Week of Prayer and Giving: Joining the Struggle – Supporting the Work
Grace Baptist Partnership Week of Prayer and Giving – 4 – 11 August 2013
As Paul moved toward the conclusion of his letter to the church at Rome, he urged his brothers and sisters to join in my struggle by praying to God for me (Romans 15:30 NIV). When John was writing to encourage Gaius in his faithful support of the itinerant preachers moving among the churches, he argued we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth (3 John 8 ESV). We are pleased to invite local churches and likeminded Christians to join us in the struggle of church-planting work in England and beyond through their prayers and to support this work through their finances on either an occasional or ongoing basis. This prayer guide is produced to give you an idea of the sorts of prayer needs we have at the moment as well as the ways in which the work can be supported financially.
Click here to download printable PDF version.
4 August 2013
Biblical church planting does not involve simply moving Christians from one church building to another. The goal is always for the new church to be composed primarily of those who are coming to faith through the witness of the new church plant. Toward that end Daniel Shwe has come alongside the friends working at Chingford, Edlesborough, Halling and Charlwood this past year to assist them with their direct evangelism efforts. Please pray today that Daniel will be protected in his travels, helped in his ministry and encouraged to press on in what can at times be a difficult work. Gifts through Grace Baptist Partnership provide evangelism materials free of charge to church plants that need them, travel expenses for the evangelist going to and from his place of work and a small daily stipend. Please join in the struggle by praying for Daniel and consider supporting the work to enable it to spread to other areas.
5 August 2013
A church is not a building but a body of baptised believers. Such bodies, though, often make use of buildings to facilitate their ministry in a given locale. Last year the friends of Grace Baptist Partnership were able to support the friends at Southall in the purchase of their meeting place. This was a great example of gospel cooperation and was a great encouragement to the work at Southall. Please pray today for the friends at Chatteris, Halling and Halstead who are presently considering building-related issues. Please pray that everyone involved whether they be leaders, members or trustees will have wisdom from the Lord as to the best course of action. Also, please pray that if additional funds are required in any (or all!) of these places that they will be graciously provided by the Lord.
6 August 2013
The labourer is worthy of his hire. New church plants, however, sometimes struggle to provide adequate financial support for their workers. In such instances it is Biblically appropriate for others to give assistance. Grace Baptist Partnership provides grants of £3,000 annually through our general fund budget for workers in Chatteris, Chingford, Grays, Halling, Halstead and Southall. Though there are often struggles, what a joy it has been to see the continued progress of the gospel in these diverse settings. Please pray for the ongoing ministry in each of these places and also prayerfully consider whether it would be right to support Grace Baptist Partnership financially to enable this grant scheme to assist even more men involved in church-planting work.
7 August 2013
For the past few years Barry King has led the Grace Baptist Partnership alongside his duties as pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Wood Green. His tenure of service at the church will be complete in September and a new pastor inducted in October. At the present time Barry and his wife Frances are prayerfully considering whether or not they should move from Wood Green and if so to where. They have a desire to support one of the church plants but this will require provision of housing in the local area. Will you join them in this struggle through prayer and will you especially seek along with them the Lord’s provision to enable this move?
8 August 2013
Church planters are real people. They struggle with the same problems as everyone else. Over the past year , two church planters we support have had the common experience of their wives being diagnosed with cancer. Lily Shwe has now completed chemotherapy for breast cancer and Jackie Read is scheduled for an operation for ovarian cancer today. Grace Baptist Partnership contributes quarterly to the benevolence fund of the Association of Grace Baptist Churches (South East). We then apply to the fund when we have a church planter with a special need. Please pray for those church planters facing personal and family difficulties. Especially remember Jackie Read in her ongoing struggle with cancer. Consider whether it would be right to support the AGBC(SE) Benevolence fund to help church planters when they face a crisis situation.
9 August 2013
Gospel needs are everywhere. We can’t do everything. But we must do everything the Lord shows us to do. The Lord has convinced us that it is right to aid our brothers and sisters in Scotland. Over the past two years upwards to £1000 a month has been given through Grace Baptist Partnership to support the ministry of Grace Baptist Partnership (Scotland). They have set up a training initiative in Perth and the church in Dundee has sent out the McLachlan family to plant a new church in West Edinburgh. These are, in our estimation, significant encouragements. Please pray for the work (and workers!) in Scotland as they seek to minister in a dark and difficult place. Also, why not think about the possibility of supporting them financially either via Grace Baptist Partnership or directly?
10 August 2013
We have a list of churches looking for a pastor. We don’t have a list of pastors looking for a church. There are so few of these that we can remember them all without writing them down! We realise that some churches view a lengthy interregnum as a good thing and that others are addicted to the supply system. Some churches, however, are genuinely looking for a pastor to say nothing of those areas in desperate need of a church planter. Through our four regional training groups we are seeking to begin to address this need. Please pray that more and more men will come forward for training and that the Lord will give us wisdom to provide the best training possible. Yes, as always, this takes resources. Please ask the Lord to faithfully provide all that is needed for books, facilities, and teacher expenses.
11 August 2013
We are delighted that the Lord has given us opportunity for partnership in the gospel with the Home Mission of the Association of Grace Baptist Churches (South East) and Grace Baptist Mission. We have recently joined with these (and others!) in forming Grace Baptist Network. No, it’s not another organisation! It’s a relational partnership to ensure that we all use our resources in the most effective way and manner possible without overlap or unnecessary duplication of effort. Please pray that we will work well together in identifying and responding to gospel opportunities in this land. May we also ask you to consider the financial needs of our partners in the gospel and to respond as you are led of the Lord?
Cheques payable to Grace Baptist Partnership can be posted to 48-50 Park Ridings, London N8 0LD