“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” -  John 12:24
 

Dear Friends,
 
We continue to see new infections and deaths from Covid-19 slowly decreasing in the UK.   We also see that this is not the case in other countries around the world.  Brazil now has the second highest deaths from Covid-19 in the world and their new infection numbers are second only to the USA.  We need to keep vigilant, stay safe and prayerful as we take the first tentative steps out of lockdown.  We are still hoping and praying that we will be returning to our church buildings sometime in July, but at this time we are waiting for more guidance. 
 
This week we have been enjoying virtual camp meeting.  Camp Meeting is normally held in North Wales but given Covid-19, the South England Conference came up with the idea to have it entirely online.  A first and big step for the Conference!  Each morning at 7am and each evening at 7pm, messages have been going out live on YouTube, SECMedia.org, Roku and Apple TV.  Just on YouTube last night there were over 2.5k viewers!  There has been a growing concern with numbers declining at recent Camp Meetings in North Wales, but it certainly seems that the Lord has used Covid-19 to take the Conference in a new direction that is reaching many more people, both within and outside the church!  Praise God!
 
Over this last week, as I listened to the various speakers each night, the growing conviction in my heart is of the critical import that a person must be born again.  That is the only answer to much of what we see in our world today.  Many are devoted to a cause, but what is most needed is to be born again and be devoted to the person, Jesus Christ.  

- Pastor Mark Borrett.

 

“But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine”. Isaiah 43:1

We heard this week during our virtual camp meeting about the importance of a name, and how those in Jesus have their names written in the Book of Life. As it says in Isaiah 43:1, it is the Lord who calls us; it is the Lord who knows each of our names; and it is the Lord who redeems us. 

Have you ever wondered about our denominational name: The Seventh-day Adventist Church?  I have recently been reading a devotional written by George Knight, one of the notable historians of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  He takes time over a number of readings to explain the background of how the movement of Sabbatarians, after almost two decades, became known as Seventh-day Adventists in 1860.  George Knight explains that a name was required in order to legally incorporate holdings (for example buildings) as an organization. A conference was held in 1860 and a number of names were put forward including the “Church of God”, but the one that won the day was Seventh-day Adventist Church; this was adopted by the General Conference in 1863.

Knight also comments that “Ellen White had remained silent during the debate, but she would later express her exuberant opinion. “The name Seventh-day Adventist,” she declared after the meetings, “carries the true features of our faith in front.… Like an arrow from the Lord’s quiver, it will wound the transgressors of God’s law, and will lead to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1T 224).
 

When we receive Jesus as our personal Saviour, we become Christians and receive the promised Holy Spirit as a pledge of God’s work of redemption in our lives (Eph.1:13,14). It is an instalment toward the more increased indwelling of the Holy Spirit as our relationship & commitment develops in Christ (2 Cor.1:20-22).  So, have we lost our first love by neglecting our spiritual lives?  Do we still sense the fire for God’s Word burning in our bones (Jer.20:9)?  Are we still compelled by the love of Christ (2 Cor.5:14)?  Or do we find ourselves giving priority to other things when we should be putting Jesus first in our lives by seeking those things that appertain to eternal life (Matt.6:33)?  Or have these spiritual senses somehow dissipated into thin air?  We are aware that we are not being as faithful and true to God as we ought, but somehow we rationalize in our minds that God will overlook our wrongdoings!  We are warned not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph.4:30).  By resisting or ignoring what He is urging us to do, means we are grieving the Spirit of God.
 

It is so easy for us to lose hold on our relationship with Christ.  It is like  Peter, when he took his eyes off the Saviour, he began to slip beneath the water (Matt.14:28-31).  Fellow believers, as we sense at this present time that like Peter, we are also slipping beneath the waves, let us call out to Jesus right now, and ourSaviour will reach out His hand, catch us by the collar and save us before it is too late to do so. Thank God, there is still time to turn back and receive that ‘first love’ and the gift of the Holy Spirit once again (2 Cor.6:2). The first thing we need to do is to determine to stop ignoring the promptings of the Holy Spirit by confessing and forsaking those wrong choices (Prov.28:13).  Then we are assured we shall receive forgiveness and cleansing from all sin (1 John 1:9,7).  Let us take careful note that we are “walking in darkness” by professing to be in union with Christ while failing “to practice the truth”; it is only as we follow the way Jesus walks that we are in union with Him and are cleansed from “all sin” by His blood (1 John 1:6,7).  This is a serious matter we need to consider very carefully.
 

 

 

 

[To be continued].