Why London?

 A Growing Church with a Growing Need in a Key City that NEEDS the GOSPEL:

• About 21 million souls within about 25 miles of GraceLife London.

• London:

• The largest city in the U.K. 

• The third largest city in Europe.

•  At least 22 countries represented within the members of GraceLife London.

• In the British Election Study (2015) of the people in London, 24.7% were "Anglican" (Church of England), 13.8% were "Catholic", and only 4.8% were "Other Christians" (which includes everything from Pentecostals to Conservative Evangelicals).

• According to the British Social Attitudes (2013), out of those in Britain claiming "Christianity" as their religion only 13.1% attend church on a weekly basis.

Please earnestly consider supporting the ministry of GraceLife London by supporting us as we seek to meet the urgent need of this church as they reach the city of London, the U.K., and the world with the Gospel! bitly.com/gracelifelondon

If your church would like to have us come personally and share further about this ministry or if you have questions about the ministry, please feel free to contact us at awaller44@gmail.com.  

Summer Institute: Men's Conference

The week of the Summer Institute ended with a men’s conference on “Learning to Lead.” The day started with Pastor Tom Drion preaching on lessons learned from Adam followed by Dr. Keith Essex on Joshua, both of whom gave excellent sermons. Their sermons challenged the men who were present of our responsibilities to exercise the authority that God had given us under His authority as well as to see the marks of true leadership including trust, strength, courage, communication, and accountability with those under your leadership. I continued the leadership lessons learned by covering lessons learned from David.

The effect of the conference upon the men who attended was possibly seen most at the Q and A session where men were able to submit their questions through text messages. The session was scheduled for an hour but lasted for 1 hour and 40 minutes and several questions were left unanswered. The need of discussing leadership was also seen in the fact that not one question deviated from the topic.

I was given the privilege to end the week in Saturday evening in John 13:1-17 showing Jesus as the greatest example of leadership through serving others. Not only did they allow me to finish one week but also to begin the next week worshiping with the congregation of GraceLife London (GLL) preaching in Ecclesiastes 3:9-15.

This week was one of the most encouraging weeks that Dana and I have had in ministry. The desire of GLL as well as others around the UK to grow in their knowledge and obedience to the word of God is incredible! We are greatly looking forward to helping this ministry continue preaching the Gospel to London, all of England, and to the world (did we mention that Tom and Donna could count 22 nations represented in the church from the top of their heads).

We were also able to record a video explaining the need of the church and our desire to fill that need by the grace of God to the best of our abilities and gifts. Please be on the lookout for this in the near future.

Thank you for reading and we will continue to update you all on what the Lord is doing for and with us.

GraceLife London Summer Institute

This past week, GraceLife London hosted a week of teaching in Central London in what they call the Summer Institute (SI). This was the third annual Institute that this church has put on. People from different parts of England took advantage of this opportunity to hear Dr. William Varner teach on Messianic Theology, Dr. Keith Essex teach on Luke/Acts, and Dr. Greg Harris teach through Genesis. I had the privilege of contributing a three hour session on “The Anatomy of a False Teacher” on Wednesday of that week.

Dana and I were able to take two tours with other conference attendees with Dr. Varner as our guide. The first was at Bunhill Fields burial ground where many of the Puritans and other “Non-Conformists” were buried including Isaac Watts, Susanna Wesley, and John Bunyon. This first tour ended with a visit to the church that John Wesley pastored and which still houses his grave and the original pulpit that both he and George Whitefield preached from.

The second tour which was held on Wednesday was to the famous British Museum which houses an incredible amount of history related to the Bible. Dr. Varner’s OT and NT background Bible knowledge caused the museum to come alive and made us all want to go back and see it all over again. From the Assyrian exile to the first century Caesars of the Roman Empire, the museum provided a visual picture to the facts we constantly read in the Bible. It is a must see for those who visit London.

The week as a whole was compacted with biblical teaching. It was encouraging to talk to many of the attendants and to hear how appreciative they were for what they were learning and to see through their questions their desire to continue to grow. The church gave me a kind gift to welcome us to London and prepare us for our stay (a gift that would be hard to find in Southern California).

Dana was able to lend a hand in different aspects of secretarial duties during the Summer Institute as well as spending time with the women of GLL getting to know them and allowing them to get to know her better.

We are grateful to have had an opportunity to participate in the week and to see people from all over England grow deeper in God's word with joy.

Day One of the Summer Institute: The Women's Conference

The GraceLife London Summer Institute began with the Women's Conference centered around the theme "Bright Hope for Tomorrow." So often we as women can become discouraged, weighed down, and even downcast which is why a correct understanding of true biblical hope is so important. This day was a wonderful day of encouraging and convicting teaching. Many parts of these messages I learned during this conference have drawn me towards godliness this whole week.

Donna Drion began the day with "Understanding Biblical Hope" which outlined what true living hope is compared to the worldly, abandoned, and religious hope that we can often buy into. Living hope is based on having a firm foundation on what Christ has done for us compared to the self-effort or self-confidence that false hope has. By continually responding to and holding fast to the true living hope, our lives will be filled with joy, peace, comfort, endurance, courage, protection and confidence that is not based on our situation but rather the Word of God.

Jennifer Francis continued the day with "Studying Biblical Hope" which taught the women how to do an inductive Bible study on 1 Peter 1. First we pray for the work of the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and insight into the passage. Then we start by observing. In other words, we are to examine what the text says by asking "who, what, why, when..." questions. Next, we interpret the text by understanding what the text means. Word studies and context rules play a key part of this part. Application was then given through a "homework" sheet where all the women could apply what we just learned with a study on hope from 1 Peter 1.

Helen Varner wrapped up the day with a two part message beginning with "A Biblical Approach to Personal Suffering" from Lamentations 3. Helen began with outlining the aspects of prayer using the acronym of ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication). From there, Lamentations was broken down into three parts: Jeremiah's Afflictions (how he had hope in the character of God in the midst), Jeremiah's Hope (hope found in God's compassion) and Jeremiah's Prayer (a believer's confident expectation).

Part two of Helen's message was "The Believer's Conduct in Suffering" from 1 Peter 4:1-19. Helen pointed out that in the midst of suffering Christians should be: sober, prayerful, loving, hospitable, using one's spiritual gifts, prepared for trials, joyful, law abiding, glorifying God and committed to God despite the hardship. She continued by sharing how she endured her personal suffering I would say in a matter that glorified the Lord and was surely an encouragement to all the women there.

The whole group came together that evening to be taught by Dr. Varner's message on Holy Heartburn. Instead of summing it up, please take a listen.

 

Holy Heartburn - Luke 24:13-35 - William Varner from GraceLifeLondon on Vimeo.

This was just the beginning of what has been so far an amazing week of teaching, learning, and serving by those involved. The Lord is doing much work through this church as people have come from different parts of England to participate in the Summer Institute!

We will keep you updated!

On the Way to London for the Summer Institute

How much is cheap airfare worth...well two layovers and almost 24 hours worth. We left Los Angeles to visit Adam's family for a week in Danville, VA. From Virginia we went to Boston and had a 10 hour layover. Since it was such a long layover, we decided to go into Boston. Ironically, our adventure that day included The Freedom Trail which outlines the path the US took to become a nation that started with our "rebellion" against England. The picture below shows Adam in front of Paul Revere's home. We found out that no one we talked to in England knew who Paul Revere is. Apparently it is frowned upon to teach about key people who helped other countries rebel against your country. From what we can gather, England does not teach about the American Revolution at all in their general history classes.

From Boston to Iceland, we had just over a two hour layover. If you ever wonder what language they speak in Iceland it is Icelandic, which is similar to Swedish as Dana was able to recognize some of their words.

From Iceland to our destination, we arrived in London Gatwick airport almost 24 hours after we began our journey...Hooray.

GraceLife London's Summer Institute: Overview

Summer Institute 2015

This Saturday our Summer Institute kicks off — here's a preview of the whole 8 days — still time to register, see the comments below

Posted by GraceLife London on Wednesday, July 29, 2015