Through your prayers and giving, you are our partners in proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that we would continue to do so with all boldness and without hindrance!
Some have called COVID-19 “the great leveller”, but this is simply untrue. Significant quarters of society are disproportionately and adversely affected by the virus and various national/global responses have highlighted substantial inequities and misplaced priorities. It’s hard not to be aware of such things in a place like Wood Green, a densely populated, ethnically and socio-economically diverse urban town centre in North London, where Ryan King is pastor of Grace Baptist Church.
On the theological foundation of “Christ will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”, and with the practical formulation, “lockdown does not mean lay down”, Ryan has led the church over the past year to endure, not simply weathering the storm, but working through it. The doors of the chapel never closed on a Sunday morning. The Scriptures never stopped being proclaimed, taught, discussed, or prayed through several times a week by congregation and small groups, physically gathered and online. The church has boldly addressed the issues of the day with God’s Word: sickness, death, racism, sexual abuse and domestic violence, trauma, substance misuse, marital conflict, pornography, classism, corruption, consumerism…the list goes on. The church has sacrificially met the needs of the community with their work: public and personal evangelism, pastoral care and counselling, asylum and refugee support, emergency accommodation for homeless church members, prescription collection, grocery shopping, Free School Meals, support groups, and a food bank that is presently providing for up to 100 individuals. Grace Wood Green does not - indeed, cannot - deny the devastating reality of the pandemic: several church members are front-line workers and church elder Charles Efedua recently lost his mother to COVID-19. But far from discouraging their activity, the reality of mortality gives them a sense of moral obligation to be a responsible force for good and faithful witnesses to Christ’s good news.
Ryan recently preached a message from Esther, comparing that book and the past year to the back of a tapestry: a mess of threads, without visible pattern or purpose, and the question “where is God?”. But turn it over: the tapestry tells a story and the needlework is God’s: “I’m looking back at 2020, and I’m turning it over, and I’m seeing not only tragedy but triumph in the tapestry of life, and all of it is telling the story: “There, there, was Jesus!”.
The work is hard, the labourers few, resources little, opportunities great, and needs many. Pray that God would provide for the church above and beyond all that they could ask or think, helping her leaders and members in every way.
Pray for the growth and endurance of the holistic, every-member ministry of the church.
Praise God for 16 members added to the church last year, six by baptism. Pray that many more will put their faith in Christ and find fellowship with us.
You can make a gift to Grace Baptist Partnership and the ongoing work of leadership training, church planting and revitalisation, using this link: Donate | Grace Baptist Partnership.
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