Letter from Jon, February 2023 

 If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:31,32
 
Dear Friends
 
Over these past few Sundays we have been focussing on what it means to live our lives on the frontline, that wherever we are, whatever we do and whoever we are, we all have our own ‘frontline’, the place where our lives interact with the world around us.  It has been a joy over these weeks to hear some of the stories of people’s lives outside of a Sunday morning as we have asked the question, “what will you be doing ‘This Time Tomorrow’?”; to talk about the joys and the challenges that people face in their daily lives, and to pray with and for them.
 
As I consider the lives of our Church community, the places where we live and work and spend our days, I am aware of how many areas of our society we touch and the opportunities we have to influence and impact those we encounter, whether at home, at work, at school or simply going about the daily tasks of life.  As we have said over these last weeks, we bring a different story into our worlds, a story of hope and good news in Christ, not only through our words but through our attitudes, our values, our actions and reactions.
 
I loved what Stan said last week in his message, that our gift to the world is not that we are anything special or any better than those around us, but simply that we are children of God, loved by him.  We are broken people, loved and redeemed by our Father.  In a world where there is so much fear, uncertainty and hopelessness, we bring our story of hope and redemption. As we live our lives through the week we do not do so with the pressure of having to live up to some religious standard of behaviour, or indeed having to fill every conversation with a Gospel message, but we live out of our identity as God’s sons and daughters, knowing He is with us and for us, working in us and through us to bring his kingdom.
 
My hope for each one of us is that wherever we are, whatever we do and whoever we are, we would live out our story of hope in Jesus Christ, inviting God into the many details of our days and expecting his presence, his peace and his power through the joys and sorrows, the successes and failures, the highs and lows of our own lives.
 
Love and Blessings on Your Frontline
 
Jon x