Forgotten Your Password?
Dear Members and Friends,
“Forgotten your password?” How many times have I had to click that little box in struggling to remember what gives me access to a particular site for either the support, information, or goods that I seek. Passwords have become invaluable to everyday living and are used for virtually everything that we do online. On the one hand they protect our own identity and on the other can provide us with the most personal information about someone else. You can learn a lot about people and really get to know them in a powerful way if you just have the right password.
A password provides us online with what our fellowship in the Lord Jesus promises us as a church in person. A means to forge friendships, find support, gain instruction, build relationships, and extend its reach.
The early church did life together and willingly gave each other their passwords, so to speak, so that they could help and encourage one another to get through life. Acts 2:42-47 shows us how they studied the Word together, shared meals together, and talked to the Lord together. They were not just committed to Christ; they were committed to one another, allowing the Lord to continually add to their number.
Over the past two years, the pandemic has sadly made the joys of in person Christian fellowship much more difficult. It is possible therefore, that the password of attendance that enhances our togetherness and live worshipping experience may well need resetting. That is why we are setting apart Sunday 3 April for a BACK TO CHURCH service when the hope is that, for the first time in ages, everyone for whom Shirley Baptist is their Church can reconnect in person and be renewed in their bond together in the Lord. I do pray that unless you are still having to shield or know you are vulnerable in any way, you will plan to join us for that service. To mark this day out, the service itself will not be live streamed, but made available to view online once the service has ended. We will of course continue to live stream going forwards but feel one Sunday to reset our password is important.
These are days when more than ever we need to be seeking the Lord prayerfully together that we might practically be serving Him together, both at home and, as the present situation in Ukraine underlines, overseas. Please give generously to the appeal we plan for our BACK TO CHURCH Sunday that will help our twin church in Ukraine meet the needs of the increasing number of refugees arriving in their village.
I invite anyone interested in being baptised or becoming a church member – and I urge everyone attending SBC to consider this – to meet with me on a Thursday from 6-7pm in the Link starting on 17 March. I also plan on the same night, starting at 7.30pm, to hold an informal discipleship discussion with anyone not in a Life Group at present to come along for an hour and to share together with me over a coffee, both Bible highlights from the messages being preached, as well as any other questions that hopefully will help us grow as disciples of the Lord.
Forgotten your password? Perhaps now is the time to reset it? I believe the Lord who loves His Church and gave Himself for His Church, needs His Church to be His Church, both gathered in worship of Him, and then scattered to work for Him. May the Lord use us all to His glory and the good of all in the days to come.
Your friend and Pastor, Shaun