Monday Mail, 22nd April 2013

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Loving God | Loving Each Other | Loving our Community

Good Morning!


It's been a busy week!

At the AGM on Monday, we were thinking about the future direction of the church, and especially some aspects of what we might need to do to join in with God's mission of finding the people in our community who don't know him and bringing them in. The theme of discerning direction for the future is one we're going to be picking up at the PCC Away Day on Saturday – please do be praying for us.


It's also worth giving homegroups a mention, as we've been discussing them recently. We've agreed on a document (attached) which spells out what homegroups are for and what we do, and homegroups are starting to think about what it means for them to be God's people rooted in the local community where they meet. If you aren't part of a homegroup and would like to join one, please let me know by replying to this e-mail.


Another thing we're thinking about at the moment is whether it would be a good idea or not to swap our morning services round. What if we had a family-friendly service at 9:30 and a more traditional service at 11:15? I'd love to hear opinions on this, especially from those with young families – I'm aware there weren't many at the AGM, for obvious reasons!


Yesterday morning, we started a short series on Ps 42-46. We looked at the Psalmist in Ps 42-43, who seems to suffer from depression, and we looked at how he handled it. You can listen to the sermon here (well done to Richard & Chris for getting it up so quickly!)


Here's the paragraph I quoted from the wonderful Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The main trouble in this whole matter of depression is that we allow ourselves to talk to us, instead of talking to ourselves. Take the thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning, you haven't originated them, but they start talking to you and they bring back the problems of yesterday. Someone is talking to you. Who is talking to you? Yourself is talking to you. Now this man's treatment was this – instead of allowing himself to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. "Why are you cast down, O my soul?" he asks. His soul has been depressing him, crushing him, so he stands up and says, Soul, listen for a moment, I will speak to you.


And to finish, some of the Psalmist's prayer in Ps 43.

Send me your light and your faithful care,
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Saviour and my God.

God bless,

John

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