Howard Writes

"Getting to know Jesus better - making Jesus better known."

Is your glass half full or half empty? I know that as a former teacher, half way through the six-week summer holiday, my thoughts would turn to school and the new autumn term. It couldn’t be avoided any longer.

I wonder how full/empty our glass is when it comes to our Christian faith. One of my assignments during my training was to write a magazine article answering the rather depressing question: “Is the Church in terminal decline in England?” I had to approach it from both sides, assessing the case for and against.

Some of us are by nature optimistic and some of us are pessimistic and I think that I would put myself as an optimist.

At this time of interregnum, there are those who take the pessimistic view that things are going from bad to worse. At PCC on Monday evening of this week, it became apparent that, yet again, we are unlikely to pay anywhere near our parish share for this year and also that our congregational numbers are in decline, at least at the parish church.

On the other hand, since our return to Church after Covid, the numbers at St Saviours Church are almost back to what they were before Covid and there are those who have taken the opportunity to become more involved in parish affairs and to look forward to enjoying Christian fellowship.

The Church however is not about being optimistic or pessimistic. It is about being faithful.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews in chapter 11 describes faith as: “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We already know the end of the story (just read chapter 21 from the book of Revelation to hear about the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem). We know that all things are in God’s hands and that his love will overcome all the evil of the world. This result is ensured by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It is up to all of us as Christians to share that love with all our neighbours. Those neighbours may be our family, our friends and relations, the people on our street, the people we work with or the general community of East Crompton.

There are many ways of doing that but the best approach is to follow the advice of St Francis: “Preach the Gospel at all times and only use words if necessary.” Living out the truth of the Gospel in our thoughts and words and deeds is the best way of attracting people to follow Jesus, because they see the difference that it makes in our lives.

So, as we approach the last quarter of this year may we seek the opportunity of getting to know Jesus better and making Jesus better known.

May God bless us in all that we do,

"“Living out the truth of the Gospel in our thoughts and words and deeds is the best way of attracting people to follow Jesus.”