It was a joy to be a steward for the South Central Women’s Day, welcoming and serving coffee to around 250 ladies, with some familiar faces among the many visitors to St Mary’s. The morning teaching sessions from the Old Testament book of Haggai were hugely engaging and incredibly relevant to us today. We were reminded that God is in control; we were challenged to keep building God’s church; and we were encouraged by God’s promise: ‘I am with you’. I particularly liked the helpful suggestion to respond to a Bible passage with our head (do I understand it?), with our heart (has it changed or challenged me?) and with our hands (what do the verses motivate me to do?).
Sally Jennings
I love this event and I’m so grateful that St Mary’s is often invited to be the host. It makes it super convenient to attend all or parts of what is an encouraging, uplifting and God-focussed day. This year I was even able to keep a prior commitment to umpire a netball match in the middle of the day, and get back in time for the afternoon session!
We were treated to a series of talks based on the book of Haggai, learning how the Israelites had lost the desire to meet with God, and had put on hold the rebuilding of the temple. God’s house had been in ruins for 17 years whilst the people focussed on building their own homes. God withdrew his blessing and there was drought and famine in the land. The voice of God, through Haggai, said ‘Give careful thought to your ways’.
We were challenged to do the same, by looking back in our diaries to see how, and to what, we apportion our time. I reflected on whether being an instrument in the building of God’s kingdom here on earth, without rival or comparison, is my number one priority. I know that the truth of the matter is that I have many competing priorities, many of which are rooted in self-rule. I can think of times when I have experienced ‘famine and drought’ because I’ve been too busy building the kingdom of me. My kingdom is a chaotic blend of activities, where too much worth and value is attributed to playing and coaching netball, parenting and educating, having fun with friends at the gym, working and furthering my career, thinking about holidays, and going to the theatre.
If I am to be like Zerubabbel, who got the temple building going again, then I should fear the Lord and obey his voice as he did. God said to Zerubabbel and the remnant of the people, ‘I am with you’. We too can know this promise of God as we seek to put God back at the rightful centre of our lives, and keep going as instruments in God’s project of kingdom building through the saving work of Jesus. If I allowed God more than a second ‘to be with me’ in that long list of activities above, then God’s kingdom in those places would be growing and I would be ‘seeking first God’s kingdom’.
Vic Harris