Fresh Grace - 1 Dec 2023, Irvine Prayer Update
Dear Friends & Family,
I've found myself asking the Lord to pour fresh encouragement, fresh faith, a fresh sense of His Love and Grace, and a fresh perspective into our hearts. Well, usually there is a gap between starting to feel the need to pray for these things and then starting to feel the effects of "Empty" and only then am I moved to pray.
I was reading a book on Evangelism the other day. In the context of giving examples of Jesus encountering people in Luke 18, this sentence really struck my heart: "There is nothing that we give up for Christ that isn't returned many times over." Not a new thought. But something about the reminder that God generously and lavishly and continues to pour Himself out for us - all undeserved - was such good news for me. It really just got me. Pray for more of this Good News to be real to us even as we seek to hold out the words of life to others.
A Few Update Snapshots & Prayer Points
(1) The 3rd consultation on 16 Nov in Oxford concerning outreach to our religious group context went well. It was a smaller group but very good discussion and mutual learning. One fact that keeps being highlighted is that there has been a 260% increase in Indian Student Visas to the UK in the last 5 years. Pray for some who are considering how to get good outreach training resources into the hands of Christian Students.
(2) Last night two of us New Life Suwarta Sangat elders met with two younger men for Leadership / Elder / Preaching Training. What a joy it was to unpack a passage together and encourage our younger brothers to consider how the Lord could use them in Preaching and Elder ministry. Pray for the Lord to protect and encourage and help them to grow.
(3) This past Sunday after worship - as sometime happens - a number of us ended up grabbing lunch at a local "Masala Dosa" place. Some relatively new followers of Jesus were with us and our conversation led to some mutual discipleship and encouragement regarding how to reach out to friends and family. Pray for the Lord to open doors for them for outreach to friends and family.
(4) This week I attended a British Gospel Centred Church Planting Network gathering to get a feel for it and see if it might be a good idea for our church plant to join up since we are in a bit of a "re-vitalising" mode. It was so encouraging! Pray for wisdom as to whether we should join. But also at the gathering I got to sit in on a seminar led by a younger pastor from a British Gujarati Indian background who is in the process of planting a multi-ethnic church in North East London (we are in NW London) in the past 3 years. It is so encouraging to see what they have learned and are now sharing with a larger British Church Planting Network. So much of their experience resonates with ours. He is also starting to raise up some younger British Indian trainees. There is a possibility of perhaps some mutual encouragement and partnership. Pray that the Lord would bless that specific CP work and also continue to raise up more young British Indian gospel laborers.
(5) Two weeks back we had another church plant "games night" outreach event which is functioning very much like a "Gospel Porch" that Tim Keller wrote about and was also discussed recently on a podcast. It's so good to see unbelieving friends and believers from our small church just mixing it up in a safe place. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel with our friends.
(6) We are preparing for a Christmas Outreach on Sunday 17th December that will involve a Nativity Play featuring both children from our church and kids who don't come to our church normally. Pray for the gospel to be "heard" and "seen" by all who come on that day.
(7) We had a special time of giving thanks at church two weeks back and then at our home on Thanksgiving Day (mostly family/team but also a few church friends.) So much to give thanks for, which has been brought back to me again even as I've typed the above. I had a chance at the church Thanksgiving to have a gospel conversation with some visitors from other faith backgrounds]. Pray that the seeds planted would grow into true repentance and faith.
So thankful for all your prayers and partnership in the Lord!
Matt Irvine (and Jenn)