Pray as we look forward!
Hi Everyone,
One of the things I’ve done this week is to refresh myself about the book of Ezra as I preach through parts of it for the staff devotions in our schools. In chapter 3 the Israelite exiles returned to Jerusalem and laid a foundation for the new temple and they rejoiced as they sang a song. We’ve lost the tune but the words remain:
“The LORD is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” (Ezra 3:11)
The Israelites certainly had reason to sing and rejoice back in those days 2500 hundred years ago. However, I was also struck that we have much more reason to rejoice in today. Now that the Lord Jesus has come to us and we await his return we can see even more clearly that the LORD’s love for us does endure forever.
Whilst this is by far the greatest reason to rejoice, we also have reason to rejoice that God has given us the chance to meet again at church and to join in song again week by week. This is certainly something for us to praise God for.
Prayer
Now, speaking of prayer and praise, the main focus of my letter today is in regards to prayer.
Can I ask you to commit to praying for a number of things in the coming months?
Please pray:
– to give thanks to God that we can meet together and sing!- that we will increasingly see church life return to normal and that those who haven’t been able to return to church yet can soon join us
– for our care of those who are in high-risk COVID categories who are not able to enjoy in-person fellowship- to give thanks to God for the ‘Jesus Is’ night that went so well on Wednesday evening and for anyone who wants to know more about Jesus because of it
– for our link missionary family, the French’s in Spain, who I spoke with this week and who are continuing to push on with their MOCLAM work despite COVID restrictions in Spain
– for the new Wardens and Parish Council for wisdom as we plan for ministry into the future
– for generous hearts amongst us all as we plan financially for our ministries ahead and currently find ourselves behind budget for the year
– to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into our harvest fields here in the Campbelltown area and that as a church we would be ready to help see people saved and to grow up in their faith in Jesus
That’s plenty to start praying for!
Later this term we will set aside some specific time to pray together for these things and more but it would be wonderful if we would all commit to being individually prayerful as we look forward this year.
Visit the Veitch’s
Lastly, the time for the first phase of “Visit the Veitch’s” is coming to an end. There are still places for the 2nd of May (visit hub.campbelltown.church online or call our office to book) and there will be a general invite for a Wednesday lunch time meeting soon.
Thanks to everyone who has come along. It has been both encouraging and enlightening to meet with you over the past 3 months. We are looking forward to compiling all your feedback as we think about next steps for us to focus on as a church. We are also looking to now being able to invite people in smaller groups around to our place so as to get to know each other more personally!
See you Sunday – I’m looking forward to thinking through the 2nd commandment with you.
In Christ,
Jason
Senior Minister,
Campbelltown Anglican Churches