Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. – Revelation 2v29
In the days leading up to the weekend away, I felt a little anxious. I joined The Globe Church a few months ago and I’m part of a non-student Focus group, so I barely knew the other students. I was also worried Covid might get in the way. On the Wednesday before we left, I asked my lovely Focus group to pray for these things together.
God was with me and everyone there.
I would really like to praise God for how He kept us safe and allowed us to enjoy our time with one another, developing new friendships. The anxiety was lifted by the Spirit who enabled us to trust in the sovereignty of our Father.
I learnt so much on the weekend away that to be completely honest, I’m still processing it all (plus, we were given homework). Throughout the three days we spent in Horsham, we were equipped with ways to read the book of Revelation. We were taught about its apocalyptic genre of writing, why such imagery was used, that it is a picture book not a code book, and most importantly, it was written so that God could give us a glimpse of his Christ-centred plans for human history. The book is an encouragement to struggling Christians to be faithful, to persevere and to overcome because Christ is coming soon! Absolutely exciting news, isn’t it?
Would you please pray for us that every student from the weekend away would go away to read Revelation from beginning to end?
I wrote a short poem about our first session of the weekend.
Remember when…
Remember when you first tasted God’s glorious love…?
Remember when you used to wake up each morning excited to praise the Lord?
Remember when you couldn’t wait to open the Bible again in hopes to find out more about God’s abundance?
Remember your first love for Jesus.
Jesus longs for us to love Him as we did at first. I find that when you love someone, you don’t have to be reminded to ‘remember’. I am always talking about fond memories and looking back at photos to re-feel that first love because well, it feels good.
“Remember when we went to (_____) and did (_____) and then you said (_____) and we laughed at (_____)…”
But how about our love for Jesus?
Have you fallen out of love…has your love gone cold?
Are you diligent in your religion but distant in your relationship with Jesus?
Here are five questions our speaker Paul Mallard gave us to check whether you are drifting:
1) Are you captivated? Do you want to spend time with Jesus?
2) Do you enjoy being a Christian? Or is it a duty…
3) Are you still amazed by the gospel? (thrilled, “can’t believe it!”)
4) Do you love what Jesus loves? (the church, the people…)
5) Are you trying to obey? (we all fail, but are you trying?)
Remember your first love for Jesus, repent and ask God to bring you back and repeat the things you used to do.
To those who asked if I regretted going on the weekend away (you know who you are), I can give you a big-fat-bold-underlined “NO”.
It was amazing, being able to learn more about Jesus with fellow Globe students. Thank you, Sarah, Jonty, Sam, Susie, Alex, Clare, Rob, Charlotte, Gabs, Sally and Paul.
Thank you, Lord.