LEIGH BAPTIST CHURCH “MESSENGER” JULY 2021
VERNON ST / CHURCH ST . LEIGH. WN7 1BH
Website : www.leighbaptistchurch.org.uk Contact: admin@leighbaptistchurch.org.uk
Pastoral Leader – Val Hulme ( Days Off Wed and Fridays)
email : pastoral.leader@leighbaptistchurch.org.uk TEL 07817142192
Check LBC website for updates and info also LBC FACEBOOK page
Giving Thanks for God’s Witnesses.
How often do we count our blessings? How often do we give thanks to God and praise Him? Psalm 119: 64 says, “Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.”
As I look back on my life I give thanks in the way that the Lord has obviously led me and prepared me for certain types of service for Him, although I often fall short of what I think I ought to do. When I was young I had two distinct examples of visiting people at a difficult time for them. One was when my mother took me to visit neighbours whose house had been struck by lightning during a really bad thunderstorm. The other was when I went with my Auntie to visit a neighbour whose father had died. Perhaps those early memories encouraged me to do the same sort of thing.
The disciples had a greater example to follow, namely Jesus himself, having spent three years with him, observing everything he did and listening to everything He said to the crowds, and to all that He taught them. With all this they still did not fully understand what He was trying to tell them until they saw Him again after He had risen after dying on the cross and being buried. They had all fled when Jesus was arrested and Peter had even denied ever having been with Him. But He had been preparing them for the time He would return to His Father in Heaven.
When the Disciples emerged from the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost, what a change had taken place in there lives after being anointed by the Holy Spirit. They had gone from being frightened men. There was a huge crowd of Jews gathered from many nations who witnessed what happened, each one hearing them speak in their native tongue. Peter even stood up and gave a powerful speech, telling them that all that had happened to Jesus had been foretold in the Scriptures, and urging them to repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus to have their sins forgiven, then they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. There were about 120 believers, but that day about 3,000 believed and were baptised. Let us praise God for the Holy Spirit’s power and for all those the Lord has called to serve him throughout the centuries.
When, after Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus Road, Saul’s life was turned around from persecuting the Christians to becoming a fervent disciple by the name of Paul, and an encourager to Christians in all the churches, he did not know how much he was to suffer as he preached about Jesus. He was falsely accused, persecuted and imprisoned, but he could still praise the Lord and remain strong in faith. We today can praise God that we can read his letters, with all their Christian teaching, in the New Testament of the Bible.
Throughout the centuries the Gospel has been spread by many different kinds of people. Many of the early saints spent their time in prayer and study, but also in going out into the wild, rugged areas to visit people in isolated farms and communities. I think of St Aidan and St Cuthbert in Northumbria and the Scottish Borders, who took food to the poor, ministered to their needs, and also read the Scriptures and preached to them I praise the Lord for those early missionaries whom God used to convert the people of North Eastern England to Christianity.
There have been many pioneers taking the Gospel to new areas. When I hear of the hardships, dangers and diseases that many of them suffered I only marvel at their endurance and complete faith and trust in God. American Baptist missionaries, Adoniram Judson and his first wife, Ann, sailed on a 4 month journey to India as soon as they were married. They were not at all welcome there and so eventually went on to Burma where they set up mission stations and began a translation of the Bible which took Adoniram twenty four years to complete. At the beginning Ann did the book of Job and opened a school for girls. She was often weak as a result of being ill with a number of fevers prevalent in that part of the world. When war broke out between the Burmese and the English, Adoniram was treated as being English and thrown into a filthy prison. Ann was detained in her own home. Somehow she managed to get food and clothing to her husband and the English who were prisoners with him. She never gave up pleading for him and providing for his needs even when he was moved to another prison and when he was ill. This saved his life. None of their three children lived beyond three years. Even in all this suffering they continued to serve the Lord and the people of Burma. Ann’s influence seems to have had an impact, leading to peace and Adoniram was asked to be the translator in the peace process. It was while he was away that Ann died of yet another fever. Adoniram lived to be about sixty two. He died in 1850 having spent about thirty eight years in Burma.
In each century there have been those who have given up home comforts to serve the Lord in a foreign land and there have been many who have suffered for their faith. Even in this century with all its modern comforts in many parts of the World, there are those pioneering the work of the Gospel and those who are being persecuted. Let us give thanks for them and let us not forget to pray regularly for them. Many say that the answers to the prayers of people at home make a big difference in all they do as they seek to spread the Good news of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. But don’t let us forget that all Christians can be used by God just where they are and in the churches they belong to, so let us give thanks for every opportunity that we have to witness, in whatever way we are able to, in our own area and let us pray for each other and count our blessings.
“Sing to the Lord, all the earth; --- praise His name; proclaim His salvation day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations, His marvellous deeds among all peoples.
For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.” Psalm 96: 1-4 (NIV)
Kathie.
All meetings and services are continuing online. The Leadership Team will continue to monitor the situation and any decision to re-open the building for worship/meetings will be taken in line with government guidelines, BU advice and local conditions. If you would like to join us for any meetings via Zoom, but do not receive an email with the link, please contact Val by email pastoral.leader@leighbaptistchurch.org.uk
As the weather appears to be improving, we could begin to meet in local parks, as we did in September. If you would like to be included in a group, and haven't already let me know, please contact me - either by email, or by phone or text, 07817142192 - and which park or parks would be most convenient for you. Apologies to those who will not be able to join in with these meetings due to distance from parks.
The date of the next Church and Congregation meeting, which we hope will be in person, is Tuesday 7th September
Sunday 4th July Church at Home with Val on our Facebook page and Youtube channel 3:15 pm
Saturday 10th July Coffee Morning Zoom 11:00 - 12:00
Sunday 18th July Church at Home with Val on our Facebook page and Youtube channel 3:15 pm
Tuesday 20th July Deacons' Meeting 7:30 pm on Zoom
Sunday 25th July Zoom Communion Service 3:00pm