England Journal: Day 2

St. Oswald’s:

My travels took me to Middlesbrough in the north of London. Mid-October weather pushed a chill through the air, with a dribble of rain.

St. Oswald’s vicarage is old and small yet with unusual grandeur. The diamond-leaded windows just under the vaulted ceiling allowed the gray morning to fill the long rectangular room with light. A crucifix was suspended high, front and center, just behind the sanctuary partition of carved wood. The wet chill seeped through the red brick walls. If one looked too intently cobwebs stretched across the lighting fixtures and on the dormant furnace near the wooden pews.

Handmade cross-stitched pew pillows sat waiting for parishioners to claim a seat. Each pillow with a verse and a name of a faithful saint.

I made no effort to rid myself of my coat but filed into the second pew on the left and waited for service to begin.

Friendly smiling faces filed into the pews across the isle. With welcomes of laughter, they hugged each other and greeted one another with pleasantries in an accent not my own. The joyful conversations echoed filling the church. I could feel the Holy Spirit moving in the fellowship. We were worshiping together with family normally worlds away and experiencing each God-given culture for his ultimate glory. It warmed the chill, and I knew instantly, we would spend eternity like this.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”” Revelation 7:9-10 ESV

TGP Questions:

Have you ever worshiped with a different culture than your own? What was it like?

What was different and what was the same? What did you learn from this experience?

Take some time to journal about what you think it will be like to worship the Lamb with all the nations and peoples of the earth.

Who does salvation belong to, according to Revelation 7:10?

How does it make you feel knowing that He has offered it to you?

What is your response to God? Write out a prayer thanking and praising God for salvation and for the opportunity to worship Him with a great multitude.

If you would like to know more about the ministry that leads our trips check out the Ministry Friends tab and click on the GEM icon.

If you would like to financially support my upcoming mission trip to Middlebrough, England, check out this link https://immanuelbaptist.managedmissions.com/Donations/Donate/83878