Dear Friends

The addition today of William and Charlotte Harrison to our Wednesday morning prayer group significantly brought down the average age of those attending. It also served as a wonderful illustration concerning the point Jesus was making to his disciples when asked; "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’” Matthew 18.1. Jesus’ response was to call a child, whom he then put among them, saying; "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”.

As was oftern the case, a simple action or pithy one liner from Jesus spoke volumes, again in this case turning upside down the perceived pecking order of importance of who and what was great in the kingdom of God. The powerless “little ones”, either in age, gender, outcasts or on the margins, it would seem have always had a special place in the heart of God, if not always IN the rest of society.

This warning of pre-judging and selective sorting, also featured in our last parable of Jesus that we studied on Sunday, looking at the parable of the dragnet, where all sorts, varieties and sizes of sea creatures would be brought from sea to shore. Whilst it may be a human preoccupation to try to establish; “who is in", and "who is out”, the parable demonstrates that when it comes to the kingdom, that is not our job. For if we are to concentrate on anything other than simply being fish ourselves, it is to be gatherers rather than sorters. Indeed when it comes to the final sorting, we could be surprised (pleasantly I trust) as to the nature and results of the process. We are called to gather, and indeed, one of our current mission priorities as a church is to implement the 3 M’s: identifying and creating occasions and events whereby there are More people in the Mix, More of the time! Our last such event was the pancake party announcing the onset of Lent. Towards the end of Lent, we hope to share a Passover Meal on Maundy Thursday at teatime on 9 April, where once again in their questions, children take the centre stage.

Until then and throughout Lent, may our God, bless us and keep us.

Simon

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about deserts this week, not to be confused with desserts (although I do think about those quite a lot too). In films and cartoons deserts are often shown as places with miles and miles of sand, nothing and no one to be seen for miles and miles. It’s hot and oppressive – a place of despair. 

Often in churches preachers speak about desert times in our lives referring to times in our lives when God seems absent. I think deserts can actually be really positive places. In the early church there was a group called the Desert Fathers. These were people who deliberately separated themselves from the rest of the world in order to seek God. For them the desert was a place of God’s presence not his absence. 

On Sunday we looked at the story of Jesus in the wilderness in Mathew 4:1-11. Read it again here.

The first thing that we read is that Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit – God was very present in that place. It was a place where Jesus prepared for ministry, where he resisted the temptation to take the easy way out and where he was ministered to.

Perhaps a message to us here is to not be afraid of the desert but to actively seek those places where we can be quiet with God. It can be a challenging place as we are confronted with our true selves without filters or the photo shopped image we might want to portray to others. But it is a place where God meets us, challenges us and transforms us by his Spirit. It is a place where we are known completely and yet loved completely.

As Chris Tomlin sings in his song Indescribable:
“You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same.”
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Why not take some time out this Lent to seek out the desert (wherever that might be for you). Take some time to be quiet and alone with God, to allow him to examine your heart and to minister to you as we begin our journey towards Easter.

With love

Jess