Diana's Blurb
I do not know which came first, the church building or the large tree at the front. I only know that the tree was always very useful for gauging how far down the road I needed to drive but for reasons of his own Bob M disliked it and earlier in the year it was cut down to a stump. Since then various attempts have been made to hack it out, cuts made through the bark and poison injected but still, last Sunday, there were green shoots all round the bole. They are gone now, snapped off and thrown aside, but they were a sign that however beset and broken we are it is still possible to spring anew.
In last week’s service we sang a hymn that included the line “ponder anew, what the Almighty can do” and were played a song about new life chosen by someone soon to marry and start one of her own. The scripture read, was that which speaks of the potter throwing an imperfect pot then reshaping the same clay into something better and more functional (Jer.18:4). It seems we are constantly being given pointers to change and rebirth, all of which support Bob’s vision of the dry bones rising (Ez. 37:1-14) and the time when the Church grows so big the four walls in Seaforth Avenue can no longer contain it.
How are we to nurture and fertilize the new shoots that are springing up in NMEFC? I think we all know the answer to the fertilizer – it comes in the form of the Bible. We should be so thankful that God has given us this inspired book and the knowledge it contains. We need no other user guide or instruction sheet, no intercessor, no explanations and no interpretations. If we have any queries or doubts the answers are all there.
The most wonderful thing is the way the Bible verifies itself – everything cross-references, allusions to the past are explained and prophesies for the future fulfilled. A concordance can be useful but it is certainly not essential to Bible study – constant and thoughtful reading and re-reading bring the insight. (A spouse who knows all the references is also useful commodity, as both Bob M and I know!)
In the New Testament, Jesus is quoted more than once as saying “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt.11:15, Mark 4:9, 4:23, Luke 8:8, 14:35), thus He echoed the words of the prophets in the Old Testament (Deut. 29:4, Jer. 25:4, Ez. 12.2). This means we have a very clear instruction to listen to what is being said to us by the Lord and act only on His words. We are not expected to formulate our own plans and strategies; He will cause us to shoot anew when and where He wants.
To truly hear we need to pray together, to thank God for His infinite love and mercy and to make time to listen to what He has to say to us. We can and should pray alone but we also need times when we can tell each other what we are hearing and help each other understand what is being revealed. This is what makes us one body in Christ – parts of one vine (John 15:1-17). To nurture the burgeoning Church is up to us. We have to support each other with love and fellowship. All these things are achieved in varying degrees at our two evening meetings each week. Why not join us and see for yourself what happens?
