SCAPEGOAT HILL BAPTIST CHURCH NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2022

Dear Friends

What a strange summer this has been!  While much of the country has turned brown the fields around us are still green.  We seem to have had plenty of rain in some weeks – interspersed with some serious heat.  And now we have a hosepipe ban!  If you grow things in your garden, how have your plants done? Tomatoes in the greenhouse are beginning to ripen more quickly now.

We have a bit of a field on a very steep slope. As well as the sycamore trees the most serious problem we have are the brambles. We can’t keep on top of them. But I must admit I have never seen as much fruit on them ~ ever! They obviously enjoyed the sun. This year I may actually pull the fruit before they get cut down! But the thing that always amazes me are the fruit trees. Planted as little saplings, all the care they get from us is that the grass gets strimmed down, yet year after year they grow and produce plums, apples, pears. And we do nothing – God makes them grow and we reap the harvest. The first year we had anything like a harvest, I went down to pull the plums and I just cried, looking at them all and seeing how the Lord had blessed us.  I know the growing process is a lot more complex for some commercial fruit and veg suppliers, they put in all the necessary nutrients but at the end of the day the harvest is not ensured by that alone, all things come from our Creator God. In Israel, from bible times to today, trusting in God’s provision of enough rain to ensure there is enough food is a constant reminder of how dependent they are on God. Every seventh year they let the land rest for twelve months according to God’s instructions. That year is now complete and planting is just restarting again. God honours their faithfulness.

The truth is, I am not in control of how fruitful our trees are. Only God can see to that. And really, that is the reality of all of life. We are not in control of our health, our environment, our life, our politics, etc. We are in the midst of very troubling days.  A number of our friends are struggling with health or family issues, our government is in turmoil, inflation brings its own anxieties, the world has deep worries about what may happen as a result of Russia’s and China’s expansionist aims ……… but let us never forget where our security and confidence lays ….

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”  Isaiah 41.10

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble. BUT TAKE HEART! I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.” 
John 16:33

“And surely I am with you  always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20