Values of a Gospel-Centred Church

28th February 2022

What are the values of our church family? Who are we seeking to be and become? In this 5-part series, we will look at the five values of our church, which seek to keep the gospel at the heart of who we are and what we do.
These values are not new to Calderwood Baptist Church but whether you have been part of the church family for a long time or a short time, it is really helpful to be reminded of the culture we are seeking to cultivate in our church family at Calderwood.

Fuelled by Prayer

When I was a teenager, I was at a Scripture Union camp at Scoughall and I remember one of the activities was building a bonfire on the beach. We scoured the beach and the surrounding area for old bits of wood and materials and, once we’d constructed it, we set it alight. It was a pretty feeble bonfire at first, the flames struggling to take hold and develop into anything more than a few burning embers. But then a camp leader came along with some fuel and, as you can imagine, those small flames turned into a huge bonfire. The fuel made all the difference – it turned small flames and smouldering embers into a great bonfire.

Similarly, prayer is the fuel of the church. Just as the fire relied on fuel to burn, the Christian and the church rely on prayer to see God move in their lives.

A church that thinks it is doing ok on its own, won’t pray.
A church that has lost sight of the brokenness in the world and the eternal destiny of the lost is highly unlike to be on its knees.
A church that thinks their ministries and activities are enough to serve and save their community, is unlikely to be devoted to prayer.
A church that has forgotten what God has done in the past and what He has promised to do, will probably not be calling out to Him.

It can be easy for any church to fall into any one of these situations or numerous others where our life together as Christians stops being fuelled by prayer but rather is fuelled by ourselves and our own strength.

But a church of faith will pray.

As J.C. Ryle said,

Prayer is to faith, what breath is to the body. It is not just theoretically dependent on it; it needs it to survive.

Reading through the gospels we are struck by the times that Jesus took time to go to a quiet place to be with His Father. Reading through Acts we are struck by the number of the times that the believers met together to pray and how devotion to prayer was a hallmark of who they were.

Therefore, being a community that is fuelled by prayer is one of our church values and a vital part of our DNA as God’s people.

For when our individual lives and our life together is marked by a devotion to prayer, our relationship with God deepens. Spending time with God in prayer causes significant things to happens in each of us. We humble ourselves, seek God’s presence, and once again place our trust in His loving care (2 Chronicles 7:14). We recognise our own weakness and rejoice in the power of our God remembering that we are jars of clay who demonstrate the great power of our God (2 Corinthians 4:7). We lay aside our anxieties and fears and bring our requests and prayers for others before the One who hears us when we call out (Philippians 4:6). And in prayer, we surrender our will to God’s will and ask for the renewal of our heart and mind by aligning us to God’s will and desire (Romans 12:1).

Prayer is the fuel of a heart-changing relationship with our Father. Prayer causes us to come as children before our Father; prayer causes us to humble ourselves and come with empty hands; prayer gives us great confidence that we belong to the King because we can come before His throne.

My boys are still at an age that when a toy breaks or something isn’t working they bring it to me to fix or sort out. And they come with this great expectation that I can fix it. Whether its Lego or a toy that’s lost a leg, they bring it to me, sometimes with tears in their eyes, so that I can fix it. And there are times when a toy is broken beyond repair and I can see the disappointment in their eyes when I say, 'I’m sorry, I can’t fix this'.

When we come to God in prayer we ought to come as my boys do to me. With this great expectation that God is able to deal with it. With the confidence that He will turn His attention to us, hear our request, and is able to deal with it knowing that, being the perfect Father, there is never a situation that is beyond Him.

So it is absolutely vital to the life of God’s church that prayer fuels our heart-changing relationship with God that together we become increasingly dependent upon Him. And as we do, Paul instructs,

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people (Ephesians 6:18)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,

Next - Rooted in the Word of God