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Field Notes of an Ordinary Pastor

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23 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE JOURNEY OUT OF LOCKDOWN WEBINAR

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Notes from an FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on The Journey out of Lockdown with John Stevens and a panel discussion with Spencer Shaw, Mark Lawrence, and Paul Gamston.

1. On the issue of churches reopening after lockdown different church leaders will come to different conclusions. We need to adopt a Christlike attitude in how we relate to one another.

2. Coming out of lockdown will be more difficult than going into lockdown.

3. A Christlike mindset is an others-centred mindset. Some churches will return to meeting quickly because members are feeling the loss of community. Other may delay because the members are afraid. A Christlike attitude in how we relate to one another will mean forgoing our rights for the sake of serving others like Philippians 2 tells us Christ Jesus did.

4. A big concern should be our witness to the watching world and the community we are in.

5. Government guidance update:
– Need to undertake a formal risk assessment to ensure the building is COVID-secure.
– No limits on numbers at services but for weddings the maximum attendance is 30.
– Strict adherence to social distancing is required (2m unless impossible).
– No congregational singing. A soloist is allowed if essential to the act of worship, but that is not generally the case in FIEC churches.
– Services should be as short as possible with the assumption that everyone leaves immediately the service is finished.
– Avoid baptism by immersion because of the quantity of water involved.
– For creche and Sunday School, guidance for schools and childcare settings needs to be adhered to.
– For Lord’s Supper – no common cup; no speaking directly over bread and wine.
– Advice is for congregation to bring their own books or if not to quarantine books for 48 hours.
– Avoid cash collections or single receptacle and quarantine.
– The Baptist Union has advice and risk assessment template that is helpful for FIEC churches.

6. Behind the guidance given by the government for places of worship is a) public health concern – rules applied are not intrinsically different to other sectors of the community and other service providers; b) places of worship are ‘particularly vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19’ based on evidence from UK and around the world; c) particular concern for over 70s and those shielding; d) track and trace to prevent localised spikes.

7. In the guidance given there is little in terms of mandatory legal requirements. There are mandatory legal requirements of risk assessment and for handling food (Lord’s Supper). Everything else is ‘advice’ or ‘strongly advised’ and put in language of ‘should do’ not ‘must do’. Government is trusting that churches act in a way that is wise and safe. But government does expect churches to fully implement all of the guidance meaning that advised or strongly advised is not optional or voluntary.

8. How will government guidance be enforced? I) Criminal or civil liability of trustees if they ignore the mandatory or strong advice; ii) It is a criminal offence to fail to manage health and safety ‘so far as is reasonably practical’; iii) Is it COVID-secure to defy government advice or strong advice? Iv) Risk of being uninsured if advice is ignored; v) Local authority enforcement action for breaches of health and safety and there will be spot checks.

9. FIEC’s position is that all churches ought to implement government advice.

10. The ban on singing might change in due course in light of subsequent evidence.

11. There is the possibility of restrictions being further loosened or tightened depending on what happens with the infection rate.

12. Just because churches are allowed to meet together from July 4 doesn’t mean they should.

13. Publish the risk assessment on the church website.

14. There will be a diversity of approaches to holding services. One church is running multiple services with those for adults and children over 11 only and those for families with children under 14 (children must remain with their parents). For another church, the first step might be to have the church as a ‘Zoom’ screen for their online service.

15. Adhering to 2m social distancing is crucial. Rows of chair 2m apart. One way system into building. If handwashing not easily possible, have antibacterial gel at entrance. After service, stagger leaving and encourage people to leave building and premises. Churches will need to decide how heavily this will need to be policed – by a steward, signage, or announcements to congregation.

16. Keep list of everyone who attends services for 21 days.

17. Varied picture on how soon those who rent premises will be able to meet. Demands made by owners of the building might be narrower and tighter than government requires.

18. General consensus is that running creche or Sunday School at the moment is too much. Have pods available for parents to take children to might be an option if space.

19. Over 70s are discouraged from coming to church at the moment by the government. We need to respect that. Yet we also want to treat them as adults by making this clear to them and then letting them take responsibility for the decision they make. Another reason why it is important to have in place proper social distancing rules.

20. People need to be told if they are on camera if live-streaming the service from the church.

21. Have members of the church who are ready to go home if guests turn up for the service so that you don’t need to turn them away.

22. Ensure the front row of the church is not too close to the lectern to reduce the danger cause by voice projection. Congregational corporate prayer poses a risk.

23. Likelihood is that guidance will be in place for as long as guidance is in place for pubs and restaurants.

SOME RESOURCES FOR READING EZRA-NEHEMIAH

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At Banstead Community Church we’re following a church-wide Bible Reading plan called The Big Read. (You can read about it here).

This month – July – we are reading through Ezra-Nehemiah together.

Here are some resources that might help you as you read this book:

Bible Reading Plan: Read a 1/2 chapters a day and you’ll get through the books twice in a month.  ESV Scripture Journal: Ezra; ESV Scripture Journal: Nehemiah.

Scripture Listening App: Dwell

Overviews: Ezra-Nehemiah Video; The Big Read – Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah; Kids Talk

Sermons: 14 part sermon series I preached on Nehemiah at Banstead Community Church

Bible Reading Notes: Family Worship Bible Guide; Ezra: The Lord helps; Nehemiah: The Holy City; Explore App

Commentaries: The New Matthew Henry Commentary; Exalting Jesus in Ezra and Nehemiah; Teaching Ezra

(Photo: Freely)

14 PART SERMON SERIES ON NEHEMIAH

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This month The Big Read at Banstead Community Church moves on to the book of Ezra-Nehemiah.

You can find some resources to help you read the book HERE.

A number of years ago I preached through Nehemiah in 14 sermons.  Below are the links to all the sermon audio and their outlines.

Nehemiah 1: We’ll be people who weep // We’ll be people who pray

Nehemiah 2: See what Jesus has done for you // Hear what Jesus calls you to do

Nehemiah 3: There is something for you to do // There is something you need to do

Nehemiah 4: Prayer is vital if we are to press on // Preaching is vital if we are to press on

Nehemiah 5: To overcome divisions we need to listen to Jesus // To overcome divisions we need to look to Jesus

Nehemiah 6:1-14: Don’t allow yourself to be distracted // Don’t allow yourself to be discredited

Nehemiah 6:15-7:3: Jesus will build His church // Jesus will protect His church

Nehemiah 7:4-73: Do you belong to God’s people? // Are you committed to God’s work?

Nehemiah 7:73-8:18: God’s Word must be heard // God’s Word must be understood // God’s Word must be obeyed

Nehemiah 9:1-37: God’s Word helps us to see our sin // God’s Word helps us to confess our sin

Nehemiah 9:38-10:39: Following Jesus is a personal commitment // Following Jesus is a public commitment // Following Jesus is a practical commitment

Nehemiah 11:1-12:26: A Holy Community // A Serving Community // An Ordered Community // A Worshipping Community // A Waiting Community

Nehemiah 12:27-47: We acknowledge what God has done by praising // We acknowledge what God has done by preparing

Nehemiah 13: Sin must continually be exposed // Sin must be continually expelled

(Photo: CBR1000)

87 TAKEAWAYS FROM ON BEING A PASTOR

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Notes and quotes from On Being a Pastor by Derek Prime & Alistair Begg.

1. “The pastor is called to preach the Word, to teach the truth to God’s people, to lead God’s people in worship, to tend the flock as a caring shepherd, and to mobilise the church for Christian witness and service, as well as administrative and leadership tasks.”

2. The call to ministry is that unmistakable conviction that a pastor possesses that God wants him to do this specific task.

3. Before an individual is called to ministry, they are called to fellowship with Jesus Christ, to holiness, and to service.

4. Those called to ministry will be keen to study the Scriptures, care for others, and teach and preach.

5. “No church is better able to confirm a call to the ministry than a man’s home church – it is the natural and appropriate proving ground.”

6. “The shepherding aspect of the ministry keeps us in touch with reality – with genuine issues and problems – as we teach the Word of God. To teach the Scriptures effectively we must apply them, and, with the Spirit’s help, we can do this only as we are in touch with things as they really are in the lives of men and women.”

7. Shepherds know their flocks well. They know who are lambs and who are mature sheep. They know who needs to be encouraged, who needs to be comforted, who needs to be urged, and who needs to be warned,

8. Robert Murray M’Cheyne: “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness.”

9. Robert Murray M’Cheyne: “How awful a weapon in the hand of God is a holy minister.”

10. The fruit of the Spirit is as important as the gifts of the Spirit in the life of a pastor, as for any Christian.

11. The apostles’ both heard and saw how things should be done in the three years of training they received from Jesus.

12. When any Christian falls into sin, he hurts others. When a Christian leader falls into sin, he hurts many others.

13. 1 Timothy 4:12 is unpacked in the list of qualifications Paul lays down for elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9.

14. “We cannot remind ourselves too often that the local church is not ours but His.”

15. The threefold instruction – “Feed my lambs”, “Take care of my sheep”, and “Feed my sheep” – highlights three principal areas of pastoral care. The young – both in age and in faith – are to be carefully fed; all Christians require general pastoral care; and established Christians need to progress toward maturity.

16. Every time we teach, it is appropriate to ask, “Am I providing good pasture for God’s flock?”

17. To proclaim the whole will of God means deliberately teaching the church from the whole of Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament; both doctrinal teaching and moral instruction.

18. “Our goal is the holiness and the unreserved obedience to Christ of every believer.”

19. Our responsibility is not solely for the flock already gathered in, but for those other sheep that are to be called.

20. We must teach evangelism and we must teach it by doing it.

21. Those whom God calls, He equips – that is the testimony of the Bible, of history, and of experience.

22. Prayer has priority over the ministry of the Word in that it must come first.

23. Intercessory prayer is part of our pastoral care – “the principal part of our pastoral care is unseen by those who benefit from it, since it is exercised in secret.”

24. “I found it helpful to take our church membership list and to pray for the people on one page each day.”

25. There is a value in writing down requests we feel we should make to God for people. I have written in a notebook – preferably in a brief sentence or phrase – what has been most meaningful in my daily Scripture reading. This becomes the principal theme of my praying for myself and then for others.

26. A benefit of praying regularly and systematically for those for whom we have spiritual responsibility is that it prompts concern and action.

27. Let people know when you have been praying for them and what you have been praying for them.

28. Pray that preaching would be marked by clarity, conviction, and compassion.

29. Praying together should be seen as a principal purpose of a pastoral visit. Also pray with people over the telephone.

30. Don’t hesitate to ask God’s people to pray for you.

31. Before we are shepherds of God we are sons of God.

32. “A danger inherent in being paid for a task is that we may end up doing it only as a job.”

33. “The most helpful practice I know to maintain freshness is never to read my daily passage without writing down a word, a phrase, a sentence, or a whole verse that is especially meaningful, or through which I feel God is speaking to me.”

34. A difficult pastors have is not being ministered to because we are always ministering to others.

35. There is no conflict between the place of study in successful ministry and dependence upon God the Holy Spirit.

36. A pastor’s books are as essential as the furniture of his home.

37. If we devote just half an hour a day to reading we will accomplish a tremendous amount in a year.

38. There is considerable value in producing what is in effect our own systematic theology.

39. Study is not an end itself – its purpose is the proper feeding of Christ’s flock.

40. Proclaiming Christ in all the Scripture is the means by which men and women comes to faith in Him and go on to maturity of faith in Jesus Christ.

41. “One reason I would discourage a young man from training for the ministry straight from school or university is that he probably does not have that experience of life that will be so important in relating his ministry of God’s Word to men and women’s real life situations. There is much to be said for working for a while in ordinary employment, no matter how humdrum, so as to share what is the experience of the majority of people.”

42. “The mark of a good teacher is that what is difficult and complicated becomes simple to understand.”

43. Leith Samuel: “Think yourself empty. Read yourself full. Write yourself clear. Pray yourself hot. Be yourself, don’t preach yourself.”

44. A good teacher, clears the way, declares the way, and then gets out of the way.

45. Why children’s talks? “When children are taught effectively in congregational worship, everyone gains something, and the teaching addressed primarily to the children becomes part of the instruction of adults.”

46. In all our preaching we are dependent on the Holy Spirit.

47. Pastoral care is the practical, individual, and spiritual care of Christ’s people as His lambs and sheep.

48. “Visiting enhances our preaching in that it helps us to appreciate how our fellow believers think, their problems, and their temptations. When we preach to those we know well, and whose situations we understand, we apply God’s truth more relevantly, almost unconsciously—and probably the less consciously the better.”

49. Good undershepherds know their sheep, and their sheep recognise them to be their undershepherds. To know someone we need to know both their name and character.

50. Prayer is the most effective means of pastoral care. We can pray for people when we cannot visit them. We can pray for people when they would not want us to pray with them.

51. Always let your people see that you are interested in them.

52. Four key words in New Testament used of pastoral care: encouragement, exhortation, admonition, and counsel.

53. A pastoral visit is more than a social call. Yet there is a social aspect to it in that we are interested in people as people, their families, their concerns and interests.

54. We must never forget that a purpose of our visit is to get to know people and their circumstances well, so that we can be faithful in private prayer for them.

55. Visit every household in the church once a year is a good aim.

56. There are situations where a letter is better than a visit or can prepare the way for a visit.

57. The larger the church, the more the regular and systematic pastoral care and visitation will need to be shared.

58. We can never remind ourselves too often of our dependence upon God.

59. Our praying in public must not be limited to immediate and urgent needs but should include spiritual priorities like the growth of the fruit of the spirit, practical holiness and evangelism, and moral priorities such as justice, righteousness, and social concern.

60. The church of Jesus Christ does not progress beyond the spiritual progress of its leaders.

61. How do we lead? We lead by our capacity to make decisions; by our drive and enthusiasm; by our readiness to accept responsibility; by our ability to convey a vision; by knowing what has to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done; by the exercise of faith and the proper optimism it produces; by keeping our head in all situations; and by recognising that there are occasions when we must positively exert ourselves to lead.

62. “Regular and systematic teaching of the Scriptures has been the best and most effective means of leadership.”

63. As often as church leaders meet for ‘business’ they should meet for prayer.

64. “A principle reason for shared leadership is that it keeps us under the discipline of others.”

65. Why don’t we delegate? Is it because by delegating responsibility someone else may be given prominence and perhaps push us out of the public eye? Is it because we fear being displaced in people’s affections? Is it because the person will do the job better than we do it ourselves and prompt people to feel we could have done it better? Is it because we are possessive? Or do we fear that the task may not be done well?

66. Wise division of labour helps efficiency.

67. If we believe in the parity of elders, and the pastor as one of the elders, then elders should be ordained in exactly the same way as “ministers” or “pastors.”

68. One elder must not do the whole work of the eldership.

69. An effective way of delegating pastoral work is to divide up a fellowship’s membership between the elders, with each elder having a group.

70. We and our families are more prayed for than any other members of our church fellowship, and a value cannot be put on those prayers.

71. “The best principle is to expect nothing from God’s people, so that we are never disappointed—for disappointment breeds grudges—and then we will be surprised by unexpected thoughtfulness and generosity.”

72. The confidentiality we expect of our fellow elders concerning elders’ business we must follow ourselves.

73. The best way to safeguard a regular time with your wife is to have a day off each week.

74. In determining my day off, I chose the day in the week when there were no church meetings requiring my involvement.

75. We all need something of interest, totally distinct from our work, to which we can turn our minds for rest and relaxation.

76. “In the first year, they idolise you; the second, they criticise you; and in the third they ostracise you.”

77. The trials of the ministry require two virtues in particular: patience and self-control.

78. “A major benefit of longer rather than shorter ministries is that they provide the opportunity for the exercise of patience, and in particular the patient sowing of God’s Word, to bring about the change and progress He purposes.”

79. If criticisms are just, we should be thankful and act upon them as part of God’s gracious discipline. If they are unjust, we should commit our cause to God who judges justly, even as our Saviour did

80. Stress comes through the open-ended nature of our work and our essential commitment to people.

81. “Ministering to others, whether in pastoral care or public teaching and preaching, tends to make us prominent and puts us in the public eye. We may easily slip into the snare of enjoying our work for the wrong reasons. Unconsciously we may give a false impression of superiority, and live for people’s approval and applause, forgetting how ordinary we are.”

82. John Thornton told Charles Simeon that there are three lessons which a minister has to learn: “1. Humility. 2. Humility. 3. Humility.” Afterward Simeon wrote out twice in his private notebook in large letters, “Talk not about myself.”

83. “Jealousy and worldliness in the ministry arise from pride. We can be jealous of other ministers who are in large churches or who are more obviously successful than we are.”

84. Success is finishing the work God has given us, and no one else, to do.

85. John Brown’s prayer that “I may not tear God’s Church, mangle His truths, betray His honour, or murder the souls of men” should be on our lips often.

86. “As shepherds we have responsibility for the sheep, and as teachers we must practice what we teach. As shepherds we must seek the other sheep that have to be brought into the fold, even as the Chief Shepherd did, and we must teach and preach faithfully the only gospel by which men and women can be saved.”

87. If we feel out of our depth in the ministry, that is good, for we are.

KIDS TALK: EZRA-NEHEMIAH

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The Big Read – Ezra-Nehemiah

Powerpoint Pictures: Bed; Toys; Family; Pets; Wi-Fi; Hug

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What do you like about being home? [Comfy bed; Your toys to play with; Being together with your family; Wi-Fi; Pets; Feeling safe]

Home for many people is a happy place to be.

Now for a number of years, God’s people Israel, were not at home.

Because of their sin and disobedience God punished them, and the punishment was exile.

The Babylonian army came to their home and took them away, far away from everything they knew and enjoyed.

How they longed to be home again.

Well, eventually they were allowed to return home.

The Persian king, Cyrus the Great gave permission for the Jews to return home to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

But only some decided to.

There were those like Mordecai and Esther who decided to stay where they were living.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell us what happened when those who returned arrived home, and the big thing we learn in those books, is that God’s people returned home from exile to worship God.

They returned home to worship God and they did this by serving God as they rebuilt the temple and the city walls, and by seeking to obey God as they said they would carefully do all God commanded them to do.

“…and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the Lord our Lord.” (Nehemiah 10:29)

The return home from exile is a picture of what God’s salvation is like.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah remind us that Jesus builds His church by bringing people back from exile of God’s judgment because of their sin, to worship God by serving Him and seeking to obey Him.

And one day we will do that perfectly when we are really home in heaven.

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More talks from The Big Read for Kids can be found HERE.

(Photo: Freely)

LATEST LINKS

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10 links to check out over the weekend…

(Photo: Ryan McGuire)

A PRAYER BASED ON THE NECESSITY OF SCRIPTURE

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A prayer based on the necessity of Scripture (inspired by 1.1 to 1.3 of 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith).

Lord God,
You who spoke creation into existence,
How we need You to speak to us.
To make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ.
To tell us what we need to know, believe, and do, to be saved.

You have revealed Yourself to everyone in a general way;
through creation and providence and by our conscience.
You have made known:
Your existence,
Your goodness,
Your wisdom,
Your power,
Your order,
and Your holiness.
The heavens declare Your glory.
The skies proclaim the works of Your hands.
Day after day they are pouring forth speech.
Night after night they display knowledge of You.
So, it is true that people have no excuse for rebelling against You their Creator.
Yet creation and providence and our conscience do not tell us how we can be saved.

Therefore, we praise You that You have spoken.
In a special kind of way.
To make Yourself and Your plan of salvation known to us.
In the past through the prophets at many times and in various ways.
And supremely in Your Son, the Lord Jesus:
the exact representation of Your being;
the One who sustains all things by His powerful word;
and who has provided purification for our sins.

We thank You that what You have spoken has been preserved for us in the Scriptures.
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
In all 66 books.
We thank You that every single word was written down to teach us and to give us hope.
So that we can know God and how to be saved by Him.

Holy Spirit, help us as a church to have an increasing desire to read and hear and understand God’s Word.
To hear the whole will of God proclaimed to us when we gather.
Give us elders who are devoted to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching,
because faith in Christ come from hearing the message of the gospel which is heard through the word of Christ.
Forgive us for all those times when we downplay or minimise the Bible’s importance and centrality in our lives and the ministry of this local church.
Lord, by Your Word correct, teach, rebuke, and train in righteousness so that we are thoroughly equipped to live godly lives and serve You.

Speak O Lord, because we Your servants are listening.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A PRAYER BASED ON ACTS 5:12-42

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A prayer based on Acts 5:12-42.

Great and awesome, glorious and holy God,
we are amazed that You, who made the world and everything in it;
who made us,
wants to know us as Your people, and for us to know You as our God.
We praise You that You offer to us:
adoption into Your family;
forgiveness of sins and a right relationship with You;
salvation from perishing in hell;
and the gift of eternal life.

That you would do this, is simply incredible,
because by nature we are all so undeserving of this.
We are sinners who have fallen short of Your glory, and have failed to live the lives we were made to live.
We are rebels who have rejected Your right to rule over us.
We really don’t deserve anything from You, except death and hell.
Yet through hearing the gospel –
this wonderful good news that You love us and have shown much You do, by sending Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to save us.

We thank You that after a living a life of perfect obedience to Your law, He died for our sins.
That on the cross, He not only died, but He actually stood in our place –
taking upon Himself all our guilt before You;
suffering the punishment, we deserve;
receiving all Your wrath at our sin until it was paid in full.
We thank You that He was raised from the dead so we can know that You have accepted His saving work done on our behalf,
and that one day He will come again to judge the world.

Lord, until that day,
knowing that all who acknowledge their sin and helplessness,
and who put their faith in Christ alone for salvation,
You will forgive, declare righteous, and welcome into heaven,
help us not to stay silent about this good news.
To speak boldly of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the rescue He gives.
May we make Christ known:
on Sundays when we gather as a local church;
and in our daily lives.
To always be at it, because we want everyone to have a chance to respond to this offer of salvation.

Holy Spirit, help us to make the most of every opportunity we have to testify to what Jesus has done, and the hope we have.
And to not be surprised when people attack this saving message –
taking offense at it.
Or avoiding this saving message –
letting it pass by them,
refusing to investigate the evidence,
take time to consider Christ,
or being unwilling to count the cost.
Also help us to not be surprised when people accept this saving message.
Give us the faith to expect this to happen more,
as there is no reason to think that You won’t do this in the lives of those we come into contact with, seeing as You’ve done this for us,
of which again we are so thankful.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

6 TAKEAWAYS FROM LOCKDOWN IN DEPRIVED COMMUNITIES & LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS Q+A WEBINAR

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Notes from an FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on Leadership through Lockdown in deprived communities with Andy Constable, Stephen Kneale and Ian Williamson plus extra Q+A with John Stevens about relaxation of lockdown restrictions.

1. The headlines from the latest advice regarding lockdown (in England):
– Weddings (both religious and civil) allowed from 4 July with maximum of 30 attendees – this is better than was anticipated.
– Places of worship can reopen from 4 July. There is much uncertainty about this as we wait for government guidance to be published (see questions below). The expectation is that church will need to be COVID secure.
– Unclear whether maximum of 30 attendees applies only to weddings or to church services also.
– There is uncertainty about what guidance will be legal obligation, strong advice, and advice. Trustees will need to undertake a risk assessment. Clarity is needed with regards to insurance and liability.
– Congregational singing is unlikely to be permitted.
– Social distancing ideally will need to be 2m, but if 1m+ other mitigations will likely need to be put in place (e.g. masks, screens).
– Two households can gather indoors together which opens up the possibility of two households watching the online service together.
– Restrictions for outdoor gatherings remains unchanged which prevents open air services of more than 6 people or 2 households.
– Government policy is to not lay down rules for everything, opting for advice over law. This will make it difficult for churches to know with certainty what they can and can’t do. Care will be needed because of insurance implications.
– Check out the helpful document from GAFCAN.

2. Questions still needing to be answered.
– Will preaching need to take place behind a screen? Government is concerned about the spread of the virus by projected voices. Amplification through PA system rather than by voice might be the solution.
– What about Sunday School, Creche, parent and toddler groups etc? There will be issues regarding cleaning (note soft play areas are closed); social distancing.
– What about collections involving handling of cash? Collection may require being left for 72 hours before handled.
– What about running multiple services? Questions regarding cleaning and the length of time gap between services.
– When will guidance be issued? Don’t know.
– Can elders meet in church buildings? Guidance about use of offices might be instructive. 6 elders can social distance in garden. Another possibility is zoom meetings with two elders together.
– Use of church buildings during the week? Expectation is guidance given won’t be limited to Sunday only. Key will be ensuring all activities are COVID safe.
– Outdoor large gatherings? Currently not allowed. Drive-In churches are different.
– Car parks and gardens on church premises and owned by the church are regarded as the place of worship.
– What about transporting people to church? ?
– Track and Trace Implications? This could mean church activities being shut down for 14 days if whole church gathering is forced to self-isolate.
– What about churches that rent properties? They are in the hands of their providers. Some providers have already made clear that they are not accepting booking before January 2021. Churches with buildings might choose to show gospel generosity and allow other churches to use their buildings when they are not.
– What about Lord’s Supper? Waiting for guidance that covers the use of food. Food may need to be individually packaged.
– Use of toilets? Likely to be same rules as pubs and other hospitality venues. Cleaning between individuals, social distance queues. This will likely impact how a church decides to meet.
– When to begin meeting again? A decision for every church to make. Risk assessment will need to be in place. It will not be the same as it was. Do we want to gather with social distancing, limitations regarding who we can connect with, no congregational singing? Do we want to divide the church into who can come and who can’t come?

3. The concern among God’s people in the Old Testament and the work of the Spirit in the New Testament is the practice of generous giving by believers so there is equality. Paul words in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 are to encourage the church in Corinth to be generous. Pointing to the Macedonian church whose giving was generous, supremely modelled on the Lord Jesus, and whose goal was equality. This kind of giving is not charity but doing justice. They weren’t giving to do God a favour or people a favour, but because it was doing what is right. Desire that FIEC churches show genuine fellowship by giving to one another.

4. What are some of the challenges of lockdown being faced by churches in deprived communities? Mental health issues exacerbated by lockdown removing structures usually in place; loneliness; single parents struggling to educate their children; fear and anxiety about catching the disease; missing physical connection of community. Observation that issues more social than financial.

5. What are some of the gospel opportunities lockdown has opened up? Engage community out in front gardens and out and about in neighbourhood; provide care packages for those shielding; online Bible studies in groups or 121; people tuning into livestream who wouldn’t usually come to church such as unbelieving family members.

6. What are big needs? Prayer, Money, People. Finances keep the first generation of church planters/staff going, but people (esp. lay elders) are needed if they work is going to continue after that.

KIDS TALK: MARY JONES

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Superheroes of the Faith – Mary Jones

Powerpoint Pictures: Teddy Bear; Sweets; Lego; Computer Game

What do you spend your pocket money on?

What do you buy if you are given money for your birthday or Christmas?

A teddy Bear.

Sweets.

Lego or some other toy.

A computer game.

I want to tell you about a girl who lived over 200 years ago called Mary Jones.  Mary Jones loved Jesus, but her family was too poor to own a Bible, so if she wanted to read the Bible, she had to visit a neighbour.

Mary wanted to have a Bible of her own, so she decided to earn the money all by herself.  She knitted socks to sell.  She weeded people’s gardens.  She collected firewood.  She sold eggs from her chickens.

6 years later, she had enough money.  But where could she buy a Bible?

The Rev. Thomas Charles was selling them, but he lived 25 miles away.  Incredibly Mary Jones walked those 25 miles barefoot to visit him.  When she arrived at Rev. Thomas Charles home, it was late.  He only had one Bible left, which he had promised to someone else.

However, after listen to Mary Jones story he let here have the Bible.  This incident would lead to Rev. Thomas Charles setting up a society to distribute Bible’s to people all over the world.  It is still in existence and is known as the Bible Society.

Mary Jones’ Bible is in a museum today and there is a memorial stone alone the 25 miles route she walked that has on it the words she wrote in her Bible.

In 1 Peter 2:2-3 we read, “Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Mary Jones so craved the pure milk of the word, that saved up for 6 years and walked 25 miles barefoot to get a Bible.  She tasted that the Lord is good and wanted that taste again.

May we see God’s Word just as important and special as Mary Jones did, and as we read it, taste and see that the Lord is good.

More talks about Superheroes of the Faith can be found HERE.

FIELD NOTES (23/6/T)

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23/6/T

Andrew Wilson:

A short thread on church growth/decline in the West: I just finished David Hempton’s “Methodism: Empire of the Spirit.” He gives (among other things) a number of reasons for the decline of Methodism, and they are strikingly relevant for churches today.

1) Loss of focus. “Late Victorian churches tried so hard to reclaim the wider secular culture that they overreached themselves and failed both to nurture their inner core of associational members and to concentrate on congregational recruitment.”

2) Displacement by the state. “The problem was compounded when the state, with incomparably greater resources, took over many erstwhile religious functions, including education and welfare, leaving the churches almost high and dry.”

3) Self-interest. “The propensity of Europe’s old state churches to align themselves with forces of conservatism and traditionalism (out of perceived self-interest) in a period of fast-moving political, economic and social change was nothing short of disastrous.”

4) Middle-classism. “If one pauses to look at the differential ratios of priests to people in a host of European cities, one finds the same pattern of conspicuous underprovision in working-class neighbourhoods compared with middle-class districts.”

5) Low demands. “Mainline denominations decline as they make fewer demands on their own members, have no very obvious recruitment mechanism, and steadily lose ground to new, more energetic movements.”

6) Compromise. “Methodism could not sustain the same momentum and commitment from its followers when the gap between the ideals of scriptural holiness defined internally by the movement and achieved externally in the wider society narrowed to quite respectable proportions.”

Whoever has ears, let them hear.

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Check out Glen Scrivener’s must see video Numbers.

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Jon Gemmell: “If pastor-teachers taught a Sunday school class [for kids] for a stint every year everyone would feel the benefit.”

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Andy Prime: “Bible College didn’t teach me how to deal with this!’ Course it didn’t! It’s not there to teach you ‘what to do’ in every potential ministry situation. It’s there to teach you ‘how to think’ so that you’re equipped to do the hard graft of working out how to respond biblically.”

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Bobby Scott: “Seminaries may provide wonderful training opportunities, but pastors ultimately learn to pastor from other pastors.”

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Mark Dever: “Part of my responsibility is to send younger pastors into the land that I cannot go—the future.”

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Have a Spiritual Health Check with Rico Tice.

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Andrew Roycroft: “The longer lockdown inhibits church life, the more gripped I am by 2 things: 1. What a weighty thing it is for government to silence a nation’s pulpits 2. How lightly society (and even the church), seems to carry it. Grateful for what we can do. Grieved for what we cannot do.”

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Have a read of Ian Williamson’s excellent thread on the effects of lockdown on poorer communities.

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Dan Steel & Andrew McKenna written a hymn based on Romans 8.

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Jonathan Leeman: “A building was full according to social distancing guidelines. A visitor walked in. An usher: “Sorry, we can’t accept any more guests.” The pastor to usher: “Nooo! Find a member to step out!” Lesson: ask your ushers to prepare a list beforehand of members willing to step out.”

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Dan Steel did a recent survey of how those in pastoral ministry are doing in lockdown.

Here are his few brief thoughts:

a) lots of people unsurprisingly are struggling. Even those with no history of mental fragility are finding lockdown has been detrimental to mental health. There was a breadth of churches, sizes, ages and length of time in ministry represented.

b) lots of people are dealing with it in healthy ways though (exercise, support, prayer)c) some are seeing some unhealthy ways of dealing though (self-medication (which included increased alcohol consumption etc)

c) most pastors want to give up ministry sometimes. On a scale of 1-6 (with 1 being low) the average response was 2.78

d) overbearing workload, criticism, impact on family, other leaders, difficult pastoral situations + lack of growth in their churches were main reasons

e) people have a variety of support structures (both from inside and outside the local church), though few have formal mentors.

f) 2/3 those in ministry do not tell their support structures everything (answers not included but this was for different reasons… ranging from not wanting to burden them to shame over sin and temptations). Which means people carry significant unshared burdens

g) From the open question regarding how we can help each other to keep going, there was basically 1 salient point = LOTS about more time, and a culture of partnership + vulnerability + grace with elders + other pastors… Less a feeling of comparisons and competition or simply talking about programmes, more honesty, more encouragement, more prayer… I wonder whether we need to deliberately book time each week to seek to be an encouragement to other local pastors? And make sure we model our own need of grace Was reminded by Calvin’s company of pastors meeting *every* week on Friday mornings!

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Dave Mathis: “Immerse yourself in them” (1 Tim. 4:15)—literally, “be in them.” “Brother pastors, let’s be in the Bible. “We can’t commend what we don’t cherish. We can’t teach well, and for long, what we’re not immersing ourselves in.”

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HB Charles Jr: “Our preaching is not the reason the Word works. The Word is the reason our preaching works.”

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Bruce W. Thielemann: “To preach, to really preach, is to die naked a little at a time, and to know each time you do it that you must do it again.”

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Kevin DeYoung wrote an article that has divided opinion.  These two threads from Matt Lillicrap and Jim Curtis are two of the most helpful responses.

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Steve Lawson: “Jesus will build His church. He will not build our church. We will not build His church. He will only build His church.”

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Keswick Convention has gone virtual this year (27-31 July).

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David Powlison: “Sanctification: “a comprehensive and lifelong rehab.”

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Brian Croft: “It is more common that we realize that pastors make unwise decisions in the first year that come back to bite them in years 3-4. Then, miss how they are connected. That is why patience and picking battles wisely in the first years is particularly important.”

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Lecrae: “Satan wants us deceived, discouraged, divided, and distracted.”

THE KING’S STORY (6)

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The King’s Story – The King Rescues

Download my teaching handout as a pdf

More teaching handouts can be found HERE

(Photo: MILKOVI)