No.47 - 4 Months of Grace

Looking back on God's kindness and a variety of ministry endeavours.

Verse Of The Term

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

2 Timothy 2:10

In our bible studies we've had the joy of getting to see how Paul equips Timothy to take on the task of guarding the gospel despite the extreme persecution. I think this verse sums up the incredible mindset that Paul wants to pass on.

As we seek to share God's word with the world, we are helping people obtain salvation and eternal glory, and so we can endure whatever struggles may come our way. What an incredible motivation to persevere with a life of ministry!

The last four months

There have been lots of exciting opportunities over the last four months, from; ministry training courses, to weekends at home, to mission weeks and much more. But most of all God has been very kind in sustaining us through it all and slowly helping us see more of his goodness and enjoy him more. See below for a break down of what we've been up to.

An average week

Here is roughly what an average week looks like

Sunday

• 9:30am Church

• 9:30am Church family social time

• 121 in John's gospel and Titus

• Admin

• 6pm Church

• Monthly 9:30 church family lunch

• Regularly lead and play in the 9:30 band

Monday

• Practical set-up for ministry events

• Associates group prep

• Ministry call with Drew

• 2 Timothy / Titus Bible study prep

• Monthly Church family prayer meeting

Tuesday

• Prayer meeting

• St H in-house training - Malachi / 1 Peter

• Lunch-time talk

• Team meetings

• Staff meetings

• 9:30 Leaders prayer meeting

Wednesday

• Cornhill Bible College

• Leader's bible study or babysitting

Thursday

• Prayer meeting

• Malachi / 1 Peter prep

• Cornhill prep

• Practical set-up for bible study

• 121 / Prayer for Bible study members

• Leading Bible study - 2 Timothy / Titus

Friday

• Prayer meeting

• Cornhill talk prep

• General ministry work and admin

• Monthly music ministry training

• Practical set-up for Church

Saturday

• Rest

Extras for January - April

January

• Gave a talk at Cornhill bible college on 1 Samuel 1:1 - 2:11

• Lead prayers in church

• Started Church PA training

• Attended a 9:30 Church men's event

• Helped welcome a few new Christian into church / bible study

• Hosted lunch for some of our church family for the first time

• Met to encourage someone considering future ministry training

• Started assisting with leading a Ministry training Course

February

• 9:30 Weekend at home - on prayer

• 9:30 Church Q&A

• Helped Run St Andrew's University Mission Week Scotland

• Two Day holiday in Market Harborough

• Church family prayer meeting - Running projection

• Gave a talk at Cornhill bible college on Psalm 123

March

• Attended our bible study leaders weekend away

• Helped run our next two ministry training sessions

• Church Family lunch

• Attended a 321 course evening at Grace Church Upton

• Gave a talk on Malachi 1:1-5

• Played the drums at church for the first time

April

• 2 day holiday in the Peak district with Luci

• Rested with family over Easter

• Started bible studies in Titus

• Lead the music at Vijay's thanksgiving (my grandad's funeral)

• Gave a talk at a spring evangelistic garden party

• Attended whole church APCM meeting

• Gave a talk on Isaiah 50-51:8 at Cornhill

• Started reading through Genesis with Luci most evenings

Give thanks for

New Christians

Praise the Lord we have seen a large number of new people join our 9:30 church family. It has been particularly encouraging to see a number of new people starting to get more involved bible studies and church life. Praise the Lord for how he is using the 9:30 to welcome and encourage other with in the gospel.

Ministry Training Course

It has been such a joy to get to help start a new ministry training course for members of the 9:30 congregation. By God's grace we have people coming along, and it's already been wonderful to get to see the progress many are making in learning to read the bible and share it for themselves.

Weekend at home

At the start of February we had a 9:30 Weekend at home with talks looking at the theme of prayer. It was such a great opportunity to have longer conversations and get to know each other better. One big highlight was getting to spend more time with our bible study group. We really feel like we are starting to develop good relationships and be able to support each other more and more.

Mission week

Straight after the weekend at home I left for Scotland to help run a Mission week at St Andrew's University. It was amazing to get to share the gospel with students that didn't know Jesus. It was great to see Christians at the university grow in boldness to invite their friends to look into Christianity. But most of all it was so encouraging to get to spend some good time getting to know and build up some of the key members of the Christian Union. It's exciting to think about all the great things God has lined up for them!

Cornhill

I had the privilege of giving three talks at cornhill bible college since January, which have been very helpful in growing me as a preacher. I was especially grateful to get to speak at on Psalm 123. It was a joy to learn about how God encourages us to turn to him when everything feels too much. And it was also an encouragement to see the progress God has enabled me to make, both in my clarity and confidence when speaking.

Vijay's passing

Though many will mourn the passing of Vijay Menon, my grandad, we are so grateful for the knowledge that he is with Christ in heaven. God was so very kind in taking him quietly and peacefully and it was such a joy to see how God kept Vijay trusting in him till the end. We were able to give him a very joyful send off, and it was great to be able to share the love Vijay had for Jesus with some of his non Christian neighbours and carers.

General life

Finally God has been kind in helping Luci and myself start to get into some good habits over the last few weeks. We have been enjoying getting to spend a bit more time learning how to work well as a team and be a good support to each other.

Future training

I am delighted to say I have been accepted onto the 2nd year of the St Helen's Associate scheme. I am very much looking forward to getting to continue serving the 9:30 and being trained in God's word.

Pray for

Balancing study, ministry, family and rest

I would love prayer for wisdom as I try to balance the amount of time I spend on studying God's word myself vs helping others to understand it vs time with family and resting. I would particularly love to grow in my ability to trust God and be content with serving him in whatever ways I am able each day.

Marriage

By God's grace Luci and I are going to be able to spend a bit more time together over the next few months. We would love your prayers as we think about how to best set ourselves up now to serve the church together more long term.

Next year

Please pray that we would trust in God's sovereignty as we start to sort out the practicalities of staying in London for another year of ministry training. Please pray we would be able to raise the needed funding and resources. If you feel it would be wise, and have the desire to support us financially it would be lovely to hear from you. We will be sending out some more information soon. However as always the best way you can bless us is through your prayers.

Knowing you have been thinking and praying for us over the last few months has been a wonderful encouragement. We are so very grateful.

As always please feel free to let us know how we can be praying for you. May God bless you and keep you till Christ returns in glory!

Love and prayers in Christ.

God bless,

Joshua & Luci.

P.S. - If you want to hear more about how I've been delighted by Christ over the last few weeks, feel free to check out my podcast on Youtube or Spotify.

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/@helpmedelight

Or you can watch an episode below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCS7Tsz2GyA