Catch the Fire:Glenrothes informal worship at Glenrothes Salvation Army

In many ways, this is a tough review to write.  On one level, the evening did not go well at all. But on another level, it was a fantastic evening. Confused? Yeah, so am I!! Let me explain.

You may remember that our theme this month was "Back to Church Thursday - because Church is about more than just Sunday." As we gathered, it was clear our numbers were going to be down - way down. Demoralisation started to set in I'm ashamed to say.  Some had said they couldnt come and illness had kept some key people away. I felt worse for our guest speaker, Captain Ian Emery, who had travelled over from Easterhouse (Glasgow) to speak. But it was the youth members of the band who were pushing us on and so we got going eventually. 

We had a great time of worship, watched a couple of videos, then listened to Ian telling us about his 7 day a week ministry that is so far outside the standard 'safe church' model.  It was during this talk, which was meant to be the first of two from Ian, that I realised what was happening. God was really blessing us by the stories that Ian was telling us about life in the frontline of Easterhouse.  How ministry is achieved through very practical and tough ways. How personal feelings have to be left outside in order to deal with some shocking situations. Ian brought a real challenge to us just in describing the ministry of Easterhouse Salvation Army.  When Ian finished, it was clear that enough had been said. Strangely, Ian had admitted beforehand that he was still struggling to get a grip with the Bible message he had prepared. So I decided there and then that we just needed to spend time in prayer and no more talks were necessary. We watched a new video (which I'll tell you about in a mo) then just spent time being still before God - hearing from Him, pouring out ourselves to Him, learning from Him.  After an extended time of prayer, we sung a couple more songs then I got stuck! I didnt know what to do next - finish or sing one rousing praise song to finish. Being the democratic kind of person that I am, I let the people decide! So we had a great praise song to finish with then shared more over drinks.

So, quite a night really. And once again, God turned up and did His stuff despite the weaknesses within us.  Still, h0w often do we preach that God needs us to be broken in order to work in us freely?  Yeah, i know - lots! Thanks be to God for sticking with us and trusting us with His Spirit's power.  Whilst we didn't have anyone 'new' in who came 'back to church', we were all challenged as to how we can do more for God and I guess thats what its all about really.

Songs we sung

Rejoice, Rejoice; Let everything that has breath; Light of the World; How great is our God; King of kings; Wonderful so wonderful (Beautiful One).

Videos we watched

(Previously issued videos) When I was lost; Better get to living

(New video) Jesus will still be there.

As usual, feel free to download the videos and use them for your purposes.  If you feel led, there is a donation button on the resources home page but please do not feel under any pressure to give.  These videos are prepared for use by anyone and so, by anyone they can be used!  Just download, enjoy, and use them to bring glory to God.