Midweek Meeting June 16 2021

 

Another good session last week with the good folk of Childs Hill. Lots to pray about. All on zoom as ever

Anecdote Noah's Ark

I was with my oldest son recently and he told me this story which I thought was interesting but am finding hard to draw a moral from. I have only been to Felixstowe once. It must have been some time in the nineties and I was there to preach at Bethesda Baptist Church. In the afternoon I went for a walk with a man whose name I do not recall. As we walked near the beach he picked up a brown pebble that had a grain and he told me that it was fossilised wood.

Well, I took the pebble home and showed it to my son and carefully explained how it had been formed (taking a creationist viewpoint). Anyway, he told me that in school the next day he showed it to his teacher and announced to her that it was an original part of Noah's ark! His teacher was very good about it and suggested that may be he had got something wrong, which he clearly had. Perhaps the moral is how easy it is to miscommunicate. I certainly managed to that time and put two people in a rather awkward situation.

Wales in the Last 16

Wales have been doing pretty well at the Euros with a draw and a win so far against Switzerland and Turkey. They play Italy tomorrow but I won't be watching. Thankfully the score is not so important. As I understand it, Wales are definitely through to the last 16 again and will probably face Russia or Finland. A win at that point and the quarter finals beckon once again but let's be patient and see what happens. It's been great to see so far though far from perfect. Bale and Ramsey have shone but goals have come from Moore, Roberts and Ramsey.

Catalyst Conference 2021

It was brilliant to be at a live conference this last week. Yes, we still had to wear masks and socially distance and there was no bookstall but there were live speakers and coffee and lollipops and people to talk to. Brilliant! I love being with Presbyterians as despite the few differences we pretty much agree and they have some excellent men who can be so helpful. One can feel an outsider a little but I am well used to that in all the circles I inhabit. The Catalyst conference is organised by IPC (International Presbyterian Church not to be confused with EPCUW or any other bunch) and was at their church in Ealing. Ealing is on our doorstop and my wife works in nearby Hanwell so I was able to get a lift in and out with a little walk between. Perfect. It was also a joy to be there with both my father-in-law and one of my sons. Three generations!

The conference was organised so that all three days replicated themselves which has advantages and disadvantages. The overall title was Apolgetics and there was plenty on that. Mostly I loved it but being out of practice I got rather tired. The heatwave added to that. Each day we began with James Torrans from Inverness gave us Bible readings from John 11, Mark 2, etc. He was followed by James Eglinton, seniot lecturer at Edinburgh University. He introduced us to Gisbertiurs Voetius, Herman Bavinck and J H Bavinck in order to explore our subject. The first paper on categorising sin was most interesting but all good and stimulating stuff.

After lunch Dan Strange, until recently at Oak Hill and now moving to the north east, is a good speaker for the graveyard slot and he kept us awake with his extrapolations from. J H Bavinck on magnetic points. Each day ended with wonderful expositions from Romans by Sinclair Ferguson. Good days.

The conference is planned for the same time next year. Meanwhile look out for this year's conference on video. See here.

Videos now available here 

Lord's Day at Hailsham June 13 2021

I had a call on Monday saying that they were looking forward to hearing me at Gordon Road, Hailsham. That took me slightly by surprise but thankfully it was Monday not Thursday. I struggled a little as our seminary student was already booked. Anyway, we then remembered that my son was due home and although he has only preached formally once before he is quite capable and so he preached on adoption from Romans 8. In the evening they piggy backed with Reuben Saywell down in Folkestone. There were some problems but I think we got there. meanwhile I had a very pleasant drive in the sunshine and enjoyed preaching on Hebrews 13:6 and on Hope, as featured recently. Numbers were down a little but it was good to see the generally more elderly congregations am and pm. I had a lovely afternoon with a couple from the church in between services in their lovely cottage. I somehow had us sing my evening hymns in the morning and vice versa but it didn't make too much difference. Lovely drive back too and home not long after 10 pm. I did preach on zoom for Gordon Road once but this was my first actual visit. immaculate building.

Midweek Meeting June 9 2021

 

On the Wednesday before last we went back to some unfinished business. I had begun to preach from 1 Timothy but had left the last two chapters untouched. So we went back to it and got on alright. Numbers are definitely down on what they were when the crisis began. There are still a good number, however, and it was good to tackle the topics in the first half of 1 Timothy 5 and to spend further time in prayer.

Day Off Week 23 2021

The main thing the Tuesday before last (8th) was trying to catch up on my Bible readings. I know they recommend leaving things if you get behind but I would like to catchup. There was also some TV.

Evangelical Library Annual Lecture 2021

Yesterday we had about sixty there for the Annual Lecture of the Evangelical Library. This is the second time we have had the annual lecture in this format and although there are some disadvantages there are also some advantages to this form.

This year is the five hundredth anniversary of Luther's famous appearance before the Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms. We were taken very ably through the events that led up to and followed the Diet by David McKay, Professor of Systematic Theology, etc at the Reformed Theological College in Belfast and pastor of Shaftesbury Square Reformed Presbyterian church in the city.

We had

1. The Road to Worms - the debates at Augsburg and Leipzig and Luther's writings in that period.

2. The Confrontation at Worms - burning the papal bull, heeding the summons, answering the charges,  affirming the truth of the authority of Scripture alone

3. The Aftermath - the Wartburg, further fruitful work and subsequent controversy

There was a brief time for questions then our time came to an end. A very good evening.

Lord's Day June 6 2021

So back in Childs Hill last Lord's Day. We began with just a small number at communion. It was one of those days that we sometimes get here, however, when by the time we finished, there were not only many visitors but they were from all sorts of places too. We had one lady, one man and a mother and daughter not normally there and about seven people who I had never met. These were from the Philippines, South Korea, Chile, South Africa, Portugal, Iran, Afghanistan and England. I do hope people return. I preached on a text, Hebrews 13:6, which I thought I was preaching on for the first time but  when I check I find that I preached it midweek at the very end of last year. The sermons are similar but quite distinct. In the evening we were just on Zoom and we went back to Joshua, to Joshua 19. Hard work but worth doing.

Midweek Meeting June 2 2021

For our Wednesday zoom we looked again at one of these psalms that have never preached or at least have no record of preaching and so cannot have touched in over twenty years of ever. This time it was the very simple Psalm 113. Praise the LORD for he is great and he is good. Numbers continue to be below par but still not bad (about 12) and we had a good time of prayer with many leading in prayer.

Lord's Day at Hilperton May 30 2021

It was good to be back at Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Hilperton in Wiltshire in person one again. The sermons can be found here. I preached on Hope and Love and hopefully made a better stab than in Childs Hill. I preached the sermon from 1 Corinthians 13 "backwards" which worked better. Eleri's sister Catrin is in the church and so we had a lovely time with them and with other family members too the next day as well. We were also able to visit our friends the Strivens in Bradford on Avon. Good times. Reuben Saywell was preaching here and they had a few visitors and a good day.

Lovely Nigerian Wedding

I seem to have got very far behind with things here but I am going to try to catch up. So back on May 27 we were in Hertfordshire for a wedding. Restricted to thirty as weddings are these days we were honoured to be invited. The pic shows the Bride and Groom with her parents. We have known the family for years and years. It was a lovely wedding in a very nice place. I was marrying them and also preached. Great to be involved.

Means of Transport Zipwire

ZipTheUsa, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>,
via Wikimedia Commons

 

Means of Transport Yacht

 

Thomas Nugent / Yacht off Inverkip
(https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1424171)

Midweek Meeting May 26 2021

I am slow again with this report on our midweek meeting. This is probably because a certain sameness has crept in and so there seems little to write. Sameness is not necessarily a bad thing. Familiarity can breed contempt - something to avoid. Once again, we were  a decent number and able to meet on Zoom though not in person. We looked at another psalm - Psalm 115. It was a privilege to be there.