"
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government
will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor "
( Isaiah 9:6 NIV )
We’ll be belting that one out no doubt at the tops of our
voices at our two open air Celebrates on 13th and 20th December along
with all the other old favourites. Thousands of others across the Towns
will join in variously over the Christmas period in these songs of praise
and worship but few ( relatively, and sadly! ) will truly behold him -
born the King of Israel, and how many will come and adore him? Well, there’s
still time to pray, to pray for your family, neighbours, work colleagues,
local schools, local businesses etc. - Ed Silvoso in his book "
That None Should Perish " wrote " prayer is the most tangible trace
of eternity in the human heart. Intercessory prayer on behalf of the felt
needs of the lost is the best way to open their eyes to the light of the
gospel. "
We all know that the " spiritual ground " here in
Medway is hard. At the recent united service marking the 6th month anniversary
of Priestfield 2000 we heard a message on " breaking the years
of fruitlessness " . Anyone identify with years of fruitlessness? Take
out the Medway merry-go-round of believers moving congregations ( for all
sorts of right and wrong reasons - we are not making any judgements here )
and we see little as evidence of a city coming back to God.
We looked at the situation in 2 Samuel 6, of David’s
desire to bring the blessing of God to the city and saw how doing this the
wrong way can bring terrible results. A lot of attempts have been made in
Medway down through the years and some here, have paid a high personal
price for their efforts. - think of how many believers you know who no
longer worship as part of your congregation or indeed who no longer
have anything to do with any congregation and the reasons most cite for
that ( how often we forget that when people become Christians it is God
who becomes their father - not the church! ).
We can not distance ourselves from the past in Medway. When
Jesus was baptised by John for the forgiveness of sins he identified with
the people and their past even though he was without sin. Will we come
before God and consider the history of our churches and of all that is
allowed to happen legally in our society where a Christian view is now
considered by many to be outdated and bigoted ( just wait for the havoc
the new EU laws are going to wreak on the church / biblical Christian
life in so called discrimination issues - and did anyone notice that
the homosexual age of consent was reduced by the government to 16 despite
all the opposition to it by representatives from most walks of society
( including the medical profession ) / religious backgrounds )? If ever
there was a time for more co-workers here it is now, and who knows,
through some of the present Ugandan / South American contacts are we
seeing the return of the sons and daughters of the faith referred to in
Isaiah 60:4?
So what thoughts / message do we have this Christmas? Ones
of thanksgiving for God’s mercy and the unchanging nature of His compassion
and character, of praise for His truly wonderful name and a hope that we will
continue to seek His face for the blessing to come to our city. It was not
easy for David in 2 Samuel 6 - people died, he was roundly mocked
(even humiliated some would say), others were cursed whilst others enjoyed
great blessings - but through repentance over mistakes, a refusal to abandon
the vision / hope / purpose given to him by God he got on with it. Six steps
at a time and then stopping to worship God - now how would we deal with such
slow progress?! And the end result in this chapter - the blessing of God in the
city and a return to fruitfulness.
A very unseasonal cocktail of pain, mistakes, suffering, death,
cursing, despair, hope, desire, worship, repentance etc is mixed in the passage
- but David would not rest until his city was blessed - will we rest before
Medway is blessed?
So, come [on] all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant " ..
God has not taken back a single word of the promises He has given us.
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A Message from December 2000