Stoke COG Blog

Apparently it’s been almost three months since the last blog entry – shocking!  What’s been going on in the interim period? 

Well May was our Missions Month based on young people.  It was a fantastic focussing on what our responsibilities are regarding these precious vessels of God’s work in this time.  It included a baptism session near the end of the month where among others two young people declared publicly their commitment to Christ in baptism, which is good news.  Since then there’s been a growth of youth work and opportunities with other agencies all with the mind of helping our young people realise their potential socially and educationally. 

Now you may wonder what about the spiritual?  Well in a very real way everything we do is spiritual, so in encouraging our young people we’re seeing that everything that they do is an act of worship to God, so there’s no point in treating their school work shabbily as that’s an expression of worship to God and witness to others.  Same for all aspects of life as we Paul suggests that whether it’s in eating or drinking we’ve got to do everything to God’s glory.  Running on the same theme Paul would inform you that as our bodies are presented as living sacrifices that the deal is to have our thinking attuned to discovering and practicing the perfect will of God for our life which affects all areas.  So with those foundational blocks in place you can understand the value placed on encouraging young people to aim for excellence in what they’re doing. 

That was an exciting May.  June was also crammed with activity whether it was a women’s prayer retreat or a special men’s day featuring one of Britain’s most promising comedians, Andy Kind. In between all of that is our regular weekly activities for men, women, children and young people as well time for prayer, bible study and engaging in praise and worship in song.  One particular highlight of the moment is the series on spiritual warfare led by Hughie Lawrence.  It’s been fascinating and deeply soul-searching to uncover the enemy within and the enemy without in the run-up to understanding the nature of the battle we face and the weapons we have on our side.  It’s also quite clear to see how all these engage with day to day life whether it’s the circumstances we go through or the thoughts and feelings that rush to our head. 

Exciting plans are afoot about developments in COG life which I hope to be able to share in the coming weeks and in the meantime we press on to fulfil our commitment to Christ in making disciples whilst building relationships with people as the priority.  

It is hugely ironic then that in the middle of the all the activity a key word that’s been shared during our prayer time is about rest.  It can be easy to be activity-driven and sometimes anxiety can lead to a heightened sense of the need to be busy and frantic, yet when Jesus is in the boat a key episode of faith reminds us that we can take it easy, knowing that our heavenly Father gives sleep. 

The plan is that these blog entries should come along a bit more regularly than once every three months to keep you posted on what’s going on with StokeCOG.  Hopefully at some point there’ll be time to share the story of how we came to be which is a story to tell indeed, but in the meantime, be assured that those who are for us are far greater than those that are against us.  Check you soon.  Shalom.

For His Name’s Sake – cd