All of this is taking place amid great uncertainties. Government is in the midst of making decisions about what will deserve funding in these next years. We can be sure that the effects of these decisions will have great impact on all our lives. Some already have had their jobs cut and others are unsure about how secure their work will be.

After the break of the summer, with its different routines, we shall be thinking and planning for the coming year in the church. Harvest will be with us in a few weeks - an opportunity for us to focus on new beginnings for communities that struggle to survive, this year with a particular focus on Cambodia. The image of the seed, so fragile yet containing the potential for life is a sign of hope at the heart of our faith. We believe in the difference that a little can make in a community on the other side of the globe. And week by week we are reminded that there are many other parts of our world that deserve attention and resources to deal with natural disaster or the uphill challenge of working through poverty, the scale of which is a long way from our own experience. ‘Letting go’ of our own security in order to help others is a big psychological challenge. It goes against all the reasonable advice to which we cling as we try to act responsibly in our own lives. The teaching of the gospel indicates that the way to find life is to lose it (Matthew 16.25); the gospel often turns worldly wisdom on its head, much to our consternation!

So as there are calls upon us from far away as well as a rethinking about how life might be in our own community and country, we commit ourselves again in the words of the Covenant Service to being used by God in his service. The Covenant prayer is familiar to us;

'I am no longer my own but yours.
Your will, not mine, be done in all things,
wherever you may place me,
in all that I do and in all that I may endure;
when there is work for me
and when there is none;
when I am troubled and when I am at peace.
Your will be done when I am valued
and when I am disregarded;
when I find fulfilment
and when it is lacking;
when I have all things,
and when I have nothing.
I willingly offer all I have and am
to serve you, as and where you choose.
Lord God, you are mine and I am yours.
May it be so for ever.
Let this covenant now made on earth be for all time.
Amen.’

Jesus’ story about the Good Samaritan reminds us that when we dare to get involved in other people’s lives we don’t quite know where it will end, hence perhaps the reluctance to get involved of those who passed by on the other side.

We look forward to working with each other in worship and service and offering what we can knowing that God can and will use everything at his disposal to further the purposes of love.

Love and prayers,
David