gifts around the country. One man cannot do it. Its multiplied leadership. Its not geographically but rationally. They will build relationship but also plant churches. These clusters of churches

• Will plant churches. 
• They will work together to strengthen people.
• we will train and equip.
• Ministry collaboration
• Pastoral support

Release and recognition. Eph 4 gifts. This is the ultimate aim and all the other gifts. It takes time to recognise apostolic gifts. They will open up new areas, give birth to people and correct doctrine.

Our aim is to have exponential growth.

4. Times of corporate prayer

5. Task team for theology and training

6. FUSION 2018

7. HUB every other year.Next year 13-18 Nov 2017

The catalyst for a pioneering movement : Daniel MacLeod | FUSION 2016

This message was preached by DANIEL MACLEOD at the Fusion 2016 RegionsBeyond gathering in the UK.

The audio /video link please click here


We are Region Beyond which means we are about what is outside or outside our borders. We are a people who need to look forward and pioneer something.
Every movement is in danger of slowing down. Movements have become museums, they have become stagnant, safer and just more organised.

What will keep us?
Being pioneers, where we have our own stories.
Better strategies and organisation only make us better museums where we talk about the good old days.
Pioneers are those who let go of what we have right now and take hold of the promise of God.
Hab 2:14 tells us  that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God even as the waters cover the sea.

Every time you go you are walking in step with this promise. Is 60 bringing light to the neighbourhood. people establish promises not movements. Lets look at the catalyst to the greatest pioneering movement .

 Exodus 2:23

What starts and sustains a pioneering movement?
Some don't like being pioneers. Some don't want to be a pioneer. In Exodus 3 Moses was not in a pioneering mood at this stage in his life. 
There were 2 reasons that stopped him and that could stop us. 

1. Past failure - He was on fire for justice etc. He knew God's promises. He went ahead in zeal with no planning at all. He probably through he as doing a good job and that people would praise him for rescuing that Jewish slave. He suddenly realised the next day that people were looking at him in a strange way. He tries to stop a quarrel this time and the people react. The people did not want him. His bubble bursts!!! That must have hurt. Exodus 1. Moses is found licking his wounds. Some are still doing it. You were at the cusp of something and then you were let down. Your past hurts can hold you back from going on. But  today is the end of that and God can heal you.

2. Present Comfort - Moses flees. He fights the shepherds at the well to allow the women to draw water. He gets married and now is content to live in the land with his father in law and his wife. He is now settling into a routine that is not pioneering, but is parallel with the promises of God.But you do not live with the promise burning in your heart. He is in a rut.
You can come to church, go to the Life Group but there is no spark. The pull of comfort is more than pioneering. The cares of this world, more of the stuff, more different things etc 
So what takes a stuck in the rut wounded shepherd to become a pioneer? Fire!!! 

The burning bush was the catalyst. Fire is what we need today. I am praying for fire!! 
Ps 104:4
" Preaching is logic on fire" M L Jones. We want flames of fire!
Samuel Chadwick in the 1800s in The Path to Pentecost " Men and women ablaze are invincible... the church is powerless without the Holy Ghost"

Revelation describes us as lamp stands. Without the fire of God church is boring.
Exodus 3:20 The angel of the Lord appeared before Moses from the fire.This is no ordinary fire- it was not consumed. Its an object lesson for Moses in systematic theology on who God is. God was demonstrating his might and power. God is saying you are a created being and you have tried on your own. I am the creator and I can create anything. I don't need wood to burn a fire. This was a small lesson on who God is.

Moses asks god who He is because he is thinking how do I explain this to the people. God says "I am who I am" Only God has the audacity to say "I is". I always will be "is". I simply exist within myself. Th Latin word - at, from , self. He is the un caused one. He needs nothing outside himself. We are totally different from God. We are very dependent on things around us.

"Take off your sandals" God is saying I and you are not the same. I am the creator , you are the created. When Moses does this , he is reminded that he is just come from dust.
He covers his face because he is afraid to look at the face of God. We are captivated and terrified. This God is not tame. He is a wildfire. We cannot become tame in our churches. When you come into the presence of the One who has infinite knowledge you would feel uneasy.

Why does this relate to pioneering? Because all this power is being made available to us!
v.24 God remembered the groaning and remembers His promise t His people. That's the point of the burning bush. God was giving His power to Moses . When you go on pioneering mission you know that you have all of God's sustaining power.

Chapter 4 God gave him a tiny demonstration of it. The snake. This does not happen naturally i.e  a staff does not turn into a snake. God does supernatural things.God does amazing things because He is not bound by the laws of nature.

Eph1: " Head over all things for the church". FOR THE CHURCH !!! Everything that we think is not helping is actually helping because the Church is at the centre of all things. So we don't need favourable conditions for a church to thrive because God does not need wood to burn. China has more Christians than the whole of Europe in spite of  100 years of oppression.

The past is not a predictor of your future.
All human hearts are the same . all are dead in their sin - so no ground is hard.
This is the ground that sets a pioneering movement. Pioneering mission is sustained in that you know that God does not need wood to burn.

William Carey " God's work will triumph. One conversion had a nation coming behind him. He was talking about India.
God want to set your  heart alight. he wants to use you.
We are coming to the living Lord Jesus, not a burning bush. He is the presence of God, the radiance of the Father's glory. The Shekinah glory. At transfiguration Jesus face was ablaze.

What do you have in your hand? Steve Oliver | Fusion 2016

 This message was preached by STEVE OLIVER at the Fusion 2016 RegionsBeyond gathering in the UK.
For the audio /video link please click here

Matt 25:14-30
The parable of the talents. We heard Iona's story of God given opportunities to work with world movers and shakers, to work against slavery which is affecting 35 million people.

This is a sobering parable.When you think of all that God is placing in our hands, you begin to feel the weight of what God is doing. God calls out individuals to change a nation viz. Mandela, Gandhi, Churchill. And he calls YOU!

Then he calls a people group just like us and gives us a part in this great story. so we joins the ranks of Hudson Taylor and the great cloud of witnesses. When you speak to the Donna's, Brother Andrew, you do not hear any regret in their voice.

We are gathered here because God has called us to a task. Everyone of us is hand-picked and selected for this task.
What will we be remembered for? This helps us guard our heart.

When you hear Lincoln's story and his humility you see how he knew he needed others but he achieved the emancipation of the slaves.General B McClellan in 1861 was the youngest officer in the American army. He was only 16 with a great leadership gift. He was nicknamed Napoleon. 168,000 men were prepared under his leadership. Lincoln made him general and Chief of the entire Northern army. 

However another battalion in the north were completely defeated because McCellan did not come to his aid. He had a problem. He did not like to fight.
I see the church of our age : 2000, 4000, 10,000 and you hear a leaders falling by the wayside. Generals are meant to fight. We have to step up and fight.

"The context of the Christian life is that of warfare" Simon Petit.
Church planting is the call upon us. We have so much today.Today we are so well trained, better buildings, better heating, better sound etc etc. Its OK except is we forget to fight.

Its good to build good local churches but we are under orders to go disciple the nations.
When you see someone rising in the ranks, train them for what God has got for them.

J. D Greer  wrote a book Make Disciples
Lincoln took away Gen B McClellan's commission because he would not fight.

If there is one thing I hope for Regions Beyond is that everyone is discipled by someone.

It would be frightening that we would become a McClellan church.
We are not a church planting movement, but a disciple making movement that will plant churches that make disciples.

What has God put in your hands?

Then came U.S Grant and he led the men into battle and the rest is history.
We all know the parable of the talents and heard it explained in many ways.
Its not about gifts and abilities but about God given opportunities . God puts us in those places. We all want to hear good and faithful servant.
We need to understand that:

• What has been entrusted is very valuable. Gen McClellan kept procrastinating.
• Its given deliberately.
• There is an expectation to work hard.

Entrusted implies handing over. What is given to us is valuable and costly.

If you look at each servant, he was given opportunity. WE have to be faithful and we can make it prosper under our care.

We have to work hard to make it prosper.We need to go from here and do something. What has been given to us is meant to multiply.

The next time  we gather for Fusion we should see churches planted and leaders raised up. We are here to change the world.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE?

1. RISK Are you ready for some risks? With the possibility of producing gain or loss. Do you feel the weight of that?
2. OVERCOMING FEAR - you shouldn't be afraid. We are children of God. We can overcome the fears. Fears lock us up.
3. INVESTMENT unto the Lord. Its wholly for the benefit of God.

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for a bird to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” C.S. Lewis.

"Its time to step out and risk" Steadman.

So lets step out, risk, live life out. Surrender yourself to his cause again and again and again.

Will we continue to pioneer? Ray Lowe | Fusion 2016

 This message was preached by RAY LOWE at the Fusion 2016 RegionsBeyond gathering in the UK.
For the audio /video link please click here

 This is a serious time. I have not been in a conference where there has been so much expectation and hope in the room. I have heard some say that the Charismatic think that because they sing it it’s done! But we know that is not true. The conference theme is Pioneers. Pioneers make us feel uncomfortable and it can be challenging!

Take C.T Stud; he gave everything away. C. T and his wife vowed that they would never hinder one another. In 16 years they saw each other for the total of one month!!! Why do people do such things?

1956 E. Elliot goes back to live with the people who murdered her husband. Why? Pioneers are fully focused and not impressed with what impresses others.

We are a part of the Restoration Movement. That is our history ( as Newfrontiers and Region Beyond) i.e to do the deeds of the New testament church. We built the churches and expected God to turn up and we did not want to miss the meetings. We had a steady growth, baptisms, and we planted churches. But pioneers are not impressed by that! They think dream and live bigger because that us what they believe God thinks like that. God wants us to move to another level, to another gear.

The question is why did we do all that we did?

Pioneers take risks but they are not reckless. They know the consequences of their actions. They knew they would die.

J. Elliot “Wherever you are, be all there”. “He is no fool who gives up what he can’t keep to gain what he can’t lose”.  

Steve Jobs “The people who are crazy enough think they can change the world are the ones who do”.

Nelson Mandela “There is no greater risk in life than taking no risk at all”.

This is a serious time. We need to continue to believe that we can change the world and pioneer things.

ACTS 8:1-8

The passage troubles the non charismatic and the cessationists.

Why did Philip go to Samaria when there was persecution? It was not sensible to go there! The Jews and Samaritans were enemies. But Jesus actually said go to Samaria! So that ought to be enough. The Holy Spirit convinced him to go. That’s risky. Things get birthed in small actions and decisions that we take. God uses the unlikely cases to do stuff i.e you and I.

What stirred Philip up?  It was hanging out with the Apostles. If you hang out with good people something happens to you. Who do you spend time with? Proverbs says Bad company corrupts good character.

“GO” is a controversial word. It was then and is now too. It took 100 years to scatter the church and for the people to actually “go”. People went around the Jews but no one went to Samaria or the gentiles.

God has been patient with us. For 20 years God has spoken to us about church planting. It takes time for God’s word to filter to us. If we won’t do something – persecution makes us move. We don’t want that.

The word witness can be translated as martyr. Stephen was martyred and people fled and they began to share the gospel. It was a grass roots movement. The Apostles were nowhere around. Ordinary people spread the gospel. It takes time.

 In this Conference God is saying, “It is time” We say that we are built on the Apostles foundations. What is that? We say the Word of God. That is good. But Apostolic also means sending, “going”, “releasing”. We must be a sending faith. Get out there and plant community.

What hinders us?

1.      Sometimes good leaders do it. We restored the church to release and not be an end in itself. Many restoration movements have died because they failed to do what they set out to do i. e plant churches. Newfrontiers has kept going because we have not given up on the WORD and the CHURCH. WE need to use the church to do what it’s supposed to do.

So we have grown good churches but we have failed to release church. Paul stayed on at Antioch and taught for a year. What did he teach? I’m sure it was mission because, Antioch was a releasing church. We have to release the people once they peak. When we give away you get more. We are here to change the world.

Don’t stop building well, but build with the intent of releasing. So ask the question, where are we going to do this or that?

What does a pioneer look like? They are frigidity, easily bored, easily mis judged; don’t fit in, always evangelistic, gatherers, not embarrassed by non believers. They ear relational, they loved the list.

They have lots of ideas, lots of projects. They drive pastors mad!!

So pastors don't hang onto people to build church. You build church by releasing people and then you build a whole load of others.
We need people because there are many places we need to plant church and we need pioneers to go with them.They are lousy church leaders but they have got to be released. We need these risk takers. Pastors need to get to know them and find out what would they do given the opportunity.

To reach the nation we need every gift whether its in a skirt or trousers. We have not changed our theology but we do need all the gifts. The world is so sophisticated today that we need sophisticated gifts to reach the world , the skill that Pastors don't have.

I asked Donna Bloomfield why does she go to Burundi? Why does she do what she does and go where she is going?

Here is response ( my paraphrase ) " I don't go to Burundi because I am brave. In fact I am not very brave.. there are many things I don't cope well with things like bugs and snakes. Only bugs and snakes like bugs and snakes!!... I'm as far removed from an adrenaline junkie as you can get... What motivates me to go to Burundi that is a country on the brink of civil war, in crises and is the poorest country in the world?... well on one level because God has called me and yet there is no place I'd rather be. I'm passionate about the Kingdom of God coming to the nations, to see lives changed.. only God can change a nation around and we get to partner in it.
We already have so many testimonies of lives changing, God's provision.. These remind me of what we can't but what God can.. right now the risks are high... is it safe for me to go back?.. Its not about what is safe but what God said. The call of God will sometimes take us to the most darkest and dangerous places. ... we are the light and darkness cannot penetrate the light. .. Darkness is being pushed back by light.." 

So if you feel you are a pioneer and you have felt held back or held back give us your names and we will see how your gift can be used and we you could possibly go. This is for everyone, age , sex ,no bar.

People are willing in the day of God's power and this is the day of God's power.