Keeping it real… (May '13)

(Linda Southwood)

Let’s not just talk about love; let’s practise real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re truly living in God’s reality. 1 John 3:18

Many have discovered that God (who is very big), is interested in me (who is very small, when you have the whole world to look after). He, God, doesn’t regard me as a nameless and faceless worker for Him but He sees me as significant, He knows my name, and He likes me. I don’t experience God as detached, disinterested, too busy, or distant. He is here to share my struggles, join me in my bad times, and bring me peace. 

And yet… there is an invitation for you and me to become more and more the kind of people who are aware of the divine presence, attuned to the depths of each and every moment and seeing God in more people, places and events each and every day. We have had our eyes opened to God everywhere, to seeing the beautiful in the ugly, finding the praise in the pain. 

And yet… we recently celebrated the dedication of two babies in Marlow congregation, Darcie and Zach Picillo. It was a fantastic morning, it was emotional, it was memorable and it was almost called off because of the snow. 170+ adults and children packed into the Holy Trinity School Hall. Such fun. So picture this: our slightly scruffy school hall filled, with standing room only, bursting at the seams with a bunch of new people and you’re not too sure who they all are. Other than you know they’re visitors because they’re the ones who have arrived on time (point made – move on.) The highlights were many and varied. Gerry Picillo gave us an insight into their family’s journey to River Church and said “when we thought about dedicating Darcie and Zach, we knew we had to do it here at River… where else would we go?” The Picillos live in Aylesbury, but have come to Marlow. If your geography’s not great, that’s miiiiiles away. 

And yet… if we don’t keep it real with God, we’re in danger of conceptually knowing Him but little more. If we don’t keep it real, then what’s the alternative – pretending? And if it’s not real, we find fewer reasons to seek God’s wisdom and His support for our ordinary daily life. What Gerry was referring to when he said “where else would we go?” obviously wasn’t literal. There are dozens of churches between Aylesbury and Marlow who would gladly have performed a baptism or dedication service. He meant that what he and Lori and the children have experienced is real, the love and support is real. The love has been as real as the pain and the darkness as well as the joys and celebrations. That’s the only thing that makes sense of travelling a 40 mile round trip to come to Church. This Church.

Keeping it real is about being authentic, and authentic is about being genuine with yourself, God and others around you.

Loaves and Fish and Flying Pigs (Mar '13)

(Andy Read)

By the time you read this we will be in the third month of 2013 and many of us will be saying “Where is the year going?”. As I write this I am still processing the time frame that we called Twenty- Twelve. The statistics for me were something like this. 12 months; 11 different countries visited (two of them, twice – only one for a holiday); around 94,500 miles flown. So, if a few of you wondered why you hadn’t seen me recently, that’s probably why!

The reason for the vast majority of the travel was to carry out my role as the CEO of Links International, a mission and development charity. That amount of travel won’t always be necessary, but it was last year. And please believe me when I say that I’m not quoting the statistics to try to impress you. After all, it gave me a pretty rubbish carbon footprint – and by itself flying over three and a half times around the globe is just… well a lot of jet lag, a lot of in-flight movies and lots and lots of bad instant meals. But I dare to hope that the miles meant more than that.

For a start, it seems to have meant a lot to the partners that I was visiting. In an age of email, Skype, Facebook and so on it would be easy to think that face to face contact isn’t so necessary – but I believe that is a fallacy. Whilst in Kenya I learned a phrase in the local language. “Ndogu ni makinya” literally means “Friendship is steps” – and carries with it layers of meaning about how if we want to be friends with people then we need to actually take steps towards them – literal and figurative – and meet them. I learned a lot just in that saying. And it reminded me about Incarnation and all that our Heavenly Father did for us in The Word being made flesh. We don’t need to travel 94,000 miles to put that lesson into practice do we? Maybe 2013 can be a year of seeing people we spent 2012 meaning to visit.

Often, when I see the huge needs that meet us when we go to the poorest of the world, I wonder if there is anything we can do. We seem to have so little. But another encouragement and lesson takes me back to the title of this piece. Over the last few years we have been training a group of people in Malawi from the village of Chapsinja, just outside of Lilongwe, to form a Community Healthcare Team. These people have been going out into their local area with some simple but life-saving teaching, and we went to hear their report. The story was very encouraging, as they spoke about the training they have been delivering in around 20 other villages. They said that it would be good if we could go to see one of those other communities for ourselves. So we got into the 4×4 and were driven out the 25 minutes or so to the village of Gunde. Quite a short, if dusty, drive for us - but about an hour and a half’s journey by foot, which is how the Healthcare Team travel. It was my expectation that we would go to the village, talk to a couple of people and return. I was wrong. 

We were greeted by about half the village – singing and welcoming us. Chairs were set out for ourselves and eight village headmen from the area under the cool shade of a large, spreading tree. Several people from the village then proceeded to tell us all they have learned from the Chapsinja Team. It was impressive!! They had learned so much – mostly, by the way, without such benefits as literacy, written resources and so on.

Jesus taught a multitude all day and as the sun was about to set, the disciples appeal sounds quite familiar to me. “Where will we get enough for all these people?” But what did it take? Just 5 loaves and 2 small fish – but actually that was all the boy had. Jesus took all he could give – and multiplied it to make it more than enough. In the village of Gunde it felt like we were witnessing that same miracle in operation all over again. In 2013, in whatever situation, let’s bring the little we have and watch Jesus multiply it. And the Flying Pigs? What I would have looked for 3 years ago if you had suggested I would be in these situations! Stay open to new things!

Will you write a story with me? (Jan '13)

(Vicky Earll)

It’s a new year and many of us hope again for good things, some of us desperately hope this year will be different to the last, and some are nervous about the year that lies ahead. 

What will 2013 bring for us as individuals, families and a church? What determines this? Is it a set of random events that we have no control over, or is it determined by our choices? If we believe that everything that happens in this world is already predetermined, then our choices will have no affect upon what happens in 2013. I don’t believe that is the way God works. Our loving God has chosen for the sake of relationship to give us true choice, and has entrusted to the entire human race the rule of the world. 

That is why prayer is so important. Prayer is the tool by which we invite God to be involved in the rule of the world with us. It is a bit like a landlord and tenant. A tenant looks after the home and has full rein of the property – a landlord, while owning the property, only comes into the property and gets involved in solving problems with the property when invited by their tenant. 

Understanding our authority is also important. God has chosen to bring about His goodness on the earth through human beings. Therefore we choose whether or not we want to be in relationship with Him, have His Holy Spirit living inside of us and allow His spirit to work through the authority we have been delegated to rule the world. You are a very powerful person by virtue of the fact that you were born human! What will you use your authority for? Will you grow your authority, empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring the goodness of God on the earth? Will you help write a history of 2013 that involved more of God’s peace (the essence of His kingdom and rule) on the earth? 

Jesus has overcome evil on the cross but we still live in the ‘in-between’ and so there is still evil at work on the earth. There is a battle going on. Sometimes we do get caught in the crossfire and bad things happen. But if we continue to stand and do not give up on believing in the goodness of God, we will see evil overcome and things change. 

You might ask: where does that leave me? There are some things that may happen to you this year that you have no control over – these could be good or bad. But you can determine how you respond and therefore determine how the story ends. As followers of Jesus we have the hope of glory inside of us. We do not need to be victims of any circumstance, however bad. We can overcome and more forward. Doing this will cost us - it will take time and may be painful, but it is always worth it. 

For most of us, the majority of what happens to us in 2013 is largely determined by our choices. Will I believe in God? Will I let him work in me and through me? Will I make bold and courageous choices to be who I am created to be? Will I step out in faith and radical obedience? 

I - and many others - believe we live in an important season for our country. The news is full of doom and gloom, and with the economic pressures and government cuts, many are feeling depressed and anxious about the future. But this is not the end of the story. Come and write the story with me… let’s write a crazy adventure where - like all good stories love overcomes every evil and triumphs for good!