Hi,
Welcome to the magazine.
As usual there is a range of things to catch up on and items of general interest. Heather has sent in a reminder of a 10 year anniversary which you can read about below. And if you don't say 'I can't believe that's ten years ago' then there is something wrong with you.
This week is election week. I find it's difficult to really dislike people if I pray for them, so that's my challenge for the week - maybe yours too.
The Home Groups are on this week again - and in light of the election it's appropriate that we are looking at what the Christian's role is in the world.
Don't forget to book for services in May if you haven't done so already - details below.
Enjoy the Mag.
MB
10 years on...
27th April 2011 was a day of 10 hours of perfect sunshine according to my old diary, but that was not what made the day special. That Wednesday morning Sue Anderson (Session Clerk) and Robin Russell (Chairman of the Board) and I went to the airport to meet the Kirklands flying in from their previous home in the Bahamas.
Sue drove them to Scott’s parents’ home, and Robin and I took all the luggage to the Manse. In the preceding months many people had been involved in upgrading and furnishing the Manse, and it was now, we hoped, completely ready for its new family.
Only Scott had seen it very briefly the previous November — for Anita, Priscilla and Sarah it was completely new territory.
Sunday 1st. May was the last Sunday of Rev. John Martindale as our locum — a job he did so well. The Kirklands were at the service and seemed pleased with the Manse.
On Wednesday 4th. May Scott was inducted into his new charge at a busy service, and on Sunday 8th. May he was “preached in” by Rev. Ian Watson. That evening there was a huge turnout for a “ Meet the Kirklands” in the Maxwell Hall.
Sunday 15th. May , my diary reports “ Scott was preaching for the first time on his own as our new minister. He did well and will be quite challenging”.
Thus began Scott's ministry here — the past ten years have been a challenge and a blessing. We pray that God will grant many more healthy and fruitful years ahead.
It has been interesting looking back - hard to think ten years has passed! However we are a forward -looking congregation and trust God for His leading in the future.
Heather Russell.
Consider the...Sunflowers
Sunflowers turn according to the position of the sun. In other words, they “chase the light.” You might already know this, but there is another fact that you probably do not know!
Have you ever wondered what happens on cloudy and rainy days when the sun is completely covered by clouds.
This is an interesting question, isn’t it?
Perhaps you think the sunflower withers or turns its head towards the ground. Is this what crossed your mind?
Well, that’s incorrect!
This is what happens?
They turn towards each other to share their energy.
Nature’s perfection is amazing. Now let’s apply this reflection to our lives. Many people may become low-spirited, and the most vulnerable ones, sometimes, become depressed.
How about following the example of the beautiful sunflowers i.e."Supporting and empowering each other". Nature has so much to teach us.
We all look to God for our sustenance just as we see the sunflower looks to the sun.
At other times we look to one another to encourage, edify, build up and comfort each other.
Wishing everyone a "Sun flower" trait of turning towards each other on their cloudy and gloomy days.
(Thanks to Fiona W for sending this in - taken from the Dubai Gardners Facebook group)
With an election on our door step this article is timely...
Seek Your City’s Good
By John Piper
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. . . . But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:4–5, 7)
If that was true for God’s exiles in Babylon, it would seem to be even more true for Christian exiles in this very “Babylon-like” world. What, then, shall we do?
We should do the ordinary things that need to be done: build houses; live in them; plant gardens. This does not contaminate you if you do it all for the real King and not just for eye service as men-pleasers.
Seek the welfare of the place where God has sent you. Think of yourself as sent there by God for his glory. Because you are.
Pray to the Lord on behalf of your city. Ask for great and good things to happen for the city. Ask that they happen by God’s power and for his glory. Never lose sight of the ultimate good that the city needs a thousand times more than it needs material prosperity. Christians care about all suffering — especially eternal suffering. That’s the greatest danger every city faces.
But neither God nor his people are indifferent to the health and safety and prosperity and freedom of the city. We all want these things, and Jesus said,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). In fact, the Lord says in Jeremiah that loving your city is a way of loving yourself: “In its welfare you will find your welfare.”
This does not mean we give up our exile orientation. Peter says that Christians are
“sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) and Paul says
“our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). In fact, we will do most good for this world by keeping a steadfast freedom from its beguiling attractions. We will serve our city best by getting our values from
“the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). We will do our city most good by calling as many of its citizens as we can to be citizens of
“the Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:26).
So, let’s live — let’s do so much good (1 Peter 2:12) — that the natives will want to meet our King.
(This was from 'Solid Joys' -a daily email with a short article for encouragement each day. Subscribe for free here. There is the option to listen to it too.)
News from Kikuyu
Rebecca Dodds has sent another update of her time in Kenya - as ever it is quite an eye opener into how Kenyans deal with Covid and their current lockdown looks a lot different from ours. Keep Rebecca in prayer - as you can see from this photo there is much she is enjoying but still facing some remarkable things in the hospital. After the newsletter was sent out she told us that she had just seen a patient who had been knocked over by a motorbike because she was crossing the street when all of a sudden there were men with guns and she had just run into the road. Rebecca asked how she had managed to get to hospital. She said with all seriousness, 'A good Samaritan'!!
In the newsletter which you can read
here there is a parcel mentioned - here is what got her so excited.
Prayer Meeting Guilt
Clint Humfrey has a short but helpful article on the age old question of the Prayer Meeting - does it actually matter!? Here are some excerpts and the link of the whole article is below.
If you want to make Christians feel guilty talk to them about prayer. It doesn’t matter what kind of praying you bring up. Christians feel guilty when you bring up private praying, praying in a small group or the most guilt-inducing of all, the church prayer meeting.
The reason people feel guilty is that they know and you know that they don’t pray as often as they should, or even as often as they know they can.
If you want evidence of this, check out your church’s prayer meeting. When it comes to prayer meeting attendance, I’ve come to have my “10% expectation.” Basically, if 10% of the attendees at your church on Sunday show up to the mid-week prayer meeting, then that is to be expected.
Now your church may be much better than that but I know whether large or small, you just don’t get great attendance at the prayer meeting.
So people feel guilty because they don’t go, they feel guilty because they don’t want to go (if they’re honest), and they feel guilty because they haven’t done much to try to pursue a changed desire and a changed calendar.
In order to change both our stubborn wills and our inflexible (and idolatrous?) calendars, we need to see the cash value of the prayer meeting. Is it really more important than we think?
For Paul when he was in prison at Rome, writing to the church at Philippi in Greece, he said,
“for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance” (Phil 1:19). The prayers of other people were important.
The prayer meeting is important because Paul sees intercessory prayer as an essential tool designed by God for our benefit. With this tool, God brings believers home to heaven.
We can be pretty clueless about the supernatural capacities of God, the intercession of Christ, and the help of the Spirit. And we haven’t begun to see how he uses simple Christians and their prayerful love to accomplish his promises. Robert Murray M’Cheyne said:
If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million of enemies.
There’s no need to be ashamed or afraid. If you go to the next prayer meeting at your church, maybe it can be the start of a new discovery, namely God’s glorious supply of his Spirit in Christ.
The whole article can be read
here.
Look out for the Zoom link in your email inbox for this meeting.
St.Luke's, Hiranpur
As the news in India continues to be one of upset and confusion please keep the work at St.Luke's in your prayers. Last week Lis and Shubhro sent out a further update to ask for prayer, for those in St.Luke's, Hiranpur and the surrounding area.
Much of the concern centres around the precautions being taken seriously. Some of you will have heard of the tippy-tap, promoted by Tearfund to encourage hand washing with soap, but also to conserve water, while ensuring running water. Now that Munshi and John have made the tippy-tap for the campus, they are going to make more, and more importantly they are going to make them for their own villages, and the children will lead the way in teaching communities to wash hands regularly. There is a 'how to make a Tippy Tappy'
page on the website.
The other main concern is the confusion, lies and mistrust surrounding the vaccine programme in India.
You can access the latest prayer news from Spring 2021 AND the Covid update here.
Ladybird Book of Maxwell
Registering for Worship
Please continue to book for Sunday Services. (If services are oversubscribed, places will be allocated as fairly as possible on a rota basis, and you do not need to worry that you are taking a place away from someone else.)
The cut-off for registering for places on Eventbrite for Sunday worship each week is 11pm on the Thursday before
If there is space for you to attend in person, you will receive an email from Eventbrite on the Friday morning immediately prior to the Sunday (this is in addition to the original Eventbrite confirmation email that you have registered for places).
Please do not attend if you have not received this second email.
The services will continue to be live-streamed - click here for the church page on YouTube.
If you have any difficulties with the booking process or have any questions, please contact Lorna Hamilton on 07736 420564 or the Church office.