Notes of Meeting 19th May 2024
This was an “open” meeting, so these are only brief notes, together with the important Prayer Requests.
Opening Song: 1203 Come, let us worship the King of kings
Today is Pentecost Sunday, when we celebrate the birthday of the universal church, as God sent his Holy Spirit upon the apostles, just 10 days after Jesus’ ascension into heaven.
Reading: Acts 2: 1 – 11 – the coming of the Holy Spirit
Song: 40 Be still, for the presence of the Lord the Holy One is here
A recent leaflet from Barnabas gave us some insight into the scope of their food.gives programme, which supports the needs of believers in Ukraine and elsewhere. In one week before Christmas, the store at Swindon received a total of 360 boxes from donors around the UK. Recent shipments have been made also to Christians in Fiji, Zimbabwe and Jordan. We continue to support this work by sending them our boxes with whole-meal flour, rice, salt, and lentils.
Song: 14 All things bright and beautiful
Jacqueline Brewell was unable to join with us this week, so she kindly sent us a note following the recent holiday which she and Steve had in India. This is what she wrote:
Life has been extremely hectic of late, even more so than usual! But, in the mayhem and madness of life at 100 miles per hour, Steve and I were lucky enough to be able to visit India for a holiday recently. Normally, to book a holiday, we get onto the Tui website and go from there! We have done other things, but Steve, in particular, is rather cautious, so we have tended to play it safe when organising our trips.
We did not ‘play it safe’ in India! We went for the full-on ‘independent traveller’ experience – and it was quite extraordinary!
But it made me think about the tough job God has on His hands.
India is a melting pot of many faiths – Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, plus many others. In Delhi and Agra, there were temples and places of worship on almost every street corner, or so it seemed, but we saw very few churches – I counted 2. Now, I am SURE there are more than that, but the point here is that their presence in amongst all the other faiths felt minute.
I felt the burning of the question, ‘What can I do to help this situation?’
I love to hear Ken and Chistine talk about their work in Japan, and I love to hear about the work Tessa’s family are doing in Spain, but I don’t feel called to pack my bags and head off, so what can I do? What can we all do?
The answer, of course, is hidden in plain sight in Ken’s message from last week – prayer! But we really MUST. And not put it off! Delhi alone has a population of almost 34 million – and not many churches – and loads of other spiritual ‘distractions’, so I just wanted to share the burden I felt at that time, and hope that you can find a moment to pray for change and spiritual progress in these places.
Of course, it’s not just India – there is so much of the world that is still to hear God’s word. I think that’s quite hard to imagine sometimes, from the comfort of our western lifestyles and lovely church. But, goodness, it was brought home to me, big time!
Later in the trip, we moved onto Goa, towards the south of the country. Historically, this area was occupied by the Portuguese, so there is a significant Catholic presence – and quite a few more churches!
It was the very end of the season in Goa; too hot for most tourists – only the mad English were out there during the day! But in the evenings, the beach came alive with both locals and delegates from the frightfully posh hotel up the road.
Pale skin and blond hair are very rarely seen where we were (as I said, we were off the beaten track), so we got used to families posing with us for selfies, with some of them even video-calling their families to show them these bizarre beings on the beach! It was a taste, I suppose, of what celebrities get all the time, but it was all in great humour, so we posed, smiled, etc. for them all!
One evening, 3 gentlemen were on these such video calls to their families showing them our ‘white-ness’ and we heard the lady on the phone shouting ‘Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!’ so that made me sit up!
It turned out that these 3 men were evangelical pastors, on a conference for a few days. They told us about their churches, showed us pictures and described their work with outlying tribes, who have never been exposed to The Word. They were an absolute inspiration! I told them about Wonderful Lee Street and they asked if we could pray for them and their churches; they said they will pray for us. I have no names, locations, anything – but if you could remember them in prayer, then I KNOW God will know who they are.
It'll be another month or so before I can join live again – life really is crazy at the moment – but I will take this opportunity to thank you all for your love and fellowship. God bless.
Jacqueline
Chris C shared some thoughts and a poem, including about “wits end corner”. She also shared this prayer from a Japanese friend:
When I feel weak, please be my strength;
When I am weary, be my rest.
When I am anxious, be my peace;
When I am sad, be my joy.
When I am lonely, be my companion,
When I am gripped by doubt, give me faith.
When I miss my family, sit with me
When I am in pain, be my healer
When I am impatient, give me patience
When I’m confused, still me.
Song: 89 Faithful One so unchanging
Song: 593 What a friend we have in Jesus
To conclude our service, we read without comment the remainder of the Acts ch. 2 account (verses 14 – 39) of Peter’s sermon to the crowds in Jerusalem on that eventful day.
Song: 362 Shine Jesus shine
Notices
- Speaker next Sunday is Mark Gooding
- Advance notice for Sunday July 7th – our “bring your own lunch” day for a picnic after the morning service.