No.41 - By God's strength

Working by the power of the Lord for the glory of the Lord.

Verse of the Week

'Unless the Lord builds the house,

    the builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

    the guards stand watch in vain.'

Psalm 127:1

Without God, nothing we work at will be worth doing. It is only by God's grace that anything we are involved in bears fruit and has value. I think this psalm is specifically talking about when God's people were building the temple. And so I think it now applies to God's people building the church. This would mean it is only by God's grace and power at work in us that we can help people come to be saved.

People's salvation and continued sanctification don't depend on us but on God. We have the privilege of being God's instruments in saving and keeping people. But it is by God working through us that people are saved.

Therefore, we can take time to rest, trusting God will save those he wishes. We can work with passion based on the joy of being a part of God's mission, instead of being motivated by the crippling stress of feeling responsible for saving others.

Encouragements

I had the joy of starting to read Philippians 121 with a friend. What a joy to see the wonderful relationship Paul has with the Philippians! It was so encouraging to see the love and joy with which Paul writes. It was also great to see that God has given the Philippians, and so us, so much help in keeping going as Christians. He hasn't left us in the dark; he has provided wonderful guidance to help us persevere till the end.

We had a church Members' meal where we celebrated our 4th birthday as a church. It was a wonderful evening focused on the idea that 'everyone needs Jesus'. I found it a great encouragement, and am excited to put some of it into practice.

Praise the Lord, we are over halfway there with raising the money we need for my next year of ministry training. We are very grateful for all of you who have committed to support us.

At the end of the week, I travelled up to stay in Keswick for the bible convention. It has been such a joy to marvel at the beauty of God's creation. The views are stunning and a great reminder of the breadth of God's power and beauty. I am very grateful to be able to spend the next week resting, recovering and enjoying God's creation and his word.

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 grace!

The Last Week

Prepped for - Life group, midday bible study group, children's talk, 121, Members' Meal

• Monday - Children's ministry training evening

• Wednesday - Helped with our evangelistic Tots group

• Wednesday - GCU Members' meal - Led the music

• Thursday - Church planning meeting

• Thursday - Life group meeting

• Friday - Led a midday bible study group

• Friday - Started leading a 121 in Philippians

• Saturday - Keswick evening Celebration - Luke 5

• Sunday  - Keswick evening Celebration - Mathew 14

  
  

The Next Few Weeks

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

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

• 27th July - Starting a new 121

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

• 6th August - Leading 121 in Philippians

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

• 10th August - Leading a Church prayer meeting

• 22nd-25th August - Leading music on 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 rest well physically, mentally, and spiritually during my time at the Keswick convention. It would be wonderful to be able to go back into normal ministry work refreshed and excited to keep going.

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 :)