A time to say thank you

One of the best known mentions of the word ‘thanksgiving’ in the Bible is found in Philippians 4.6 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Looking back over the last six months we can actually see these words played out in the life of our church…

“Do not be anxious about anything…” In December 2007, the state of our finances was a matter of grave worry and concern. We were not keeping up with rising costs, our buildings were in increasing need of maintenance, we had an organist’s salary to pay, and we were falling behind in our contributions to the work of the church at large. In a nutshell – we were becoming increasingly unable to be the church God wanted us to be.

“…but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” One of the striking things about the Moving on Together campaign which resulted, has been our increased emphasis on prayer. This culminated in the special congregation-wide day of Prayer and Fasting on Friday 11^th April. Whether at home, at work, or at play, members were able to participate in this effort to some degree throughout our community.

Many of us were also able to join together on that Friday evening for a service of thanksgiving, (followed by a breakfast of Pizza and Stovies in the Kirk Centre). If you were to ask me what the atmosphere was like, I think I would want to quote the very next verse (Philippians 4.7) – “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Throughout that eventful weekend we all knew the peace and joy of God in our hearts, and by the Sunday, all our prayers were being answered as Grant gave details of results of the campaign. While I write this, Eric Brown is still receiving letters, and the total increase is above the £34,000 mark – an astonishing amount!

So now the time has come to say thank you.

To God our Father – thank you for your grace and love, and for being present amongst us throughout, sharing in the delight of your children.

To all the folks of Liberton Kirk – thank you for responding so openly and generously to our appeal. We can now move forward together, having been set free of financial worries to be the church God wants us to be.

To all our elders – thank you for rising to the challenge so heroically and being willing to lead from the front.

To the members of the campaign team – thank you for being such a capable, competent, enthusiastic and optimistic bunch of believers. Thank you for your belief in our congregation and its leadership, and for your underlying trust in God throughout.

With much love

 

John