A Thought for September
From the Rev. Bobby Liddle.
Dear Friends,
God is building His Kingdom, a Kingdom in which God comes first. A Kingdom of grace and service. A Kingdom filled with the light of God and a Kingdom radiating the light of God to a dark world. As part of His Church and Kingdom we are called to put God first and as His servants to humbly be His witnesses, carrying the message of His Kingdom and saving love to the nations. God’s mission is our mission. That’s exciting and energizing and should shake us from any complacency or lethargy.
As years go by we recognise the constant need to see young people come to faith in Jesus and grow into strong, committed, mature disciples, who will take up and carry on the work of the Kingdom. One of the most important tasks for any local congregation is Building leaders for tomorrow. Paul writing to his young prodigy Timothy gives some great insights into this most important work.
The great Apostle had a strong sense of his own position and authority but he didn’t lord it over the church. In fact, he saw himself as working in partnership with all believers in the churches. We too share and work together in partnership in the gospel. The work of the kingdom and the gospel is a family task, the task of the family of God. This sharing and family partnership comes out strongly in his intimate letter to the Philippian church.
As we approach another Autumn we will be looking at some of these powerful themes to enflame our hearts and expand our minds. The Kingdom will be the focus of our morning services as we wind up our summer studies in Matthew and then move on to look at God’s Mission – Our Mission. These are both significant as we plan and prepare to send another team to Burkina Faso this autumn. Our Home Groups and Thursday Morning Fellowship will study our family partnership in the Gospel through studying Philippians and our evening services will look at 2 Timothy with reference to Building leaders for tomorrow.
Therefore, how important that we are present at the prayer evenings on the 13th & 14th of September to pray that the Lord will take His Word and by His Holy Spirit apply it to our hearts that we may be – refreshed, revived, reformed, renewed and re-invigorated for building His Kingdom.
Yours in His name,
Bobby Liddle
