WOW! - AUSTRALIAN SOLEMN ASSEMBLY
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
-1500 Attend.
REPORT on NATIONAL SOLEMN ASSEMBLY held in
CANBERRA, 9 - 11 MARCH 2007:
-George Probek.
I consider myself privileged to be have been able to attend. The
Assembly was wonderful and so honouring to our Lord.
The event was incredible. We were deeply moved by the "weight"
of what was dealt with over the 3 days. It was a powerful
encounter with God. I believe it to be one of the truly great
moments in Australia's spiritual history.
These are just some of the many responses received since the
Solemn Assembly:
In what is thought to have been Australia's first ever National
Solemn Assembly some 1,500 people representing every State
and Territory in Australia, a wide spread of Christian denominations,
and a cross section of all ages, attended this 3 day gathering in
our National Capital..
Twenty one hours of intense engagement with the Spirit of God,
including two 9 hour continuous sessions was a daunting
possibility for many wondering how they may cope, but by the
end the general comments were how quickly the time had passed
and of the incredible depth and expanse of the issues that had
been dealt with.
The Assembly was unlike any previous event held in our nation.
Powerful times of worship mingled with times of deep emotional
repentance. Well researched input on specific areas of sin
opened the eyes of those attending of the impact such sin was
having upon the spiritual state of the Church and Nation.
This was a deep encounter between God and those who accepted
His invitation to meet with Him to deal with the issues which He
had impressed upon many hearts were an offence to Him. Many
were confronted, but then released, by the way in which sin was
dealt with so directly. It was quickly evident that this was not your
normal Christian gathering but one for those prepared to deal with
deep and entrenched issues not normally spoken about in many
Church circles.
Areas named as sin and dealt with through repentance included
our lack of intimacy with God, apathy, indifference, complacency,
disunity, self centeredness, greed, materialism, worship of other
gods, all forms of sexual immorality, injustice towards indigenous
people, the poor and disadvantaged, widows and orphans, and a
general lack of concern for others and the environment in which
God has placed us. Abortion, cloning, suicide, euthanasia and
aboriginal massacres were dealt with under the heading of
"Shedding of Innocent Blood" whilst "Broken Covenants" included
the massive problem of broken marriages and family disintegration
as well as the breakdown in relationship and accountability
between Governments and the people they represent.
Leading the repentance were Prayer Leaders, Pastors,
Relationship Counsellors, Leaders of specific National Ministries
in areas being addressed, Youth Leaders, Aboriginal Leaders,
Medical Professionals, and those involved in the Political arena.
National Prayer Networks represented at the Assembly included
the Australian Indigenous Prayer Network, the Children's Prayer
Network, the Parliamentary Prayer Network, Rise up Australia,
Catch the Fire Ministries, The Cause Australia and of course the
Australian Prayer Network who took responsibility for organising
the Assembly.
The extent to which many of the issues being dealt with has
affected the Church was clearly evidenced when people were
asked to respond by coming to the front if they personally were
aware of anyone who had had an abortion or committed suicide.
Some 25/30% of the congregation came forward to stand in the
gap for themselves, family or friends caught up in such actions.
But that was easily outdone by those personally affected by
divorce and marriage breakdown. Some 50% of the congregation
indicated either that they were themselves divorced, their parents
had divorced, or one or more of their children had divorced.
One amazing aspect of the Assembly was that even though
those present were challenged to repent of deep personal sin there
was no condemnation, but rather the release of forgiveness,
healing and restoration for those so challenged. The empowering
presence of God's grace was evident to all. Many expressed that
they have never before been so challenged by their own human
frailty being called sin, but neither had they ever experienced so
much of God's love, forgiveness and release of the load they had
been carrying due to guilt and shame. We discovered again that
the biblical principal of repentance and forgiveness releases
healing and restoration to those who will receive and appropriate it.
Unrepented of sin brings death, but repentance brings renewed
hope and a promise of new life in Christ.
However the Assembly also dealt with our corporate sin as the
people of God in which we all must carry some of the blame. This
was not about dealing with the sin of others but a recognition that
God was calling those who were called by His name to deal with
the log in our own eye rather than the speck in our brothers' and
sisters' eyes.
The degree of spiritual unity expressed in the Assembly was best
evidenced by the worship team which was made up of individual
musicians drawn together from different parts of the nation, not
knowing, or having the opportunity to even practice together, yet
leading us in a wonderful experience of deep and intimate worship
with the living God. As it was in worship so too it was in prayer
and repentance.
After two days indoor the final session was held in Federation
Mall, the grassed area between the Old and New Houses of
Parliament. On a very hot afternoon an estimated 2,000 people,
including many Canberra folk who joined the Assembly for this
final session, braved the conditions to join with hundreds of local
Assemblies held across the Nation in crying out to God to forgive
our sin and heal our land.
>From reports received it is extimated that hundreds of local
Solemn Assemblies were held across the Nation on the Sunday
afternoon. The common theme of almost all reports was the
passion with which people addressed the issues of sin being
dealt with, and the overwhelming sense of the Spirit of God's
presence being in their midst.
So what did the Solemn Assembly achieve? There may be as
many answers to that question as there were people attending,
but for me the most important was that the sin which is so
affecting the spiritual realm over the Church and Nation was put
on the table and called for what it is in God's eyes. I believe that
has been spiritually releasing and never again do we need to
ignore the hard issues that have robbed us of so much spiritual
power and authority as the people of God. The hard shell has
been broken. Let us pray that the Spirit of God who drenched the
Assembly with His presence will be invited to do the same in
congregations and fellowships across the country. The die has
been cast. There is now no turning back.
Oh, and by the way, as I write this report the rain is pounding
down on the roof of my home and the meteorologists have
declared that El Nino is finished and above average rain is set to
return to our nation. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness.
Brian Pickering
National Coordinator
Australian Prayer Network - http://www.ausprayernet.org.au