These are unusual, unexpected and unprecedented days for us. Today, we find ourselves adjusting to a new and very different ‘normal’. A time such as this reminds us of the benefits of being connected to one another – and of the blessing of being part of a purposeful network of people, all of whom are called to follow Jesus.
In these Home Mission Updates we usually focus on sharing how God in the west of England is using both our existing, established and our new pioneering expressions of church. Today it seems appropriate however, to use this time to focus on a further way in which your Home Mission giving and praying is used to bless others. Namely, in helping the regional team and staff to resource and enable brothers and sisters in our Baptist churches to engage in the mission of God for the glory of God. In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray ‘your kingdom come, your will be done’. For the regional team and staff at webnet, this is our daily prayer and the reason why we are here.
During this challenging time, we as regional ministers are seeking to be in regular contact with someone from each of our churches – listening to and seeking to respond to individual challenges being faced. We are seeking to resource our ministers and churches, enabling the sharing of best practice – as colleagues explore how to be creative, not only in terms of enabling ‘gatherings’ to take place, but exploring new and effective ways of discipling their people from a ‘distance’. As regional ministers, we are doing all we can to appropriately stand alongside brothers and sisters in this time of challenge and opportunity. When ‘the chips are down’ we’re in this together. Not just for ‘ourselves’, but importantly, also for the good of our neighbours to whom God calls us to (in safe ways) be salt, light, ambassadors of Christ and ministers of his reconciling love.
There’s much more I could write about what the regional team and staff at webnet do. But we’ll save that for another day… a different day. By God’s grace, this time will pass. We pray that when it does, we will have grown closer to Jesus and become more like him. We pray too, that we will have grown closer to our neighbours – and will have demonstrated Jesus love through our actions. And by God’s grace, maybe some of them will have become open to the reality of a loving God and experienced his transforming love and power. And who knows, when that time comes, maybe we’ll all do things in a slightly different way.
Thank you again for your prayers and for your giving to Home Mission. As we work our way through these uncertain days, ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2,3).
You can find out more about Home Mission by clicking on this link.