I hope like me you have been greatly encouraged by the four Meet Jesus Sundays so far. It is good for our hearts to be reminded from the gospel of just how great a Saviour the Lord Jesus is and the wonder of what He gives to those who trust Him – Grace and truth, the only possible foundation for relationship with the living God whom we were created to know and love [John 1:1-18]; New Birth, the gracious act of God that gives us a life that is fit for His presence now and in the new heaven and earth where there is no grief or death [John 3]; the living water that wells up in us satisfying our longing for life and love as we become true worshippers of the Father [John 4]; Resurrection life as He shares with us His life, and the hope this gives us in a world marked by death [John 11]. All of these gifts of God's grace, His undeserved love that has sent the Son into the world to save us by His death. To see again the generosity and faithfulness of that love in the gift of the Son to us and for us is so refreshing.
And in addition there has been the encouragement of hearing the testimonies to God’s grace of Henrique, Maree, Lawrence and Ryan as they spoke of His work in bringing each of them to meet Jesus. To see the patient, persevering love of God in drawing His children to Himself, to see His power both in ordering the circumstances of their individual lives so that they heard the gospel at the right time, and in bringing conviction of the truth of the gospel, to be reminded that so often God has used the prayers, conversations and encouragements of ordinary believers to bring this new life to others, has been powerfully encouraging. It is good to know our God is always active in saving, and in saving amongst us now.
Make use of our last two Sundays
There are only two Sundays left in the Meet Jesus mission, and over these two Sundays we will be looking at the climax of the gospel witness to Jesus – His death and resurrection. These are extraordinary, compelling events which reveal Jesus’ glory and uniqueness, events which our neighbours need to hear of. And just as the gospel story builds to these events so our Mission Sundays build towards the preaching of Jesus’ death and resurrection. By now I hope you have confidence in what our friends and family will meet if they come through our doors, the warmth of the welcome, the appropriateness of what is said and sung during the service, and the clarity of the gospel preaching. I encourage you to make use of these two remaining Sundays. Be praying for your friends and family to come, be praying for those who speak and preach, that we would make the gospel clear, and pray that God would do a work in the lives of those who hear, bringing them to repentance and faith in Jesus. Pray, and then invite friends and family, even strangers to come. Even having a conversation about coming to hear the Christian message can be a step in their path to coming to meet Jesus, something the Lord will use to draw them to Himself, something that can open the door to further conversations. Make use of these final two Sundays – Pray, invite, speak – as you have opportunity.
The Lord’s Supper
We had spoken of having the Lord’s Supper on the final Sunday of the Meet Jesus Mission, September the 8th. Having now seen how well these Sundays are working in their present format Session has decided that it would make our services more accessible to visitors and less crowded if we don’t proceed with the Supper on the 8th. Rather than try and fit it into one of the remaining Sundays in September, we will instead revert to our normal pattern of holding the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of the month, which means the next Lord’s Supper will be Sunday October 6th. While that is a loss to believers of the encouragement and reassurance the Supper gives, we think it is a small sacrifice to help others hear the gospel amongst us.
Beyond Mission
The end of mission is not a reason to stop inviting others to join us. We hope anyone who comes to any of our services will always hear God’s word taught truthfully, and after Mission we will start a six week series from the parables of Jesus that focus on how we respond to the gospel message and the confidence we can have that God’s word will achieve His purposes for His people and in His world. This will then be followed by another series in the lead up to Christmas that will look at the developing expectation in the Old Testament of the saving King God promised to send to His people so we can get a sense of the depth and breadth of the salvation Jesus the Son of David, Son of God, brings by His coming. The series will give us an opportunity to pause over passages that we often hear at Christmas but rarely focus on long enough to know and feel the richness of what is promised, the strength of the commitment God makes in them to rescue His people, and the depth of longing they give rise to, a longing satisfied only in Jesus.
All that is to come, Lord willing. For now, make use of these two last Meet Jesus Sundays. Pray, invite, speak. Who knows whether in God’s mercy that conversation or invitation will feature in someone’s testimony in years to come, their testimony to how God in His great grace has brought them to know His love and the life Jesus gives to all who trust Him – and wouldn’t that be wonderful.
