A Lent of Greater Faith

As you will no doubt be aware, the recent covid-19 outbreak has changed everyone’s lives to a greater and a lesser extent. As a church we know that many members of our family will be self-isolating, working from home, or practicing social distancing over the coming weeks. We are hoping that through a series of blogs we can encourage you, and others who might be reading these blogs, to fix your eyes on Jesus, and respond to the crisis in a way which honours his will for our lives.

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I didn’t plan to write this blog.

I began writing a piece for Lent about us not just focussing on what we are giving up, but also asking ourselves what we are taking on this Lent - what challenges, changes, crosses and contributions we’ll be taking on to serve our households, church family, community and God.

But then COVID-19 happened.  

And as I wrote this new blog, I think God brought me back to the same place. 

Our prayer and God’s protection

During such testing times as these, I’ve found it helpful to listen to on-line bible studies, encouraging us to pray with confidence, exercising our faith and trusting God like never before.  We don’t know what the future holds for us, but we know a God who does.  

The Psalms provide powerful words of faith as well as heart-felt cries to God.  In the face of current public health crisis Psalm 91 is perfect, particularly because it calls upon the Lord for protection over pestilence and I highly recommend that we take those promises and incorporate them into our prayers for ourselves, family, friends & neighbours.

We are not immune, it’s true, but God makes all things possible. If Christ can raise the dead, if the Apostles can cast out demons, if my faith can move mountains, then our God through the Holy Spirit, in the Name of Jesus, can protect us.

Fear or faith 

Jesus was very clear: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).  So, now, as never before, ask, seek, knock – be persistent in prayer with faith in God, who stands with us.  

Now, spiritual faith can work with practical common sense, so yes, we take precautions, we are careful to not socialise, we wash our hands, we follow government and health guidelines, but we do it with faith not fear – that’s the difference! “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

A Lent of greater faith

So how does this relate to what we give up for Lent and what we take on for Lent? Well, I say that we let go of fear and take on even greater faith. I advise prayer over panic, declaring life over accepting death. Choose to live in truth rather than live overwhelmed by the daily news. 

People may well continue to fall ill – fact.  The truth is that God is with us in times of trouble, He delivers us and honours us. With long life He will satisfy us and show us His salvation (Psalm 91).  

Daily life has been thrown off course – fact. The truth is that we have life from someone who is life (John 11:25).

It is evident in the Bible that our God is incredibly intentional; everything serves a purpose, there is a plan and His timing is unique, critical and perfect, whether we understand it or not. He is faithful! So let us be too.  Let us sing Hosanna on Palm Sunday, sing thanks to Christ on Good Friday and raise the roof with the Holy Spirit come Easter Sunday - without fear, but with courage, love and truth.  

The cross came before the crown and I hope that we all feel encouraged at this time, and at all times, because though there may be weeping in the night, rejoicing comes in the morning (Psalm 30) and God will make our cause shine like the noon day sun (Psalm 37) – God’s words, not mine.

Lent’s soundtrack

If this blog had a soundtrack, it would feature:

• Yes & Amen - Housefires

• Way maker - Sinach

• Take a moment – United Pursuit

Now, let’s end with some hashtags shall we… it’s a blog after-all

#FaithOverFear 

#PrayerNotPanic 

#YesAndAmen

Peace be with you & God bless you,

Pamela 

This Saturday! - Alpha Holy Spirit Day

This term I have had the privilege of leading the Alpha course, a group of us have been meeting every Wednesday to eat together, chat and get to know one another, hear some great talks from some great guys and girls at Redeemer about aspects of the Christian faith, and engage in some  exciting and thought provoking discussions off the back of the talks.

Coming up this Saturday though is a day which I’m expecting to be a real highlight of the course, as we join together for two sessions learning about the Holy Spirit. We run a day like this every time we run an Alpha Course, as the Holy Spirit is such a key aspect of our life as Christians, and we know it’s crucial that if we want to grow in faith, or even if we’re just working out what faith in Jesus means, it’s impossible to do so without a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

During the day, we will get the opportunity to learn about who the Holy Spirit is, what he does, and how we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s a really exciting opportunity for people’s lives to be changed!

Last term on the Holy Spirit day, one of the guys attending was struggling with back pain, he asked if we could pray for him and during the prayer he described feeling a heat in his back, which was miraculously healed as we prayed!

I’m so excited to see how God is going to move and what he’s going to teach us about his Holy Spirit this Saturday. If you’re someone who wants to learn more about the Holy Spirit, or you’ve got a friend who you think might have questions, then you are more than welcome to join us!

The day will start at 10am, and finish at 2:30pm, with a break for lunch in the middle. You can find out all the details and sign up by following the link below!

Alpha Starts Tonight!

Here at Redeemer we want to be a church which encourages people to ask questions, and seek deeper relationship with God. You might be reading this and have a friend who has lots of questions about your faith, you might have just started coming to Redeemer and are looking for deeper relationship with God, you might not be a christian, but you’ve got an interest in finding out exactly what it looks like to live as a follower of Jesus.

If any of the above applies to you, then I have good news! Tonight is the beginning of our next Alpha course! We will be meeting at Osteria del Portico every Wednesday night for the next 9 weeks, eating great food together, hearing a talk on an aspect of the Christian faith, and then taking time to ask questions and have friendly discussion together around the topic which has been spoken on.

Alpha is a fantastic opportunity to get to hear different people’s views, and discuss what we believe as Christians, and why we believe it is worth talking about! We also hope that over the 9 weeks you will get to build great friendships and learn things about the Christian faith which encourage you to dig deeper into what it means to be a Christian.

You can hear just one story of Alpha below:

We hope to see you tonight for Week 1 - ‘Is There More To Life Than This?’

#RedeemerRecommends - Alpha

This week on #RedeemerRecommends we’re recommending a course, one that has changed the lives of thousands of people across the world, and one that we are starting right here in Ealing with a launch event TONIGHT!

The Alpha course began in the 90s at Holy Trinity Brompton, just a few miles away from here, and was adapted by Nicky Gumbel to provide a friendly, welcoming environment for people to ask questions and learn more about the Christian faith. You can find out a bit more about one individual’s experience of Alpha below…

Our Alpha course will start on the 15th of May at Osteria Del Portico, and you can find more information about HERE. We also have an event to launch the course tonight at Artisan Coffee! Come and enjoy some live music and poetry, and hear a little more about the course, including an interview with someone who had their life changed by Alpha!

We start at 7:30, and would love to see you there! The address is below, and you can find the Facebook event HERE.