From the May-August 2011 Issue
Our Faithful God
Wieslaw and Aleksandra Kamyszek
Church Service in Lodz“The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too in the assembly of the holy ones” (Psalm 89:5).
The sentence quoted above is to be the leading theme for this short article; to be precise it is going to be the word “faithfulness”. Not only this sentence but the whole Psalm tells beautifully of the faithfulness of God. Ethan the Ezrahite while he was writing it certainly had in his mind not only the theoretical aspect, but he knew that this faithfulness was shown in a practical way. This is what I would like to refer to.
The “Soli Deo Gloria” church in Łódź has been waiting for some time to obtain official permission to use the new part of the church building (namely a cloakroom and a little vestry). This waiting has also involved permission for the notice board which used to stand in front of the building to inform about the church and the times of the meetings. Needless to say its absence is a problem. People walk along the street and don’t even know that they are passing the church building. It could have been a cause for concern if not for the fact that no matter about the presence or the absence of the notice board people from the neighbourhood are getting more and more aware of who lives in the building and what is going on inside. Moreover, some special meetings cause the presence at the services of people completely unknown to us.
New contacts
Some time ago when Pastor ZM was walking in the estate he was noticed by an elderly bearded gentleman, who saw the beard of ZM as grey as his own and started a conversation. The gentleman appeared to be about 75 and was homeless. What was the fruit of that meeting? He visited our church on the first Sunday of 2011 and he keeps coming! Despite his age, his mind is very bright. We can talk about everything. Once he shared with us that he really enjoyed coming to church for two or even three reasons: first of all, he felt very happy with us, secondly he understood the sermons and they edified him, and thirdly he liked the cup of tea and piece of cake after the Sunday service! That is him. We enjoy his presence among us and praise God for him.
There is another man, much younger than the previous one, whose presence among us also gives us great joy. He was invited to our church by somebody else. He is nearly twenty and is from a Roman Catholic background – as is the other man. Despite his young age he has been given the highest position available for a layman – as far as the liturgy is concerned. He has been coming to church for some months and he wants to be a member. This is a great, great joy.
These two examples show how wonderful in His works and how faithful God is. In various ways He brings people to the assembly of saints. He uses contacts, relations and acquaintances for His purposes. It shows that the church of God, even without the notice board on the wall of the building, is able to live, to breathe and to build up. Faithfulness to God is rewarded by the faithfulness of God. He doesn’t take His love and grace away (Psalm 89:34a) and He is faithful a hundredfold! Such a God should be worshipped and glorified by the assembly of saints. He is worthy to receive all the glory.
God is faithful and there is no one equal to Him; there is no faithfulness like His. This should be remembered by every Christian. Whatever happens, God is faithful, will be faithful, and He will never betray his faithfulness (Psalm 89:34b). The “Soli Deo Gloria” church can see this faithfulness at every step.