Swindon? Can anything good come from there?

Last Monday I went to a prayer meeting at Stratton Green Baptist Church. It had been called by two Baptist pastors in Swindon. There were several other church leaders at the meeting. My two Baptist friends felt that God wants church leaders in this town to be meeting together for prayer and praying for Swindon. Church leaders do meet for a prayer breakfast once every month or so. But to be honest not all churches leaders make it.

The prospect of setting out to pray at 8am on a dark January morning didn’t fill me with joy I can tell you. But I went along. And boy am I glad I did. Because I came away feeling blessed by the time of prayer and God gave me a messag.

Our prayer was focused purely on Swindon. And during the time of prayer someone said something like “Swindon is not the most significant of towns but Father it is precious to you and you care for its people.” And that comment was for me a word from God of the need for this town to become focused on Jesus. Given the number of churches and chapels in Stratton over the years let alone in Swindon, I have to assume that at one time Jesus was better known in Swindon than he is now. So as I say I felt God was saying at that prayer meeting he wants Swindon to become reacquainted with Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

“Swindon is not the most significant of towns but Father it is precious to you and you care for its people.”

During the prayer time I called back to mind a passage of scripture from Micah 5:2

2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins[c] are from of old,
from ancient times.[d]”

Or as The Message puts it:

2-4But you, Bethlehem, David's country,
the runt of the litter—
From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He'll be no upstart, no pretender.
His family tree is ancient and distinguished

This prophecy by Micah pointed to Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. And because of Jesus’ birth, Bethlehem is today a very sacred place. But we are probably not aware of fact that at the time of Jesus’ birth, and indeed for centuries before, Bethlehem was regarded as a nowhere town.


The town had been the home of important people in Israel’s history such as David, but it was no more than a market town at the time of Jesus.

So why would God use such a place for his son to be born?

None of us, not even Jesus can have any say in where we were born. My son who is a fervent supporter of the Welsh rugby team and is a fervent Welshman can’t get away from the fact that he was not born in Wales. He was born in the old PMH! I did offer to drive his mother over the Severn Bridge but she didn’t want to know.

But our birth place doesn’t always matter. And let’s face it we can usually overcome any unfortunate birth place by where we grow up. But unfortunately, where Jesus grew up – Nazareth - was even worse. You may remember in John’s Gospel we have the account of how Philip called Nathanael as a disciple of Jesus John 1: 45 - 46

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

In Jesus’ time Nazareth was little more than a village. And it only had one spring to supply its inhabitants. According to the Holman Bible Dictionary Nazareth’s bad reputation came about because ” … its people spoke in an unpolished dialect, it had a lack of culture and quite possibly because it was irreligious and had a certain moral laxity.”

Given this it’s hardly surprising that the early church received scorn as being a Nazarene sect. We’re told in Acts how Paul was brought before the high priest Ananias and Paul’s accusers said:

5 “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect”

Given Jesus’ birth in a back water town and his upbringing in a village with a dodgy reputation how on earth are we talking about him 2,000 years later? We are talking about him because Jesus is God. We are talking about him because Jesus’ message is a message of love. We are talking about him because Jesus’ message is truth.

But what links Nazareth and Bethlehem to Swindon? Well going back to that prayer meeting I mentioned earlier, I feel God put this word into my heart because God knows that he can use the most unlikely people and most unlikely places for his glory.

I came away from that prayer meeting with a real feeling that God wants his people in Swindon to be praying together. God wants his people in Swindon to be working together. I came away with a real sense that God wants this town to know him.

When I looked up Nazareth in the Holman Bible Dictionary I smiled when I read the reference:
” … its people spoke in an unpolished dialect, it had a lack of culture and quite possibly because it was irreligious and had a certain moral laxity.”
Because let’s be honest that definition could apply to Swindon.
” … its people spoke in an unpolished dialect, it had a lack of culture and quite possibly because it was irreligious and had a certain moral laxity.”

And let’s face it, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to think of someone saying today:
“Swindon! Can anything good come from there?”
But remember, what is Philip’s reply to Nathaniel when Nathaniel scoffs at Jesus coming from Nazareth?
“Come and see,”

Wouldn’t it be good if instead of people mocking our town it was more the case of “Come and see” “Come and see”? And I’m talking about the reason for saying to people “Come and see” being that we through the Holy Spirit have together made Swindon a town which is a vibrant and healthy part of God’s kingdom.

And the thing is, God is already at work through we his people in Swindon.
From talking to colleagues from various churches in the town it seems as if many churches saw an influx of people into church during the Christmas period. I’m not saying this is revival – thought wouldn’t that be a nice problem to have. But clearly God prompted people to come to church.

Last MOnday (16th January) saw the public launch of the Churches Together in Swindon survey that has found that Swindon Christians contribute the equivalent of £6 million each year to the local economy through the way we volunteer, support others and so on.

“Swindon! Can anything good come from there?”
“Come and see,”

The Street Pastors have made a real difference to the town centre. I’ve been told that by police officers without prompting.

Organisations such as Filling Station, Foodbank and Swindon Night Shelter are all run by Christians.

“Swindon! Can anything good come from there?”
“Come and see,”

God is faithful to us his people. And it seems to me that when we his people are working together, worshipping together and praying together then God prospers us and blesses us. And we in turn are then able to prosper and bless this part of God’s kingdom.