Please Pray - Midweek Message 17th June
Dear Friends,
This is a slightly different Midweek Message from recent
ones but as I hope you will see a vitally important one.
You don’t need me to tell you these have been, and remain,
strange times and we’re not exactly sure how, and when, they are going to end,
or what life will exactly look like after lockdown. However, Jesus taught his disciples
to trust in the care and the overruling sovereignty of God the Father in such
times when, for example, he told them: Are not five sparrows sold for two
pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.(Luke
12.6-7) With that, we also believe that God is never thwarted by what
seem like setbacks in the lives of his people but is always turning everything
to the accomplishment of his sovereign and saving purposes, as Joseph recognised
looking back over the setbacks and the suffering of his own life, not least that
perpetrated by his brothers. He was able to testify to them: You intended to
harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the
saving of many lives. (Genesis
50:20) In the light of that, we believe God is at work in these trying Covid-19
affected days, in the lives of those who are his people (see for example 1
Peter 1.6-7, Acts 8.1-4, James 1.2-4) but also in those who are not
yet his people. If nothing else, online services have meant a scattering of the
seed of his Word further afield than our reach on Sundays and we know his Word
will not return to him void but will accomplish that for which he sent it (Isaiah
55.10-11)
With all that in mind, the elders have a had a couple of
meetings recently to consider how we can best serve and keep in step with whatever
God is seeking to do in these days in terms of fulfilling the mission we believe
He has given us to be a church that ‘brings in, builds up and sends our
followers of Jesus Christ to the glory of God’ Two particular matters have been on our minds.
About these we have, as yet, reached no firm conclusions, hence the reason for
this message and this request: please will you pray with us that God would, in
his time, make plain his will for us in relation to:
1) Sunday Gatherings
a) Whenever we can open the church building again for Sunday
gatherings, there are a number of practical issues that require to be addressed
e.g. seating arrangements, health & safety matters, recording/livestreaming
of services, etc – please pray for wisdom for the Preparation Group made up of some
Session & Board members currently looking at these.
b) As important, if not more important, than the practical, is
this question: are there any things we might do in relation to our Sunday Gatherings
that might make them more accessible and helpful to anyone coming in for the
first time who may have had an interest in Christ and the Christian faith aroused during this time? It is a good time to review all that we do, how and why we do
it and for whom we do it. Maybe nothing requires changing but if so, we want to
be sure of that. So again, please pray
with and for us.
2) Milton of Leys (MOL)
In the period immediately prior to lockdown, we had been
running monthly gatherings in the school to which a number of families and
individuals had been coming on a regular basis. We had also received the offer
of piece of land on which a church building could be erected. This was the
culmination of a number of years of praying, planning and making contact with MOL
people through events like Holiday Club. This had all been instigated with the long-term
plan, God willing, of planting a church in MOL. Lockdown has interrupted
something of the momentum of this work.
Our view has been that 3 key elements are required for this
goal of planting a church to be realised
1) a team of committed people who would form the core of a
new church in MOL.
2) a leader for the work with all the necessary energy to
see the work through the stages involved in birthing the church.
3) the funds necessary to pursue the erection of the church
building
As things stand at present:
Re- 1) notwithstanding the great number of people who have
willingly played their part in enabling the monthly gatherings, we currently
have 7 people who have definitely committed to being part of a future Milton of
Leys congregation
Re-2) some of you will be aware that Farquhar has an
underlying health condition which requires to be managed. These last 10 months
have been particularly trying in that regard. He is currently on a week’s ‘sabbatical’
with a view to physical rest.
Re-3) we have not in earnest sought to address the challenge
of the funds for a building, but we are aware that in the current climate this
will not be our only financial challenge.
Looking back, we did not embark on the work in Milton of
Leys naively or blindly, but rather believe we have sought at every stage to be
prayerful and faithful, wanting to follow God’s lead so that , ultimately, if
anything comes of this it will be to his glory and people will look on and say,
the LORD has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. (Psalm 118.23) However
it would seem to us we have come to a crucial juncture, where once again we
must cry out to God particularly in relation to these 3 things.
Would you therefore join with us in praying, in asking for
his will to be done, his kingdom to come in MOL and that we might know clearly what
it is he is asking of us in relation to that?
Would you ask him to provide the people, the health, the money
and anything else that He regards as necessary for this to go ahead or to keep
moving forward or at least tokens that might
indicate this work remains as part of
his purposes for us as a church? Or if not, make it clear that we need to pursue
a different direction?
As I said we have not reached firm conclusions or made concrete
decisions in regard to Sunday Gatherings or Milton of Leys. Rather, we find
ourselves echoing Jehoshaphat’s prayer: We do not know what to do, but our
eyes are upon you. (2 Chronicles 20.12). I also find myself recalling Jesus
looking out with compassion on the crowds in Matthew 9, harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd and concluding the harvest is
plentiful…. And then urging his disciples,
Ask the Lord of the harvest….. (Matthew 9.36-38). That is what we are asking you to do, please
pray with us and for us to this Lord that his will in these things and for the sake
of his saving purposes might be done.,
Thanking you for your fellowship in the service of God and
his gospel,
David
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