The Salvation Army Chatham

Majors Drew and Beverley McCombe are now in the process of moving house and taking annual leave.

Majors Drew & Beverley McCombe

For the next four Sundays (including yesterday) we shall be without officer leadership for our meetings. Yesterday Steve and Mel Scoulding accepted the challlenge of preparing and leading our worship and a very good day it was, too.

Steve & Mel Scoulding

Steve is currently employed by the Metropolitan Police and Mel works at the Treasury, in London. In the corps situation they, together, have responsibility for leading our Purpose Group for Evangelism whilst Mel is our Junior Soldiers‘ Sergeant. They are hoping to soon enter training to become Salvation Army officers and feel that the experience gained by having opportunities for leadership, such as this, are invaluable.

Our morning meeting, on the subject of prayer and in which Steve was the preacher, was based on two passages of scripture, 2 Chronicles 7:14-16 and Psalm 18:1-20. Songs 935, 475 and 895 from Songs of Fellowship were included together with 757 from The Salvation Army Song Book to conclude the meeting. Musical ministry was provided by the Singing Company, Band and Songsters who brought ‘Draw me closer to You’ , ‘My Heart’s Desire’ and ‘Breathe’ respectively.

In his address Steve said that he was in Woolwich High Street yesteday and was amazed by the number of churches evangelising to the shoppers, shoppers of all faiths. He asked how do we solve our problems and difficulties without God. We often try, it seems. In South East London, where I work, youth is literally killing itself. We must ask ‘where does prayer fit into our lives?’ Sometimes we forget to pray or give it insufficient time. What do we pray for? We should use prayer in every situation. Every part of our existence needs it. Are we too arrogant to realize this? Must we be brought to our knees? Is there something in our lives which prevents us coming into God’s presence? Only you will know.

In the evening Mel again used scripture from Chronicles and Psalms, selecting 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 and Psalm 150 for the basis of worship. Songs 17 and 179, both from The Salvation Army Song Book were chosen and a period of praise and worship was led by the worship band. On a theme of praise the Band contributed ‘Praise Party’ and the Songsters ‘Praise His Holy Name’ and ‘Sing and be not silent’. Even the testimony period was given a title, that of ‘Praise Him’, during which no less than 10 voluntary testimonies were given praising God for what He has been doing in people’s lives.

Mel’s message centered around the thought that our burdens are lifted when we acknowledge the awesome greatness of God. She said God wants our praise and our worship. He has done so much for us that we must respond to this desire. However, if we focus on ourselves and divert our eyes from Him our praise will dry up. We can and must praise God in all kinds of ways because He is our God, the only God!

We extend our gratitude to our leaders for yesterday who, we know, enjoy going the extra mile. Next week our meetings will be led by Bev Hudson (10am) and Jean Jones (6pm).

Bev Jean

Why not join us, especially as we shall be saying goodbye to friends, Cameron and Janelle Ivers as they prepare to fly home to Australia following a period of several years in the UK.