From the Gazette

A Festival Worth Keeping

It will soon be “Harvest Festival” at our Church – a time for giving thanks for the food we eat, and for the good things that the earth has provided.

There was a time when harvest festival was a major celebration – not just in churches, but also in every town and village. A good harvest meant that you would eat and survive through the winter – it was literally a matter of life and death. Most churches held “harvest suppers” to mark the festival, and it was an opportunity to make merry after the hard work of bringing in the sheaves.

Today, we have our supermarkets, our all-year round raspberries, and our freezers full of food. Harvest time has lost its immediacy. Yet, for much of the world’s population, there is still a total dependency on the harvest of the earth’s produce to stay alive. If the harvests fail, people die – as we have seen recently, all too vividly, in east Africa.

In the West, we are insulated, to a great extent, from the effects of droughts and crop failure; and yet we are dependant on suppliers and farmers from all over the world for our daily diet. Perhaps, at this time of the year, we should stop for a few moments, and remember just how much we rely on the earth, and other people, to bring us our food. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to say “thank you” to the greatest provider of all. As the old hymn says: “all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above – so thank the Lord, yes thank the Lord for all his love!”

Stephen Biddall

From the October Messenger

Dear Friends,

Those of you who come to Church on Sunday mornings will already know, but others may not. This autumn, we are studying how to grow in our Christian faith. The series is called “Haven’t you grown?” – which can be interpreted in two ways……as a statement expressing pleasure that you have – or as a question expressing sorrow that you haven’t.

Growth is a vital part of Christian faith and discipleship. Whoever you are, and however long you have been a Christian, you ought to be able to see that you are growing and developing in your walk with God. In fact, I believe that each one of us, if we really are followers of Jesus, should be able to point to areas in our lives where we have learned and changed and grown in the past few months. If someone asked you –“What has God been teaching you recently?” – would you know what your answer would be?

The first two studies in this series have focussed on the absolute basics of Christian life – and I make no apology for this being simple, straightforward and foundational. The G of “Growth” stands for “Go to God in prayer every day”. We need to have a living daily relationship with God, which involves sharing our lives with him, asking for his help, telling him our worries and needs, thanking him for his love, asking for his forgiveness, and being aware of his presence every day. All of this is prayer. Why do we make prayer into such a chore? Why do we so often feel like prayer failures? Perhaps its because we forget that prayer is just “being with God”, and letting him into every part of our lives. Prayer is the first essential, if we really want to grow up in faith.

The R of “Growth” stands for “Read your bible every day”. As we saw last Sunday, the Word of God is the spiritual food that sustains us in faith. Food is only good for you if you eat a healthy diet, and if you eat regularly. Food that looks nice on the kitchen shelf will only help you if you actually eat it; and it will not be good for you if you binge for a few days and then starve for weeks. Why then do we think we can leave our bible on the shelf, and still grow? Why do we think its Ok to binge on the bible at a conference – but then never open it for weeks? Like the manna given by God to the people of Israel in the wilderness, we need to feed on God’s Word every day. Bible study notes can help with this, and we are currently recommending “Living Light” – produced by Nationwide Christian Trust. You can get a free copy from Terry Dickinson (if he has any left!)

Go to God in prayer every day: read your bible every day. Even just these two simple things will make a great difference in your life. Why not make a commitment, right now, to do them both, so that God can help you grow?

Best wishes, Stephen.