2014 GAULBY FESTIVAL OF GRACE

 

The 15th annual Festival of Grace was held at Gaulby St Peters Parish Church, Gaulby, Leicestershire on Saturday 13th September 2014. The event was inaugurated in 2000 by the late Rev Ashley F B Cheesman (rector of the parish from 1988 until his untimely death in 2010) to celebrate the gospel of grace, to preach the gospel as recorded in Holy Scripture, to build up believers in their most holy faith and to inform Christians about the work of the church both at home and throughout the rest of the world.

 

The reformed fellowship at Gaulby is a Church of England parish in the county of Leicestershire where the doctrines of the English reformers are upheld, subscribes to the Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England and regularly uses the 1662 Book of Common Prayer in its evening services.

The meeting this year was accompanied by glorious weather and attended by almost sixty folk, young and old, who came from the fellowship, neighbouring churches and as far afield as Ashbourne, Derby, Peterborough and Wolverhampton.

 

The first speaker was Rev David Patterson, until recently Director of Ministry for the Protestant Truth Society, who gave a brief overview of the history of the Society from its formation in 1889 by John Kensit until the present day, and he emphasized its firm adherence to its reformation roots embodied in the five Solas of the Reformation.

Speaking from Judges 2:6-17 & 21:25 and Ruth chapter 1, Rev Patterson reminded us that just as in the time of the Judges when, ‘everyone did what was right in his own eyes’, so the leaders of our nation today are pursuing what they think to be ‘the right thing to do’ in their eyes rather than seeking God’s revealed truth. We see the consequences of this folly in the laws coming on to the statute book and the way in which society is breaking down. Nevertheless, in spite of these things, Rev Patterson reminded us that, just as in the account of Ruth at the time of the Judges, in the dire circumstances we face today God is still drawing a people to himself as he did with Ruth the Moabitess. We concluded by reading her moving declaration of faith recorded in Ruth 1:16-17.

 

Our next speaker was Rev John Cheeseman, Vice Chairman of Church Society & Church Society Trust, who spoke from Romans 8:28-39 where he highlighted the five undeniable affirmations of faith and the five unanswerable questions in the passage. He encouraged us never to lose sight of God’s promise that he is working all things (not just a few, or most, but all) for the good of his people, despite the inevitable trials and testing they will face, and he uses them to hone us into being the kind of people he would wish us to be.

Just as everything appeared to go terribly wrong with the events of the cross, looking back at what appeared at the time to be defeat, we now see it as the greatest victory in redemptive history for the salvation of God’s people. Rev Cheeseman reminded us that when we face seemingly insurmountable problems we must always look at our circumstances in the light of the cross. He also challenged those who do not as yet know Jesus Christ to put their trust in him as Saviour and Lord.

 

Our final speaker, Dr David Mann of Friends of Mandritsara Trust, Good News Hospital, Mandritsara, Madagascar, gave a brief history of the Christian medical work in North West Madagascar whose vision is to show love to those in need and at the same time proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. It opened as a small clinic in 1995 but now operates as a multi-facility hospital. From its humble beginnings the hospital now has 44 beds, with two inpatient wards, three operating theatres, an eye clinic, maternity unit, X-ray department and an outpatient department. Over 1,200 general operations are performed there each year.  The facility also has a nursing school, a community health team visiting remote villages, a radio station and a school for 350 pupils. Dr Mann told us that since the outset of the project prayer has been, and remains, the basis on which the Hospital is operated.

We also were greatly encouraged to learn how God has blessed the work of the church at Mandritsara, in spite of the obstacles, over the years and hear that the Mandritsara Bible Baptist Church, led by Pastor Julien, now has a congregation of 500 adults and children. In addition, 65 of the nearby villages now have groups of believers.

 

The event concluded with a time of fellowship, accompanied by a delicious buffet tea provided by the ladies of the fellowship, and we left with a deep thankfulness for God’s abundant grace to undeserving sinners like us, a challenge in the way that we respond to the issues that we encounter in society today, and a determination to be ever more faithful servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. We look forward to gathering together once again next year when the event will be held on 12th September 2015.