For this week’s Church at Home, we invite you to reflect on the sadness and anger that has erupted in our culture over the realities of racial injustice in our world. We also invite you to ponder the raw and honest portrait of human sin in the Bible. The biblical authors want us to take an honest look at our personal and communal failures, but not so we can blame others or hate ourselves. Rather, an honest evaluation of our human condition points us to the only source of ultimate hope: the generous love of God that has the power to recreate us as new humans who can truly love God and neighbour.
Read more: Church at Home - Sin
For this week’s Church at Home, we’re going to invite you to reflect on three moments in Scripture that show the Spirit of God at work in the world — it’s timely. As our world continues to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re entering a new season of difficulty, as leaders debate and divide over how to move forward. And as followers of Jesus find themselves drawn into this complex set of issues, there’s no better time to remind ourselves of the work of God’s Spirit in the world. In the storyline of the Bible, God’s Spirit is in the business of generating life and order out of dismal and lifeless situations.
Read more: Church at Home: Week 11 - Holy Spirit
As we all continue to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the experiences we’ve all been having is the feeling of losing control. Across nations and neighbourhoods, we’ve all been made helpless before the spread of the virus. Never in such a short amount of time have so many humans been forced to make drastic changes to their lives with work, food, family, and health. If we had any illusions about being in control of our lives, they’re long gone by now.And while this stripping away of control is a painful experience, according to the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, it’s one of the best worst things that can happen to us. One of the first steps toward biblical wisdom is a posture of total surrender before God. And nothing helps us get there quicker than losing control of our lives. This kind of loss can also help us rediscover the many simple gifts that God provides every day—if we have eyes to see them. In this week’s Church at Home, we’ll reflect on Ecclesiastes and ponder its surprising wisdom.
Read more: Chirch at Home: Week 10 - Ecclesiastes
As we all continue to endure the COVID-19 outbreak, it’s becoming more difficult to be optimistic that circumstances will change for the better anytime soon. Some communities may begin to return to a new normal, but it’s clear that life won’t be going back to the way it was for some time. These are challenging times to be an optimist.
But the biblical story invites us into a different way of seeing human history, from a vantage point of hope. In the Bible, hope is about waiting, not for circumstances to change but for God himself. God’s character and his promises to rescue and restore our world are the only things that endure from generation to generation. And so the only option we’re left with in times of uncertainty is to cultivate the difficult virtue of patient hope in God’s promises.
We hope you enjoy what you see on our website and make use of some of our resources. And if you'd like to get to know us we'd love to hear from you. Use our contact form. We meet in the Centenary Lounge by the Village Hall at 10.45am. We have a midweek meeting for study and prayer which is usually online.
We put the safeguarding of children, young people and adults at risk first and have a comprehensive Safeguarding policy.
Contact Us
Please send your correspondence to the church secretary. Here are the contact details for our website administrator. Use the handy web form for your message. If you want a response remember to give us your email address.