Thought For The Week

CREATING COMMUNITIES OF WHOLENESS WITH CHRIST AT THE CENTRE

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29th January

WAITING

Waiting can be hard, and if ever there were people who waited they were Anna and Simeon. They were the quiet ones, the holy ones, the ones who put up with incomprehension (at best) and ridicule (more commonly). They were the ones who lived through the despair and loneliness of unfulfilled expectations for so many long years, as they waited. But then something both astounding and entirely ordinary took place, they saw a baby with his parents. Sometimes we can't see what's staring us in the face. But prayer can open our eyes, and although they were probably nearly blind, Anna and Simeon could still sense that this was no ordinary baby. The prayer, the silence, the waiting had clarified their vision even while the cataracts encroached on their retinas. And with unsteady steps they rushed to the doorway to greet the baby that was, and is, the Son of God, the one for whom they had been waiting for so many years.

22 January

MONEY

The Bible never stops talking about money - it's there in the parables and teachings of Jesus, in the messages of the prophets, in the descriptions of the furnishings of Soloman's temple, in the boasting of the wealth of the Queen of Sheba, in the ten commandments, in fact it's hardly ever not there. But we're never quite sure what (if anything) to say about money in church.

When the markets go to the fairground to ride a rollercoaster (and as I write this that seems to be exactly what they are doing) and even Central Banks panic (today the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.75% - an unheard of drop that came at least a week before anyone had expected any change at all); when our pension funds are hit and our mortgages rise and fall and rise again (and again); even the financial commentators seem to be flailing around, searching for something consistent and coherent to say. And the Bible doesn't even enter anyone's head as a place to look for answers.

But it should. I'll freely admit that however much I enjoy spending money (see http://www.nschurch.org.uk/blog.htm for some reviews on post Christmas expenditure) I run a mile from any decisions about financial administration and struggle to add up a simple column of figures, let alone help out with Year 3 Numeracy homework!

I'd guess that I'm not alone out there. But I believe that whatever my weaknesses with money, I and all of us in the church need to get to know more about what the Bible says about money, how we should spend our own money and how government and business should spend theirs/ours as well. And then we need to start talking about it. How money is spent and distributed is central to Biblical ideas of justice, peace, trade and that's a message that we need to get into the public arena.

15 January

EDUCATION AND UNITY

What is the role of our schools in our community and what is the role of the Christian faith and of our churches within our schools? These are the questions that we'll be discussing on Education Sunday (20 January).

We're highly unusal in this country in that we have state schools that are also faith schools. There are continuing debates about whether such schools are a good thing and whether they should even exist. It's hard for a Vicar to even pretend to be impartial - and so I'm not going to. But simply to say that my experience of church schools is that they are inclusive and distinctive and are excellent schools!

And it isn't just the church schools, I spend up to 40% of each week in schools, but still don't respond to all of the opportunites that are there for the churches, and so we need to continue to think and pray about what more we can do. Some will be done by us alone, much will be done by us together. And in this week of prayer for Christian Unity that's an important thing to remember. Together we are stronger.

8 January

HOPE 08

As New Year's resolutions fade and at the routines of work and school settle in, making us forget that there ever was a holiday or festival, here's one suggestion, one resolution to consider - that in 2008 we celebrate the year, all that is good, all that is wonderful, all that is holy, all that is of good repute. 2008 can be a year of HOPE - and you'll be hearing more about HOPE 08 as the year progresses. Joel Edwards, leader of the Evangelical Alliance, has asked that we imagine a church with two millions arms held out in hope and welcome rather than one million fingers pointing in condemnation and judgement. What would such a church look like, what would such a church be like? How can we live lives that create such a community and such a church?

1 January

NEW YEAR

If you do nothing else as New Year approaches, take a moment and think back, remember the things that were great in 2007 and say thank you, remember the mistakes you made and say sorry. And then look ahead, forget any resolutions, but think about how you can build on the good things, and how you can heal the broken ones - and if you need help with the healing, or the building, please ask!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

If you'd like to find out more about all of this email Mike Haslam