(Extract from Church Digest - April 2009)

Well, this is my first bulletin as the new pastor of Grace Fellowship. When Bill first left I said it would only be a fool who would step into his shoes; but I had no idea at the time that I would be that fool! So it’s a fresh new start with a new leader... or is it?
If we think about it, although I am the new pastor, nothing has really changed. Grace Fellowship is still a church that is committed to expository preaching: we still preach through the Bible verse by verse, trying to understand what it meant then and applying it accurately to our lives now; we still have a unique unity based on our understanding of what is a “major” and what is a “minor”; we still clearly proclaim the substitutionary death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only way by which a person can be saved. So it’s not really a new start at all: it’s more of the same.
In John 17:17 Jesus prayed, “Father, sanctify them by your truth: your word is truth.” Regardless of who is preaching, whether our favourite or not, this verse tells us that such a concern is an irrelevance. Firstly, as long as the truth is being proclaimed our sanctification cannot be derailed. The Spirit of God works through the teaching of His truth so long as our hearts remain soft and receptive; which leads nicely to my second point.
This issue harks back to the woes of Corinth: Paul writes to them, “You are still influenced by the flesh since there is jealousy and dissention among you. Are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like the unsaved? For whenever someone says, ‘I am of Paul’ or ‘I am of Apollo’s’ are you not merely human?” (1 Cor 3:3-4)
So it’s not a new start at all, just a new leader... or is it? No! The head of the church was, and still is, Jesus Christ; and as long as we remain committed to the teaching of His Word and the proclamation of his gospel that will remained unchanged.
I honestly believe that Grace Fellowship remains the foremost truth-teaching and gospel-proclaiming church in Ashford, not because of what I bring, but because I am committed to continue building on the foundation already laid. So I urge us to continue to stand together under the headship of Jesus Christ, upon the authority of His Word and in the unity that these two things bring. As we do this, we can be sure that God will use Grace Fellowship according to his purposes.

                                                                               Pastor Anthony Forsyth