Learning from the past I want to share something I read this morning (Monday) from John Newton which wonderfully sums up truths I believe to be vital for healthy church life. He is famous as the converted slave-trader who wrote ‘Amazing Grace’. I have found reading his letters, published in several volumes, some of which are found in: ‘Wise Counsel – John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland Jr.’ (Banner of Truth) to be a great blessing. Ryland was a Baptist minister Newton writes to as a spiritual father. The letter I quote explains what he sees as really important in ministry and church life to produce healthy churches: As far as I can judge, my call in this city (London), besides preaching the salvation of God to sinners is twofold: 1. To inculcate peace and love among those who are set upon the one foundation, though in some points they are not all of a mind. 2. To insist much upon the life of God in the soul, and to show that the power of religion is something different, from an attachment to systems, or modes or forms. These principles draw together a motley sort of assembly, and church folks (Anglicans) and Dissenters (non-conformists) of different kinds. (He also mentions Calvinistic Methodists, Wesleyan Methodists and Moravians – a sect from Germany). Why take up what he writes about that particular ministry? It is relevant to us in the 21st Century. When John Newton was writing in 1780 there was little movement of population outside of London, which was a growing city with a mobile population. Nowadays the population in the UK is very mobile and churches change because people move in and move away. His London congregation is very like the ‘motley sort of assembly’ that most evangelical churches are nowadays and this inevitably means that we are those, ‘who are set upon the one foundation, though in some points (we) are not all of a mind.’ So we may all be in Christ but we have different backgrounds - Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Pentecostal or a completely independent church. We have different influences. Calvinistic, Charismatic, Expository Bible Ministry, Body-Life all of which have myriad variations within them and we haven’t yet touched on nationality! What do we need to learn from John Newton? I think there are several lessons: 1. The Gospel Comes First as Regards the Existence of a True Church We mustn’t pass over what Newton says, ‘besides preaching the salvation of God to sinners’. Agreement on the gospel, and commitment to its proclamation must come first. Unbelievers need the gospel to come to peace with God through faith in Christ – believers need the gospel because without it they will drift away from God’s grace. Without the gospel as central to church’s life it will not be true that we are, ‘those who are set upon the one foundation’ and it is fundamental that we need to be. 2. Love and Peace are Primary Values for the Church’s Health ‘To inculcate peace and love among those who are set upon the one foundation, though in some points they are not all of a mind’ was John Newton’s aim and we need to appreciate why. We are fallen, finite creatures and so we will never fully agree on non-gospel issues this side of heaven. So we need to love those from whom we differ on significant issues and to seek to be at peace with them. That must be true if Jesus’ words to his disciples are taken seriously (John 13: 34 + 35), ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ Love must express itself in commitment to building one another up not in putting one another right at every opportunity. Churches need to have a Statement of Faith and a church’s teaching and practice will be controlled by this. The preaching and teaching however should concentrate on, ‘the main things’ – that is on fundamental gospel truths rather than matters of controversy. When we need to speak on what we disagree about it must be done with love, respect and a clear commitment to unity. 3. True Christianity is fundamentally a matter of spiritual life not structures ‘To insist much upon the life of God in the soul, and to show that the power of religion is something different, from an attachment to systems, or modes or forms.’ All churches will have ‘systems’ = a Statement of Faith, ‘modes’ = ways of doing things, and ‘forms’ = patterns of worship. However if these are mistaken for the heart of true Christian faith rather than the heart of Christianity being God at work by his Spirit in the minds and hearts of those who believe in the Lord Jesus, the result will be that people delude themselves that outward changes will make them a Christian. For all of us it is all too easy to settle for outward conformity rather than the massive inner change being born of the Spirit must bring about. True faith will centre on the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that only from him can true spiritual life and acceptance with God come. Preaching which doesn’t highlight, ‘the life of God in the soul’ will inevitably lead to false assurance though outwardly conforming to Christian belief and practice. Why this should matter to us I am writing about this because it is vital for the church’s present welfare and health and, equally importantly, its future welfare and health that we see the importance of what John Newton was standing for. It is that we must take the words of our Lord Jesus, given shortly before he died and rose for us, (John 13: 34 + 35), ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ as the basis for our church life. I am grateful to John Newton that he spelt out how we are to practise these things but I have sought throughout my ministry that these values should control it. I trust that whoever succeeds me here will share that set of values because without it spiritual flourishing and health cannot be a reality. Yours in the Lord, Mike Plant

Why ask this question? One of the ministers in the EFCC What’s App Discussion Group posted a blog which he regularly reads for stimulation and encouragement. The person writing said that he found when he asked people how they are during the pandemic – sadly of course this is almost invariably by phone or on zoom nowadays – he had become frustrated that if he asked people, ‘How are you?’ they invariably replied that they were Okay. He has now started asking them what it is that they are currently finding most difficult. I felt when I read this that this really does have a capacity to be helpful. We automatically tend to shy away from examining what is really going on in our lives because in actuality it is quite painful delving into what is difficult and unpleasant and it is easier if we can avoid thinking about it. We also have a tendency, which is directly linked to our fallen human nature, to want to be independent and self-sufficient when God made us to be inter-dependent and therefore insufficient in ourselves. We are told in Romans 12: 15 + 16, ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.’ What this clearly means is that we are to be involved in one another’s lives. They cannot manage without us and we cannot manage without them. What do you find most difficult? For myself, the problems of the pandemic are, particularly now, the lack of contact with other people and the sense of isolation that comes from this. This isn’t meant to indicate I think emails, letters, phone calls, zoom meetings etc are valueless but simply to say that they cannot replace face to face contact. One text I haven’t dwelt on previously is in 2 John. Verse 12 reads, ‘Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.’ John of course was not isolated as we are currently compelled to be but was separated from Christians whom he loved and with whom he wanted to be in contact. There is a joy in being with people we just can’t get from other means of being in touch – it is not that God cannot keep us but that some normal means of grace and spiritual support are not available in the same way in lockdown. God still blesses us when we cannot be with people I certainly wouldn’t want to imply that there are not real joys in other forms of contact. Recently Margaret and I were talking with a Christian woman who we befriended when she was forced to flee her country because of a risk to her life and came to the UK and was sent to Middlesbrough. She was a Christian when she came to this country but found settling down in a church and growing spiritually was quite a problem. Certainly we were concerned for her and she seemed rather uncommitted and cool spiritually at one stage. It was not surprising because she had changed continent as well as country and instinctively looked for friendship/fellowship with those from her own country and background. She found in time that the spiritual bonds of belonging to Christ are far deeper and stronger than national and racial bonds but that is a lesson many are slow to learn. Over the years we have seen her commitment to Christ deepen and mature and that has been a great joy to us. Just this week we decided to have contact with her via zoom as a good way to spend part of our day-off. She talked about the Bible books they are studying at her home church – Ecclesiastes and James – and how fascinating she was finding them and the fact she was studying them personally as well as listening to the preaching about them. When we closed our time together I prayed and so did she. It was a blessing to reflect on the past years when we had tried to support and encourage her and she had been slow to respond. The time and effort we gave has been abundantly rewarded. Yours in the Lord, Mike Plant

Please read carefully the information below and be prayerful and seek God’s wisdom as you consider returning to the church services: 1. The advice of the government has been for those over the age of 70 not to attend the services. It is advice not law but we would want everyone to think seriously about this and not to feel that they are under any pressure because others expect them to attend. We want everyone to make wise and prayerful decisions. 2. The car park will be open and appropriate SOCIAL DISTANCING (2 metres) is expected in the car park and on the paths around the church as well as in the chapel. The paths and the chapel have been marked out to assist social distancing. We are using 2 metres rather than 1 meter plus as being a wise safeguard. 3. TO ENTER THE CHAPEL Go to the front entrance and enter through the main doors. You will be greeted and directed to take a service sheet which you should take home with you (church bibles and hymn-books will not be available). If you are new to the church please sign in to enable track and trace measures. Alternatively, you may use the QR code on the poster in the entrance. You are encouraged to bring your own Bible but if we are to read together the appropriate scriptures will be on the service sheet. The church Bible is the English Standard Version. 4. HAND SANITIZERS will be provided for use entering and leaving the chapel and will be in the foyer as you enter the chapel and on the offertory boxes at the beginning of the aisle as you enter the worship area. Please use these. 5. We would expect those attending to bring their own FACE COVERINGS (non-surgical masks) if they wish/need to wear one but we have a small supply that can be made available in case of need of need. 6. NOT EVERYONE IS PHYSICALLY ABLE TO ENTER THE CHAPEL USING THE CHAPEL STEPS. If you cannot, please enter through the prayer-room door – round to the right of the main doors. Again please use the HAND SANITIZER provided as you enter and as you leave. We will ensure you are given a service sheet when you are seated. 7. The offertory boxes will be available for use but we have to take precautions with handling money so IF YOU ARE ABLE TO MAKE GIVE YOUR OFFERING BY A STANDING ORDER OR A BANK TRANSFER THAT WILL BE VERY HELPFUL. 8. ON ENTERING THE CHAPEL THERE WILL BE SOMEONE TO DIRECT YOU TO A SEAT – not all the seats in the chapel can be used so some of the pews are taped off. Once you have entered your pew please note that these are again taped to show where to sit to enable appropriate social distancing. 9. THE BALCONY WILL BE OPEN FOR USE We are not expecting numbers which necessitate that we use the balcony. However, if you wish to do so there are two pews with cushions available which again have been marked off for social distancing. We will enable further use of the balcony if it is needed in the coming weeks. 10. During the service we have some hymns/songs played through the speaker system and may have shared or responsive readings. The words will be on the service sheet. 11. AT THE END OF THE SERVICE YOU WILL BE INSTRUCTED AS TO HOW TO LEAVE THE BUILDING and different sections of the church will leave in sequence as they are directed to do so. This is to achieve appropriate social distancing. 12. USE OF TOILETS If you wish to use the downstairs toilet before, during or after the service, please exit the building through the main doors – taking care to continue to observe social distancing - and enter again through the door of the prayer-room. There will be HAND SANITIZER provided in the toilets. The downstairs toilet will be open for those sitting downstairs and the upstairs one for those sitting upstairs and is accessed from the balcony. Please READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT TOILET USE and on no account flush the toilets without the seat being down. On leaving the downstairs toilet, exit the building through the prayer-room door and if returning to the service enter the church again through the main doors. 13. We aim to keep the chapel as well-ventilated as we are able – so the door to the vestry and the door through to the prayer-room will be left open during the services. 14. WE WILL NOT BE HAVING REFRESHMENTS FOLLOWING THE SERVICE We will keep this under review. Government advice is that the premises should be vacated without undue delay. Do note that you are now able to arrange to visit friends and socialise with them either in your garden or house if you choose to do so. 15. While we cannot shorten the service too much without changing it beyond recognition. We plan that THE SERVICE WILL BE ABOUT AN HOUR IN DURATION. To see the how the church has been adapted for maintaining safety whilst we worship please what the video at this link.

Dear Friends, Every day I use the Prayer Focus which is issued monthly by the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches. Looking at the prayer requests I have sent to be included, one recently talked about the need to resume outreach meetings and asked people to pray for a relaxation in the current level of restrictions so we can return to some of the things we have been doing. Those prayers have not been answered as yet – what do we make of it? Clearly, this is one of the cases where we pray for openings for the gospel, and it is right to pray for these because our God is a missionary God (John 3: 16), and for his own wise reasons God does not choose to answer our prayer as we would wish and as he has indicated in his word is his revealed will for his people (1 Timothy 2: 1 – 4). We might ask why is it that God’s people are encouraged to pray for peace and protection but also encouraged to keep going without their faith diminishing when those prayers remain un-answered? The same of course applies to our prayers for the unsaved; if (1 Timothy 3: 4), ‘God our Saviour, ... desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’, why is it that our prayers for the salvation of loved ones, and others the Lord places on our hearts, often remain unanswered and can cause us great personal pain? There are a number of people I pray for regularly and it is painful to think of the reality that they may remain unsaved with the consequences of this utterly clear in the Bible. I think there can be a number of reasons why prayers remain unanswered and to prevent despondency it may be good for us to consider some of them. There is no doubt that one of the threats posed by the current restrictions, and this will impact most heavily on those who are back under partial lockdown, is depression and in the case of Christians this can often link to the difficulty posed by the fact that prayers which represent our heart’s desire for others are often slow to be answered. So, here are some possible reasons for unanswered prayer: 1. God is often dealing with us and making us ready to have our prayers answered. James 4: 3, ‘You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.’ The person addressed is a step beyond not asking (James 4: 2 end), ‘You do not have, because you do not ask’ but is learning a further lesson. Lesson one has been our absolute dependence on God’s grace and lesson two is that even when asking for what is entirely right and appropriate we may have mixed motives which would mean that it would be damaging to us if our prayers, brought to God as they now are, were answered. We can be very passionate in prayer when the root of the prayer is not God’s glory and the good of others but our own comfort and our own glory. God refines us to make our prayers answerable. 2. Sometimes we may not have an answer to our prayers as we long for because God, being all-wise, actually uses the experience of prayer and its difficulties, sadness and frustrations to make us into the kind of people we need to be. That is closely linked to the first reason but we are to realize that the suffering of unanswered and heartfelt prayer is making us increasingly godly and more aligned with God’s will in our praying. (Romans 5: 3 + 4), ‘we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.’ 3. Sometimes the reason for unanswered prayer may simply be that we need to realize something very basic about our Christian faith and about our prayer. That is that Christianity, Christian obedience and prayer are not about technique, or even primarily about correct belief, but about a relationship. It is of prime importance that our experience of unanswered prayer does not damage our view of God and his character and friendship. The Lord has revealed himself as a God (Exodus 34: 6), ‘merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness’. When we allow our experience of unanswered prayer to move us from the conviction of his steadfast love towards us that is a far worse disaster than the fact that our prayers as yet remain unanswered. One of the great lessons of the book of Job, and there are dreadful tragedies and sadness within the book and Job consistently cried out to God for answers and response, is that the answer to Job’s problems is actually to encounter, know, love and trust the Lord God himself. I am very aware that what I have written above does not begin to touch how some of us feel about our prayers and tears that still remain with God. At the end of the day we come to this – we will trust him and remember his goodness and faithfulness, most fully expressed to us in the life and death and continuing ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, even though our hopes and prayers seem to lie in the dust. With God there is mystery and if that were not so then we would not need to have faith. Faith takes God’s word, his revealed truth about himself and his goodness and love and faithfulness to his people, and holds onto it when we cannot understand. In the meantime we pray as God directs his people to do – in our prayers we are guided by God’s will as revealed in his word – when prayer remains unanswered we are sustained by his love for us and his faithfulness to us and the knowledge that this loving and kind God is absolutely sovereign and in control of all things. It is this that enables us to continue praying when there appears to be no response to our prayers and sometimes when the response seems to be the reverse of what we desire and pray for. One great lesson from Jacob’s encounter with God and he wrestles with him and obtains victory and the answer to his prayers is that this happens because Jacob won’t let go of God. The reason is that God has lamed him and he can’t let go of God! That is spiritual reasoning – we in our spiritual weakness lay hold of him who could but doesn’t choose to destroy us. Yours in the Lord, Mike Plant 2nd October 2020

The reality we face as Bible-believing churches We live in at a time which has some very discouraging features: 1. During the last 40 years, church attendance in the United Kingdom has halved. 2. People are totally ignorant about the Christian faith they reject. 3. People are ignorant of the Bible and don’t understand it’s truth or its main story and stories. This means we have much to teach before the gospel can be intelligible. 4. In the past Biblical morality, was approved of if not followed. Now it is seen as immoral and oppressive. I don’t want to be pessimistic because there are many areas of the world where church growth, often through conversions, is far more rapid than population growth. In the UK there is real encouragement with churches being planted and then planting other churches. Trying to find a way forward I think that there has been a good response in terms of people trying to understand the people around them, and developing understanding as to how to respond to those beliefs people have, which make them feel themselves as immune to the gospel. However in terms of church life and worship, I fear we have often missed the way and may be profoundly misunderstanding our times and responding to them incorrectly. I want to address that in a few areas and hope this may be helpful to us. Love in church life is crucially important Patricia St John wrote as a missionary in a culture (Islam) which is strongly opposed to the gospel. Stories from such backgrounds are now vital to us in a (secular) culture which is strongly opposed to the gospel. She tells a story: A simple country woman who had been the first to believe in her village and had learned from her New Testament and from one isolated missionary for three years, came down to town eager to meet other Christians. But within the first few weeks she was conscious of contention and strain. She walked into the room where her friend was sitting and laid her New Testament down on the table. ‘For three years you taught me that Christians loved each other and I believed you,’ she said bitterly. ‘Now I know you were deceiving me all the time.’ A failure on our part to show authentic forgiving, non-grudge bearing, Christian love will be seen to mean that the gospel itself is not authentic. Some of the things we see as vitally important are basically no big deal One thing which is often highlighted as hugely important for reaching outsiders is worship style. It is not irrelevant but we need to develop some balanced thinking on this: 1. Worship style is very important in that Christians who move to an area, or who are moving between churches, will have a clear(ish) idea of what they look for in a church and worship style will probably be important here. Non-Christians generally don’t have anything they are looking for because this is a new world to them. 2. Even if we are looking at Christians considering a church there is a certain flexibility that they will need to have. If a Christian is seeking a church in London, or even Exeter, there will be a wide range of church styles and emphases. In Honiton and the area around there a several good Bible-believing churches but Christians seeking a gospel church would have to accept the choice of style and approach is limited. However if we are seeking to reach out to secular non-Christians they really haven’t any idea what to expect – indeed for people converted out the world what their church does is, as far as they are concerned, what all real and authentic churches must be doing. Worship style and Outreach Here are some suggestions: 1. Intelligibility Spiritual understanding comes from God’s Holy Spirit but we must make sure our worship is intelligible and understandable. So Bible versions need to be understandable and so do our hymns and preaching. The ability of someone to pick up Christian in-language is not the same of conversion – Dr Lloyd-Jones (I have been told) said it would be possible of a parrot to learn ‘the language of Zion.’ 2. Orderliness Conversion is a supernatural work but takes place by the use of means. A key verse is Romans 6: 17, ‘thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.’ In terms of what happens to us there are three stages: a) God addresses our minds We are committed to ‘the standard of teaching’ – the revelation of the gospel. God causes us to hear and enables us to understand the gospel. b) We become obedient to the heart Our minds are persuaded but at the level of the heart, the deepest motives and feelings, we are changed – we respond to God’s love revealed in the gospel. c) The result is obedience The effect is a changed life. We now love because he first loved us. Intentionally, our order of service helpfully reflects the logic and pattern of the gospel. 3. Timelessness This may sound odd but there is a point of in having older hymns which I may well develop further in next week’s letter. Much of today’s thinking is very short- term. The wisdom of the past isn’t appreciated or listened to. We don’t want to identify with the passing age but with the people of God and their living faith down the centuries. I rejoice that hymns like, ‘There is a fountain filled with blood,’ ‘What can wash away my sins? (Nothing but the blood of Jesus), ‘Jesus paid it all,’ ‘Immortal honours rest on Jesu’s head’ and ‘He will hold me fast’ seem to be enjoying a revival of interest and use recently. Yours in the Lord, Mike Plant 7th August 2020

Dear Friends, This may seem something far from easy at present. Chatting to folk I get the sense that the novelty of lockdown has well and truly worn off and that people are desperate to get out of it. Along with this can be a depressed feeling that actually it will be hard to get going again and that things won’t be entirely normal when we do. I agree that things won’t be entirely normal but I also believe we will adapt extraordinarily quickly and easily even if the way we do things may have to be different, in some respects, from what went before. However next year is the 250th Anniversary of the founding of our church, this is the body of believers meeting together rather than the building which came along three years later. We intend to celebrate it and have a number of special events which will give us the opportunity to share not just the history but the faith and trust in God that underlies the history of God’s people in this place. I will first give you the things that are definitely planned, some of which have set dates already, and then talk about things we may do. If you have thoughts as to what we can do to make an effective witness next year please do email or phone me. Definite Dates On SATURDAY MAY 8TH 2021 we will be hosting the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches. This will be a full day of meetings with worship and preaching to begin and to conclude the day. We will need to offer hospitality to as many as we can and cater for those who attend during the day. On SATURDAY OCTOBER 16TH 2021 from 5pm – 7.30pm we will host a meeting for Stuart Burgess of Answers in Genesis who will be speaking on ‘Our Designer World’. Obviously we are happy that believers attend but the main focus is to commend the gospel to those who are not converted. One of the great objections to the gospel is that it is unscientific and unreasonable and Stuart, who lectures in engineering, will be putting the case that an intelligently designed universe is far more reasonable to believe in than one which has come about by blind chance. Probable Dates The Church Anniversary will take place on 21ST NOVEMBER 2021 and we are hoping that Greg Strain of Spicer Street, St Albans – who preached at my induction - will be our preacher. There is obviously a bit of flexibility about dates but that it what we are hoping for. In view of the significance of it being the 250th Anniversary we could have a Saturday meeting as well – either for preaching or to look back on the last fifty years which have been very significant in the history of the church. Planned but as yet Undated The meeting to look back at the last fifty years could be separate from the Anniversary and we also look forward to an evening in which my brother Keith will speak about Augustus Montague Toplady. In the 18th Century Toplady had a connection to the area because he was Vicar of Broad-Hembury. He is well-known as the writer of numerous hymns, the most famous of which is probably, ‘Rock of Ages’. Toplady was a staunch evangelical and a effective and blessed gospel preacher. His story is full of interest and will not only be spiritually beneficial to Christians but spiritually challenging to those who are not yet converted. We have also talked about the possibility of reaching out to those who have had past connections to the church, particularly to the children’s and young people’s work which of course was flourishing at some periods in the church’s recent history. Very probably the Toddlers’ work could reach out to those they have been in contact with over the years. There are many possibilities. PLANNING THE PREACHING MINISTRY When the lockdown began I moved from what I was doing to preaching a series on God’s love as we know it in the gospel and as it is to be expressed in our lives as individuals and in our life together as God’s church. The reality is that the things we talk about in sermons need to hit the ground in our lives and in the church’s life as we will in time begin to meet together again. Regarding the morning preaching, I have probably three sermons to go until I have finished 1 Timothy after which I am planning to preach through the first four chapters of Genesis – these are massively important chapters because our understanding of them undergirds our understanding of the whole message of the Bible. We learn about: 1. God’s relationship to his creation. 2. The place of humanity within creation and in relationship to God and how sin coming into the world through the fall impacts on that. 3. The beginnings of the plan of redemption that will eventually lead to the new heavens and new earth of Revelation 20 – 22. Because these areas of truth are the foundations for our faith and life it is clear that if we are seriously wrong about them it will have a serious and damaging impact on our lives. In the evenings (take note that we are not sure whether we will be able to run more than one service a day initially) I have completed a series on Psalm 73 and plan to preach a short series on a couple of incidents in the life of Elisha. Reading through Elisha’s life in my annual read through the Bible, I was very aware that there are themes here which are currently extremely relevant for the Lord’s people. I would expect to be several weeks exploring these passages and then to move on – where to I am not certain. I would expect we will be a while in Hebrews both in the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting and, when we are able to recommence it, the House-group. When I was talking about this to Margaret she said, ‘You’ll have to stick to what you tell people’. I have been known, in the past, to announce a series and then change my mind. I can assure you this is what I expect to do but sometimes events and the Lord’s leading may lead to changes. What won’t change is my desire to be meeting with you all for worship face-to-face. Yours with Christian love, Mike Plant 29th May 2020

Dear Friends, At a recent online meeting for those leading the church during the lockdown period, it was suggested it is time we updated our letter on the website about closing our services. Time has gone by and the situation has moved on so it is good to record where we are now and indicate what we can about future plans. For the interim we will continue to put the Sunday service on the website each week, provide a bible-study both on the website and as a document, and send out a weekly letter. FIRSTLY: NO CHANGE IN REGARDS WHAT WE KNOW OF THE FUTURE We don’t have a date or clear instructions regarding the lockdown restrictions on worship being lifted. God willing we hope to recommence meeting in July. Once we have a date and instructions we will put a statement on the website and circulate you all about what we will be doing. We will organise so that those worshipping with us are as safe as possible. We know that not everyone will be able to recommence worshipping with us at that point so we will also give details of the improved provision we are hoping to put in place for those not able to be with us. SECONDLY: A LOT OF THANK-YOUS TO SHARE I want to express our gratitude to those who are keeping in touch with members of the congregation by phone call or text or whatever means has worked out best. We are also very grateful to those who have provided food and burnt CDs and delivered CDs, DVDs, books and letters in order to support others during lockdown. We hope these services we are seeking to provide are running smoothly and no-one is missing out. Let us know if it isn’t working well for you and we will try to sort things out. If you are not on our circulation list and would like to be please let me know and we will be glad to include you. THIRDLY: CHECKING UP ON ONGOING NEEDS Isolation is difficult because of shopping, prescriptions and other needs. If you need practical help let us know - we want to help. We are also conscious that we are not designed by God with a view to prolonged isolation and so psychologically and spiritually everyone will struggle and some of us will find it particularly difficult and wearing. If we can help either by phone or online or even by a socially-distanced visit these are things we are very willing to undertake – don’t hesitate to be in touch with us. FOURTHLY: HELPFUL CONSIDERATIONS AT THIS TIME At our meeting this morning our thoughts were turned to Romans 8: 28 – 39 which emphasize God’s absolute control of all things and that our confidence in him rests on his sovereignty and his love for us (verse 32), ‘He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not along with him graciously give us all things?’ If he has already done the greater thing, giving his Son to secure our eternal salvation, we know he will supply our needs of grace and help during this coronavirus crisis, and indeed in any other crises we may face in our lifetime. Yours in Christian Fellowship, Mike Plant (25 th May 2020)

Dear Friends, One of the privileges of having been involved with the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches (EFCC) and with the World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship (WECF), has been to encounter and to be encouraged and inspired by godly men and women from different backgrounds. Someone whose fellowship I have greatly appreciated in Steve Gammon. When I first met Steve he was replacing another good friend, Cliff Christenson, as the Conference Minister for the Conservative Congregation Christian Conference (4Cs) in the USA. He is quite different from me in many ways theologically and personally but I have always had a deep respect for him as being transparently a man of God. Before becoming the Conference Minister of the 4Cs, the equivalent of EFCC’s General Secretary (or now Ministry Director), Steve had been a minister in Rhode Island and then in Minnesota, which is one of the northernmost states in the USA. While at Rhode Island he became a US Naval Chaplain and was later on reserve. While working as Conference Minister he was called up from Reserve and ended up working towards retirement as a Naval Chaplain. His final placing was to be the Head Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay. We renewed our friendship at the WECF Conference in February 2016 in Orlando, Florida. At which point we were both in the process of seeking the Lord’s will for our future. As I received and accepted the call to the church here in April 2016 you know how it turned out for me. At that time Steve had been approached by a church on Rhode Island. He had been involved in the process by which they affiliated to the 4Cs and had preached for them often so knew them well. They are unique in the 4Cs because they were originally Episcopalian (a branch of the Anglican Church) and had chosen to leave their denomination for an evangelical church group because of increasing liberalism in the denomination. They still had an Anglican approach to worship using a prayer book. By the way EFCC have an equivalent congregation in Christ Church, Teddington, who were formerly part of the Free Church of England. Within a few months he had resolved his situation and had accepted their call. His uncertain future in February 2016 meant that I became the President of WECF until 2019. He was the obvious candidate but the uncertainty prevented his being appointed. I felt an increased affinity with Steve at this point – we both left serving in local church ministry because we believed the Lord wished us to serve him in another capacity and we were thrilled to be returning to local church ministry for our final ministry. I was desperately sorry that within a couple of years Steve was diagnosed with cancer and being unable to guarantee to serve the congregation as he would wish chose to resign his pastorate. At the time I remember thinking it could have been me with cancer and resigning and him continuing in that ministry and wondering how I would have reacted. The onset of his illness was prior to the 2019 WECF Triennial Conference at which I had anticipated handing over to him the WECF Presidency and meant I was obliged to continue in office. It has been a blessing to me is to read the spiritual reflections Steve has recorded during his period of treatment. He is someone who has humbled himself under God’s hand in a very testing period and his faith has encouraged me. He has just received stem cell replacement therapy and so far progresses well. He was recently brought into contact with the writing of Jonathan Edwards and published a reflection on his resolutions which he wrote when he was about 20. Jonathan Edwards was an 18th Century Congregational Minister in New England, who was both a profound thinker and a remarkable preacher who experienced revivals at periods in his ministry. Steve focused on 7 of the 100 or so resolutions: 6. Resolved: To live with all my might while I do live. 7. Resolved: Never to do anything which I would be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life. 17. Resolved: That I will live, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die. 28. Resolved: To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same. 29. Resolved: Never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept. 52.  I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live if they were to live their lives over again.  Resolved: That I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had lived, supposing I live to old age. 70. Resolved: Let there be something of benevolence in all that I speak. A thread running through these reflections is the simple realism with which Jonathan Edwards as a young man faces the reality of life’s shortness and the certainty of death – which is very relevant to us in these testing times. While I am sure that others in his era simply faced these realities with resentment and anger he is willing to acquiesce to God’s will in the disposal of his life and to seek to use that life to God’s glory and for the good of others. Steve’s choice of resolution 29 is particularly insightful and the resolution deserves our attention, meditation and I suspect our repentance. Do we ever pray out of duty and habit without a real hope and conviction that this is a prayer God will hear and respond to? Or do we go through the routine of confessing our sins without the realistic thought that we are bringing them before God who will hear and is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness? Those thoughts are searching and the resolution has great potential to protect us and keep us from backsliding. I commend it to you. KEEPING THE CHURCH GOING The Church Officers and others working to support the church at this time of need are meeting fortnightly on Mondays using Zoom. One item we are following up is a survey of our church building, which the church commissioned and which was received shortly before lockdown started. Please pray for the church officers and those who are seeking to lead the church in very abnormal times. Pray for our services Sunday by Sunday that we may know God’s presence. Pray for one another and keep in touch and support one another as you can. Yours in the Lord, Mike Plant 22nd May 2020

Dear Friends, God’s blessing in listening to his people’s praise One of the things I have had to do over the lockdown period is to find hymns/songs which are suitable and helpful. Normally of course I choose them and leave the rest to those who play the piano to sort out. Occasionally I might indicate the tune I appreciate for a hymn but that is the extent of my involvement. Currently I’ve been listening to countless YouTube and Bing Videos to find what is best for our service. I now need to find appropriate hymns and songs which are appropriately presented. I try not to choose what I would call performance music which is recorded in concert or a similar setting. To my surprise I have often found that congregational singing is not ideal – there is a tendency for the words to be unclear because they are overwhelmed by the music (be it the music organ or guitar it is an equal danger). Some congregations are obviously well trained musically and they, and choirs like the Swansea Male Voice Choir, are probably the ideal to use in our worship service. Sometimes a musician singing to record rather than perform can be very helpful with the words clearly and thoughtfully sung. An unanticipated blessing has been that I have often been confronted with new songs which have blessed me greatly. One song is ‘His mercy is more’ which is available in several versions on YouTube. Keith and Kristyn Getty have the Official Lyric Video and there are also versions by Matt Boswell and the Boyce College Choir and my favourite is an unaccompanied version by Praise and Harmony. There are words in the song that keep coming back to me and thrilling my soul: ‘OUR SINS THEY ARE MANY, HIS MERCY IS MORE’. What a beautiful reassurance of God’s love in the gospel that is and I treasure it. Another joy has been the rediscovering of old songs which I had almost forgotten. One example of this: ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.’ It is really refreshing going back to simple and clear statements of the gospel and hearing an old hymn well sung. Loving our neighbour as ourselves One of the reasons it was right for churches to go along with the lockdown was the simple duty to love our neighbour as ourselves. This was I am sure a right decision and necessary as a witness to others. If the church is seen as putting people at risk it simply undermines our credibility. What we need to think about is whether love for neighbour requires more than the negative act of ceasing public meetings? In each individual’s circumstance that may of course vary but we need to be alert to discern (Ephesians 2: 10), the ‘good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’ If we are willing to serve we need never doubt God will enable ways for us to do so. One obvious way in which we can do this is through contributing to THE HONITON FOOD BANK. This is organised by the Community Church, who normally meet at the Beehive. It is funded entirely from local churches and charitable donations and is made available to those in ‘food crisis’ = they have no food nor money with which to buy food. Currently the organisers are managing the logistics enforced by the lockdown situation and are now delivering food rather than arranging for it to be collected. The changed situation has however led to a situation where the demand for food is greater than the supply – so they would be grateful if people were prepared to contribute. FOOD BANK NEEDS : Fruit Juice, Fruit Squash, UHT Milk, Sugar, Coffee, Tea Bags, Pasta, Rice, Noodles, Savoury Rice, Pasta Sauce, Cereals, Cereal Bars, Biscuits, Soup and TINS OF Fish, Spaghetti, Potatoes, Meat or Meat Meals, Fruit, Carrots, Peas, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Custard, Sponge Pudding, Toilet Rolls, Feminine Hygiene Products, Washing Powder/Tablets. I think it is items like this rather than the list being limited strictly to only these things. If you are mobile we can give you places where you can drop food off or we can arrange with you to collect it. Let us know if we can help you in this way. Face Masks Available Two examples of loving our neighbour come from Tricia Lewis and Rachel Potts. Both have been making scrubs for the hospital and Tricia has a number of face-masks which she is happy to make available to those who would like one. We’ve already got ours and I have tried mine out but only within the house. Our neighbour has a soul as well as a body I agree that if your neighbour is hungry it is right to feed him as well as tell him God loves him. For this reason we have got a supply of a tract from Roger Carswell: ‘Hope Beyond Coronavirus’ which we can make available to you. We are not suggesting that we undertake a major distribution of the tract – if we were to do this it is currently likely to worry people as a possible source of infection. However we can give it to individuals appropriately and we are happy to make available to any of you. If you would like copies to look at, and then to hand out as appropriate, please get in touch with us. It may be that the current situation will give opportunities for thoughtful witness in a way which doesn’t often present itself. Looking ahead We would anticipate, assuming the government’s schedule isn’t disrupted by a second wave of coronavirus, that we will be able to resume meeting in July. Obviously we would expect to be drawing up plans for this bearing in mind continued fears about the coronavirus and the need to safeguard people through social distancing. If you have concerns or suggestions then please feel free to contact me or one of the church officers nearer the time. We would expect to draw up plans and circulate them before July. Can you also be praying for the plans for 2021 and the church’s 250th Anniversary? We are obviously disrupted by the lockdown and organising ahead has not been straightforward. Regarding the church building, we will be seeking to get some essential and potentially disruptive jobs done – hopefully during lockdown – please prayer for wisdom and for God’s providential provision to enable us to take this forward. Hymns for Sunday I forgot to put the last Sunday’s hymns in last week’s letter – probably as well as I changed two of them on the Saturday. Currently, I expect the hymns to be: ‘Be Thou My Vision’, ‘I Saw a New Vision of Jesus’, ‘His Mercy is More’, and ‘I will offer up my life’. Don’t be disappointed if something changes before Sunday. Yours in the Lord, Mike Plant 15 th May 2020

Dear Friends, This year the Government decided that in commemorating V.E (Victory in Europe) Day they would emphasize the importance of the occasion by switching the Bank Holiday to the Friday. So today has been focused on VE Day for many people and doubtless many have gone through many emotions in response. How do we respond to a day like today in a distinctively Christian way? What I put below is really an exploration rather than a formula but do think and pray over it. 1. We are to be patriotic without being proud. We have much to thank God for in the history of our nation and the way it has been preserved and protected. It is a far from perfect history but clearly the Christian gospel has made a significant impact on our nation’s history and we are thankful for that. 2. We can be profoundly grateful for the defeat of Fascism. Fascism is a profoundly evil ideology which sought to single out and exterminate Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and other groups – such as the handicapped who it perceived as being weak and inferior. It came about by making a scientific theory, evolution, into a foul ideology. The Bible History, expressed in Paul’s words at the Areopagus in Athens (Acts 17: 26): ‘And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the all the face of the earth’ makes it clear that all beliefs about racial superiority and entitlement are false to Scripture. 3. We are to be deeply saddened about the loss of life and terrible sadness that takes place because of war. Every person that dies, however mistaken in their ideology and however debased and even evil in their lifestyle is a destruction of God’s image and that makes those lost lives precious. Genesis 9: 5 and 6 are deeply moving: ‘From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever shed the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.’ 4. We are to pray for those bereaved – many years have passed since the end of the 2nd World War but there will still be those who mourn the loss of relatives – lamenting the loss of brother or sister or father or mother. That will obviously be a sadness to those who have lost family members – son or daughter or husband or wife – in more recent conflicts. That will also extend to those who have family members, even recently, through terrorist activity in the UK. True comfort is not just to have the memory dulled by time but to know that there is a God who ordains all things in his wisdom and has shown his love and care for this fallen world in Christ. 5. We are to be thankful for peace in our time – and despite tragic terrorist incidents in the UK that has generally been true for us. Many asylum seekers in the UK have had to flee from war zones and are still deeply affected by news that they have coming out of their home countries. 6. We are to have our longing for a (2 Peter 3: 13): ‘new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells’ deepened and are to be aware in a fresh way that in this world we are ‘exiles’ with ‘our citizenship is in heaven’. This world can never be the settled home of any believer. Until Christ comes we expect wars, rumours of wars and all the unhappiness that goes with that. The Way ahead Rumours of course abound about the ‘easing’ of lockdown. Some things are obvious. We will need to balance our desire for social contact with others and the need to be cautious and avoid a ‘second wave’ of Corona infection. Clearly church life, even when it is agreed that we resume services, will not be the same as we are used to for some time to come. Apart from anything else there will be those who are advised to continue in social isolation for some period into the future. We will need to provide for them so that at least they have a sense of being included and wanted even if it is not currently practical for them to be regularly engaged in meeting with other Christians. We will need to adjust what we do - probably in relation to Sunday services and certainly in terms of how we engage in evangelism and our reaching out with the gospel. Do pray for those in leadership in our church and in other gospel churches known to you. We need great wisdom and a passionate concern for the spread of the gospel. Not giving in to complacency In some ways a real danger is that we become quite accepting of the new regime and feel little need to change things. Some years ago I remember talking to a church member at my previous church. She had been a member for, I guess, well over forty years at this point. She experienced a period of weakness and for some time was unable to attend church. I remember that she was very open that, contrary to what she expected, she actually found re-establishing the pattern of regular church attendance to be very difficult. We need to examine our hearts to ensure that our desire to meet together, and to encourage one another, doesn’t diminish and fade because we currently cannot meet with one another. What should we be doing at present? Last Sunday I looked for a sermon to listen to and actually got a recorded video service from St Briavels Congregational Church where Matt Rees, who spoke at last year’s church anniversary and civic service, is pastor. A point he made, which certainly hit home to me, was when he asked people if they were learning the lessons and so profiting from the lockdown as God wished them to do. He instanced a number of areas – regular bible reading and prayer – praying within the family – dealing with the tensions in a family that can so easily be ignored because we are all so busy – and challenged his hearers as to what they were doing. You may want to make a fresh start regarding some of these areas. Please contact me if I can help. Yours in the Lord (and until God willing we meet again) Mike Plant 8th May 2020

Dear Friends, HAVING A FRAMEWORK FOR OUR PRAYERS How do I pray when I don’t know what to pray for? One of the pressures we experience in living through a time of difficulty, like the present one, is knowing that we should be praying but feeling inadequate to pray. Very graciously God speaks to us in situations like this because we are promised the help of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 26 + 27): ‘Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.’ It is also true that in giving the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples the Lord Jesus gave us a framework for prayer which we may know is divinely approved. The Lord’s Prayer as a pattern for our prayers The Lord Jesus was like other teachers of his time in giving a form of prayer to his disciples (see Matthew 6: 9 – 13 and Luke 11: 1 – 4) which had two uses, the one which is familiar to everyone, which is using it as a form of words in prayer, and the second which is using it as a framework for our prayers. When I first learned that this was a proper use of the Lord’s Prayer it was a wonderful liberation and help to me in my Christian life. We will look at how it might be prayed in our current situation. The Lord’s Prayer prayed in the locked down United Kingdom This comes from Dundonald Church in London – prayed at their last normal Sunday Service: OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN – thank you for Jesus in whom you have adopted us as your beloved children; help us to remember that sickness and death will never separate us from your love, help us to believe you will be with us through whatever lies ahead, and help us to trust you are fully in control and perfectly good. HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME – we pray this crisis will result in much praise for you. Please would believers be strengthened in their faith, and unbelievers recognise our human frailty and mortality and turn from sin to worship you. YOUR KINGDOM COME – until Jesus returns to rescue us from this world of pain, as far as this virus spreads, we pray your kingdom will grow further. May the hearts of people of all nations find in Jesus the sure hope of resurrection into your new creation, free from sickness, suffering and death to enjoy you forever. YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN –Father, we rejoice in your sovereign power; in your mercy, please end this crisis soon, deliver us and all your people, and may your gracious plan to save the lost be advanced by this season of humbling. GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD – thank you for dedicated doctors, nurses and other NHS staff, for our government and its advisors. Please grant them the wisdom and endurance they need. Sustain us with the daily bread of Christ crucified for our sins, in the living bread of your Word. Reassure us when we are anxious, heal us when we are sick, strengthen us when we must die, comfort us in our bereavement, and embolden us to share the gospel of Jesus, the living bread we all need. FORGIVE US OUR SINS, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US – have mercy where we have presumed upon our health, forgotten our frailty, or neglected to thank you for daily care and protection. Forgive us because Christ died for our sins, count us acceptable in his perfect righteousness, and in the light of your mercy, show mercy to all. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL – deliver us through this time of testing. Help us to resist every temptation to doubt your love. Help us to stand firm in our faith against Satan’s lies, knowing that all over the world your people are enduring the same kinds of trials. FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN. No doubt as the situation has progressed there would be additional elements in the prayer – in praying for the Government and its advisors I am sure we would now be praying for wisdom in the timing and details of an exit strategy – but it does provide a helpful example of how we could all profitably and fruitfully develop our use of the Lord’s Prayer. I hope you will find this helpful to put into practice. This coming Sunday I’ve now finished preaching on John 3: 16 but that doesn’t finish the series of sermons. The series of sermons is dealing with our assurance of God’s love through the gospel and also how that love is to be worked out to God’s glory in the life of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So far we have looked at how we come to realize God’s love to us through the gospel. This is the logical point to begin because (John Calvin), ‘before we can have any feeling of his fatherly kindness, the blood of Christ must intercede to reconcile God to us.’ However behind the love of God experienced in the gospel lies, ‘the secret love in which our heavenly Father embraced us to himself (which) is, since it flows from his eternal good pleasure, (before) all other causes.’ To know God’s love through the gospel introduces us to a love which originated before time and will continue forever. This coming Sunday’s sermon examines the greatness of God’s love as explained in Ephesians 3: 14 – 21. I have been asked if I could put in this letter the hymns for Sunday – the difficulty is that sometimes I change hymns at the last minute. I think they will be 452MP ‘Loved with everlasting love’, 671MP ‘There is a fountain filled with blood’ and 1329MP ‘Loved before the dawn of time’. However last minute inspiration may strike as I prepare the sermon and plan the details of the service. Yours in the Lord, Mike Plant 1st May 2020

Dear Friends, One of the realities of being a Minister is that there are burdens involved. Some of those burdens alter from time to time because the troubles which affect individuals or which affect the church as a whole may change. Obviously the current lockdown has brought it’s own set of burdens and I am very grateful for those bearing them with me. Special thanks to those who have taken on the responsibility of keeping in touch with members of the congregation. The burdens I want to talk about in this letter are the routine burdens – the burdens which simply belong to the ministry of the gospel and which are inseparable from it. Burden One – Faithfulness in Preaching One thing that has always impressed me is the Apostle Paul’s honesty in his prayer requests. In Ephesians 6: 18 - 20 he asks the Ephesians to be ‘making supplication ............... that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.’ As he asks twice for prayer that he may preach, ‘boldly’ he highlights the danger he faces – he could lack boldness and hence fail to proclaim the gospel as bluntly and openly and honestly as he should. In any congregation a Minister will be aware of those who will not appreciate some aspects of him declaring the full counsel of God. That may mean they resent being challenged about the fullness of their guilt and their need of repentance. It may mean that they resent hearing that they are dead in trespasses and sins and in need of life-giving grace. It may be an aversion to the full and free and open offer of the gospel. It will come in different forms in different places but the responsibility is always there to be bold and forthright and to rely on the truth of God’s word. Then in Colossians 4: 3 + 4 he requests: ‘pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison-that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.’ In some respects this requests mirrors the one in Ephesians but there is an extra issue, ‘that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.’ We can fail to be clear because of cowardice, which is the danger highlighted in Ephesians, but this danger appears to relate to the need to work hard to get God’s message over to others. Whenever we speak for Christ, and this relates to personal witness as well as preaching, we need to speak not just so that we can be understood but, as far as possible, so we can’t be misunderstood. If Paul isn’t ashamed to ask prayer for boldness and clarity I can’t be ashamed to make the same requests. Burden Two - Being the bearer of news which is unpleasant and unwelcome On this last Sunday I chose to preach on the words in John 3: 16: ‘that whoever believes in him (Jesus the Son of God) should not perish but have eternal life.’ To do this boldly and clearly demanded that I put before you the truth that perishing involves (2 Thessalonians 9): ‘eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.’ To preach of hell is difficult and distressing for me because I am aware that people I love may well end up in that terrible place. The reality is that I am preaching to people who may resent that fact that I am saying that the sins of everyone merit hell and that the sins of this who do not believe in Christ will inevitably lead them to hell. The news is unpleasant, because it tells everyone they have hearts that are, ‘desperately wicked’ and unwelcome, because, if doing my best, if being religious, if avoiding ‘serious’ sin is not enough what can I do? Burden Three - Knowing that the gospel message is a message of condemnation when the grace it offers is rejected (2 Corinthians 3: 15 + 16): ‘For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.’ The intent of God in sending his Son is not death but life and not condemnation but justification. Without hearing the gospel salvation is not a possibility so it must be preached and by God’s grace there will be a harvest of life. However it will also be true that there is, ‘a fragrance from death to death’ because this is also a horrible reality (John 3: 19): ‘And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.’ Burden Four – Knowing that there is no alternative to preaching the gospel It is only through the gospel that men and women may believe and live. In the gospel the glories of a faithful, loving, forgiving God are revealed and without that gospel we are lost. To have a gospel to preach and to be called to preach the gospel is an overwhelming privilege but privilege in this case involves cost and burden. Looking ahead As we come to Sunday I will (God willing) be preaching on the words from John 3: 16: ‘that whoever believes in him should not perish BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.’ Please pray that I may be able to preach the riches of God’s gift of salvation in Christ boldly and clearly as I should. Looking again at John 3: 15 + 16 it is evident in the repeated words: ‘that whoever believes in him should have eternal life’ (the two phrases in Greek are identical barring that verse 15 has ‘believes in’ and verse 16 ‘believes into’) that the burden and aim of the gospel is the free gift of eternal life by faith in Christ who died and is exalted to make intercession for us. Please pray that all may realize afresh the wonder of God’s love and the glory of his salvation. Yours in the Lord, Mike Plant 24th April 2020