Hi Everyone,
I have to confess I’m a bit of a telly addict. One of my favourite programs at the moment is The Repair Shop. This is a programme all about restoring family treasures that people just can’t part with despite them being broken. I was catching up on an episode yesterday where a rocking horse was being restored. This horse had been well used and loved by generations of children in this family but was now falling to pieces. It wasn’t an easy repair, the damage ran deep into the structure of the horse and required the expertise of a number of skilled artisans to complete the work. I was struck as I watched it that it may have been simpler and much more cost effective to simply get rid of the rocking horse and replace it with a new one. Yet there was something about this family treasure that meant that it was worth more than it’s material cost.
On Sunday we thought about the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price as part of our series looking at our motto text: First…. The Kingdom. I offered us two pictures of what this parable might mean related to the idea of value. In the first picture we looked at us being the merchant in search of fine pearls; the greatest of these pearls being Jesus. In amongst lots of good and worthy things that we might pursue (and perhaps some less worthy things) Jesus is ultimately worth seeking after because in him we find life, meaning and hope.
The second picture we looked at was the idea of Jesus being the merchant and us being the pearl of great price. Jesus is the one who gives up everything in order to pursue the people he created and loves because somehow, despite all of the ways we have been damaged and how deep that damage runs, Jesus declares that we are worth it. Both of these pictures show two halves of one of the eternal truths of the kingdom that as we are in pursuit of God, he is also in pursuit of us. He is the God who runs to find us and the God who allows himself to be found.
Whatever you are doing this week, have a great week. I hope to see you on Sunday, if not before, when we will be continuing to think about the Kingdom of God together.
With Love
Jess
I have to confess I’m a bit of a telly addict. One of my favourite programs at the moment is The Repair Shop. This is a programme all about restoring family treasures that people just can’t part with despite them being broken. I was catching up on an episode yesterday where a rocking horse was being restored. This horse had been well used and loved by generations of children in this family but was now falling to pieces. It wasn’t an easy repair, the damage ran deep into the structure of the horse and required the expertise of a number of skilled artisans to complete the work. I was struck as I watched it that it may have been simpler and much more cost effective to simply get rid of the rocking horse and replace it with a new one. Yet there was something about this family treasure that meant that it was worth more than it’s material cost.
On Sunday we thought about the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price as part of our series looking at our motto text: First…. The Kingdom. I offered us two pictures of what this parable might mean related to the idea of value. In the first picture we looked at us being the merchant in search of fine pearls; the greatest of these pearls being Jesus. In amongst lots of good and worthy things that we might pursue (and perhaps some less worthy things) Jesus is ultimately worth seeking after because in him we find life, meaning and hope.
The second picture we looked at was the idea of Jesus being the merchant and us being the pearl of great price. Jesus is the one who gives up everything in order to pursue the people he created and loves because somehow, despite all of the ways we have been damaged and how deep that damage runs, Jesus declares that we are worth it. Both of these pictures show two halves of one of the eternal truths of the kingdom that as we are in pursuit of God, he is also in pursuit of us. He is the God who runs to find us and the God who allows himself to be found.
Whatever you are doing this week, have a great week. I hope to see you on Sunday, if not before, when we will be continuing to think about the Kingdom of God together.
With Love
Jess