It’s so easy to get stuck!!

I cannot tell you the number of conversations I have had with Christians over the years whose faith has got stuck. There seem to be many who fail to move forward finding themselves in a faulty relationship with God.

Many get stuck at Good Friday.

They see the Christian Faith as a solution to their screw ups and little else. They come to faith in Christ and are grateful for forgiveness but seem to fail to move on into relationship. For them it is as though Jesus died on the cross and that’s it – end of story!

They fail to see that the Cross has purpose both for the past, the present and the future.

He died to save us from the penalty of sin – death; the power of sin over us – it is possible to sin less even if it is not possible in this world to be sinless, finally and eventually the presence of sin when we leave this world and find ourselves in the next. This is the hope of the cross, but it is not the end of the story only its beginning.

Others Get Stuck at Easter Sunday.

They see past the cross to the resurrection. They recognise in Jesus risen the route to relationship with Him and with God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They may even enter into the joy and excitement of the new resurrected life that Christ offers, but then they get stuck there. It all becomes about them – their hope; their salvation; their life; their church and their relationship. To stop here is to stop short.

For beyond the Cross and the Resurrection is Pentecost.

This is the place where the church becomes the church – the body of Christ, equipped to continue Christ’s work in Christ’s way. It is the place of purpose and power. It is the place of giftedness and fruitfulness. It is the place of courage and growth.

Why is it that so few Christians ever seem to get to the place where Pentecost becomes real for them? Where they find themselves used to see – God’s Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Maybe it is because they think that to allow God to empower is to lose independence. This could not be further from the truth. You see it is for freedom that Christ has come, to set us free.

It is only in partnership with the Spirit that we can realise our true potential.

Our aim as a church is to help everyone who comes to find Love, Life, Light and Liberty in Christ so that they might Know Christ; Grow in Faith Go to the World and Show God’s love and in so doing find true purpose and fulfilment for themselves and others.

Join us – Everyone is Welcome.

Richard Hardy – Pastor