A Baptist People is the monthly message of Jonathan Edwards, the General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Click on the month to see Archive messages.
TO ASSEMBLE OR NOT TO ASSEMBLE?! - June 2007
"The Baptist Assembly in Brighton at the beginning of May was a wonderful occasion. I love meeting up with the Baptist family in this way. Of course, it's only ever a small slice of the family but to be with thousands of other Baptists and to worship, learn, discuss and laugh together is a huge privilege. In the survey that was done following Assembly 95% of respondents said that they would recommend the event to a friend. I found that incredibly encouraging."
"As I look at my diary for the coming month there is a particularly large number of Association events booked in, and then on the last day of June I'll be flying to Ghana for the Council meetings of the Baptist World Alliance in Accra. This is all excellent but it begs the question - why do we meet together? It's a good thing to worship, learn, discuss and laugh together but why don't we just stay at home and do that with the people in our local church? That would certainly save a love of time and money! Why do we need to reach beyond our local church? It's an important question."
"The fundamental answer is that we would be dangerous without such wider contact. Dangerous because we might start assuming that our own local church is all that there is. We need to open our eyes to the amazing things that God is doing throughout our communities and all over the world. Pulling up the drawbridge is not an option for a Christian church because we need the gifts and the inspiration of other Christians. But it's also dangerous to ignore the wider church because other churches will be relying on what we can give them. I visit many churches which are totally reliant on the gifts, resources, time and encouragement which others have given them."
"It is true that Baptist churches are run by their members within the local church members' meeting. But there is no excuse for independence! Within our church members' meetings and all our activities we need to affirm that we are part of God's world-wide church and that we desperately and joyfully need one another."
"So I look forward to another month of assembling!"
Previous articles...
Freedom - The Search Goes On! (May 2007)
TO ASSEMBLE OR NOT TO ASSEMBLE?! - June 2007
"The Baptist Assembly in Brighton at the beginning of May was a wonderful occasion. I love meeting up with the Baptist family in this way. Of course, it's only ever a small slice of the family but to be with thousands of other Baptists and to worship, learn, discuss and laugh together is a huge privilege. In the survey that was done following Assembly 95% of respondents said that they would recommend the event to a friend. I found that incredibly encouraging."
"As I look at my diary for the coming month there is a particularly large number of Association events booked in, and then on the last day of June I'll be flying to Ghana for the Council meetings of the Baptist World Alliance in Accra. This is all excellent but it begs the question - why do we meet together? It's a good thing to worship, learn, discuss and laugh together but why don't we just stay at home and do that with the people in our local church? That would certainly save a love of time and money! Why do we need to reach beyond our local church? It's an important question."
"The fundamental answer is that we would be dangerous without such wider contact. Dangerous because we might start assuming that our own local church is all that there is. We need to open our eyes to the amazing things that God is doing throughout our communities and all over the world. Pulling up the drawbridge is not an option for a Christian church because we need the gifts and the inspiration of other Christians. But it's also dangerous to ignore the wider church because other churches will be relying on what we can give them. I visit many churches which are totally reliant on the gifts, resources, time and encouragement which others have given them."
"It is true that Baptist churches are run by their members within the local church members' meeting. But there is no excuse for independence! Within our church members' meetings and all our activities we need to affirm that we are part of God's world-wide church and that we desperately and joyfully need one another."
"So I look forward to another month of assembling!"
Previous articles...
Freedom - The Search Goes On! (May 2007)