Together
Minister's Letter: August 2024
Dear Grace Church,
Well I suppose that’s just about the end of the summer. And if, when you read that, you say “What summer?”, you’ll hear a hearty amen from this corner of Montrose.
While that has been disappointing, there have been some highlights. The Olympics dazzled. Ireland had their best ever Olympics medal wise. And I hear that the UK weren’t too shabby either! The Annual BBQ was a treat as ever. Thanks so much to everyone who was involved. And how encouraging has it been to see the church full on a few Sundays.
A personal highlight for me this month was seeing two young men being ordained and commissioned to plant a new church in the Merchant City, Glasgow (see the photo below). One of those, David Trimble, was a student I read the Bible with and also supervised as a Ministry Trainee, while I served in St Andrews. You might remember that he preached Genesis 4 last August. He is a gifted Bible teacher but more importantly a humble man whose chief desire is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Let’s continue to pray for more workers to be raised up as we seek a healthy gospel church for every community in Scotland.
There have been numerous threads tying together Hebrews and Genesis, the last two books we have explored together on Sunday mornings. Characters like the mysterious Melchizedek or shared emphases on faith or even the importance of hospitality. But one in particular has raised its head. As Abraham was called out of Ur (Gen 12.1), so have we been summoned into the “race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12.1). We have all been called to a journey trusting God, knowing his promises are sure and secure.
One element of this pilgrim path that we have been drawn into that I’d like to briefly write about in this letter is that we walk together.
Charles Spurgeon, a 19th century Baptist Minister, was known as the “Prince of Preachers”. Yet he was also anguished giant, often laid low by agonies of the soul and griefs of mind. Unusually for the Victorian era, he was transparent in the pulpit about his struggles and battles.
(Zach Eswine has written a tender book on Spurgeon’s sorrows, which I’d highly recommend.)
In one sermon, he preached:
“The road to sorrow has been well trodden, it is the regular sheep-track to heaven, and all the flock of God have had to pass along it.”
This is an excellent picture of the Christian life on a number of levels. But chiefly it points out that we don’t do this as lone sheep. The Christian life is not an independent endeavour.
We don’t have to find a new way that no one else has walked before. In Hebrews 12.1, the author tells us that we are “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses”. Others have trudged through the valley so the path is well trod. We can see their footprints in the ground as they struggled and battled through. We might even see Abraham’s tracks. He set out by faith and his example still acts as a witness to us to follow in the same way, trusting in God’s promises and goodness.
But we also don’t have to take the journey alone. As Abraham traveled with his family, as Israel travelled in hundreds of thousands out of Egypt, and as the disciples were sent out in twos, so we go on this pilgrimage together.
And this is because we need each other.
The Christian walk is hard. It is challenging. It is disorientating. We stumble. We drift off in the wrong direction. We get distracted.
Therefore, we need each other. Sometimes to help us stand up again. Other times just to sit with us in the silence. Other times to cry and laugh with us when it all feels too much.
When Israel were ambushed by the Amalekites in the wilderness, God commanded Moses to hold his staff above his head. As long as it was over him, Israel would overpower their attackers. But if his arms drooped, Israel would fall back. As he grew weak, Aaron and Hur held up his arms (Exodus 17.12) and Israel prevailed.
The Christian life was never meant to be done alone. Often, our strength has run out and it is then we need each other to hold us up. It was always meant to be done together.
That is why the author to the Hebrews wrote:
“let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
-Hebrews 10.24-25
In Christ,
C.R.K.
August Treat
Here’s an interview with Debbie Flood, who won two Olympic silver medals in rowing. She speaks of how her faith is her anchor through all her life.