A Prayer Letter

July 2010

Mark, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: Greetings.

And when they had prayed,… (Acts 4:31).

As the new ‘Pastor’ of Robertson Reformed Community Church (RRCC) and on behalf of the deacons, I would like to share with Sola 5 our way forward.

This comes from prayerfully working through Paul’s Letter to Titus.  I know that, if I keep and remain steadfast in what Paul writes through the influence of the Holy Spirit, we at RRCC will bear fruit for the glory of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I faithfully labour and strive with preaching, teaching, training and coaching, the things that are fitting for sound doctrine – the Holy Spirit, our Helper, Comforter and Worker – will do His work in the lives of the people in RRCC.  The Holy Spirit will stir up the people to; learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful (Titus 3:14).

For us to accomplish this by the grace of God, I have set the following personal goals:
• To lead by example – serve as a godly model to RRCC (Titus 2:7).
• To train and equip the congregation to think like Christians and to live like Christians in and amongst the people of Robertson.
This will be no easy task, this will be a challenge, but as I prayerfully seek God’s wisdom and guidance – He will give me understanding in everything. But to accomplish this I will need help – the ministry is team work.

Firstly – please pray that the Lord would raise up godly leaders – both elders and deacons in RRCC (1 Tim. 3: 1-13; Titus 1:5-9).  Elders that would be willing to teach, serve and shepherd the flock; and deacons that would be willing to administrate, serve and care for the flock.  Sound doctrine coming from godly elders and godly deacons will lead to a healthy Church, but not a perfect Church.  Godly leaders will exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict (Titus 1: 9).  A pastor leads by the Word of God (2 Tim. 3; 16-17): if the pastor is strong with the Word of God, the Church will be strong; if the pastor is weak with the Word of God, the Church will be weak.  And yes the same works for his leaders.
I am very thankful and grateful for the four godly deacons that God has already given to me and to RRCC.

Secondly – pray that the preaching and teaching of sound doctrine will lead to RRCC growing and maturing in godliness, which leads to good deeds, which leads to fruitfulness – all for the glory of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  This will be good and profitable for the people in the Robertson community (Titus 3: 8).  If the unbeliever in our community does not see our good deeds, how will the unbeliever ever come to know about the Lord Jesus Christ from us and therefore glorify our Father? (Matt. 5: 16; 1 Pet. 3: 15)

Thirdly – we will need much prayer to accomplish this.  The RRCC will have to be taken back to what Paul says in Titus chapter 2 verses 11-15 and Titus chapter 3 verses 4-8: They will have to be reminded of these things, and stirred up by way of reminder.
As expressed earlier this is a big challenge, but if the Lord wills and is gracious and merciful to the RRCC, I can by the grace of God see our way forward in this manner.  I, as the shepherd, will have to be faithful to the preaching and teaching of the Gospel so that Christ can continue to build His Church upon His Word.  God’s Word – the Gospel of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, not my power, not my innovation – builds the Church.
God’s Word alone will build and enable RRCC to become fruitful in the Robertson community – amongst believers and non-believers.

Lastly – please, we would need the Sola 5 members and affiliates to pray for us; for me; for the deacons; for the people in RRCC and for the God of the harvest to bring in a fresh harvest from the community of Robertson.

Thanks for reading this…

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.
Pastor of RRCC – Mark Lillie
 
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John 6:40