Lansdowne Life 11 February 2018

“Be still”
This month sees the start of our Season of
Prayer. An important opportunity to
gather on a number of occasions, as a
Church family, across six weeks, to listen
to God.
We’ve done our best to declutter the diary
and strip back a lot of the usual
programmes, so that we can each make
these corporate prayer gatherings a
priority.
In a world where we are often crazily busy,
running fast while spinning plates, the
space to properly engage with God gets
squeezed.
My hope is that as we press the pause
button, we can experience what it means
to “Be still..” (Psalm 46:10). The original
context for that statement is of a world in
turmoil and at war. So the literal meaning
of “be still” is, “lay down your weapons”.
Maybe that’s part of what we need to do
during this season of listening to God. As
individuals and as a Church Community,
we surrender to God all those questions,
struggles, and battles which churn us up
on the inside or come at us from the
outside. In that transforming encounter,
to be still is to hand all the issues over to
God in an act of trust, so that in the end
He is the only one we are holding onto.
I can’t emphasise enough how significant
such seasons are in nurturing spiritual
health among us.
But this month also contains two other
important features. One is the beginning
of a process to appoint an Associate
Minister on staff by the Autumn. His
name is Mike Smailes and he will preach
on February 4 th am and visit us again with
his wife Sandie for a few days during the
half term holiday, when we will have an
opportunity mid-week on February 15 th
to hear from him informally.
Half term is also the time when the
Church at Woodbury Avenue will be
turned into a building site for The Big
Build Holiday Club. It’s going to be an
exciting outreach to primary school aged
children. Feel free to invite those you
know. Please see sign up information in
the ‘Big Build’ article in this publication.
So as we stop, reflect and pray during this
season, let’s offer to God the entire life of
the Church. From our mission to proclaim
the good news, to our pastoral care, staff
development and discipleship. There is
nothing too big or small to pray about.
Peter Baker | Senior Minister