Pastor Kenneth Ulmer, Cindy Jacobs and J. John opened the morning’s general session on Thursday, May 12, the first full day of Empowered21 London 2016.
Ulmer, senior pastor-teacher at Faithful Central Bible Church, delivered the first of two morning session messages. He created imagery of the eagle stating that everyone, “has an eagle inside them … many Christians are eagles in a canary cage … you were meant to soar!”
Ulmer’s message was followed by a time of intercession and the prophetic with Cindy Jacobs, founder of Generals International. Her powerful leading of prayers for healing and restoration brought hundreds to the altars of the Ruach City Church.
“When the power of God comes to a nation, it is disruptive,” Jacobs exclaimed. “God is looking for people with radical faith,” she said, “and great people do great things for God. There is no junior-sized Holy Spirit.”
Keynote speaker for the morning session was J. John, founder of Philo Trust, who is a minister, social activist and writer. He displayed his remarkable gift for communicating the truth of Christ in a fresh and contemporary manner as he relayed story after story of successful discipleship. He challenged the morning delegates by stating that, “a missionary is not one who crosses the sea, but one who sees the cross.”
“The majority of us have been called to reach the world by first reaching our world,” John continued. “We are a people of Easter, while the world is living in Good Friday. Let’s bring healing to the Good Friday world.”
In the afternoon, Empowered21 hosted three 50 minute-long panels on the subjects of New Neighbors: Migrant Opportunities, Amazing Grace and Healing and Miracles Today. The panels took the shape of the personalities involved, and ranged from academic discussion to Charismatic expounding.
The evening general session began at 7 p.m. and featured ministry leaders from the Western European community. They included Nicky Gumbel, vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton Church, and Peter Wenz, pastor of the Gospel Forum in Stuttgart, Germany for the past 30 years. Gumbel focused his sermon on the importance of connectivity with people, stating, “when you connect with people, you find happiness.” Wenz, who explained the upcoming commemoration of the 500-year anniversary of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, stated that God’s heart “beats for reformation … God is the greatest reformer in the universe.”
A 30-minute praise-and-worship package was presented by the contemporary worship band Planetshakers from Australia.
The Empowered21 Global Congress London concludes on Friday, May 13 with another full day of speakers and challenging panels. Closing out the historic gathering will be Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, chairman of the Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and Dr. Billy Wilson, co-chair of Empowered21 and president of Oral Roberts University.
Empowered21 aims to help shape the future of the global Spirit-empowered movement throughout the world by focusing on crucial issues facing the movement and connecting generations for intergenerational blessing and impartation. The vision is that every person on Earth would have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit by Pentecost 2033. Get more information at empowered21.com. Empowered21 is a kingdom initiative served by Oral Roberts University, oru.edu.
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