Minister’s Blog – September 2016
As someone who really en
joys watching sport, this has been a great summer, including the Olympics and the Paralympics. While the euros were a big disappointment (again!) unless you are from Wales, Portugal or Iceland, the events from Rio have been a real highlight. The phrase that we have heard over and over again is about how much an inspiration someone has been. I wonder how many of us have been truly inspired by it, or whether we have simply been inspired to watch more sport?
For many September feels like a new year, the opportunity to make a fresh start, we recommit ourselves to something we feel ‘inspired’ to do – getting fit, working harder, learning a new skill or simply being a better person. I can think of many things that I have been inspired to do it the past that have not produced the results I hoped for – I still can’t speak a foreign language, my guitar sits gathering dust,…
As a Christian I often feel inspired to try to be more like Jesus, but if I am honest I don’t always see the results that I hope for. When we listen to the Olympic and Paralympic athletes’ stories they will talk about their good days, their bad days, and the goal that kept them going. A Christian’s God given goal is to be more like Jesus. The great news for us is that God through the work of the Holy Spirit will bring about this transformation in our lives. However this doesn’t mean we should just sit around and wait for it to happen, God has much to say to us about the part He wants us to play (including through the Sermon on the Mount – the focus of our current Sunday Morning Series).
God’s word offers us this advice –
Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4v7&8).
And may we all be inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1v3).
Rev. Chris Hawley
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