February Update

Dear friends, 

It's so lovely to be back amongst you, as we together seek God's face and blessing on our work in the weeks and months ahead. 

At the outset of the New Year, I was drawn to the promise of God towards the end of the Bible in Revelation 21:5-6. Here, in the context of end of time, God promises to make all things new and renewed. That which was old and decaying, will be transformed into a wonderful sparkling eternity that will never spoil or fade. That is the great hope toward which we persevere, but there are tastes and glimpses of the new today. It's often been said that the 'eternal life' (wholesome, joy-filled, peaceable, blessed - rather than just ongoing) starts now in the life of the Christian and carries on into eternity. If that is the case, and I think it is, then we can experience the new-ness of God with us today. 

So at the outset of the New Year, I was asking the Lord what does He have for me in 2023 that is new? What does He have for us as a church? What new things does the Lord have for you? Perhaps if the answer to that isn't clear you may want to ask Him?! 

A couple of phrases later in verse 6 of Revelation 21, we are promised that 'to the thirsty I (God) will give from the spring of water of life without payment'. God has living water for us, and it's not a reused or regurgitated supply, it's fresh, new, even every day. The Lord, by His Holy Spirit wants to bring new things to us, by His Holy Spirit. Let's lean into Him in our hunger and thirst, and discover the freshness, renewal and vitality that the Holy Spirit wants to bring into our lives. 

With love,

Gareth