K I N G F I S H E R FA M I LY Where else but church? I was recently talking about this subject at King sher Westgate in one of our morning services. It was in answer to the question, ‘Why do we bother with church?’ My answer was that we bother with church because it is utterly unique and as we meet together as the church, we are blessed in incredible ways. I told a true story which underlined this: which went as follows
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Jan and I were speaking at a church conference one time, and during one of the breaks, Jan got talking to a woman, who seemed quite down and withdrawn. Jan offered to pray for the lady, and she agreed. So Jan started to pray, 'Lord, I just lift Julie to you now...' and so on. At the end of the prayer, this lady, Julie, asked Jan if people had been talking abut her. Jan said that no, she had never met or heard about Julie before. 'Then how did you know my name?' asked Julie. Jan had to admit that she didn’t have a clue - she just somehow knew that this woman was called Julie. The session restarted, and afterwards, the pastor of the church approached Jan to tell her Julie's story. Julie was depressed and withdrawn and felt that she didn’t t into church. She hadn’t wanted to come on the church weekend away, because she didn’t really connect with anyone at church and wasn’t too sure about what she felt about God. The Pastor had been trying to convince her to go because he believed God would
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ISSUE 32
DECEMBER 2021
have a word of encouragement for her. 'What’s the point?' She said. ‘If I went, I doubt anyone would even know my name!
As we live in times of great deception and great loneliness, we have the opportunity to be the community that shines the light of Christ and welcome in the lost, the lonely, the confused.
He doesn’t scatter them in a random fashion - He places them. Carefully. Where there is a high likelihood of that lonely person being cared for as an accurate re ection of how He cares for them. There are so many false trails for people to go down as they wander around lost and lonely. Just four doors away from King sher Westgate a new shop has opened that has a pentagon as it’s logo and with the slogan ‘Come and enlighten yourself with the dark’! There are so many ways in which lost people can become even more lost.
Life-giving community, where we come to nd that we are truly known and valued - that God knows our name and that His people genuinely care for us is a precious thing. We all need to know that we matter, that we are noticed, that we are known, loved and accepted. Where else but church? As we approach Christmas, that time when we celebrate just how passionate God is to nd us, to rescue us and to start a relationship with us, and as we live in times of great deception and great loneliness, we have the Where else but church? Where opportunity to be the community else do we see God drawing the that shines the light of Christ and lonely, the lost, the confused into welcome in the lost, the lonely, the healing, accepting, af rming confused. Where else but church community? But perhaps the more this Christmas? Do you know probing question is: Why would someone like Julie? Someone who He choose us? What would is wondering, ‘Would anyone even motivate Him to entrust someone know my name?’ like Julie to our church, to our community? Psalm 68:6 says that Where else but church “He places the lonely in families”.