Weekly Pastoral Letter 11th April 2020
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I flicked through the opening verses of a few of Paul’s letters and toward the beginning of each was this same greeting/blessing/declaration.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he adds … “who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen
Paul reminds us of Jesus’ Easter purpose in one powerful sentence. Jesus was the Father’s plan from the beginning – to give himself as a sacrifice, to exchange his life for ours – to rescue us from ‘the present age’ the age of human self-reign and self-rule under the influence of ‘the enemy of man’ and incorporate us into His reign and rule in His dominion.
I am writing this letter with much on my mind. Easter is upon us, this time when we gather together in awe and wonder and the goodness of God expressed through His Son Jesus. Yet we only gather online, or in small family pockets, hiding away from an enemy, encouraging one another, and praying in hope of a better future for ourselves and our loved ones. On good days we may even be able to look past ourselves and extend our concern and prayer to our neighbourhood, region, state and country. Continue reading “Weekly Pastoral Letter 11th April 2020”
Sunrise Service Easter Sunday
Faith Sharing – its as natural as breathing
When we think of sharing our faith what usually comes to mind are words, lots of words, crafted with passion into sentences designed to persuade and convince someone else that embracing faith in God will be truly transformative for them.
As the disciples encountered Easter, the risen Christ offers them a radically enhanced alternative to this narrow view of faith-sharing. How we live our lives – what we do and who we are in relation to God and to each other – becomes central, because we share the value and meaning of our faith each and every time we put it into practice as God’s Kingdom-building people. Just like Jesus did. Continue reading “Faith Sharing – its as natural as breathing”