old and young

Charlotte Chapel is a well-known church up town.

They have a Ladies' meeting every Thursday morning. And from time to time I get invited there to speak.

It's a whole morning thing effectively. What with getting up there, first of all, in time for the coffee at 10. Then the meeting itself 'til half past eleven. And finally getting back.

But it's a good morning and they're a great group of ladies and I always enjoy my time there.

There are maybe as much as a hundred folk. Mainly getting on in years. So the whole hour-long occasion has a sort of old-time, mission-hall flavour to it all. Good and long-loved hymns being sung. Readings from the Bible. A soloist with a song or two. Sometimes a bit of 'testimony' too.

And then the speaker for the day.

Which was me today.

As I say, they're a great group of women and always so very appreciative. They help 'draw out' God's word. Preaching's a pleasure.

I preached on Psalm 16 and loved it. It's a great psalm. And I think they thought so too by the end of it! Well, most of the ladies there, of course, they'd have thought it was great before I even began, I suppose!

So that was the morning gone, at least by the time I got back.

A little bit of an outing for myself. A sort of 'day away'. Or a half day, anyway. Sometimes that's really good. To be taken away from the normal, routine run of things in my own familiar environment. 'A change is as good as a holiday'. That sort of thing.

Except it's hardly much of a holiday! With all that extra input, there's not been that much preparation time thus far this week. And time is marching on.

I tried to get some done this afternoon. But I'd promised to call on a family here in the later afternoon, so I didn't have all that long at my desk.

The family that I went to see had agreed to help with the latest DVD that we're producing here. For the 'green' event we're hosting here at the start of June.

It's been good to get them involved in that. The children, with their speaking parts. I think they really like that sort of thing.

And by taking the time to be in their home and working with them through the script that I'd prepared - it's another form of teaching, I suppose. To a younger generation.

The contrast's been quite striking.

An older generation in the morning. Lovely folk. And a straight, old-fashioned Bible exposition is the form they like their teaching to be packaged in.

And a younger generation later on. Very, very different.

Relational. Sitting down at the table with them. Laughing and chatting and talking things through.

Visual. A DVD. Presenting God's truth in picture form.

And participatory, too. Getting them involved. Doing the thing themselves.

Holding these two in balance is, I think, the biggest single challenge that I face. Bringing God's word to two entirely different 'cultures'. And learning, somehow, to tailor my 'teaching' aright.