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We are thankful unto God that our brother Cecil Andrews from Take Heed Ministries was with us during our pastor's annual summer holiday.
We have enjoyed many visits from our brother over the past few years. This visit he covered some very important subjects. Firstly from Mark chapter one we were refreshed with two messages on the person and ministry of Christ. On Lord's Day evenings, under the title "Habbakkuk For Today," our brother took us through Habakkuk. On the Wednesday evenings he spoke on the Reformation. Luther took his stand 500 years ago and there is a continuing need for the great truths of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as revealed in Scripture alone. We were taken from the castle door in 1517 to Peel Cathedral in 2017.
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We are thankful unto God that our brother Cecil Andrews from Take Heed Ministries is with us during our pastor's annual summer holiday.
It is planned that Cecil will speak at our meetings whilst Glenn is away. We have enjoyed many visits from our brother over the past few years. This year on the Wednesday evenings he hopes to speak on the Reformation. This October marks the 500th anniversary of Luther's 95 theses.
As members of Tynwald were arriving for the June 2016 sitting of the Isle of Man parliament a witness team from Grace Baptist Church Peel had the responsibility of warning about the deception of abortion. Many were spoken to or took a leaflet. A group campaigning for a further weakening of the Isle of Man law was also present. Pastor Glenn Walters was interviewed by MtTV. The video is on the Manx.net website. Leaflets were handed out, PDF copy here, this is part of the wording:
"God's Law commands us to love our neighbours as ourselves. Abortion is a failure to love mothers and their unborn children.
We have all broken God's Law. We are sinners who deserve His punishment.
God showed His love for sinners by giving His Son, Jesus, to be punished in their place. He forgives all who repent and believe this Good News."
Other Pro-Life demonstrators were also present.
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We regularly have joint prayer meetings. It is good to share points for prayer and encouragement between the churches. Wednesday, 19 July 2017 was extra special because we had visitors from Grace Baptist Mission. Team leader, Jim Sayers, began the meeting by looking at the words of our Lord in Matthew's gospel 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Our brother went on to share with us very encouraging reports from the work of GBM. Of particular interest to this writer was how, from the office in Abingdon, radio programmes are produced to encourage and teach Christians in French-speaking Africa. Rural pastors are enabled to learn how to understand Scripture in context and so produce more balanced sermons. The importance of providing Scriptures in people's heart languages was emphasised. The process that is carefully undertaken was explained to us. Most of us find it difficult to learn anything of a second language so we can appreciate the importance of being able to read the scriptures in our own mother tongue. The work of GBM in Bordeaux and Paris was also explained. France is a very secular society. The work of evangelism has to proceed with care and patience but blessings are being seen and new churches planted. One brother who has come with the group to help our friends in Onchan and Port Erin for the next week gave an account of his visit to Latvia. It was a most encouraging report. We were exhorted to continue to pray for the work of GBM and all the missionaries. The team then outlined their plans and hopes for their week working with the churches in the Isle of Man. Many activities are planned.
The evening finished with a time of heartfelt prayer for the Lord's blessing upon the gospel message during the coming week. We then enjoyed some light refreshments and a time of conversation together.
Over the years talented Isle of Man drama groups have staged high quality productions of "Jesus Christ Superstar", this has provided us with opportunities for the church to carry out a public witness to the facts concerning the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we do this? It is simply that this musical does not relate the historical Christ of the Bible, his person, life death and resurection are the vital truths of the christian faith. Many people may hear more about the Lord Jesus Christ attending this performance than at any other time, however, Tim Rice (the shows writer) did not set out to give the biblical view. It is his own interpretation and it is radically different. For example, in 'Superstar' Christ is left in the tomb, there is no resurrection. We believe that the least that we can do is to offer people leaflets explaining the biblical view of our Lord and Saviour. Our 2005 witness was briefly reported by Isle of Man Newspapers.
Matthew Else had the opportunity to speak on Manx Radio about why the church saw this witness as vital. Apologies for the poor audio quality.
