Thought For The Week

CREATING COMMUNITIES OF WHOLENESS WITH CHRIST AT THE CENTRE

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October - Thought For The Month

OUR ROLES, COMMUNITIES OF WHOLENESS

To her complete astonishment [and terror] Esther found herself as Queen of Persia, and then had to make a decision about whether to stand up for her Jewish faith and people or stay quiet and safe. Her cousin Mordecai said to her 'Perhaps it was for such a time as this that God sent you here.' I've recently been reflecting on that with the new Year 7 students at Isambard Community School. What is this time and what might God be calling us to do within it? Bullying, Global Warming and War have all come up as issues for the students. What are our issues, our challenges and opportunities, within the parish, across Swindon and the UK and around the world? And, just as important, what can we as individuals and a community do to meet them? How can we share faith, care for our world, and be a community of wholeness with Christ at the centre?

7 October

HARVEST

It’s so easy to just enjoy the food and flowers, and the church will look wonderful thanks to all those who will have decorated it. But there is so much more to harvest. We'll be honouring the work of all of our farmers and pray for them amidst the current agricultural difficulties. We'll be remembering the work of Christian Aid who work with some of the poorest people around the world, many of whom have never even seen what we would describe as a 'decent' meal, let alone eaten such a meal. And we'll be rembering those in our town who are also hungry and need food though the crisis times - and so we'll be supporting the food-bank. And then there's fair trade and care for the planet and so much more that we need to be able to glimpse though the flowers, fruit and veg.

14 October

SHARING FAITH

Acts 2.32-41
Luke 10.1-12

The church is only one generation away from extinction! And it always has been.

There are a few, a very few, who are overwhelmed by the wonder of creation or have such a mind blowing experience of the power of God that they never really doubt at all. But even they need a community to welcome them in and help them to grow in faith.

But for the vast majority of us, we only learn about God, we only begin to experience God, when our friends andneightbours, our colleagues and families start to talk about God, start to share faith us us.

How many people can you think of who might be interested in learning about Jesus, who might be interested in coming to church, but who have never got beyond that vague desire because no one has ever invited them to church or talked about their faith.

The church is only one generation away from extinction. And we are the only people who can prevent us going the way of the Dodo's and we can only do it by sharing our faith.

21 October

OUR ROLE

Romans 12.4-11
John 21.15-19

We are the body of Christ - and we're all different and all have different roles within the body, just as in our human bodies each of our limbs and organs have seperate and distinct roles.

For us all to be the same would not only be boring, more importantly it wouldn't work. Just as the human body does we need the diversity of the different limbs and organs [to have four legs and no arms would be a challenge] so also in our church family. We need the adminiistrators and children's workers, the carers and the evangelsits, the cooks and the organisers, the flower arrangers and the musicians.

Being different can be a challenge, not only because we have different roles, skills and gifts, but also because we inevitably have different views about what really matters. Yet it can also be great fun; and as an endless source of creative tension it can help us to move forward.

Because we do each have our own role, each of us fulfills a different and vital role within the body of Christ, epecially as that is lived out within our parish and churches. We are all called to love God and to care for his people and his world, but for each of us the way that that is expressed will be different.

Our task is to help each other work out what each of our roles is, and then support each other as we try to fulfil that role.

And as we do that, to 'let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. [Romans 12.9-10]

If you'd like to find out more about all of this go to http://www.nschurch.org.uk/home_group.html material will be posted there through the month, or email Mike Haslam.