Latest Devotion's By Pastor Emilian
Living as Loved
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in HIM, rooted and built up in HIM, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in HIM, rooted and built up in HIM, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6-7
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During these past few months, like many pastors and many other people too, I have woken up some mornings feeling discouraged, and at times with a twinge of disappointment. The weight of pastoral responsibility has pressed more heavily on my shoulders. I’ve been thinking and praying about folk in our congregation who have struggled spiritually and physically. I’ve been bringing before the Lord people who’ve lost a loved one or their jobs.
I am daily praying about the fellowship, our church vision and the pastoral challenges that we are facing and will probably do so in the months to come. In this difficult season and huge ministry concerns, my time with the Lord feels like a refreshing spring in the desert. I’m discovering that prayer opens an ideal space to experience gratitude and joy in God’s presence. |
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Few mornings a week, I get out of bed and, I go for a leisurely run through our neighbourhood. While running, I pray and I give thanks to God for all the blessings of the previous day: a good night’s sleep, a great walk with friends, a meaningful telephone conversation with someone in our fellowship. As I pray through the things that I am thankful for, slowly I begin to feel more and more grateful. I know that as I delight in something positive my heart begins to rejoice as I trace these gifts to their ultimate source, I also feel more gratitude and peace in God.
A few days ago, while on my morning run, I felt the Lord saying to me “You don’t ever have to do anything extraordinary for ME to love you.” Inspired by those words, I recall my family, my friends, people in our fellowship and others who have shown me God’s love and still do so. People whose friendship with me is a God given gift and a joyful blessing. People through whom I am experiencing the love of God.
When I arrive home, I light a candle in my office and sit in silence for a while, simply enjoying God’s presence. A great Christian writer once said that “the goal of silent prayer is not perfect attention. If we are distracted 10,000 times this represents 10,000 opportunities to return to the Lord.” What is more important than attention is intention. With this in mind, I close my prayer with a few phrases of intention: “Lord Jesus, help me to love you well. Help me express that in everything I do or say today.”
A few months ago, my son Joshua, was telling me how in his later years Ludwig Van Beethoven spent hours playing a broken harpsichord. The instrument was damaged and worthless: keys were missing, strings rusty; it was out of tune and terrible to listen to. However, the great composer and pianist would play till his eyes were filled with tears as if he was hearing the heavenly anthem, and he was in his imagination and in his heart. He was deaf but Beethoven was hearing the sound the instrument should make, not the one it did make.
Maybe you feel like Beethoven’s harpsichord. Out of tune, inadequate. Your life of not much worth and insignificant. Ever wonder what God does when the instrument of our life is broken? How does the Master respond when the keys of our intimacy with Him don’t work? Does he demand a replacement? Or does he patiently restore and tune until he hears the melody he longs to hear? As your pastor, I would like you to know that the Master Musician fixes what we can’t and hears music when we don’t. And he loves to hear the music that comes from your wounded life and ministry.
As we prayerfully pause and reflect on God’s love in Christ, the Spirit of God touches our hearts with His love and tunes our spirit into His, enabling us to love and care for those we encounter throughout our everyday living. Let our lives and ministries then become an instrument of worship that plays the notes of
gratitude into the courts of the King of Kings Hosanna!’ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Blessed is the king of Israel!’ (John 12:13)
A few days ago, while on my morning run, I felt the Lord saying to me “You don’t ever have to do anything extraordinary for ME to love you.” Inspired by those words, I recall my family, my friends, people in our fellowship and others who have shown me God’s love and still do so. People whose friendship with me is a God given gift and a joyful blessing. People through whom I am experiencing the love of God.
When I arrive home, I light a candle in my office and sit in silence for a while, simply enjoying God’s presence. A great Christian writer once said that “the goal of silent prayer is not perfect attention. If we are distracted 10,000 times this represents 10,000 opportunities to return to the Lord.” What is more important than attention is intention. With this in mind, I close my prayer with a few phrases of intention: “Lord Jesus, help me to love you well. Help me express that in everything I do or say today.”
A few months ago, my son Joshua, was telling me how in his later years Ludwig Van Beethoven spent hours playing a broken harpsichord. The instrument was damaged and worthless: keys were missing, strings rusty; it was out of tune and terrible to listen to. However, the great composer and pianist would play till his eyes were filled with tears as if he was hearing the heavenly anthem, and he was in his imagination and in his heart. He was deaf but Beethoven was hearing the sound the instrument should make, not the one it did make.
Maybe you feel like Beethoven’s harpsichord. Out of tune, inadequate. Your life of not much worth and insignificant. Ever wonder what God does when the instrument of our life is broken? How does the Master respond when the keys of our intimacy with Him don’t work? Does he demand a replacement? Or does he patiently restore and tune until he hears the melody he longs to hear? As your pastor, I would like you to know that the Master Musician fixes what we can’t and hears music when we don’t. And he loves to hear the music that comes from your wounded life and ministry.
As we prayerfully pause and reflect on God’s love in Christ, the Spirit of God touches our hearts with His love and tunes our spirit into His, enabling us to love and care for those we encounter throughout our everyday living. Let our lives and ministries then become an instrument of worship that plays the notes of
gratitude into the courts of the King of Kings Hosanna!’ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Blessed is the king of Israel!’ (John 12:13)
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DO NOT FORGET!
Take time to pause, reflect and remind yourself that you do not have to do anything extraordinary to be loved by God… He did the extraordinary on the hill at Golgotha. Because of His sacrifice, you and HIM… are eternally in harmony… “lost in wonder, lost in love, lost in praise forevermore” … because of the cross …because of the empty tomb… because of Jesus… YOU ARE LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY! Pastor Emilian |
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The Power of Friendship and the Long Road Home
I thought replacing the car would be simple… The old one had failed its MOT, and after searching around, I ordered another vehicle on the same week, though I could not collect it until the following one. It felt inconvenient at the time, but manageable yet I had no idea the journey ahead would become a living parable of the Church’s ministry into God’s mission. |
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The first sign of trouble came before I even reached the garage what should have been a short final stretch turned into an hour-long crawl for a single mile. Traffic stood still, engines overheated, tempers simmered yet eventually I arrived… I was met with a lot of smiles and a nice cup of coffee. I was praised for my long journey through the night to come and collect the car and for my patience in the last mile of a very heavy traffic. At this garage I made some lovely new friends who after asking me what I do for a job, they proceeded to ask what I think that God is doing in the world today… then after they seemed to be satisfied with my answer they allowed me to collected the car, and began the three hours journey home.
Then came Shap…
On the hottest day of May ever recorded, at the highest point of the M6 motorway, the newly collected car broke down – first time ever happened to me on the motorway. There is something exposing about standing stranded at the side of a motorway: no control, no momentum, no way forward under your own strength.. just heat, waiting, uncertainty, frustration and dependence on the help of others.
Eventually, after three hours, a recovery truck arrived. Relief at last — until the driver explained that he could only take me halfway to my destination as another recovery vehicle would meet me later. So began hours of transfers, waiting, uncertainty, and exhaustion. Four hours after the breakdown, and two recoveries, I finally reached the garage where my car was destined to be repaired - only 15 miles down the road.
As I arrived, the receptionist gave me a cold cup of water and innocently murmured how could a loving God allow His ‘favoured one’ to break down and go through such ordeal during the hottest day of May ever… I gently smiled and with the only physical strength left in me, I whispered back “because He wanted me to meet a lovely and compassionate person like yourself. Thank you for the glass of water and the biscuit.”
Then came another wait.
A taxi was called to take me home. But as the taxi arrived, we discovered that it broke down just as I sat myself in it and needed rescuing. Another taxi was summoned but by the time it arrived, the first taxi — now repaired — insisted on taking me home after all. An argument erupted between the two drivers while I stood there, tired and helpless, simply wondering who would actually take me home… if anyone, really. By now I was seriously contemplating walking the 20 miles journey home. I just wanted to get home!!!!
Seven hours after breaking down, I finally arrived home. Surely that would be the end of it.
But two days later, I arranged another taxi to return to collect my now repaired car. Ten minutes before pickup, I received a message: the taxi itself had broken down. Another replacement would be sent… Eventually I reached the garage, only to discover the repair had not actually been dealt with properly. You can imagine my disappointment at this time!!! Back to the garage again!!!
At several points during this whole experience, I found myself not only crying but laughing too – and once, both at the same time. Not because it was funny in the ordinary sense, but because the absurdity became almost beyond belief. Breakdown after breakdown. Delay after delay. Rescue vehicles needing rescue.
And yet somewhere in all of this, I began to glimpse something profoundly true about our friendship with God.
The mission of God is not conducted from a distance.
In Jesus Christ, God entered traffic jams, exhaustion, inconvenience, misunderstanding, heat, frustration, and suffering. The Incarnation is not merely the doctrine that God became human but it is the declaration that God chose to enter fully into the fragile, frustrating reality of human life and become our friend. Jesus did not save humanity remotely. He came among us. He walked dusty roads.
He grew tired.
He waited.
He wept.
He was interrupted.
He shared meals.
He touched lepers.
He stayed present with confused friends who repeatedly failed to understand Him.
Sometimes our ministry looks less like a pulpit preaching and more like standing stranded beside someone at the side of the motorway. My privilege in ministry is to be with people in breakdowns — emotional, spiritual, relational, financial, physical. Not merely pointing toward hope from a safe distance but embodying the presence of Christ in the middle of the heat and delay. Incarnational ministry often feels inefficient because love usually does.
What struck me most throughout this ordeal was how dependent I became upon other people. As a minister, I find that very challenging to accept yet this is one of the greatest blessings I receive form God through others…
Recovery drivers. Garage staff. Taxi dispatchers.
People making phone calls – over 100 calls in a 6-hour period.
People waiting and chatting to me (while waiting to be recovered on M6, I was being checked on to see if I am ok every ten minutes).
People trying, failing, retrying.
None of them saved the situation completely; some solutions failed spectacularly. Yet every person represented a small act of friendship, kindness and hope. That is deeply connected to the mission of Christian friendship. Jesus says in The Gospel of John, “I no longer call you servants… instead, I have called you friends.”
Friendship is not secondary to ministry; it is central to it.
The early Church spread not through polished programmes alone, but through tables, homes, shared burdens, hospitality, patience, and companionship. Faith grew and moved relationally before it moved institutionally.
Friendship says:
“I will stay with you in the delay and offer you a glass of cold water.”
“I will sit with you in uncertainty even though I can’t make the situation better.”
“I may not fix everything, but I will not abandon you.”
That is ministry that is based on genuinely loving people.
The world is full of people stranded at their own version of Shap summit — overwhelmed, exhausted, stuck at the hottest point of their lives. Many are not first asking for theological arguments but asking whether someone will remain present long enough for them to know they are not alone.
In the end, my broken down car was not even properly repaired. And perhaps that is another lesson too… Human systems fail, human solutions disappoint… even our best efforts remain incomplete.
But God’s love does not rest upon the perfection of human systems. It rests upon the faithfulness of Christ, who continues accompanying His people even through unfinished journeys. Our faith is not defined by triumphalism but by HIS faithful presence.
To be friendly is to journey on the road with others.
To practice friendship is to refuse abandonment.
To follow Christ is to stay present even when the journey becomes long, inconvenient, and painfully unresolved.
Sometimes the holiest ministry we offer is simply this: to remain with one another until we finally get home. That is FRIENDSHIP and… that is what ‘mission’ is all about!!!
Pastor Emilian
On the hottest day of May ever recorded, at the highest point of the M6 motorway, the newly collected car broke down – first time ever happened to me on the motorway. There is something exposing about standing stranded at the side of a motorway: no control, no momentum, no way forward under your own strength.. just heat, waiting, uncertainty, frustration and dependence on the help of others.
Eventually, after three hours, a recovery truck arrived. Relief at last — until the driver explained that he could only take me halfway to my destination as another recovery vehicle would meet me later. So began hours of transfers, waiting, uncertainty, and exhaustion. Four hours after the breakdown, and two recoveries, I finally reached the garage where my car was destined to be repaired - only 15 miles down the road.
As I arrived, the receptionist gave me a cold cup of water and innocently murmured how could a loving God allow His ‘favoured one’ to break down and go through such ordeal during the hottest day of May ever… I gently smiled and with the only physical strength left in me, I whispered back “because He wanted me to meet a lovely and compassionate person like yourself. Thank you for the glass of water and the biscuit.”
Then came another wait.
A taxi was called to take me home. But as the taxi arrived, we discovered that it broke down just as I sat myself in it and needed rescuing. Another taxi was summoned but by the time it arrived, the first taxi — now repaired — insisted on taking me home after all. An argument erupted between the two drivers while I stood there, tired and helpless, simply wondering who would actually take me home… if anyone, really. By now I was seriously contemplating walking the 20 miles journey home. I just wanted to get home!!!!
Seven hours after breaking down, I finally arrived home. Surely that would be the end of it.
But two days later, I arranged another taxi to return to collect my now repaired car. Ten minutes before pickup, I received a message: the taxi itself had broken down. Another replacement would be sent… Eventually I reached the garage, only to discover the repair had not actually been dealt with properly. You can imagine my disappointment at this time!!! Back to the garage again!!!
At several points during this whole experience, I found myself not only crying but laughing too – and once, both at the same time. Not because it was funny in the ordinary sense, but because the absurdity became almost beyond belief. Breakdown after breakdown. Delay after delay. Rescue vehicles needing rescue.
And yet somewhere in all of this, I began to glimpse something profoundly true about our friendship with God.
The mission of God is not conducted from a distance.
In Jesus Christ, God entered traffic jams, exhaustion, inconvenience, misunderstanding, heat, frustration, and suffering. The Incarnation is not merely the doctrine that God became human but it is the declaration that God chose to enter fully into the fragile, frustrating reality of human life and become our friend. Jesus did not save humanity remotely. He came among us. He walked dusty roads.
He grew tired.
He waited.
He wept.
He was interrupted.
He shared meals.
He touched lepers.
He stayed present with confused friends who repeatedly failed to understand Him.
Sometimes our ministry looks less like a pulpit preaching and more like standing stranded beside someone at the side of the motorway. My privilege in ministry is to be with people in breakdowns — emotional, spiritual, relational, financial, physical. Not merely pointing toward hope from a safe distance but embodying the presence of Christ in the middle of the heat and delay. Incarnational ministry often feels inefficient because love usually does.
What struck me most throughout this ordeal was how dependent I became upon other people. As a minister, I find that very challenging to accept yet this is one of the greatest blessings I receive form God through others…
Recovery drivers. Garage staff. Taxi dispatchers.
People making phone calls – over 100 calls in a 6-hour period.
People waiting and chatting to me (while waiting to be recovered on M6, I was being checked on to see if I am ok every ten minutes).
People trying, failing, retrying.
None of them saved the situation completely; some solutions failed spectacularly. Yet every person represented a small act of friendship, kindness and hope. That is deeply connected to the mission of Christian friendship. Jesus says in The Gospel of John, “I no longer call you servants… instead, I have called you friends.”
Friendship is not secondary to ministry; it is central to it.
The early Church spread not through polished programmes alone, but through tables, homes, shared burdens, hospitality, patience, and companionship. Faith grew and moved relationally before it moved institutionally.
Friendship says:
“I will stay with you in the delay and offer you a glass of cold water.”
“I will sit with you in uncertainty even though I can’t make the situation better.”
“I may not fix everything, but I will not abandon you.”
That is ministry that is based on genuinely loving people.
The world is full of people stranded at their own version of Shap summit — overwhelmed, exhausted, stuck at the hottest point of their lives. Many are not first asking for theological arguments but asking whether someone will remain present long enough for them to know they are not alone.
In the end, my broken down car was not even properly repaired. And perhaps that is another lesson too… Human systems fail, human solutions disappoint… even our best efforts remain incomplete.
But God’s love does not rest upon the perfection of human systems. It rests upon the faithfulness of Christ, who continues accompanying His people even through unfinished journeys. Our faith is not defined by triumphalism but by HIS faithful presence.
To be friendly is to journey on the road with others.
To practice friendship is to refuse abandonment.
To follow Christ is to stay present even when the journey becomes long, inconvenient, and painfully unresolved.
Sometimes the holiest ministry we offer is simply this: to remain with one another until we finally get home. That is FRIENDSHIP and… that is what ‘mission’ is all about!!!
Pastor Emilian
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The Scaffolding That Stays
As we look around at the current decoration work inside our church, one thing stands out: the scaffolding. It’s not beautiful, not meant to stay forever but it’s temporary, functional, even a bit intrusive; yet without it, the real work couldn’t happen. It holds things up as it gives access to hard to reach places. It allows careful restoration, layer by layer. In many ways, God works like that in our lives We often pray for finished results healed hearts, clear direction, strong faith. But what God frequently provides first is scaffolding: structures that support us while deeper work is happening. These might look like routines, disciplines, relationships, or even seasons of disappointment and discouragement that don’t feel comfortable or necessary. But while the physical scaffolding in our church is temporary, God’s scaffolding in our lives is permanent in purpose, even if it changes in form, shape or location. His support never disappears it just evolves. |
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When we feel uncertain, His Word becomes scaffolding beneath our thoughts.
When we feel weak, His strength holds us steady.
When we are being reshaped, His presence through His Spirit gives us access to places in our hearts we couldn’t reach alone.
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
Notice that underneath. Like scaffolding you don’t always see directly, but it is always there, holding, supporting, sustaining. Right now, the church may look a work in progress, covered, dusty, interrupted. But the scaffolding is not a sign of failure it’s evidence that something is being restored.
The same is true for us… If your life feels “under construction,” don’t mistake that for abandonment. God hasn’t stepped away He has moved closer, building structures around you so that transformation can safely take place. And unlike human scaffolding, His support is never removed prematurely. He knows exactly when each part is needed and when something stronger has been built within you.
THANK YOU for your understanding while the church carries on this valuable work. As you look at the scaffolding in our church, please, pray for those who oversee the work, and those who do the work… In the meantime, let it remind you:
God is at work… God is supporting you… And nothing He builds is left unfinished.
Pastor Emilian
When we feel weak, His strength holds us steady.
When we are being reshaped, His presence through His Spirit gives us access to places in our hearts we couldn’t reach alone.
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
Notice that underneath. Like scaffolding you don’t always see directly, but it is always there, holding, supporting, sustaining. Right now, the church may look a work in progress, covered, dusty, interrupted. But the scaffolding is not a sign of failure it’s evidence that something is being restored.
The same is true for us… If your life feels “under construction,” don’t mistake that for abandonment. God hasn’t stepped away He has moved closer, building structures around you so that transformation can safely take place. And unlike human scaffolding, His support is never removed prematurely. He knows exactly when each part is needed and when something stronger has been built within you.
THANK YOU for your understanding while the church carries on this valuable work. As you look at the scaffolding in our church, please, pray for those who oversee the work, and those who do the work… In the meantime, let it remind you:
God is at work… God is supporting you… And nothing He builds is left unfinished.
Pastor Emilian