The apostle Paul wrote to and of the Thessalonian believers that on receiving the gospel they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” [1 Thessalonians 1:9-10] Present relationship with the true and living God who rules all things and whose steadfast love and faithfulness can always be relied on, a sure hope for justice and the new heaven and earth in a world suffering from its bondage to decay and human misrule, assurance of forgiveness and rescue in that final judgement – all ours in coming to believe in the living Saviour, the Lord Jesus, risen from the dead.
Reviewing Meet Jesus
It has been good to have been reminded of what a good and great Saviour we have from the gospel of John over the last six weeks, and how He alone gives freely to all who trust Him what we so need – eternal life, presented in all its richness in Jesus’ dealings with individuals in the gospel from poor newly weds to religious leaders, those whose life had been full of relational disappointment to sisters scarred by grief, and others like the blind man or the man with the sick son whose stories we did not look at, eternal life in knowing the enfleshed Word’s truth and grace, in becoming convinced that He is the Christ, the Son of God. There is such refreshment for our souls in keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus in all the busyness of our lives.
The ministry team have started reflecting on these past six weeks of the Meet Jesus mission as they plan for the coming year. We think a time in the year where you know the gospel will be presented clearly and people called to respond is something we should build into our calendar every year as a complement to the conversations you are having with friends and family about the Lord Jesus, something you can invite them to where you can be confident the gospel you have been sharing will be proclaimed with authority and the urgency of responding to the gospel call reinforced. We also think it is good for us all and our visitors to hear our brothers and sisters speak of God’s grace in their lives, of how He has brought them to know the Lord Jesus and has continued to work in their lives. The team are thinking how such testimonies can be present in our services at other times. Hopefully hearing them has also encouraged you to speak more openly of God’s work in your life, to recognize and give thanks for His patient love and faithfulness which we know as believers every day of our lives, and to cherish the hope which is ours as we progress through this fleeting life. We do think, however, that we will do some things a little differently next time – for example shortening the time to four weeks, and having just one speaker so that there is confidence building consistency over the four weeks. If you have your own reflections on what worked and what can be improved, please share them with the ministry team, so a month of ‘Meet Jesus’ talks is something we can all look forward to again next year.
Congregational Dinner - Saturday October 12th
Speaking of next year is something we have been putting off during the Meet Jesus Sundays. But the time has come to engage with what is ahead for us as a church in the coming months. To facilitate that we will be holding an all congregations tea on Saturday October 12th (a BYO dinner 5pm-7pm). Getting together to share a meal and talk about the year ahead was a regular feature of our life pre-Covid and has been a useful way of creating an opportunity to more fully address developments in our life together before we have to vote on decisions. It is a way of keeping us all informed and having a context where we can have questions asked and answered. At tea on the 12th we will be hearing from Helen about how she has found her role thus far – feedback on an important initiative in our life together. We will also have a report from the selection committee about their progress to date, and hear from the Board. The Board report will be in preparation for a new budget which will contain the terms of call for the new senior minister, a budget to be presented to the congregation for its approval at a subsequent congregational meeting on Tuesday night, October 22nd. The terms of call included in the budget will be generic, sufficient to be approved by Presbytery and allow the selection committee to proceed in its discussions with prospective candidates for the position. When we reach the stage where we are ready to call a particular person we may well have to revise them to take into account the particular circumstances of that minister e.g. in relation to housing, or moving expenses.
We will also at the tea, talk about the shape of the coming year in light of my coming retirement and the adjustments being made to sustain the ministry if the search for a new senior minister is continuing. So it is an important meeting to come to if you want to be fully informed and have an opportunity to discuss the church’s plans. As we have many young families, and also as we have church the next day, we aim to start the meal at 5:00pm, and the talking at 5:30pm. There will be a program for the children upstairs, and we will be looking for volunteers to supervise that. We should be finished the more formal part of the evening by 7:00pm. Plan to be there on the 12th.
Prayer Meeting
And plan to be at the Prayer Meeting this coming Wednesday the 18th, or participating on Zoom. The Psalmist says “unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain,” [Psalm 127:1] and the Lord Jesus reminds His followers that apart from Him, we can do nothing [John 15:5]. Our prayer is a conscious acknowledgement of our dependence on God for the realisation of any of our plans, and the faithful seeking of His help, help He promises, to do His will. It also shows that we are aware that we live our lives individually and collectively in the context of a spiritual battle where it is only by putting on the armour God provides that we can prevail. God’s provision includes the instruction [Ephesians 6:18-20] that we pray “at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” and especially that those who preach the gospel, like Paul, would make proclaim it boldly. In seeking together to be light and salt in our community and call others to repentance and faith in Jesus we are not just dealing with an unsympathetic and distracted society or our own sinfulness. We are contending with “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” So come and pray together that we will continue to be a common minded community of grace, seeking to share the gospel and be rich in doing the good that will bring our God glory.
