Tomorrow I'm preaching in the morning on 1 Cor 10:1-13. Tomorrow evening is our annual Carol service so do be bringing along to that.
In the afternoon David Barnes is speaking at the Downhurst home and Jono Willcox is speaking at the Shaftsbury home.
Saturday 13 December 2008
English Class Party
Many thanks for everyone who helped out last night at the English Class Party it was a great night and good to see so many there.
Monday 8 December 2008
New Life Masih Ghar Report
We have been teaching a class on the church this autumn and it has been encouraging for all to say “We are not alone here at Masih Ghar! We are a connected church – you have brothers and sisters praying and supporting you.” This class during our “College of the Bible” time at Sunday’s at 4pm is also functioning as our new members class this autumn. We are praying that we can take in about 10 new members on Dec 14 and have one lady from a Muslim background who is considering membership and therefore baptism.
We are currently preaching through the book of Mark one chapter at a time. Obviously this has been from the “10,000 foot level” so the challenge has been where to place the focus each week as we quickly work through the book. We started this series to coordinate with Christianity Explored, which we ran in September and October at the Asha Charity Shop. Each Wednesday evening, we have had a group of committed Christians, nominal Christians and those exploring the faith from a Muslim, Hindu and Sikh background meet for curry and then Bible study. After CE finished, the momentum of the group “forced” us to continue so Bob Heppe has led a study from Philippians using Discipleship Explored as a guide.
On Halloween evening, we hosted an “Autumn Mela” at the church building we rent. With games for the kids and lots of sweets, this has become an annual favorite for about 250 children and parents in our community. Included in the goody bag, was a leaflet explaining Jesus’ power over the forces of darkness – a real concern of people in our neighborhood. We see this as one of the steps in our outreach to the South Asian community in which results may come years down the line.
Several other items:
· We hosted a “Walk through the Bible” seminary with about 30 in attendance
· Our oldest member, a Sikh man who came to Christ in his 80’s, is in the hospital and ready to meet Jesus – this will be an emotional time for Papa J’s family as well as the NLMG family
· There are 3 other weekly Bible studies this autumn
· Our worship team has been joined by a young guitar/bass player from India – a real blessing
· The couple behind the development of Glory TV, the first Asian TV station on Sky, are regular attendees and we continue to have visitors each week who here about NLMG from the station
· Sunil Raheja has taken a sabbatical from leadership for one year – our prayer is that he will return next autumn to the session with one or two others
We continue to struggle through our sin as we seek to be the body of Christ in the Southall/Heston communities. Thank you for your prayers and concern – may God be glorified through it all.
We are currently preaching through the book of Mark one chapter at a time. Obviously this has been from the “10,000 foot level” so the challenge has been where to place the focus each week as we quickly work through the book. We started this series to coordinate with Christianity Explored, which we ran in September and October at the Asha Charity Shop. Each Wednesday evening, we have had a group of committed Christians, nominal Christians and those exploring the faith from a Muslim, Hindu and Sikh background meet for curry and then Bible study. After CE finished, the momentum of the group “forced” us to continue so Bob Heppe has led a study from Philippians using Discipleship Explored as a guide.
On Halloween evening, we hosted an “Autumn Mela” at the church building we rent. With games for the kids and lots of sweets, this has become an annual favorite for about 250 children and parents in our community. Included in the goody bag, was a leaflet explaining Jesus’ power over the forces of darkness – a real concern of people in our neighborhood. We see this as one of the steps in our outreach to the South Asian community in which results may come years down the line.
Several other items:
· We hosted a “Walk through the Bible” seminary with about 30 in attendance
· Our oldest member, a Sikh man who came to Christ in his 80’s, is in the hospital and ready to meet Jesus – this will be an emotional time for Papa J’s family as well as the NLMG family
· There are 3 other weekly Bible studies this autumn
· Our worship team has been joined by a young guitar/bass player from India – a real blessing
· The couple behind the development of Glory TV, the first Asian TV station on Sky, are regular attendees and we continue to have visitors each week who here about NLMG from the station
· Sunil Raheja has taken a sabbatical from leadership for one year – our prayer is that he will return next autumn to the session with one or two others
We continue to struggle through our sin as we seek to be the body of Christ in the Southall/Heston communities. Thank you for your prayers and concern – may God be glorified through it all.
Sunday 7 December 2008
Early morning prayer
Early morning prayer meeting will meet this Tuesday from 6.30 - 8. Come for as long or short time as you can.
Iain at the Free Church
Iain was preaching at London City Presbyterian Church today, they put their sermons online (which I'm not a great fan of) but you can listen to Iain's sermons here. I'm sure they were good.
Presbytery Dates for 2009
Saturday 7 March - at Ealing IPC, joint with EPCEW
Synod Friday 5 June- at Ealing IPC
Saturday 6 June - at Ealing IPC
Friday 4 Sept- at New Life Masih Ghar, Southall
Friday 4/ Saturday 5 Dec - at Belgium
Synod Friday 5 June- at Ealing IPC
Saturday 6 June - at Ealing IPC
Friday 4 Sept- at New Life Masih Ghar, Southall
Friday 4/ Saturday 5 Dec - at Belgium
Camden Town Report
The brief summary of our morale would be that we are both full of hope and very conscious of our need of grace. In the last few weeks, we have outgrown our sitting-room, so that the church all but demanded that we find somewhere else to meet; we have met in two public venues; I am about to start meeting weekly with a non-Christian who is very involved in what we are doing; and even this week several more people have expressed an interest in joining us.
Sundays
Our services are settling into a pattern. People still enjoy brunch at 10.30, and the formal meeting starts at 11am. We are working hard at the preaching and the rest of the service, and Bruce Benedict has been invaluable in bringing his theological acumen, his musical gifts, and his experience in this area to bear. He has a great gift for helping people to understand the ways in which different parts of the service function for us as a group before God. We have also started celebrating the Lord's supper fortnightly, taking the opportunity to explain one aspect of it each time. It has been a great blessing to me to share it with this group of people who have committed themselves so strongly to what we are doing. We currently number around sixteen regulars. A non-Christian friend felt that five or so more people would mean that she could come without feeling exposed, and we are praying that we will soon reach a stage where we feel comfortable enough with our meetings to advertise them publicly.
Other Meetings
The men meet early every Tuesday morning for a time of teaching and prayer. I am keen that it should be seen as integral to male leadership in the church that the men are first committed to praying for the church. The great encouragement here has been to see how quickly the prayers have developed from being personal requests to being focused on our involvement with Camden. The prayer for these men is that out of them will come a group of godly servant leaders. Meanwhile, the women are meeting on a Thursday evening to study the Bible, pray, and enjoy
fellowship. Inevitably, time feels short to fulfil all of these goals and the reality is that different aspects get more attention on different weeks. They are also in the process of working out how best to use the Bible-study part of the evening. We have a number of people meeting one on one, with Christians that we hope to see become leaders, with young Christians, and with one non-believer. This is, perhaps, the unseen heart of the work.
Outreach
The men head weekly to a couple of pubs in Camden, where we are becoming part of the local scene and getting to know people. While fruit from this process is inevitably slow, it sets an agenda for the church that we are here for the people of Camden who would never set foot in a church, and members of the church are starting to develop other avenues to meet people.
Our hope is always that a group of Christians will be with a group of non-Christians, so that the
Christians have support and so that the pressure is not always on one individual to be the inviter, the witness, the apologist, and so on. I was very encouraged on fireworks night that one of our number got a group of us to climb Primrose Hill to meet a group of non-Christian friends. (One of these has since joined us at church on a Sunday.) All of our outreach feels at the very embryonic stage, though it is exciting to see how committed to it people are.
Finances
As things stand, we estimate that we have £18,000 left to raise for the year, out of a budget of over £110,000. To meet that, we have a number of applications that are in process. My hope is that we will not need to touch the ambassador fund in order to meet our commitments, which would enable all of the ambassador fund to go towards projects that are just starting up. Of the applications that we have in process, a number could cover the shortfall individually. Please pray both for the shortfall and also that money that has been promised will not be delayed in coming in.
Tirgiu Jui Report
Dear Elders
We praise God for His faithfulness and grace toward us. He is not changing even the circumstances of our life and ministry change.
We continue to meet in our house on Sunday for worship, prayer and fellowship. We are 8 people that come regularly. We meet with the men for prayer 2 times a week.
Offering an English class is one of the ways we try to develop new relationships, and this is a very encouraging ministry for our group.
Also we are volunteering for Campus Crusade trying to reach the Students from our city, over 5000 students. We distributed a Christian magazine for students and we are in contact with a few new students.
We have the blessing of having a missionary family that works with MTW in Romania, ministering with us, Kim and Carol Watne. They moved in Targu Jiu 3 weeks ago. We meet every day and we study a book of Piper, What to do when we don't desire God – How to fight for joy. Our goal is to restore our spiritual life and grow in our faith and love for our Lord.
I assist one of the men from our group, Samuel, who is studying different Bible courses, searching in prayer God's will for a call to ministry. He's desire is to be a pastor.
Another very encouraging thing for our ministry is that we are in the process of receiving a land donation, and more help to develop a ministry center. We are working on the plans for a multifunctional building to be uses for meetings, café house type ministry and for a day care center for the children in that neighborhood of Targu Jiu. Also the complex will have a sport base and land for growing vegetables. This is developed in partnership with a wonderful Christian family from England, Dave and Chris Townsend, and with the help of a charity mission, "Project Rachel" started in England.
Our relationship as Romanian IPC pastors id developing very well. We had good meetings face to face or via Skipe communicating on different aspects of our ministry. One of our important goals is to see a Romanian Presbytery developed in the next years.
We are also working on developing the partnership with MTW Romania. Our relationship is developing well, and we had the chance to meet and communicate, learning how to grow in love and unity, with the goal of working together in developing a church planting movement in Romania.
Some of our prayer needs are:
- That God's grace will be abundant as we are searching spiritual revitalization for our lives.
- Power, wisdom and courage to keep sharing the Gospel through which God can change our nation.
- Direction regarding finances in the context of the world wide economic crises.
We praise God for all His work in our lives and others, and we give Him all the glory. Thank you for your prayers and support.
We praise God for His faithfulness and grace toward us. He is not changing even the circumstances of our life and ministry change.
We continue to meet in our house on Sunday for worship, prayer and fellowship. We are 8 people that come regularly. We meet with the men for prayer 2 times a week.
Offering an English class is one of the ways we try to develop new relationships, and this is a very encouraging ministry for our group.
Also we are volunteering for Campus Crusade trying to reach the Students from our city, over 5000 students. We distributed a Christian magazine for students and we are in contact with a few new students.
We have the blessing of having a missionary family that works with MTW in Romania, ministering with us, Kim and Carol Watne. They moved in Targu Jiu 3 weeks ago. We meet every day and we study a book of Piper, What to do when we don't desire God – How to fight for joy. Our goal is to restore our spiritual life and grow in our faith and love for our Lord.
I assist one of the men from our group, Samuel, who is studying different Bible courses, searching in prayer God's will for a call to ministry. He's desire is to be a pastor.
Another very encouraging thing for our ministry is that we are in the process of receiving a land donation, and more help to develop a ministry center. We are working on the plans for a multifunctional building to be uses for meetings, café house type ministry and for a day care center for the children in that neighborhood of Targu Jiu. Also the complex will have a sport base and land for growing vegetables. This is developed in partnership with a wonderful Christian family from England, Dave and Chris Townsend, and with the help of a charity mission, "Project Rachel" started in England.
Our relationship as Romanian IPC pastors id developing very well. We had good meetings face to face or via Skipe communicating on different aspects of our ministry. One of our important goals is to see a Romanian Presbytery developed in the next years.
We are also working on developing the partnership with MTW Romania. Our relationship is developing well, and we had the chance to meet and communicate, learning how to grow in love and unity, with the goal of working together in developing a church planting movement in Romania.
Some of our prayer needs are:
- That God's grace will be abundant as we are searching spiritual revitalization for our lives.
- Power, wisdom and courage to keep sharing the Gospel through which God can change our nation.
- Direction regarding finances in the context of the world wide economic crises.
We praise God for all His work in our lives and others, and we give Him all the glory. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Timisoara Report
We would like to briefly give you an update concerning the Lord’s ministry in Timisoara, Romania. We are so grateful to God for His faithfulness and abundant grace in sustaining the church plant ministry here and for all those of you who have faithfully prayed for us!
After almost six years of church plant laboring we are still praying and continuing to prepare in great expectancy to become a local church. For this purpose we keep preaching the Gospel first to ourselves and then to our community.
- We continue to have our weekly meeting for Bible study and prayer with our team members – at present our material for Bible study is Gospel Transformation.
- In the process of leadership training we are going to complete the study of the foundational doctrines based on A Faith to Live By [Temelia credintei] by Donald MacLeod. The biblical formation of future elders is quite challenging for us and we need to be faithful and patient, waiting for God’s timing.
- The weekly ladies’ Bible study and prayer time is going well and we are so grateful to see their growth in faith.
We have already started to plan and prepare for the Christmas event and would like to approach it as a great evangelistic opportunity for our community, being able to share the Good News of Christ’salvation with our friends and neighbors.
Prayer requests:
1) Please pray for us as a church plant team to be faithful and Christ-minded in our relationships and ministry approach.
2) Please continue to pray for our potential elders (Gabi, Adi and Marius) that they may become Spirit-convicted and empowered in regard to God’s ministry calling in their lives.
3) Please pray for Silvia Ficiu (one of our sisters in the Lord) who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She needs our prayer and encouragement support. May the Lord be glorified in the midst of her suffering and use it to have a Kingdom impact for her family and others.
4) Please pray for our national election on the 30th of November. May the Lord raise new political leaders in our parliament, men who are God-fearing, just, and trustworthy.
5) Please pray for the Christmas time to be a great spiritual refreshing time for our church and a grand Gospel proclamation occasion.
6) Please pray for our kids who are now at school and they have made new friends. May the Lord use them as little missionaries and Christ witnesses in the midst of their school context. Also the Lord may grant us the opportunity that through them we would be able to build relationships with the parents of their friends.
Again our gratitude in the Lord for your partnership in the Gospel with us through your prayers. May the Lord receive all glory and praise!
After almost six years of church plant laboring we are still praying and continuing to prepare in great expectancy to become a local church. For this purpose we keep preaching the Gospel first to ourselves and then to our community.
- We continue to have our weekly meeting for Bible study and prayer with our team members – at present our material for Bible study is Gospel Transformation.
- In the process of leadership training we are going to complete the study of the foundational doctrines based on A Faith to Live By [Temelia credintei] by Donald MacLeod. The biblical formation of future elders is quite challenging for us and we need to be faithful and patient, waiting for God’s timing.
- The weekly ladies’ Bible study and prayer time is going well and we are so grateful to see their growth in faith.
We have already started to plan and prepare for the Christmas event and would like to approach it as a great evangelistic opportunity for our community, being able to share the Good News of Christ’salvation with our friends and neighbors.
Prayer requests:
1) Please pray for us as a church plant team to be faithful and Christ-minded in our relationships and ministry approach.
2) Please continue to pray for our potential elders (Gabi, Adi and Marius) that they may become Spirit-convicted and empowered in regard to God’s ministry calling in their lives.
3) Please pray for Silvia Ficiu (one of our sisters in the Lord) who was diagnosed with breast cancer. She needs our prayer and encouragement support. May the Lord be glorified in the midst of her suffering and use it to have a Kingdom impact for her family and others.
4) Please pray for our national election on the 30th of November. May the Lord raise new political leaders in our parliament, men who are God-fearing, just, and trustworthy.
5) Please pray for the Christmas time to be a great spiritual refreshing time for our church and a grand Gospel proclamation occasion.
6) Please pray for our kids who are now at school and they have made new friends. May the Lord use them as little missionaries and Christ witnesses in the midst of their school context. Also the Lord may grant us the opportunity that through them we would be able to build relationships with the parents of their friends.
Again our gratitude in the Lord for your partnership in the Gospel with us through your prayers. May the Lord receive all glory and praise!
Verona Report
This last quarter has seen a lot of changes for us here in Verona. You will remember that Gilda pulled out of Bible studies and left us searching for a new location for Bible studies. We have rented a room above a bar for a small fee and have been meeting there for the past few months. Attendance is sporadic with a few non-believers attending. We have a few new people coming, a woman Virginia and a young lady, Rebeca.
The reason Gilda cancelled Bible studies at her house has to do with the tensions between her and her daughter Maria. An unfortunate outcome of these tensions is that I have lost contact with some of the non-believers who attended the study at Gilda’s house. Please pray that I will be able to make contact with these people again. And pray that Gilda and Maria would forgive each other and build a new relationship together.
We are beginning to build more relationships with the people who live around us, something which is not easy in the Veneto area. People here tend to be quite suspicious of outsiders, especially if they are not RC. Last year Jessica was the class rep for Emeline and so a lot of the mothers have had interaction with her. There are some tensions in Emi’s class as two of the teachers have trouble keeping the class in line without yelling. Even though she is not the class rep this year, a lot of the mothers have been calling her asking what they should do in this situation. Jessica has been helping them deal with the conflict, has gone to speak to the teacher, and done a lot of listening. Please pray that the Lord will use these occasions to speak peace and bring the gospel to bear on the situation.
I have volunteered to be a parents’ rep in Nico’s school. Already this has given us the chance to interact with several of the parents in the area. Ana has started kindergarten, and this has also put us in contact with more people. Jessica is getting to know more of the mothers. Just last week one of them stopped her and asked what I did for a job. This led to a conversation about the differences between Protestants and Catholics, i.e. a discussion about Christ.
I have also had some good witnessing opportunities. Just the week before last, two different people asked me how I became “religious” and if I always felt about God the way I do now. One of the people who asked was Emanuele’s brother Alessandro. Alessandro has come off and on to our Bible studies. Pray that he will come to faith. Pray also for Emanuele’s father, Efisio. Efisio has a lot of Bible knowledge and has done Bible studies with just about every group you can imagine. Most of the other people with whom he has studied have given him the boot when he asked too many questions. We have a good relationship of mutual respect. When Efisio first came to our Bible studies he was indoctrinated with the doctrine of the JWs. He quickly accepted the truth of Christ’s deity. Since then he has struggled to see the personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit. Friday, 21st November I stopped by to see Emanuele and they asked me to stay for dinner. Afterwards Efisio and I had a long conversation about the Holy Spirit and other biblical topics. Emanuele also contributed. Efisio has heard the gospel several times and in several ways. At least part of it he believes, but I cannot tell if he has true faith. Please pray for him, that he would become a follower of Christ. The other person who asked about my faith was the owner of the vegetable shop in town. He has continued to ask more questions and repeatedly stated that he will come to services once we start.
Speaking of services, we have found a worship location. They have told us that we can begin renting from 1st January. It is not cheap, €900 per month. Please pray that we will get the money for this. Someone has given us the funds to fix the place up and the first few months of rent, but we need to find the funds for rental after that.
At this stage we really need some people who will come to bible studies regularly. Attendance with most is sporadic. We could also use a few mature Christians who would join with us in planting a church in Verona. Please pray that others will catch a vision for this work.
The reason Gilda cancelled Bible studies at her house has to do with the tensions between her and her daughter Maria. An unfortunate outcome of these tensions is that I have lost contact with some of the non-believers who attended the study at Gilda’s house. Please pray that I will be able to make contact with these people again. And pray that Gilda and Maria would forgive each other and build a new relationship together.
We are beginning to build more relationships with the people who live around us, something which is not easy in the Veneto area. People here tend to be quite suspicious of outsiders, especially if they are not RC. Last year Jessica was the class rep for Emeline and so a lot of the mothers have had interaction with her. There are some tensions in Emi’s class as two of the teachers have trouble keeping the class in line without yelling. Even though she is not the class rep this year, a lot of the mothers have been calling her asking what they should do in this situation. Jessica has been helping them deal with the conflict, has gone to speak to the teacher, and done a lot of listening. Please pray that the Lord will use these occasions to speak peace and bring the gospel to bear on the situation.
I have volunteered to be a parents’ rep in Nico’s school. Already this has given us the chance to interact with several of the parents in the area. Ana has started kindergarten, and this has also put us in contact with more people. Jessica is getting to know more of the mothers. Just last week one of them stopped her and asked what I did for a job. This led to a conversation about the differences between Protestants and Catholics, i.e. a discussion about Christ.
I have also had some good witnessing opportunities. Just the week before last, two different people asked me how I became “religious” and if I always felt about God the way I do now. One of the people who asked was Emanuele’s brother Alessandro. Alessandro has come off and on to our Bible studies. Pray that he will come to faith. Pray also for Emanuele’s father, Efisio. Efisio has a lot of Bible knowledge and has done Bible studies with just about every group you can imagine. Most of the other people with whom he has studied have given him the boot when he asked too many questions. We have a good relationship of mutual respect. When Efisio first came to our Bible studies he was indoctrinated with the doctrine of the JWs. He quickly accepted the truth of Christ’s deity. Since then he has struggled to see the personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit. Friday, 21st November I stopped by to see Emanuele and they asked me to stay for dinner. Afterwards Efisio and I had a long conversation about the Holy Spirit and other biblical topics. Emanuele also contributed. Efisio has heard the gospel several times and in several ways. At least part of it he believes, but I cannot tell if he has true faith. Please pray for him, that he would become a follower of Christ. The other person who asked about my faith was the owner of the vegetable shop in town. He has continued to ask more questions and repeatedly stated that he will come to services once we start.
Speaking of services, we have found a worship location. They have told us that we can begin renting from 1st January. It is not cheap, €900 per month. Please pray that we will get the money for this. Someone has given us the funds to fix the place up and the first few months of rent, but we need to find the funds for rental after that.
At this stage we really need some people who will come to bible studies regularly. Attendance with most is sporadic. We could also use a few mature Christians who would join with us in planting a church in Verona. Please pray that others will catch a vision for this work.
Grace Fellowship, Culcheth report
Grace Fellowship is relatively settled following the departure of Alan Waldecker. We have managed to fill the holes in our preaching rota and other areas in which Alan was helping. We are grateful for the time Alan spent with us. It was a great blessing.
The church continues to thrive. Recently, we have had three new families join us. This is a great encouragement to us. We have recently started one-on-one mentoring with almost everyone in the congregation. The purpose is to move people along in their spiritual growth so that in a year’s time they can become mentors to others. Our mid-week group that is studying the book of Romans has expanded considerably with about 16 to 20 people attending regularly. We have restarted our monthly congregational prayer time that lapsed over the summer. The attendance is much better than in the past. Two potential leaders in Grace Fellowship have been identified and we are in the process of deciding the best course of action for training.
We are preparing for our Christmas activities which this year will include a Christmas concert and a special carol service.
Work continues at the River. We are presently running a course developed by Drew “A reason for God” based on a book of the same name by Tim Keller. This is intended for non-Christians. It is a forum that is held in a pub in the town centre where anyone can attend to discuss interesting questions like “Creation and evolution”, “Why does a loving God permit suffering or hell” etc. We are also running another course called “Release- freedom from addiction”. We took the 12 step AA and NA courses and modified them to be more gospel focussed. This work is led by Neil Roddy (a Grace Fellowship church member and a part time employee for the River) who was a drug addict and now a great Christian and who knows and experienced the power of the gospel. Both courses are well attended.
We are encouraged by God’s faithfulness and His blessings both at the River and at Grace Fellowship.
The church continues to thrive. Recently, we have had three new families join us. This is a great encouragement to us. We have recently started one-on-one mentoring with almost everyone in the congregation. The purpose is to move people along in their spiritual growth so that in a year’s time they can become mentors to others. Our mid-week group that is studying the book of Romans has expanded considerably with about 16 to 20 people attending regularly. We have restarted our monthly congregational prayer time that lapsed over the summer. The attendance is much better than in the past. Two potential leaders in Grace Fellowship have been identified and we are in the process of deciding the best course of action for training.
We are preparing for our Christmas activities which this year will include a Christmas concert and a special carol service.
Work continues at the River. We are presently running a course developed by Drew “A reason for God” based on a book of the same name by Tim Keller. This is intended for non-Christians. It is a forum that is held in a pub in the town centre where anyone can attend to discuss interesting questions like “Creation and evolution”, “Why does a loving God permit suffering or hell” etc. We are also running another course called “Release- freedom from addiction”. We took the 12 step AA and NA courses and modified them to be more gospel focussed. This work is led by Neil Roddy (a Grace Fellowship church member and a part time employee for the River) who was a drug addict and now a great Christian and who knows and experienced the power of the gospel. Both courses are well attended.
We are encouraged by God’s faithfulness and His blessings both at the River and at Grace Fellowship.
Church Report from Ghent
Thank you for all your prayers. The church keep going growing with your prayer and by our Lord's blessing. Now we are more organizes and have an average attendance of about 50 people. Our Lord Jesus Christ has provided lots of things to us in very short time.
We have started an other membership class last month in preperation for our baptismal service on December 5th. We have 14-16 peoples who ready for baptism and 3 persons ready for deacon ordinations.
We have done our first wedding of our church this month.
We have very good musicians and worship group.
We have started children ministry for our kids.
Now we are praying for organize to our youths.
We are planning to do something special for christmas services.
5th of December we will do baptism and deacon ordination services together. İt will be big worship services . Ipc presbytery will be in Belgium. We are inviting all other churches in Belgium and abroad for worshiping together on that day. You can join us with your praying or personally.
By the way my family is growing. As you know we have an 18 years old daughter. After she was born we wanted some more children but God didn't give us all these years. Two years ago we lost a baby very early in Nahide's pregnancy. We kept praying asking God to bless us with another child. And now Nahide is three months pregnant and everything looks very good. The due date is around the 23-25 of May 2009. We really thankful to our Lord for this wonderful present to us.
Please pray for;
5th December Baptism and ordination services.
Christmas services preparations.
Our youth group organizations.
Nahide and baby's health.
We have started an other membership class last month in preperation for our baptismal service on December 5th. We have 14-16 peoples who ready for baptism and 3 persons ready for deacon ordinations.
We have done our first wedding of our church this month.
We have very good musicians and worship group.
We have started children ministry for our kids.
Now we are praying for organize to our youths.
We are planning to do something special for christmas services.
5th of December we will do baptism and deacon ordination services together. İt will be big worship services . Ipc presbytery will be in Belgium. We are inviting all other churches in Belgium and abroad for worshiping together on that day. You can join us with your praying or personally.
By the way my family is growing. As you know we have an 18 years old daughter. After she was born we wanted some more children but God didn't give us all these years. Two years ago we lost a baby very early in Nahide's pregnancy. We kept praying asking God to bless us with another child. And now Nahide is three months pregnant and everything looks very good. The due date is around the 23-25 of May 2009. We really thankful to our Lord for this wonderful present to us.
Please pray for;
5th December Baptism and ordination services.
Christmas services preparations.
Our youth group organizations.
Nahide and baby's health.
Liss Report
I thought I'd post a few reports from Presbytery yesterday, hopefully there's nothing confidential in them.
These past 3 months have been a time of transition for us as a church, a time of restoration and regrouping. We have seen God's steadying hand in our midst and we feel blessed and encouraged. I feel that I have been able to settle into my position as pastor and as a session we are working well together. I have inherited a solid and sea worthy vessel that has weathered well the rough water of this past year. While I wouldn't say that it has been exactly smooth sailing I believe that we have been able to hold to our course and have kept the faith.
Of particular note; the pilgrimage toward the restoration of St Peter's has passed a significant point of no return. With an 80%+ congregational vote in favour we purchased the building in early November with the help of an 11th hour gift which came almost straight from heaven. Last Sunday we held our first service as owner/stewards. My installation/induction service in the morning and our Advent Carol Service in the afternoon saw our beautiful set of bells ring out over the village for the first time in years. We want to be a church that is 'Helping to bring the sacred back in to the heart of our village'. We now begin the task of raising the money needed to restore and repair the main building as well as the construction of the Annex.
In our Sunday service I have been working through a series on 1 Timothy and we have been blessed by a number of guest preachers. Paul Miners has proved a solid support in this time of transition and we want to thank him and the presbytery for his wise and steadying hand. On most fronts it has been 'steady as it goes' as I have sought to understand and appreciate the strengths and weakness of this congregation and likewise they have gotten to know me. We had a wonderful group of youngsters confirmed and Mark Harvey's Sunday School class has been a highlight. We also had two of our young people baptised, which was a great encouragement to us all. Much to be thankful for.
Matters of concern and ongoing prayer are first and foremost Mark's return to full health. His initial surgery went well and he has radio therapy scheduled for January. We also have a number of folk who have lost their jobs and are in times of transition. A couple of families have left the church and we may have dropped below a critical mass when it comes to young families. This is an area that we are going to need to focus on in the New Year. We are in the process of appointing more deacons and I would love to see some younger men on the session. We need to see more people equipped and enabled to step up into leadership. Too few are carrying too much. There has been some progress made in reconnecting with our sister churches, Trinity and Hope, but there is still much to be done.
God's goodness shines out and his faithfulness gives us hope. Blessings on you
These past 3 months have been a time of transition for us as a church, a time of restoration and regrouping. We have seen God's steadying hand in our midst and we feel blessed and encouraged. I feel that I have been able to settle into my position as pastor and as a session we are working well together. I have inherited a solid and sea worthy vessel that has weathered well the rough water of this past year. While I wouldn't say that it has been exactly smooth sailing I believe that we have been able to hold to our course and have kept the faith.
Of particular note; the pilgrimage toward the restoration of St Peter's has passed a significant point of no return. With an 80%+ congregational vote in favour we purchased the building in early November with the help of an 11th hour gift which came almost straight from heaven. Last Sunday we held our first service as owner/stewards. My installation/induction service in the morning and our Advent Carol Service in the afternoon saw our beautiful set of bells ring out over the village for the first time in years. We want to be a church that is 'Helping to bring the sacred back in to the heart of our village'. We now begin the task of raising the money needed to restore and repair the main building as well as the construction of the Annex.
In our Sunday service I have been working through a series on 1 Timothy and we have been blessed by a number of guest preachers. Paul Miners has proved a solid support in this time of transition and we want to thank him and the presbytery for his wise and steadying hand. On most fronts it has been 'steady as it goes' as I have sought to understand and appreciate the strengths and weakness of this congregation and likewise they have gotten to know me. We had a wonderful group of youngsters confirmed and Mark Harvey's Sunday School class has been a highlight. We also had two of our young people baptised, which was a great encouragement to us all. Much to be thankful for.
Matters of concern and ongoing prayer are first and foremost Mark's return to full health. His initial surgery went well and he has radio therapy scheduled for January. We also have a number of folk who have lost their jobs and are in times of transition. A couple of families have left the church and we may have dropped below a critical mass when it comes to young families. This is an area that we are going to need to focus on in the New Year. We are in the process of appointing more deacons and I would love to see some younger men on the session. We need to see more people equipped and enabled to step up into leadership. Too few are carrying too much. There has been some progress made in reconnecting with our sister churches, Trinity and Hope, but there is still much to be done.
God's goodness shines out and his faithfulness gives us hope. Blessings on you
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)