“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
(James 4:10, NIV)
Happy New Year! James 4:10 is the motto verse for this year at Morden Parish. Borrowing the words of our vicar, it is an invitation to lay down our crowns and acknowledge that God is King—we are not. Yet he is not a tyrant; he lifts up the humble. Or, as James says a few verses earlier, “he gives us more grace” (v. 6a), he “opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble” (v. 6b), he “will come near” to those who come near to him (v. 8).
For James, many of our problems would not exist if we learned to depend humbly on God. Many others could be solved if we turned back to God in humility, and many more would be easier to bear if we humbly depended on the Lord. This may be challenging—at the end of the day, we would rather rely on ourselves—but it is a joyful invitation from a God who is willing to lift us up and to come near to us with his gracious provision.
Thank you so much for your prayers and for walking alongside us for another month. We truly appreciate every expression of love you show us. This year welcomes us with plenty of work at Morden Parish, many challenges in our studies, and a move just around the corner. Many opportunities to depend on God rather than on ourselves. Many moments to turn back to God in the midst of stress, worries, and our own failures. Each time we humble ourselves, he will lift us up. Our prayer is that this new year would find us learning more and more what it means to depend humbly on the Lord.
A few updates to give thanks to the Lord and to continue praying together:
- The Lord blessed us with a great Christmas season, celebrating the birth of Jesus and sharing his good news with many people in Morden. We pray that the gospel would continue to bear fruit in the lives of all who heard the Christmas message.
- We have returned to our studies, with several assignments due over the coming months. We are very grateful for all that Cornhill and Union allow us to learn.
- Delfi has officially completed her Diploma in Biblical Counselling. We are very thankful to the Lord for these three years of deep and enriching learning.
- We are preparing a project to continue our ministry in Argentina. We hope to share it with you soon. In the meantime, your prayers are more than welcome.
- Finally, we are raising funds to help cover the cost of our move to Argentina. The amount we need to raise is £2,000. If anyone would like to support us, please feel free to contact us by phone or email.
In Christ,
Manu and Delfi
