This week I don’t have a particular point to get across – I am more in a reflective mood!!
When we came to CBBC almost 4 years ago we were very aware that the church was taking a chance on Julie and myself. We weren’t Baptists, we were a couple and wanted to job-share and worst of all we were Poms!!
The connection came because the all the things God had been talking to us about somehow fitted with all the things He had been talking to you and the church leadership about.
Since that time – Julie and I are now proper Baptists (LOL) and have completed our training to be ordained shortly and the church has changed too. Many of you have spoken to us at how you are growing spiritually (we have too). As a church, there is more prayer, there is more connection with worship on a Sunday – certainly we are connecting more with the community we serve. Also there are things that maybe aren’t so noticeable but are important none-the-less – we have introduced a ‘key-leadership’ team where all the department heads get together and seek God, plan and dream, we have overhauled the website and bolstered many of our policies such as ‘child protection’.
Shortly we hope to have a new leadership structure in conjunction with changing the rules of association, we also hope to develop the building in the next season to reflect our heart for the community.
Obviously it is very different but as I reflected on this I couldn’t help but draw some comparisons to our current study on the book of Acts, where we have seen the growth in leadership, the changes from old systems to new, the prayer, the worship etc. However Acts is peppered with miracles and amazing works of the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to deny the work of the Holy Spirit in all we have seen here at CBBC, however equally I can’t help but wonder if there is more that we can believe for. If Luke was writing about us, would he place the same emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit or would the Spirit be a side note as he made his observations.
That thought fills me with dread – If all that we seek to see and do is without the Holy Spirit then the only alternative is that we are doing it all in our own strength and it would all be for nothing – my only response is please Come afresh Holy Spirit, I hope that is your prayer too!