Unity, Prayer & Mission

As we draw near to the end of our ‘Week of Prayer for Christian Unity’ it’s worth reminding ourselves that our ‘togetherness’ and the prayer that fuels it, isn’t just something that we pay lip service to in a programmed week of the year. The three components of the heading – unity, prayer and mission – are inextricably
connected. This is no better exemplified than by Jesus’ own prayer that his followers would be completely in step with one another so that the world would recognise that God sent Him for their sake:

“I am not just praying for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who have faith because of what
my followers will say about me. I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.” (John 17: 20-21)

Our Churches Together Service at Emmanuel on Saturday starts at 10am, with a focus on prayer – which seems to fit quite well with some things we’ve been talking about recently…

The Pursuit of God

If you don’t like being challenged then don’t pick up Tozer’s book, ‘The Pursuit
of God’ – the title of our current teaching series. He wasn’t one to mince his
words, but written in the late 1940s, many parts have a surprisingly
contemporary ring:

“We have been trying to apply
machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our
short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy
by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story
told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar. The tragic results of
this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the
preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of
men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships,
salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the
Spirit: these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and
serious malady of the soul.”

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Remembrance Sunday

Some things stand the test of time for good reason and ‘The Fallen’ is one such example’:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

They mingle not with laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

Date for the Diary

On Sunday 24 November, we will be meeting in the Assembly Rooms for our 10am service. We will use the time for a couple of things:

 i)          Showcase our fresh Team structure and the leaders of those teams. We will provide the specifics of each team’s remit and the different ways people can be involved in them.

 ii)        Introduce the church to our new communication tool – Church Suite. We will walk everyone through the basic use of it and explain how we hope to develop it in the future

Our Teams are intended to be a significant way in which you can be involved in our mission as a church, so we hope that you can make the date and discover some new ways to join in.

When did You first Hear?

I honestly don’t remember the first time I heard “the Gospel”, one day it just clicked.

 I’m sure the foundations set by years of church kids clubs, prayer and then the work of the Holy Spirit is what set my heart alight.

And, just like in the beginning, God is still speaking light into the darkest places. This Thursday is Light the Night, one of our most visible expressions of displaying the light of Jesus to our community.

So on Thursday wake up in the morning and pray for Light The Night, have a coffee, and pray again, invite friends to come, pray, tun up to participate, pray, cook the sausages, pray, sweep up the glitter and you guessed it... pray again.

Kids events aren’t just fun and sparkles… they are the foundations being laid, through service, prayer and the presence of the Holy Spirit to speak true “light” into the hearts of those yet to find it.