October 2007

Dear Friends

 

You probably won’t thank me for it, and you probably don’t need me for it, but here’s a reminder that Christmas is coming!  Actually this isn’t an early call for Christmas!  But I was struck during September by the news story that not only was the seasonal stock arriving on the High Street and in the supermarket, but that some of the edibles at least were marked with Best Before dates that are long passed by the time 25 December is reached!  It seems that just as with a dog, so too with seasonal foods; they are not just for Christmas!!

 

I have already introduced the project that is Hope08 , and the church meeting in July watched a video that we will return to on a Sunday, perhaps even this month.  Hope08 is a nationwide mobilising of Christians and the Christian church across the barriers that often separate us, encouraging us to Do more, and to Do it together, so that people in our country may discover the unique hope that is ours in Jesus Christ.

 

Such a campaign is surely, even sorely, needed in our nation, and I hope that we will have a number of opportunities to share hope with others and share in Hope08 with others.  It’s not all about taking on extra activities, although serious thought and prayer about this is already being strongly encouraged; but it is about a new commitment, a new belief, a new confidence, a new hope at work in the life of God’s people.  A people of hope, of the sort of hope that trusts in God for the unknown, of the sort of hope that continues to rejoice in the faithfulness of God even in the midst of sadness or trouble, of the sort of faith that looks eagerly and prayerfully to God who meets us, who sees us, who loves us. 

 

I don’t know how hopeful you feel, how ready to share hope with others; perhaps you feel, as I sometimes too, rather more in need of it for ourselves!  So why not take this time, make some time during these remaining three months of 2007, to reflect and consider what makes you hopeful, and to reflect too and consider what hampers your hopes.  I would welcome your feedback on these things, as indeed, let me remind you, I have already invited suggestions for how we at WRBC (and we as one of the Churches Together in Hitchin) might join in the Hope08 project in ways that are significant and influence our community for good and for God.  There no shortage of ideas (a book full of ideas has recently been published!), but it’s workable ones we’re looking for, relevant ones, practical ones, meaningful ones for us and for our neighbourhoods.

 

When I think about hope, about Christian hope, it is centred in Jesus Christ, in the hopes fulfilled in the fullness of God’s timing as Jesus is born (which is where we began!), and also of the new hope which is invincible because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Hope08 is coming, and let our hopes rise too!

 

With my love and prayers in Christ our hope, your pastor

 

 

Andrew