Having Gentleness

/

Update From Your Pastors

Welling Church Family, 

For the past few months, we have all been adjusting to a new routine and way of life. Our regular schedule has been different, and as a result, our Sunday’s have looked a bit different. But even though we’re currently doing Sunday’s in a new way, we are always thankful to be able to share God’s Word with you and pray for you throughout the week. 

We look forward to our church’s livestream each week and hope you will make every effort to join us every Sunday at 11am. If you have missed any of our previous sermons or videos, you can CLICK HERE to catch up. This month we will be finishing our sermon series on Philippians and how we can always abound in Christ. Don’t miss out on this coming Sunday as we continue our look in Philippians 3.

This past Sunday, Justin shared with us how we can abound in joy through Christ. We are reminded of Paul’s desire in Philippians 3:8-9, “…in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” We want to encourage you to let the words of this passage spur your heart to seek out Christ in your life. 

To prepare for this Sunday:

• Read Philippians 3

• Spend time praying that God will guide you and your family during this pandemic.

• Invite a friend or neighbour to the livestream! This could be the moment their life is changed for eternity.

• Take time after the message to discuss with your friends or family how the message spoke to you.

If you know someone who is a part of our church and is not receiving our updates, please share the links with them or let us know.

We can’t wait to worship with you this Sunday!

Subscribe to Welling Church’s YouTube Channel: YouTube

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Next Week

Next week is half term and the pastors will be taking the week off to rest and spend time with family. We will not be posting a Wednesday update, having our Wednesday Zoom Bible Study, doing discipleship, or having our Friday Zoom party with the teens. We encourage everyone to take advantage of half term and find a creative way to spend time with family and friends.

Prayer Points

  1. Pray for family friends of Sarah Willy who lost David to COVID-19, the funeral was this week.

  2. Andrea’s Grandmother (lives in America) who went to hospital, has had gall stones removed and feeling much better.

  3. Pray for everyone, especially children, who are struggling with emotional and mental issues due to the lockdown.

Ministry Opportunity

We are so excited for Martin and Alice having their baby Joshua this past week and as a church, we want to be a blessing to them. We had planned before the lockdown to offer a meal train for them, but with the current circumstances that are happening, it would not be wise to do so. Instead, we want to get their family a Tesco voucher so they can buy the food they need and maybe even some ready meals.

You can be a part of this by donating a meal or two to help out the Parsons. Would you consider contributing £10 or £20 or more to be a blessing to them? Please do so by 31 May, so we can be a blessing sooner rather than later.

Donate to them via the church at:
Welling Church (HSBC)
Sort Code: 40-19-04
Account Number: 02171236
Memo: Baby Parson

Weekly Devotional

IMG_0476.PNG

The Fruit of the Spirit: GENTLENESS

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22, 23

The eighth attribute of the fruit of the Spirit is Gentleness. Individuals who embody gentleness are kind, mild-mannered and tender. A gentle person seeks to be a peacemaker and not a fighter. Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, tells us, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). Jesus is not calling us to be a pushover, but He is calling us to walk, to defend, and to correct with gentleness. Let’s look at a few passages that will help us learn to embody the spiritually given attribute of gentleness.  

1. Walk in Gentleness (Ephesians 4:1, 2)

“1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Gentleness is not always seen in our time as a positive attribute, but it is where God is concerned. In this passage, Paul is encouraging the church at Ephesus to walk in the worthy manner to which God had called them and even to remember that “10 …we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Our walk is to match that of Christ’s walk. Christians are to be humble and self-controlled and this go on to produce patience. We can easily say we love one another, but that love is only made manifest by our patience. A humble heart produces patience, patience proves our love, and our love then maintains a Spirit of peace within our church. 

2. Defend with Gentleness (1 Peter 3:15)

“15 but in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

As Christians, we are called to defend Christ. However, we cannot defend Him if we do not first know and honour Him in our hearts. Every believer must diligently study the Scriptures and endeavour each day to understand the holiness of God through His Word. We get the English word “apologetics” from the Greek form of the word translated “defence.” Apologetics is the discipline of defending biblical doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. When we know the truths of the Bible, we can then better give a defence of Him to the world. Every believer should understand what and why he believes. He should also be able to articulate those belief’s, but to do so in a gentle manner. Proverbs 15:1 tells us “a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” When we defend our beliefs, the goal is to do so peaceably. We are not to get into arguments and force our beliefs on everyone whether they want to hear or not. Wisdom and gentleness are great companions of the Great Commission. Seek to know God and make Him known with all humility.

3. Correct with Gentleness (2 Timothy 2:25, 26)

“25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

When we defend Christ with gentleness, we might then hope to correct those with whom we come in contact. What do we mean by “correcting?” Anyone living without Christ is living in error. We cannot hope to understand the world around us without truly living in Christ. Correcting an unbeliever is simply pointing them to the truth of Jesus Christ. We do not enact the change, but we point to the One who does. Paul encourages Timothy to correct people, but to do so with gentleness. If believers are kind, humble and gentle in our approach to proclaiming the Gospel, those individuals might come to know Jesus as Saviour.  This is the entire point of correcting with gentleness. We desire for people to be saved, but if we are rude, arrogant, combative, or harsh in our presentation of the Gospel, people will not be willing to hear the correcting message of God. We are to stand in the gap and proclaim the good news as Proverbs 24:11 says, “rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” Let us not be a contributing factor for anyone to turn away from the message of the Gospel. 

Questions to Consider

  1. Am I an angry and combative person? 

  2. Am I learning all I can about God so that I might give a proper defence? 

  3. Am I gently correcting unbelievers so that they might come to know God the Father through Christ?