News from the Pews

Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ. Happy New Year.

For this month’s News from the pews, I am inviting you to reflect on moments in Scripture that show the Spirit of God at work in the world. As our world continues to cope with conflicts between nations, global warming and natural disasters and closer to home, the National Health Service and high cost of living.

As Christians, it is hard not to ask the question “Where is God in all this? But deep down we know this is not God’s doing but ours.  And those who are actively looking and searching will find God in the midst of the world’s problems.

As Christians and followers of Jesus, there’s no better time to remind ourselves of the work of God’s Spirit in the world.

One of the first steps towards biblical wisdom is a posture of total surrender before God. And nothing helps us get there quicker than losing control of our lives. This kind of loss can also help us to rediscover the many simple gifts that God provides every day—if we have eyes to see them.

In the storyline of the Bible, God’s Spirit is in the business of generating life and order out of dismal and lifeless situations. This usually takes place through Spirit-empowered people who live by God’s wisdom and pay attention to the needs of others. And there is no one who more perfectly displayed God’s life-giving wisdom than Jesus, who gave his life in a Spirit-led act of love. This is the same Spirit who is leading Jesus’ followers to imitate his pattern of servant-love in our world today.

Right now, the world needs many spirits empowered people who live by God’s wisdom and pay attention to the needs of the world. World leaders who govern in God’s wisdom and justice and not by their own personal selfish desires.

In Isaiah 10: 33-11:10, the Lord promises that His judgment will extend even against those of high stature. A mighty forest seems invincible and seems as if it will stand forever, but the LORD can cut it down. Even so, the LORD will cut down the proud and those of high stature among Judah. All that will be left in a once-mighty forest will be stumps.

The forests of Lebanon were known for their large, mighty cedar trees. God will judge the proud among Judah - and all the nations for that matter - and leave a once mighty forest of those of high stature as if they were just stumps. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!

To many people all over the world who are powerless to change the situation they find themselves in and who are desperately searching for a way out of their predicament, light at the end of the tunnel seems miles away and HOPE is a luxury they can’t afford.

As Christians, our hope is in Christ Jesus. To those who believe in Him He gives life. With God everything is possible. In Genesis 2:5 we are introduced to a barren landscape of dirt and rock that is devoid of life. But God breathes into the lifeless dirt to create life. This is a fundamental image in the Bible, that God’s personal life-giving presence is what sustains all living creatures. Apart from God’s own life-presence, there is only disorder and death. But when God’s Spirit is in the mix, the impossible suddenly becomes possible and life can come from non-life.

God’s life-giving Spirit is the one who provides and sustains life in the world. As we begin this New Year, let us pray that God will bring life and hope to countries in conflict: Israel, Gaza, Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, Afghanistan and countries who have suffered so much from natural disasters.

The Spirit is in the business of breathing life where there is hopelessness. Where do you sense a need for new life in or around you?  Let us prayerfully ask God through his Spirit to bring hope where there is despair and life where there is death.

If you are feeling anxious, overwhelmed and in despair with your personal problems and with the state of our world, please allow God to comfort you with the following Church of England prayer:

“Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy during this month of uncertainty and distress. Sustain and support the anxious and fearful around us and lift up all who are brought low. This is so that we may rejoice in your comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen”.

Following this prayer, let us start 2024 with thankfulness and hope.

Let us be thankful for the gift of each new day, the gift of our family and friends, of our health, the gift of our community, our Towns and Cities, our Nation and our world. Let us be thankful for the gift of a new year, 2024.

Rev Olasupo Ogunyinka.

LECTIONARY READINGS FOR JANUARY AND FEBRUARY