Family News
‘You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built ... with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit’.
Ephesians 4: 19-22
As 2012 starts, people across the nation will be making new-year promises; as it is a leap-year, on the 29th February some women will follow the old tradition and propose to their boyfriends. June has been earmarked for celebrations across the nation as the Queen celebrates her Jubilee and in July many will gather in London to witness the Olympic Games. Each of these events is a little beacon of hope for millions of people in this country.
As I write the Eurozone leaders are struggling to broker a deal to save the Euro, the loss of which would be the most catastrophic short-term economic event for this country since the 1939-45 war. The economic crisis which has been running for 30 months now has had widespread impact, many have lost their jobs and have little prospect of re-employment in the short-term. Energy prices have soared, the shopping basket is becoming less affordable, and things are difficult – how our country needs hope.
It would be all too easy to get caught up in the despondency that some feel, however we have hope, and a hope that is greater than new-year promises or Olympic Games. Our hope, as Paul says, is that we are a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. That hope defines who we are, and turns our eyes from our circumstances and focuses them instead on Christ.
This year we have produced a Bible Reading plan for each one of us, and I would like to encourage us all to commit to reading the Bible through in 2012 – it is nothing compared to the efforts the Olympic athletes will make, and the effects will be longer lasting as well. Let us make 2012 a year in which we whole-heartedly seek God in prayer and Bible study, and a year in which we take our light out into a world that is looking for hope in all the wrong places. May God bless you richly in 2012,
