Minister’s Blog – January 2017

 As we approach the end of January Christmas seems a distant memory, apart from the odd reminder – a Christmas decoration we missed when we were packing things away, the odd boxes of chocolate that we still haven’t eaten, those Christmas cards in a pile that we keep meaning to recycle.  One of my friends used to have his Christmas lights up all year. I don’t know if that was a conscious decision he had made or if he just never got around to taking them down.  While we don’t ‘celebrate’ Christmas all year round, the truths of Christmas are always true.

As a church over Christmas one of the things we thought about was the star and how it helped wise men to find Jesus.  God’s word tells us, his people, to ‘shine like stars’, as we also uses us to help people to find Jesus.  The star in the Christmas story acted a signpost / Sat Nav, by taking people from where they were to where they needed to be.  In the same way when God tells us to shine like a star, we need to meet people where they are, both physically and spiritually, so that God can direct them to be where they need to be.

At the moment on TV on Saturday evenings Gary Barlow and his friends are encouraging people to let it shine, to show others the talents they have. Some will make the grade, others will not.  But with God when He asks us to let it shine it’s not about us trying to be good enough or trying to be something we are not, it’s about letting Him shine through us as it’s Him who provides the light.

For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4v6-7)

At Christmas we celebrate the truth of the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. We continue to celebrate this as with God’s help we live our lives in response to His love and shine like stars.

Rev. Chris Hawley

Comments are closed.