Today’s service from Mons

Some notes taken whilst this morning service went on.
My mind and pen being too slow to follow and write down all the thoughts.
But perhaps it are some useful points I could write down.
Let it also be a good reason next time to join us, so that you do not miss anything.

Today the service was provided on Zoom from Mons. Steve Robinson was in charge to lead the service. In Newbury this time there were many in the Ecclesia Hall.

After the intro prayer thinking about what happened in Kabul we got a Welsh hymn. By the news of the ecclesia we heard also that one of our members (Amal) in Turkey was taken into hospital with Covid.

Newbury exhortation talk on 2 Kings 3 – 2021 August 29

After reading 2 kings 3 we got the reading from 1 Corinthians 13 talking about followers of Christ who would not have love, them being like sounding brass, or a loud-tongued bell. Having no love, we are nothing. That reading warns us that when we give all goods to the poor, and if we give our body to be burned, but have not love, it is of no profit to us.

This is something we always should remember that love is never tired of waiting;

5 love is kind; love has no envy; love has no high opinion of itself, love has no pride; Love’s ways are ever fair, it takes no thought for itself; it is not quickly made angry, it takes no account of evil; 6 It takes no pleasure in wrongdoing, but has joy in what is true; Love has the power of undergoing all things, having faith in all things, hoping all things. (1Co 13:5-7)

After a hymn about our blessings, Rodger Yuille gave then the English exhortation on 2 Kings 3. He spoke about the two women and the mothers who were taken prisoners.

This made him think that we should reach out much more, helping those who need help. God calls people from all sorts of life. Yuille reminded us of all the freedom we have here in the West and how much we are privileged. Should we not have more trust in God like those two women showed to Elisha? It might not always be easy to find the balance.

With the flooding the previous month we had an example of a family standing on the roof and the water coming to the neck of the man, him saying to the fireman coming to help

Help fist the others.

In the story when the man drowned he was at the door of heaven and asked

Where were you God when I needed you?

Also, with CoViD there are Christians who say that they trust God and do not need a vaccine. We have to be careful not to let the balance go-to tip too far. We have to use our senses and have not forget that God provides people with possibilities to help others. (Be it firefighters, medics …etc. )

He also spoke about Elisha who foreshadows John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

After the exhortation we got the Breaking of the Bread

The previous months we only had our Zoom meetings and everybody had to take the emblems in his or her own house, in their own bubble. Some of us could come together now in the same room. We do not need to remember the Last Supper on our own, but from now on we can come together again and ask God to be with us. Several of us shall perhaps still stay at home, not mixing with too many people, but together we still feel very united and one family.

After the sharing of the emblems, we sang hymn 172.

Then we thought about the sorrows and sadnesses, but also the times we think about the Word that He has given us and the power to be with each other and to know His Word and to know His son.

We also welcomed a new member from Swindon, and looked at this week ahead, with the Read the Bible class (Monday), a Baptism preparation class (Tuesday), the Ladies Fellowship Group (Tuesday) in the meeting room, the Bible discussion class (Wednesay) and a New Life in Christ with Q&A (on Friday)

June, July, August and the beginning of September are for me some busy weekends safeguarding the people at the airport, making it not possible for me to join the meeting, but I do hope several people may find the way to some of the Christadelphian ecclesial on the net and shall join us at our meetings when I shall be back from some time of rest in France, the last two weeks of September.

God bless you all.