Things in England have been pretty good since my return from South Africa. I had a great guitar lesson with Dean on Sunday. He is really a good musician and improving greatly. I have high hopes for what God can do with his abilities. Please continue to pray with me for the growth and work that God is doing in Dean’s life. I had a great discipleship time with him last night as well. We talked about the significance of prayer, that prayer can be done at anytime and anywhere, and different models for prayer (STOP-Sorry, Thanks, Others, Please) etc. The change that Dean has undergone over the past few months has been incredible and I’m so excited to see how God continues to mold and shape him.
Sunday night I helped out with the evening communion service at St. Andrews in Blackley. One of the main targets of the service was to appeal more to the older youth of the church. 4 or 5 of them came to the service and really enjoyed it. It was very encouraging as it was a huge next step for them in their spiritual journeys. Please pray that they will continue to grow and stay plugged in to the church.
The next few days will be pretty busy for our team. On Thursday we’ll be helping out with a Maundy Thursday service at St. James. We will share a Last Supper style meal together, sing some songs, and continue to prepare our hearts for Good Friday and ultimately the celebration of Easter.
On Friday we will be helping out with several services and ministry opportunities. Some of our group will be doing street dramas and sharing the message of Good Friday and Easter. Others will be helping out with a Good Friday service on Friday afternoon, and still some of us will be helping out with a Good Friday service of sorts for youth Friday night. It will be a busy day so please be in prayer for us as we share God’s message of sacrifice, hope, and love.
And of course, everything comes together for the Easter celebrations on Sunday. I’ll be leading worship for the all age service at St. James. Dean is going to be playing with me on a few songs as well. He’s a bit nervous since more people tend to come out to church on Easter Sunday so please be in prayer not only for him but for all of the Easter services that we will be a part of.
In other news, about a year ago I began a read through the bible in a year plan. I’m happy to report that I have just four days left until completing it. This will be the third or fourth time I’ve read through the bible in its entirety. However, this time in particular, God has really taught me and challenged me a lot.
As Heather and I prepare for marriage, one of the books we are studying together is called “Sacred Marriage” by Gary Thomas. In my reading yesterday, I found this statement particularly challenging:
“That’s what’s so difficult about Jesus’ call to love others. On one level, it’s easy to love God, because God doesn’t smell. God doesn’t have bad breath. God doesn’t reward kindness with evil. God doesn’t make berating comments. Loving God is easy, in this sense. But Jesus really let us have it when he attached our love for God with our love for other people.” (Gary Thomas “Sacred Marriage” p 41-42)
Thomas challenges the reader that in the context of both marriage and life, as followers of Christ, when are we ever given the option not to love? With such a high call to love anyone whom we cross paths with “A man who says, ‘I’ve never loved you’ is a man who is saying essentially this: ‘I’ve never acted like a Christian.'” (Gary Thomas “Sacred Marriage” p 41) For other challenge words on love, see 1 John, specifically 4:7-21.
May we be blessed and be filled with love for others,
Chad
