Hennie's Blog January 2014
A very Happy New Year to you all,.
I do hope you have had some sort of break over the Christmas & the New Year period - even if it has been rain swept and gale blown?! And in the midst of the Christmas festivities you have had time to contemplate, afresh, the birth of the Christ Child - Immanuel - God with us.
There has been so much to thank God for over the past month, with all the various Christmas services bringing together local community, local schools, parish, friends, and family of St. Mark's. I was so blessed by the true message of Christmas being interpreted in so many creative ways, from the youngest worshipping at the Crib Service to the more traditional Carol Service; to the young people involved in the Nativity to the worshippers at the Midnight Service. Thank you to all who were involved in making these acts of worship so special and significant. Our outreach this year as the Christmas float went out into Lache & Saltney, together with other churches in the community, was also very powerful and memorable. It was a privilege to be able to take Christ's love and hospitality out into the streets by offering mince pies, hot chocolate, goody bags, invitation to our church services, and rejoicing in song with the good news of Christmas.
And so to this new year. On Sunday we celebrated the feast of Ephiphany - 'epiphany' meaning 'appearance' or 'manifestation'. Traditionally in the Christian calendar it is when the coming of the 'magi' mark the revelation of Christ to the gentiles, the Light of the World, the Prince of Peace; and when followers of Christ wonder afresh at the revelation of God to the world, in the small vulnerable baby born in Bethleham, our Lord Jesus Christ. We know the familiar story of the magi making their way to Bethlehem guided by a star, with an interruption to their journey when they find themselves in the darkness of Herod's palace in Jerusalem; and then finally they arrive at the home of Mary and the Christ child. Here God reveals himself to them in the person of the small vulnerable child, and they bow down and worship Him, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.. Then in a dream God spoke to them, they recognise His voice, and obediently they went home taking another road, rather than returning to the darkness of Herod's palace.
What is the Christ child calling us to bring to him this year? We could do no worse than give to Him our hearts. As Christina Rossetti so beautifully puts it in the Carol, 'In the bleak mid-winter'.
'What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb, if I were a wise man, I would do my part, yet what can I give Him - Give my heart'. The problem is, for many of us, perhaps, is that we are not as poor as the character in this carol (though we may be spiritually), and therefore we are not relying on giving God our hearts - but that is what I believe He longs for. Our hearts to beat with His heart. For this to happen, we need to be feeding our hungry appetites with God's Word daily (which means feeding ourselves rather than expecting others to feed us), and not allow ourselves to be tempted to be fed by the world of business, financial security, materialism, consumerism, and so many others 'isms'. For when we are daily being fed by God's word, we will find ourselves longing to be in His presence; to rejoice as He rejoices; to lament as He laments; to humble ourselves in daily worship; to have expanded generous hearts; and to be obedient to His divine voice asking us to take another road. A road that will lead us into a place of peace rather than fear, light rather than darkness, and life rather than death. This new road is the way of the vulnerable child born in Bethlehem, the way of the wilderness, the Cross, the Resurrection, and the way Mary and Joseph went, the way of the poor, the insignificant, the refugee, the marginalised, the way of God.
Jesus came to rescue the least, lost and last. So what is He saying to us? Yes, He wants our hearts to beat with His, but this will mean that our hearts will break for the least, lost and last too. This should manifest, be made known in us, by ways of engagement with our mission partners, here in Chester, and abroad. How regularly do you go and read how we are being asked to engage with the least, lost and last on our Mission Board in the Link? Surely God is challeging us to personally engage more with His mission here on earth in this year of 2014? Is God challenging you to see what Street Pastoring/Night Church in Chester is all about - a very real opportunity to be Christ to the least, lost and last on a Friday/Saturday night.
If our hearts break with God's for the lost what are we doing about it? Do we have the courage and desire to ask those who are lost to an Alpha course - starting on 22nd of Jan of this very month? Where is our zeal to see God's Kingdom grow here on earth as it is in heaven? 2014 is not a year to sit back and let others do what God is calling all of us to do - bear fruit and grow His Kingdom. He needs each one of us to play our part!
God, this Epiphany, is calling us home, to give Him back our hearts, and to have the courage to take another road, the narrow one that leads to the growth of His Kingdom, rather than the wide road of this world.
In this year of 2014 - it is time to be God's 'Epiphanies' - to reveal and manifest His, light, hope, peace, and love, to the world who needs Him so much. It is time to let God use our flesh to come into the world this year, and reveal Himself through us, through Word and Action. That is very scary, but may it be so, I pray!
Love and blessings for 2014
Hennie
