A message from Mike & Sandie 

“In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV)

This simple command succinctly describes our desire in Christian ministry and what we pray will be the result of this ministry as we serve Christ as Lord amongst his people here in Lincoln.

Whilst this challenge is great, there is nothing that brings greater joy than to live passionately and exclusively for the glory of Christ.

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”    1 Peter 3:18 NIV

 Sandie and I first new the great blessing of this gift of salvation when still relatively young, having both enjoyed the privilege of Christian homes.  It was in those early years that I felt the first strong sense of a call to serve the Lord in full time ministry.

Having met during our university years Sandie and I quickly realised that we shared this conviction and looked forward to the ways God would lead us in his service.  During a season of investigation and prayer we worked through the possibility of serving the Lord in a church planting ministry overseas but it became apparent that the Lord would use us to the build the church here in the UK instead.  Our first opportunities for ministry training were provided by Kensington Baptist Church (KBC) in Bristol whilst I was teaching Chemistry and Sandie was working as a Radiotherapist at the Oncology Centre in the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

We had many opportunities for service in the church and it was at this time that I commenced theological studies by correspondence.  Perhaps one of the greatest blessings of that time was the training and discipleship that I received from the Assistant Pastor, Mark Lawrence.  When he left Bristol to Pastor West Street Baptist Church & Christian Centre (WSBC), Sandie and I continued to be strengthened and supported in our ministry development by Andy (Pastor of KBC) and Kath Paterson, during which time the church acknowledged our call to ministry by church vote to become one of the Pastoral Assistants.  Our years at KBC are a precious memory and the time when God blessed us with our two wonderful sons, Joshua and Daniel.

The next phase of training took place at West Street with Mark Lawrence.  I served as Assistant Pastor there from 2001 and then Associate alongside Mark from 2003.   In the early years I attended the Cornhill Training Course in London, continued my theological studies with Moore College, and alongside Sandie enjoyed many wonderful opportunities to serve Christ in His Church.  This point in our lives will always be remembered with incredible fondness as a time where we enjoyed a great outpouring of God’s gracious blessings in ministry.  We saw many saved, the church grow in godliness and size and the community of Dunstable touched by the gospel.  God blessed us with the arrival of our daughter Grace and continued to strengthen and protect our family in many ways.

Our intention had been to remain in Dunstable for the foreseeable future in partnership with Mark and Rachel and the rest of the church family at West Street.  However, as we became aware of the opportunity at TCM in Lincoln and the need for the gospel in this whole area, it was exciting and humbling to see the Lord shifting our direction and moving our hearts towards the people and the work of this church.

 We now cannot think of anything we would rather do than serve the Lord at TCM and our desire is to model our life and ministry on Paul’s example in Thessalonica.

 “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well,
because you had become so dear to us.”  1 Thess 2:8 NIV

Paul’s priority was to love the people.  This meant sharing the word of God and his life with them, believer and unbeliever alike.  This has been our focus and joy up to this point, and will remain so as we look to the future here in Lincoln.