Grace Baptist Assembly 2025 Final Part

So the rest of day two was filled with our usual business meeting, agreeing to meet again here, May19-21, 2026 then a break and a UK news session chaired by Colin Grimwood (work in Chelmsley Wood, Chorlton, Bethersden, Wensleydale, Ferris Lindsay teaching English, etc). Engouragements and difficulties abound. Mick Lockwood preached again in the evening, this time mainly on Revelation 21 but with a lot of Luke 24. So a good day - not just from the platform but chatting away with various people I know and didn't know. There have also been prayer meetings Wednesday and Thursday mornings (Noel Ramsey and Derek Meade leading).

I slept well and woke early as we hade to clear our rooms before ten and I was due to speak in the first session of Thursday morning. I had been asked to do something historical and chose to look at John Fawcett. I made ten points fom the material

Ten Lessons for small churches from the life of John Fawcett (1740-1817)

1. Never forget the importance of love

2. Sometimes a small church may find it difficult to pay its pastor

3. Small churches should not be surprised if other churches invite their pastors to step up into a wider sphere

4. Small churches, like large ones, must be led by and be made up of converted people

5. If even small churches produce men of the calibre of a Sutcliff they greatly serve the wider church

6. Interconnectedness. How ever it is done, it can be a great blessing, especially to a small church, to be connected with like minded churches, large or small

7. Even small churches can be involved, with other churches, in the wider work of mission

8. Remember, small churches can grow into big ones

9. Sometimes ministers even in small churches can exercise a wider ministry through print or judicious use of audio and video online

10. Sometimes it is right to hang on in there, even though thin
gs may look very discouraging

(If you are interested in John Fawcett I have begun a new blog on him here

Also my talk is here).

Today is my birthday. I am 66. Dennis Gamston tipped them off and they sang happy birthday to me, which happened once before.

Our final session was a preaching service. Chola Mukanga from Bexley Heath preached from Haggai 2. He reminded us that God is with us as his people, he is with us in his work and he is with us for his glory.

Great God of Wonders 1

Yesterday, I travelled up once again to the conference centre in Northampton, this time for the biennial theological study conference organised by Affinity. Unusuay we began with a sermon and it was my privilege to preach it. I made the simple point that knowing God and knowing about God are two different things and it is important at a conference like this, on the doctrine of God, that we meet with God not simply stuff our heads with knowledge. My text was Isaiah 6 and I think I made my point.

We had our first paper later. This was presented by Mostyn Roberts and was on The personhood and power of God. The way it works at the TSC is that the papers are all written up and distributed beforehand. Mostyn then presented his paper to us in plenary session before we split into a number of smaller groups to discuss questions. I led one group and we had a good session before a final plenary session.

After tea we had a nice quiz and then chatted away until quite late. Good start.

Carey 2025

The Carey Conference 2023 will be on January 7-9. There is a new venue - King's Park, Northampton. Speakers include Brooks Buser from America and Austin Walker.

Carey Conference 2025

A new venue has been amounced for the next Carey Conference. This time it will not be in Swanwick but in King’s Park Conference Centre, Northampton. No reason is given for the move but Carey has often been quite peripatetic and I have attended conferences in Liverpool, Ripon and Swanwick. Earlier conferences were in Cardiff and other places, I believe.

The dates for this coming conference are Tuesday 7th - Thursday 9th January 2025. The main speaker will be Brooks Buser, who served at one time church planting in Papua New Guinea among the Yembiyembi people. He is now President of Radius International, which trains cross-cultural workers for missionary service among unreached people groups.

Evangelical Library Lecture Samuel Davies Part 2

Last Monday I gave the second part of my zoom lectue on Samuel Davies and his trip to this country in 1754. Even though I was only trying to deal with half the trip, the part that took him outside London, it was still beyond me and we had to give a rather scrappy account of the East Anglian leg of the journey. Hopefully there was something there for the 20-30 who tuned in. It should be on our Evangelical Library YouTube channel soon and I will endeavour to publish much of the two lectures in In Writing. This extract covers part of his time in Northampton

On August 9 Davies rode to Northampton. Conscious that Doddridge had ministered here Davies felt the town now had a desolate and melancholy look. “The dear remembrance of him engaged my tender thoughts as I rode along, and threw me into pensive melancholy. How much has my mission suffered by his death! I think I never felt such friendly sensations towards an entire stranger.” He called on Doddridge's successor, Robert Gilbert (1708-1760) but found him in company. In conversing with Gilbert the next day, he found there was but little prospect of success for fundraisers in Northampton, the people being lately put to very great expense about their own affairs. He visited the illustrious James Hervey (1714-1758), rector at nearby Weston Favell, and spent most of the day in endearing conversation with him. He notes “I have observed that when I have contracted personal acquaintance with great authors, they have seldom answered the idea I had formed of them from their writings but Hervey greatly exceeded it. The spirit of devotion animates his conversation and the greatest modesty and delicacy of imagination adorns it. The Scriptures are his favourite topic and he charms one with his remarks upon their beauties. He also frequently throws out some pertinent quotation from the Latin and Greek classics, of which he is an excellent master. Blessed be God that there is such a man on this guilty globe.” On the Sunday, Davies preached in Doddridge's pulpit. “The sight of his monument with a very significant inscription, struck my mind with uncommon energy.” The congregation had decreased since Doddridge's death though Davies was not aware that Gilbert preached anything different. He drank tea with Doddridge's widow, “for whom I found a greater friendship than I could decently express.” He was prevailed upon to preach in the evening (Isaiah 66:2). Many gave him the warmest expression of their satisfaction and seemed quite revived. He spent the rest of the evening in conversation with Gilbert (“naturally grave and reserved”) and his assistant, William Warburton.

The next soom lecture will be Dr Densham on Calvin and worship on February 26

10 UK Products and the towns that traditionally manufactured them

1. Carpets - Kidderminster
2. Men's shoes and boots - Northampton
3. Hosiery - Hinckley and Loughborough
4. Lace - Nottingham
5. Hats - Luton
6. Pottery - Stoke
7. Brushes - Wymondham
8. Liquorice products - Pontefract
9. Mustard - Norwich
10. Ale - Burton on Trent