Day 59 — Unity in the City
Acts 18:9-10
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”
In today's passage, God is encouraging Paul in the middle of opposition. It came as a gentle reminder in the night to let him know he wasn’t alone and he didn’t have to do this on his own.
If you’re familiar with the Enneagram personalities, I'm a ‘Type 3’. That translates as a self-assured, success-oriented achiever. A bit intense. I get my significance from being able to do things on my own, which is not always helpful! The lie that I can often believe is that if I could just get my hands on enough resources, I could make a bigger impact.
It’s helpful to know that Paul couldn't impact a whole city on his own and neither can we. It takes everyone playing their part. No single person, church, organisation or initiative can change our city on its own. We will never have enough resources or relationships to reach every single person. We have to discover the blessing of partnerships if we want to see fully what God wants to do in our city.
As we begin to emerge from lockdown and being used to doing things on our own, how can we establish partnerships that allow us to move beyond what we’ve seen? How can we help our community become liveable again?
I love that, as a church, we have initiatives like GS Go; that we are working with charities and organisations all across Birmingham; that our Food Bank partnered with the 'Love Your Neighbour' initiative is filled with volunteers who are partnering with something bigger than themselves. They are delivering hope into every home they visit.
What does it look like for us to partner with others to see our whole city transformed? What relationships will release a greater outpouring on our city?
Prayer — Lord show us partnerships that will increase unity, doorways that will lead into your design for our city. Remind us that it takes everyone to be light for the city.
Michael Shannon
Leadership Team