Mission in Action

Our “interested parties” met yesterday as we began the process of talking and praying through the values of The Crowded House and how they would be contextualised in our setting. ? It was a great afternoon. Fine food (baklavas, scones with jam and cream) and a great setting – an afternoon sun on our verandah on a mild 21 degree winter’s day (that’s 21 celsius for you folks in the US and yes, for you folks in the UK I did say it was winter). ?

So with a deep breath (and good coffee) we got stuck into value one, which reads:

We are committed to taking the gospel both to our neighbours and to the ends of the earth. We will challenge one another to be sacrificial, risk-taking and flexible because the gospel has priority over our comfort, security and traditions. We want to have a global gospel vision and to this end be generous with our resources. We will not let Christian activity be just one part of our lives.

Although I feel like we’ve been over some of this ground before it has taken a couple of months for people to mull over the issues and ask themselves what life will look like for us as a group (or groups) should we proceed. ? And I say “proceed” because people are still in the process of asking “Is this for me?” ? The issue for me is not to force the pace and try to make the flower bloom early by pulling the petals. What was encouraging was the real sense in people that they wanted to take stock of what the suburb and surrounding areas were in need of. ? We did note that the one thing lacking in our area – and it is borne out by what people at the school have been saying – is a sense of healthy community, and perhaps we can start looking at how to build that by modeling it. ?

What I don’t want to do is create an idol – a creation of my own making that will satisfy my desire for a church that looks a certain way. ? If the gospel is the priority here then the form of church that I want cannot take precedence over what will best demonstrate the gospel to our community and give us the chance to share it with other people. ? What we have realised since coming back from Sheffield is not only that we can’t make any of this happen – as we knew that – but just how much we can’t make this happen and how much only God can. ? And if the value is “the priority of the gospel” then we have to be content that only “The Lord of the harvest” can bring people to faith.

What has been encouraging is to see how Jill has spent time getting to know people in our area, especially mum’s at Sophie’s school. ? While my own life seems to be work and sleep with the occasional evening out, she has not allowed her own tiredness to get in the way of serving people. ? ? We have both felt exhausted at different times in the past six months, and that has been a reminder that we want to be in this for the long haul. ?

At the moment next year looks like me working three days a week (by Sept I have to indicate what projects I would like to do at work) and Jill doing some sessional psych work, and perhaps raising a day or two of support. ? If you feel so inclined please pray for us as we map out what next year needs to look like for us.

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