On Wednesday night at 7.30pm, to our joy, we were visited by Ray and Jill Lockhart from The Church’s Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ UK) who had travelled from Bristol to join us for our Weekly Bible Study & Prayer Meeting!
‘For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.’
– Deuteronomy 14:2 –
If you didn’t already know, CMJ UK is an over 200 year old Ministry that was started in England in 1809 by passionate members of the Reformed Church (men like William Wilberforce, Joseph Frey & Lord Shaftesbury) and has grown into the International Ministry it is today. You can see their handy Timeline HERE. These men and women took seriously The Word of God and His message to His Chosen people, the Jews, and the place where He has chosen to put His Name – Jerusalem. The aims of CMJ are to Engage, Educate, Encourage & Support the Messianic Jewish Community and their Brothers and Sisters who don’t yet know The LORD Jesus Christ as their Saviour, in the sincere hope that ‘if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them‘ – Romans 11:14 . The Ministry seeks to engage with Atheists, Agnostics, Jews and Muslims and to direct the prayerful efforts of Believing Christians towards the work of The Holy Spirit amongst these groups.
We had a wonderful time together, learning to sing in Hebrew to Praise The LORD together, hearing and seeing about the work of CMJ UK and having the personal experiences of Ray & Jill who lived and served in Israel for many years related to us. Since returning home to the UK, the pair spend their time working with CMJ UK and in their own private ministry of prayer – especially praying over the situation in the Middle East today.
We spent a significant portion of the evening discussing the recent tragic events and having them put into both a Biblical and Personal context through the lived experiences of Ray and Jill who were better able to help us grasp some of the societal differences we experience when praying for a different culture.
After a presentation of the work being done and events being held by CMJ UK, we held a short Prayer Meeting to reflect on what we’d heard and seen. It was so encouraging to hear God’s People Praying for those who have forever been Chosen by the Most High, that they might be brought into Everlasting Life by Jesus Christ ❤️
We followed this time together with Refreshments and Fellowship where we had the opportunity to look through the materials that Ray and Jill had brought with them and to get to know them better. The cake was absolutely superb too!
Thank you to all who attended, hosted, made teas and coffee’s, tidied up and lastly – our sincere Thanks to Ray and Jill for coming to teach and encourage us in The LORD’s Work. We look forward to having them back again soon!
May The LORD Bless and Prosper the work of CMJ UK and His People forever, Amen 🙏