Dear Friends,
Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16.
During the autumn of 1996 I came to a point where I realised that my lamp hadn’t really been lit. At the time I had a job that I really didn’t enjoy where I felt undervalued and a little directionless. As far as I could see I wasn’t serving God in any discernible capacity, I was just ticking along doing what I needed to do to keep my family under a water tight roof. So I started to ask God what He wanted me to do and then I asked Him to say it louder because I wasn’t hearing Him. Over the next few weeks a steady stream of people came and asked me what I was doing about my ministry. Perhaps we should be cautious how we ask God to reveal His purposes?
As I look back upon the last 23 years I can see what God has been doing with me and I am amazed. When I first sought His heart for my life I was working as the Head Gardener on a private estate and now I find myself taking on the leadership of the church. I see now that as God has been growing and developing me, He has also been changing and developing many other things including some of the wider church structures and easing, healing and growing some complex relationships too.
Now it’s 2019 and we are all entering a new phase in the life of our church. For me it’s a step that I couldn’t have anticipated taking 23 years ago. For the church it’s a step that we’ve talked about for many months and I trust that it will be a smooth, seamless transition that won’t cause too much disruption. Please bear with me while I gather up the many threads that Stephen held so efficiently and find my own way of handling them.
We are all on this journey and I pray that this might be a season where God directs us into new things. He may decide He wants our lamps to burn more brightly or to be shed into new places. Perhaps He’ll call some of us to lift our lights out from under our baskets/bushels so that others might see His glorious face. Perhaps He’ll do some new things with us. Whatever He does we’ll work through it together.
On the 10th July at 7:30 pm I will be licensed as Senior Minister of the Fountain of Life Church I am pleased to invite you all to attend. We are one family together with a common calling to be light in the world (See Matt 5:14-16) and I consider it an enormous (enormous is too small a word) privilege to be appointed as your leader. Please be assured that you will have my total commitment in this new role.
With love and blessings, Paul (Senior Minister Designate)
