‘Embracing our Weakness – to Discover God’s Strength’ was the theme of this year’s Derby Bible Week (17–20 April).
Our speaker was Martin Salter (see photo) – Lead Pastor at Grace Community Church Bedford. Martin led us through the life and exploits of Gideon in Judges chapter 6–8 in a very practical and pastoral way. The relevant and memorable lessons that he drew from these chapters were greatly challenging.
We were reminded that ‘There are no great men in the Bible – only a great God who uses weak men and women’. Who can forget Martin’s analogy, that living the Christian life, and the worship of God, is not to be like ‘cooking’ – tossing in any ingredient you like! It is more akin to baking – following carefully the prescribed ingredients!
The latter part of the account of Gideon is often passed over because of the vivid victory story over the Midianites, but Martin dwelt on Gideon’s failings, and ours – not to depress us but to drive us to the right source of our strength, the Lord Jesus.
It is encouraging that good numbers are still prepared to come out to hear Bible Ministry on four evenings (or four mornings, as the messages were repeated) in the week. Numbers watching the live-stream and the recordings continue to rise. Whilst this is probably a practical option for busy Christians, it misses the joy of physically being together and we hope that many will return to the live meetings in future years. Certainly, the singing of God’s praise together is worth the effort alone – it was thrilling to experience it!
