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We believe that God is the creator of everything and that He has revealed Himself to us by His inspired word, the bible. We believe that eternal life is only possible because Jesus has died on the cross, taking the punishment for the sins of all who accept Him as Saviour. We believe that God gives His Holy Spirit to all Christians to enable us to live for Him. Although we are clear about our own convictions, we welcome anyone who doesn’t share them to join with us, enjoy our friendship and to explore the Christian faith in our company. |
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Vicar's letter, June 2010
There’s always building work going on in the Vicarage. Not as a result of my (non-existent) enthusiasm for DIY, and nothing that requires the compulsory wearing of a hard hat, but rather as a result of my son’s insatiable Lego-building habit. At times it’s hard to pick a pathway through his bedroom without standing on the latest items undergoing construction.
The Bible frequently uses “building” as a metaphor for the Christian life, for the church, and for the growing of the church.
Jesus tells us to build our life on solid foundations, using a story about two builders one who built on sand and one who built on rock as an illustration, while the Apostle Paul describes individual Christians as being “temples” within whom Jesus dwells by His Spirit. The Apostle Peter describes Christians as bricks or stones who are built together and made strong and solid with Jesus as the foundation stone, while Jesus said “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
It’s been exciting to see God building and expanding the small corner of His church that is St Luke’s over the last few years, and we need to pray for continued wisdom from God that we might enable that growth to continue that we might be an effective church family, fully equipped to grow in our own relationships with God and with each other, and to work energetically to take the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus to those not yet in the Kingdom.
At St Mary’s we’re meeting in June with Barry Hill, the Diocesan Mission Enabler to explore ways of growing the church in Stoughton, which promises to be an exciting meeting that – we hope and pray- will lead to new ideas and exciting opportunities.
In all of this, though, both at St Luke’s and St Mary’s we must always remember what it is we seek to build. Not an empire. Not just a bigger church with more “bums on pews”. Our mission- given to us by Jesus, and recorded in Chapter 28 of Matthew’s Gospel- is far more expansive and wide ranging than that. Our calling is nothing less than to help the “lost” get “found”, and to seek to draw those who don’t yet know Jesus into a saving relationship with him. The legacy that we should wish to leave isn’t just one of fuller churches and bigger congregations (although that’s always nice!), but an eternal legacy that results in souls saved for all eternity through the witness of God’s people in our two churches.
We’ll never do this in our own strength. We may have two clergy, a youth worker, an administrator, an IT co-ordinator and a large team of wonderful volunteer helpers, but building the church requires more than that. It requires us being determined, being open to the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, and being dependant on the fact that “unless the Lord builds the house, the labourers labour in vain” (Psalm 127:1)
Let’s commit ourselves to the task of building the Kingdom, with Christ as our foundation, enabled by the Holy Spirit and energised by the power of the Gospel.