“But [Jesus] said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. … Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:16-18, 21-23
PRAYER ANSWERED:
Thank you for your many prayers for our Thanksgiving feast last week. People came! There were about 25 people who came with about half being people from our scheme who don’t know Jesus. I thank the Lord that they came and that they were well fed and that they heard the Gospel from Isaiah 55: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live…” I pray that our little feast would be a step for people in their finding out about forgiveness and life in Jesus.
Below are pictures of our thankful tree, a partial view of the feast from the back kitchen, and Charles & I cleaning up.
WAYS YOU CAN PRAY:
- Christmastime is here! This is a hard time for many of the folks living in the schemes because it can magnify their hopelessness – but it is an amazing opportunity for us to spread the news of Christ. Please pray for me and the rest of the Merkinch team as we ask God for wisdom for how to make the best use of this season to reach out to those around us.
- Hate Crime legislation is being reviewed in the Scottish Parliament which, if passed, would essentially allow speaking the Gospel to be considered a hate crime and the owning of Bibles as the possession of inflammatory material punishable by imprisonment. Please pray that this bill would be stopped. But – even more than that – please pray fervently that God’s church in Scotland would flourish whether the bill is stopped or whether we face persecution.
- And, as always, pray for people in our scheme to be saved and transformed by the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus!
Light has come! Immanuel, God with us!
Claire
Claire in Scotland 