Happy New Year! May 2020 be a prosperous New Year for us all as we look forward to seeing the signs and wonders of God’s kingdom moving in our community.
And so it starts, with great encouragement we saw additional numbers in our services and testimonies of God’s work transforming lives. This was evident over the advent period as we were joined by some old familiar faces and some new ones, an affirmation of God’s crazy love spilling out into the fringes of our society.
As we reflected upon 2019 and all that it brought, we heard stories of celebration and of mourning. We left 2019 with a world in crisis and entered with more sorrow and sadness. Yet as we enter 2020 we are seeing green shoots of hope. We are eager to seek God in Jesus with a fresh passion. God’s name ‘Yahweh’ is a verb of being. The importance of being drawn to God and seeking His presence. When we seek this we can concentrate on being with God and the doing will naturally flow.
Jesus said ‘When I am lifted up I will draw all people to me’. (John 12:32) ‘Lifted up’ – on the cross but also in worship. We’ll see healing, revelation and conversion happen in worship. Picture an old-fashioned square lamp with panels on each side. Lifting one lamp gives a beam (direction – ‘a lamp to your feet’) but lifting all four lamps gives 360 degree light. God is about so much more than just guidance. As we live in His presence He becomes a source of light in us, radiating out to others. What we do is the overflow of living in His presence.
Holding up the name of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit gives direction. This is so in the church but also with regard to people in society, wandering aimlessly in a spiritual wilderness.
My prayer for 2020 is that we seek ‘those things that are above’ (Col.3:1) – being prepared to lay aside our own ways and willing to seek God’s way, encouraging each other and honouring different gifts.
Where is God calling you to be, how can we draw closer together and seek to serve Him? For when we do the Holy Spirit is at work.
Grace and Peace
 | David Skeet is our church team leader. Taken from the latest edition of our bi-monthly church newsletter. |