No.40 - The LORD is my Shepherd

Rejoicing in the Psalms and the Lord our shepherd.

Verse of the Week

^'Sing to the Lord, all the earth;

    proclaim his salvation day after day.

 Declare his glory among the nations,

    his marvellous deeds among all peoples.'

1 Chronicles 16:23-24

What a great God we have! There are countless reasons to praise his name, the God of our salvation. Lord, let your goodness and mercy, the mighty works you have done, and the great deeds of your hands be ever in our minds. Let the praise of your glory never leave our lips. Oh Lord, that all peoples would see and marvel at your splendour!

Encouragements

I had the joy of preparing to lead church this week. I found it really encouraging to be able to spend time thinking about how to help my church family be encouraged, strengthened, and built up by God's word as we meet together. Praise the Lord, our meeting went well.

I spent a few hours this week talking through the topics of perseverance and assurance from the Westminster Confession of Faith. It was wonderful to be reminded that God is working in and through us to increase our assurance of the work of grace he has done in our hearts.

Psalm 23 has been a great encouragement this week, as I have meditated on how God will always look after his people, ahead of the children's talk I gave this Sunday. I have been very grateful to get to share how we don't need to be afraid, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Christ the Lord is our Shepherd and we lack no good thing!

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

Prepped for - Life group, midday bible study group, leading church, book group, children's talk

• Monday - Church Admin

• Wednesday - Helped with our evangelistic Tots group

• Thursday - Church planning meeting

• Thursday - Attended a Christian book study group - the Westminster Confession

• Thursday - Life group meeting

• Friday - Led a midday bible study group

• Sunday - Gave a children's talk on Psalm 23

• Sunday - Led our Church meeting for the first time

  
  

The Next Few Weeks

Mid-day bible study, Life group, Church planning meeting

• 14th July - Children's ministry training evening

• 16th July - Helping with our evangelistic Tots group

• 16th July - GCU Members' meal - Leading the music

• 19th-25th July - Attending Keswick Bible Conference

• 4th-8th August - Leading on Church holiday club

• 7th August - Giving a children's talk on Daniel

• 10th August - Leading a Church prayer meeting

• 22nd-25th August - Helping with our Church weekend at home

• 25th August - Moving to London

• 25th August - Ministry Associates welcome evening

• 26th August - 1st Day as a St Helen's Ministry Associate

Prayer Requests

I would love prayer that I could see the joy of serving God and the church over the next few weeks, and so work passionately for the Lord whilst also trusting God with my work and resting well.

Love and prayers to you all

God bless,

Joshua & Luci.

P.S. - I've recorded another Episode of Delighted By Christ. If you are feeling a bit too tired to listen to a Sermon or read a Christian book, but still want to be encouraged, my hope is that this could be a great way to help you keep delighting in Christ. So 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 :)