Another busy week-end in the life of Chatham Citadel Corps, this week commencing with an evening organised by our Youth Group.
Leaders Cat, Claire and Ant (L to R)
Saturday evening featured the youngsters in a period of relaxed worship and thought focusing on getting back in tune with God. This incorporated a time to pledge support for The Salvation Army complex at Chikankata, Zambia. The group has been supporting this project for some months and has so far raised approximately £550 including approximately £80 this week-end.
A five piece band led the congregation in singing modern reflective and ‘up beat’ songs and displayed a sincerity of purpose in bringing the gospel message in this youthful way. Here are some pictures of the band.
The congregation was encouraged to pray for all our yong people individually by name.
On Sunday morning our meeting was led by Major Drew, fresh (if that’s the word) from an all night vigil at Folkestone, some 40 miles away, scene of Saturday’s earthquake.
Major Drew
A quake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale will seem small to some of our readers but it is significant in the UK and caused some structural damage to properties. The Army opened Folkestone hall to accommodate those who could not return to their homes.
During the meeting recognition was given to three Young People’s workers who have retired from their particular office. These were Iris Wells and Jackie Sedgemore (Junior Soldier Sergeant and Assistant respectively) and Irene Maycock, Assistant Young People’s Sergeant Major. Here are pictures of Major Drew making a presentation to Iris and Tracy Wood, KAOS Leader expressing her gratitude for many years of service.
We shall bring you news of the new appointments later this week.
Using the current theme of ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ Drew used songs 220, 203, 206 and 192 from The Salvation Army Song Book together with 514 from Songs of Fellowship. There were a number of references to scripture including Ezekiel 36:26-27, Philippians 1:6, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and Galations 5:16-26. The Singng Company sang ‘Hand me down my silver trumpet’ and the Songsters brought ‘Vespers’. In his address Drew said ‘character is shown in great moments but is made in small ones. The fruits of the Spirit will reveal who we really are. All are aspects of love. Peace with God through Jesus Christ is an objective thing. We can all be at peace with God and with each other. The church is a community where peace can live but the irony is that we often have to fight and be patient to find peace in Christ through the cross. We have to make every effort however long it may take. We must be patient. Finally, peace and patience are not just our efforts, they are also our identity. We must try to live out the identity of God in our lives, must not be easily angered and must keep no record of wrong. A tough call!
Our evening meeting was led by Major Beverley who used songs 7, 650 and 519 from The Salvation Army Song Book and 1404, 1607 and 1346 from Songs of Fellowship. Continuing the theme of New Testament Evangelists, the subject this week was ‘The Server’. The Band and Songsters contributed ‘Great Things’ and ‘Close to Me’ respectively and a part of the meeting saw us welcome Lisa Davis into Soldiership.
In her testimony Lisa said ‘I chose to go my own way for a long time but He loved me all along and was just waiting for me to cry out to Him and run back into His arms (Lisa based her thoughts on Romans 8:38-39)’.
Major Beverley
Basing her address on Acts 9:36-43 Beverley said ‘could it be said of you that you are a disciple? Could you say that you have responded to Jesus’ call ‘follow thou me? If you are a Christian then you are a minister (a server). Jesus commanded us that we serve God. A mature follower of Jesus Christ says “who’s need can I meet?”. Meeting those needs may take us out of our comfort zone. Too often Christians find something they like doing and persuade themselves it is God’s will for them! Ouch.
A challenging week-end in many respects. We are very blessed by the ministry brought to us each week and want to thank God for His goodness. Next week a number of our congregation will be heading for Southport for The Salvation Army’s ‘Roots’ event. We wish them well and pray they will be encouraged and inspired.