Goodbye Guildfordia

So the ten months are nearly up, as David Irvine has uniquely commemorated, so maybe it's time to write something intelligent about that, so lets see what happens!

I woke up this morning with an acute sense of how much i need grace, with how much i need the Lord, with how much of a sinner i am, but how graceful God is. Knowing that His grace was new each morning was has got me out of bed this morning, and pretty much could be the banner over my whole year. Maybe at Relay 1 i thought by this time that i would have more or less defeated sin in my life...i knew that there was no 'other level' of holiness but at the same time, i sort of hoped i'd get there.

I haven't!

Charles Simeon said something like if it wasn't for the ballast of the sin in his life he would be so elated by the truth of the Gospel, and if it wasn't for the truth of the Gospel he would be sunk by the weight of His sin. I can only agree. Relay really is grace school. You learn, and hear and proclaim the Gospel every day. What a priviledge that's been. How completly down to the grace of God is that? Totally. Everyone says this about Relay, but i really have learnt about grace this year...that there is a God outside of me who is there, who is bigger, and more powerful and more important than me. And is Holy Holy Holy. And thats very comforting. And very scary. Which is why i need to go back to the cross again and again and again to see Christ dying for my sin, giving me a way to the Father, being my perfect substitute. And i need Him, and i need to do that more than ever.

Tonight i was reminded of God's faithfulness and my closed heart. Two years ago, when i was on RUCU committee we sat down and dreamt. We dreamt of a time when RUCU would meet in the G10 lecture theatre, the biggest on campus. We prayed that it would be full of Bible based Christ loving Christians. And i don't know about the other eight guys on committee, but i'd more or less forgotten about it, and i'd certainly stopped praying for it. Then i read this:

'a few years ago the exec prayed in faith that cu would move into palmer g10. that means, being BIG. and not only that, but that it would be filled with *someone tell me the exact words?! something something worshipping, mature Christians...?* and guess where cu will be from october? palmer g10. 400 seats, and those returning won't even fill half of it. big challenge. big, BIG, faithful, promise-fulfilling God.'

So it's happened. It's not full, it'll be a big job to fill it...and a job i look forward to helping out with as i work for Reading Family Church next year. And i look forward to relying on God, and learning more about Him and going to the Cross everyday for grace and strength and joy. Thats where i've been more than any other place this year, and thats where i want to spend my future...