Letters From Brian, Our previous Minister

Recent copies of the letters from our previous Minister Brian. These are reproduced from the monthly Newsletter..

01/04/2015 Du Bureau De Notre Pasteur

Some of you will remember the sermon following the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris a couple of months back. It looked at the way news can appear to be the main event on the planet and how other things disappear and don’t find the coverage, that same week there was a terrible plane crash and a fire on an Greek Ferry with over 40 dead. They vanished from the news overnight with the Paris attacks. It was the week for Christian Unity and as I spoke about the atrocities faced by some Christians some were quite moved as they were unaware that such things were happening. I also made the point that what happened in the Jewish supermarket in Paris did not command the attention that had been given to the journalists. After all the story was being written by journalists. But after a few short days the Hebdo story vanished as other things came along. I wonder what became of all those Je Suis Charlie t-shirts.

As Easter rolls round again I am mindful of those events in Paris because our Media doesn’t provide the greatest memory aids for us. It fills the air with whatever and in the blink of eye it’s whizzed off to something else taking our interest with them. I wonder how quickly the inhabitants of Jerusalem moved on from Christ’s resurrection. Man comes back from the dead, people are amazed and then life gets back to normal. Well, no it took a few weeks and then things got going. Three thousand in an afternoon took to heart Christ’s new life and the Church has spread and grown ever since. Easter is the reminder to our world of Christ’s death and resurrection. And we need to be effective in making that reminder, we won’t get people’s attention for long.

In Jerusalem there would have been those eager to move attention away from any thoughts of Christ’s return. Modern politics did not invent spin you know. In Matthew 28:11 the Jewish Authorities on hearing from the guards told them to say the disciples had stolen the body while they were asleep. Matthew says the story was widely circulated among the Jews. The fact of the living Christ has been more widely circulated; it just needs proclaiming in our time. It is a news story that still touches millions and we have the task of keeping it in peoples minds. For some the reminder of faith will be timely as they have questions about the events and people do struggle to believe the bodily resurrection took place. Getting to know God better will lead people though that struggle. “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe” John 20:29. The resurrection changes everything, for everyone if they give it a hearing. There are some news events that should always be reported on , so get the t shirt and talk about it

Je suis Cheritein - I am Christian

Happy Easter

Brian
From Our Previous Minister, Brian
Je suis Cheritein - I am Christian