"Where two or three..."

Only those familiar with rural ministry will have some appreciation of what today has been like.  In a village of 1000 people to have a congregation of 20 is generally considered good.  Even 10 is proportionately not bad.  I live in a town of 20,000 people and it is unlikely that any one church had a congregation of 200, let alone 400, which would be the equivalent attendance figures.  But it's holiday time and extra absences coincide with the regular absence because of ill health.

So this morning my congregation was five in Yelvertoft (population 1000), and my evening congregation at Theddingworth (population approximately 200) was just three.  In both cases one of these was Doreen's old pastor (now 84) who has come to stay with us for a few days.  Incidentally Doreen's health that has been very poor since Friday first thing has taken a turn for the better.  Thank you if you prayed for her.

Many would question whether meeting with so few is worthwhile.  All I can say is that God had given me a word to share in both meetings, and that just as Jesus often shunned the multitude to minister to ones and twos so I too feel that we cannot evaluate our ministry by the numbers we reach.  In both cases I dare to think that most urban Christians might have thought they were at a Bible Convention, such was the quality of fellowship, the earnestness of worship and the ministry of his precious word.

This morning we considered how David, in going against Goliath not only looked to God to give the victory but also had confidence in his chosen weapon.  While we too need to look to God we need to have confidence in the spiritual weapons that God has given us that are capable of pulling down strongholds (2Corinthians 10:4).  In particular we need confidence in the power of God's word and the power of prayer (see also Ephesians 6).  We considered how the work Nehemiah completed was birthed and sustained through prayer, how Esther - supported by prayer - risked her life to save God's people from annihilation, how Peter was set free and the plans of Herod thwarted through prayer (Acts 12), and how the early disciples responded to threats by praying.  We too face challenges but as we look to God and engage with the enemy using the weapons God has given we shall overcome.

This evening we looked into the life of Esther - the only book in the Bible where God is not mentioned though his footprints can clearly be seen.  We reflected how God had the right person in the right place at the right time.  Often we would rather serve God is some other way; perhaps something more dramatic or possibly with a much larger congregation, but it's not about that.  It is about being faithful in the role in which God has placed us.

As we left the Chapel in Yelvertoft this morning a man walked up to me.  Although I did not recognise him I knew at once that he was the man who had phoned me in the middle of the night the week before (see "What would Jesus Do?" posting).  He shook my hand warmly and told me that things were looking better.  I now have an invitation to visit him.  So keep praying!

48 years ago a man I did not know put a gospel tract in my hand.  He then went home to his wife and told her that he had given a tract to a sailor and God was going to save him and had a special plan for his life.  That faithful servant was not well at the time but he had been obedient in going out to give out these tracts on a damp and cold autumn night.  The only person with who he gave was me - a young man in naval uniform on his way to sea cadets.   That night this man and his wife stayed up all night praying for the unknown sailor.  Then they sent out prayer letters to friends throughout the world asking people to pray for the sailor.  They repeated this over the following months until, having heard their side of the story through a mutual friend who had not realised he had been praying for me(!) I knocked on their door and introduced myself both as the sailor and now a Christian brother.

Please don't undervalue the power of prayer or the humblest of service opportunities that God gives you.

This week is partly holiday but I have a few appointments on Monday, Tuesday and possibly Thursday.  Next Sunday I'm back at Yelvertoft, knowing that even if there are but few of us there we can still count upon God's presence and once again it will be worth sitting at his feet.

Please take a look at www.ruralmissionsolutions,org.uk and drop me a line.

Thanks.