This month we celebrate the 140th anniversary of this church. We began life across the other side of the Six Ways Island with services at the Woodbine Academy (a boarding school) and then stood firmly at the corner of the High Street until the 1960s whereupon the current building was constructed. Our two halls were built at different times in the history of the church and have been altered over the years. We have been in a continual process of change and adaptation. There have been times of expansion and there have been leaner seasons too. The Baptist churches at Chester Road and at Sutton Coldfield were both planted by our church and we currently are planting a church at Castle Vale. God has been good to us. And God has been working wonderfully in so many people’s lives!
But what about the next 140 years? Well, maybe Jesus will have returned by then. Presumably none of us will be here for the 280th anniversary?! But what will God do here, in this place, so long as we are true and faithful to our God who is so faithful and true to us? We should pray about this and be so aware of the need for us to remember those who have gone before us who laid foundations for what we can do now. Also, we can lay those foundations for those things to come that we will not see come to fruition in our lifetime.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes about the faith of the likes of Abraham and many others who did not see the fruit of their faithfulness, but still acted in faith and helped pave the way for the fulfilling of God’s purposes.
How true and faithful are we to what God needs to happen in this place?
God Bless
Gerard