Our Key Passage For 2018
Every year we pick a verse from the bible that we hope will guide us in all we do here at Chesterfield Baptist Church.
One of the most beautiful poems of all is what we know as Psalm 27. It was written by King David at a time when most of his life was in a mess. The Halcyon days of his early kingship were long gone and many of his subjects were in open rebellion against his rule.
So it is remarkable that as he faced possible capture and death (maybe even at the hand of his own son), King David realises his prime need is not even to be saved from this terror, but to just be once again close with God. He realised that all his troubles had stemmed from this simple fact: he had become distant from God, by his own broken ways.
It was in this context he wrote these beautiful words:
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
To describe the one thing that he wants David uses three verbs: to dwell, to gaze and to seek. This is crucial. Ultimately what David is asking God for is God! To have more of him, to be closer to him.
That is our prayer here at CBC. Whatever we are facing, whether life is currently good or grim, we want more of him in 2018. We want to go deeper, we want to dwell in his presence, we want to gaze at him and we want to seek him and his kingdom.
Rev. Steve Ansell