A Message  from Steve

Well my friends, by the time you read this Christmas will be over and done for another year. New years resolutions will have been made (and broken) and we will be into another new year. Probably our lives will have already settled down into some kind of routine and our new year may be turning out to be a carbon copy of the one that has just ended, with us unconsciously settling into the same rut that we settled into this time last year. Sometimes we forget that for us as Christians renewal is not just a one off thing that happens when we make the commitment of giving our lives to Christ, rather it should be an on-going process. We should all be making an effort to renew ourselves and our relationship with God on a regular basis, and what better time to renew ourselves than at the start of a new year. But new year is not only a time for us as individuals to seek renewal, it is also a time for us to seek renewal corporately for the work that we are doing for Christ, and this applies whether we are a group of two or three running a soup kitchen or something as large as new wine networks, and everyone in between, we all need to seek renewal on a regular basis. 

We at Anglican Renewal ministries are doing just that. Having, in obedience to God, handed the Flames of Fire conference over to New Wine Cymru, we are now seeking to renew ourselves as an organisation, looking to our Lord to show us which road we are to take to leave the crossroads that we have arrived at. We are in a period of waiting, waiting on our Lord to see what he requires of us now, what our new responsibilities are going to be and how we will in future be advancing the kingdom of God in Wales, and while we wait we must be prayerful, diligent and patient.

Prayerful because we must be sure that what we do in future is God’s will not ours. 

Diligent because God may choose to make his will known to any one of us. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you have to be a member of the executive for God to speak to you concerning our future, you don’t even have to be a member of ARM (Wales), God can speak to anyone at any time.

Patient because we are waiting on God’s timing not ours and as we all know God’s timing is not at all like our timing.

He may have to put key people in key places before his plan for A.R.M.(Wales) can be moved forward and this means that it could be a year or even two before we get any clear direction of where God is going to take us.

But whatever happens for the foreseeable future we must wait, watch and pray for however long it takes.

But we mustn’t in the meantime sit on our laurels and do nothing. There is plenty we can do within the current structure of A.R.M.(Wales).   Our individual diocese groups will continue to have their own renewal days / weekends etc. that will need supporting, and there will continue to be new recruits to the kingdom of God who will need help and advice from us as to where to go to worship and how to grow in the kingdom.  We can help all this along by attending the renewal events that we see advertised and by taking new recruits with us.  We can also help by making the resources of A.R.M.(Wales) and our experience available to our diocese as and when required, so there is more than enough to keep us busy for God as we wait for his guidance.

There are without doubt exciting times ahead for us and I feel sure that God is going to do a mighty work here in Wales and what a privilege it will be to be a part of it.   But, it is not going to happen overnight, there will be a period of waiting, and while we wait we will do well to remember the story of the virgins at the wedding and how those who were unprepared were left out, because I don’t know about you, but I certainly do not want to be left out.   When God moves us on from where we are now and begins his mighty work we must none of us be found wanting, we must All be ready with the words, “here I am Lord, send me” on our lips, because we are All going to have a part to play in the future work of A.R.M.(Wales).    So I would like to finish now by asking each and every one of us to be prayerful, diligent, and patient before the Lord for as long as it takes, and May God’s blessing be on you All.

 Steve Waters   

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