THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH
July 2008 

St Paul wrote, I----beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4: 1-6..NRSV)

We are constantly encouraged to focus on reconciliation as a means to achieve unity of Christian fellowship; encouraged to show love and acceptance even to those with whom we have little natural affinity for that is the kind of love that is founded in our common union with Christ but we often find such actions easier to say than do for

It’s hard to love a hedgehog, when its prickles stand upright

It’s hard to love a scorpion or wasps that sting and bite,

It’s hard to love those people who hold a different view

Who worship in a different way and don’t do as we would do.

Yet in Christ our common union is founded and should be

Our basis of community displayed for all to see.

A community of Christians where our love of God reflects

To everyone around not just those we might select.

Jesus called his disciples to show love for one another so that their lifestyle of fellowship could be seen as different from the lifestyles of those around them.

There’s a lovely old hymn by John Oxenham (1852-1941) that includes the words ‘In Christ there is no East or West, In Him no South or North,

Just one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth’

During Lighthouse week at the end of this month many helpers and leaders of all Christian denominations can be seen working together in fellowship, reflecting the love of God to all as they take the Good News of his Gospel message to the hundreds of children who will gather on the Bury Field. Through this act of unity the children have the opportunity to develop their relationship with God to sustain them through their future lives.

None of us knows what the future holds for us but as Christians we are assured that we will not be left to cope alone ‘for the Lord holds us by the hand’ (Psalm 37:24). On July 15 we will be welcoming Deiniol and Velvet into our Christian Community and we look forward to a future of fellowship and friendship with much joy and laughter. As we move forward into the future together as part of the worldwide fellowship of love may we be secure in the knowledge that Christ will be with us ‘always, to the end of the age’.  (Matthew 28:20)  

Christine

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