No.35 - Holding to the gospel

Keep holding firmly to Christ's resurrection and be saved.

Verse of the Week

'After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.'

1 Corinthians 15:6

After Christ rose from the dead he did not stay hidden. No, by God's grace he proved that he had risen from the dead. Praise the Lord we have such great evidence for Christ's resurrection. Isn't is incredible to think that the people who went to the Church in Corinth could have gone and spoken with one of the hundreds of people who had seen Jesus physically risen from the dead!

Father help us not to doubt Christ's resurrection. Keep us hold firmly to the gospel that we may not face the judgement our sins deserve but get to enjoy eternity in paradise with you.

Encouragements

I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to preach last Sunday at my church. By God's grace I feel I was able to speak clearly and passionately and I pray God will use it help the congregation. I found preaching 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 really helpful for reminding myself of the importance of holding firmly to the gospel specifically Christ's resurrection, and hopefully others will have felt the same.

The whole experience of preaching, though very challenging at times, has been such a joy. I feel that I have come to see more of the depth and beauty of God's word in ways I hadn't experienced before.

Earlier in the week I was able to run an evangelistic event where I spoke on Christ defeating death. It was wonderful to be able to convey just how amazing the news is that in Christ we can enjoy eternal life with God. We no longer need to fear death! Praise the Lord.

I was also very grateful for being able to make it to our mens prayer meeting. It was great to be reminded from the book of Daniel that God really is in control. And see that God can have mercy on even the most unlikely of people and then use them to declare his glory!

A Little Update

Here are a few of the things we've been up to and some of what we've got coming up. Praise the Lord for his kindness!

The Last Week

• Prepared for - Preaching (1 Corinthians 15:1-11), Evangelistic talk

• Wednesday - Cambridge bible training course

• Thursday - Life group bible study

• Friday - Led an evangelistic event and spoke on Christ defeating death

• Friday - Met up with a group to study the Westminster Confession of Faith

• Sunday - Preached on 1 Corinthians 15

The Next Few Weeks

• Mid-day bible study, Life group, Cambridge bible course, Christian book study group

• 10th-11th June - Attending a Presbyterian Christian Conference (Catalyst)

• 12th June - Leading sung worship at my Grandma's funeral

• 19th June - Meeting to study the Westminster Confession of Faith

• 1st July - Ministry Training day in London

• 13th July - Leading our Church meeting for the first time

Prayer Requests

I would appreciate your prayers that I would be able to support my family well this week as we have my grandma's funeral. I would love to grieve well, but also rejoice in the joy she now has in heaven with Christ.

I would also love prayer that we would be able to trust God's provision as we start to work through all the practicalities with moving to London to pursue ministry training next year.

Thank you so much for all your support.

Love and prayers,

Joshua & Luci.

P.S. - If you want to hear more about how I've been delighted by Christ over the last week, feel free to listen to the video below. I hope you may find it encouraging :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXtLbcNjlkM