Living out God’s truth brings real transformation

There are many challenges to Christian truth and witness in society. But our Lord and God is on the throne of the universe, and across the country the gospel of Jesus is bringing eternal hope, transforming individuals and changing communities.

That’s why around 300 people gathered in a packed-out hall at Christian Concern’s special end-of-year event Bringing Hope on Saturday 23 November.

The day began with vibrant and heartfelt sung worship before author and evangelist Rev. Canon J. John took the platform. He spoke of the all-encompassing, transformational work of the Church in people’s lives:

“I work for a global enterprise… We’ve got outlets in nearly every country of the world … we’ve got hospitals, and hospices, and homeless shelters; we’ve got orphanages, we’ve got feeding programmes; we do justice work, we do reconciliation, we do marriage work. Basically, we look after people from birth to death and we deal in the area of behavioural alteration… what’s it called? The Church! … That’s what we do! We are part of a global enterprise, transforming lives, transforming relationships, transforming communities – that is what we are a part of.”

It’s that big picture that we so often miss if we focus only on the challenges. Although the challenges are real, we can look back to the cross of Jesus, who paid “for everything you and I have broken” and we can look up to the reality of Jesus Christ on the throne of Heaven.

“To be a witness is going to cost something. It’s costly to be a witness.

“But we look around and we respond to what is happening. That is what Christian Concern has been doing for 11 years and is passionate in doing and responding. It’s great to have annual occasions like this to encourage all of us as we pray, as we support Christian Concern, and as we give to help them continue this remarkable ministry calling on their lives which is unique, and there aren’t many people who are actually doing it.”

Then came Christian Concern’s chief executive, Andrea Williams, to the stage to illustrate how the transformative work of Christians and churches goes hand-in-hand with the work of Christian Concern. Joined by Christian Legal Centre clients including Pete Benjamin, Pastor Paul Song, and Kristie Higgs, attendees were encouraged that God is at work, transforming people’s lives for good.

“We love the Lord Jesus Christ and we believe passionately in his truth and that it’s by living out his truth that we see real transformation…We cannot shrink the gospel to personal salvation; rather it is a book of life, a living word that says this is how we do marriage, this is how we do family, this is how we do community, this is how we do national life. When we do that and when we are passionate about it, so we see all things transformed.”

At the heart of the day were seminars featuring speakers from many ministries around the nation that are bringing the hope of Christ to communities and seeing lives transformed. This provided a unique opportunity to hear from community outreach projects, pro-life groups, and Christian educators about how God is using them to change lives. Attendees were able to hear from – and speak to – a range of speakers including Sheldon Thomas (Gangsline), Beth Grove (Pfander) and Steve Beegoo (The King’s School, Whitney).

Christian Concern enables these kinds of ministries; sometimes with direct, practical advice, sometimes with legal support but also by campaigning for government policies that enable these works to flourish.

The day closed with a longer session with more sung worship and extensive corporate prayer, led by Pastor Ade Omooba MBE, co-founder of Christian Concern. It is God who, through his Spirit, enables his people to bring hope to their communities making it vital to seek his empowering help.

People left empowered and inspired to follow Jesus in word and deed, many telling us that they had been encouraged and emboldened and inspired to bring the hope of Christ to their neighbours, their communities and the world.

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