I shared a message of encouragement for the congregation from Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. We made it our prayer for Egan Road: 1) to Know Christ by faith and Grown in Him by the Spirit; 2) to experience and express His love fully; and 3) the blessing to dream.
The real encouragement is within that 3rd element in the wonderful blessing of imagination—and that the Lord must be a bigger dreamer than we are—He doesn’t want any to perish, but all to come to life through His Son. It’s okay to dream, to hope for bigger and greater things, and to set our hearts and efforts to prepare the soil, plant the seeds, and providing the necessary water and Son necessary for growth—and in time, as we are faithful in His faithfulness, we will see a harvest (Galatians 6:9).
Sister Linda prepared a wonderful roast lamb and plum tart pudding (dessert) that filled us after a wonderful morning—a brief afternoon rest for most of us, but Cheryl and Linda took the boys to a local fair where they could see some local farm animals.
Sunday evening, 4 other congregations came to worship together at Egan Road--4 other congregations from across the Wirral area. 2 were different Baptist churches, 1 was a Chinese church (including Missionaries Daniel & Hannah Ng), and a 4th congregation. now, you'd expect quite a crowd for 5 churches meeting in one place--and they thought it was a lot of people and good to get that many together, even better than expected. i estimate about 65 were in attendance. it was just another indicator of how church attendance is declining in the UK.
Daniel Ng attended Emmanuel Bible College in the area with Pastor John years ago--though he previously pastored a Chinese church in Liverpool, he now spends his time in UK raising funds and awareness for continued trips into mainland China to encourage and share with the underground church. he is able to do this as a Hong Kong native, and as a marriage counselor--he shared with me that divorce and separation rates are extremely high and of great concern to Communist China, so he has access through his workshops. the information and inspiration he shared with us all in about 30 minutes was great--i'm going to be looking into more of what he shared, and be sure to share with others what the Lord is doing in China.
i spoke a message on Ascension to Revelation--reading from Acts 1 and Revelation 7, i shared the realization that the promise of the Holy Spirit was given to 1 small group of 1 small, insignificant nation--a group that most likely only spoke 1 language and had never likely been out of their own country. yet, from these who received and obeyed, the Gospel has extended into nearly every nation, tribe, and tongue. i also shared the application that it's our turn to come together for mission and to continue that work. i concluded with my own motivation, to be a disciple who comes back full of joy, and in turn fills Jesus with Joy (as the 72 did in Luke 10).
the message was well received, as was the singing and the fellowship afterwards. we all talked with more of our new English friends who said they loved our accents!
through this day, talks between Zach and John continued--continuing from conversations we've had over the years and through the convention, and through the week together. talks that i cannot rightly share here--that's Zach's story to Tell.
but let's just say this: the Lord is working in our continuing partnership--and we've much great work to do together for the Lord!
off to the airport -- pray for our safe return -- more updates and concluding thoughts to follow!
No comments:
Post a Comment