Summary 1: Wow thank you for a great year!
I think the scripture above is my
“scripture of the year.” I realise our
main activity this year has been the building of the beacon and the
refurbishment of our premises, but if we don’t love God and our neighbour then
really there is little point in our activity.
I would like to thank all those involved in our recent Open Doors celebrations, it
was a tremendous weekend, culminating in six young people committing their
lives to love God, and starting with a Saturday of activities that made it
extremely easy to love our neighbours, there were just so many of them here!
For those who planned, who cooked, who baked, who poured, who cleaned up, who
invited and those who laughed: thank you and well done. It certainly goes down
for me as one of the best weekends in my
ministry. If you weren’t involved pop across to www.zuchurch.co.uk and watch an excellent
video collage that one of our young people prepared. It was a fitting
celebration to mark both the hard work that had gone into the Beacon Project,
and also the sense of God leading us through this process.
When something goes very well, there
is always the question of how to build
upon this success. You may well be extremely glad that I am not planning
any further building work! However the challenge was set during the renovations
that we are to “become beacons in order to build the Beacon.” This phrase challenges me; it resonates with Jesus’
most foundational teaching where he instructs us to be salt and light. If we
think of the scripture I begun with, we can understand that we are loved by God
in order that we love those around us. God’s love is like the salt and light
that bring colour and flavour into the world. As Jesus came to love the world,
so we are sent to love our neighbours. Matthew puts it well, he tells us to
announce that ‘The kingdom of heaven is near,’ for we have ‘freely received’ so
we should ‘freely give.’ (Matt 10:7-8) Being generous and gracious followers of
Jesus is in my view the only way to respond to the events of the last year. We have built a beacon, now we must help
one another to shine, or as I often say, we are blessed in order to be a
blessing.
Of course every church, indeed every
community has people who already shine; this is because all are made in the
image of God. The real question for me is how should we help one another shine?
In essence that is a large part of my ‘job’, to encourage people to live in a
more Christ like way… in essence to have the ‘cure of souls’. Frankly the
problem is that I don’t do it very well.
I may preach the occasional good sermon (even if a bit long!), when we worship
it is as if sometimes the veil of heaven is being removed, but my ability to
support you, nurture you in your families and indeed at work or in society is
limited. I do pray for you, but prayer is an area where I am growing, it is not
yet a strength! We need something more than just a Pastor, we need a family who
will support us and challenge us in our conviction to grow more like Christ.
That is why fellowship groups have been so important for us at Zion. This year
however we are highlighting an even smaller and more intentional unit of
support, the Inspire fellowship band.
This is a group of no more than four people who usually meet monthly to
encourage, support and challenge each other, specifically about whether we are
living a way of life that is growing in God’s love and expressing this in love
for those around us. It sounds very simple, but in my experience it is
profound. A good number of people have
already expressed an interest in these groups. I realise many of us live busy
lives, and we may need to stop something before we take on something new.
However I am convinced that together we really can shine brighter. Please contact us if you are interested in
these bands, or the way of life that lies behind them.
Summary 2: An amazing foundation has been laid, how
will we each build on the foundation of love that we have been given?
Stephen
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