A packed venue of around 300 on each of four nights in April, the enthusiastic singing of great hymns, the joy of fellowship of likeminded churches, an extensive bookstall, and a faithfully biblical and engaging speaker – it must be Derby Bible Week (DBW), writes David Fielding, chairman.
For many Christians in Derby and the surrounding area, DBW is definitely a highlight in the year.
Our speaker this year was Dr Andrew Sach from Grace Church Greenwich. Andrew combined his winsome preaching and interactive lecturing skills to the full to take us through the four sermons preached in 520BC that make up the Book of Haggai.
We were challenged to read and re-read these messages, and then, to follow the advice of Andrew’s excellent series of books, to “dig deeper”! He began by getting us to construct a seven-word tabloid-like headline to set us going. The result is the title of this article: “For temple neglect, God withholds blessing – BUILD!”
We were drawn into the central application of the temple for our day – the building of the “spiritual house” of the church, and of our own devotional lives. The stand-out phrase from Andrew’s exposition was surely that of “the shock of grace”, referring to God’s incredible announcement through Haggai in the last sentence of chapter 2v19: “But from this day, I will bless you”. No wonder our singing was so full of joy and thankfulness!
Everyone who attended DBW this year was encouraged to join in concerted prayer by being provided with a printed booklet of items for praise and prayer from 12 participating local churches. It is heartening to see the growing desire of many to pray for one another and to pray for true revival among the churches. The opening-up of the Book of Haggai by Andrew was such an encouragement to seek the Lord in this way.
