Great to have our new Bishop, +Mark Rylands, with us last night at our community meal/worship - The Table. It was a good night, I think some were surprised at his openness and relaxed nature. We were reflecting on 2 Samuel 6 and the idea of what it means to be undignified in a way which does not draw attention to ourselves but rather points to God, how humility could be a strong act of proclamation... +Mark seemed to enjoy the evening and was a great encouragement to us all and left us with some challenges for our mission. Some words from his first "pastoral letter"...
In the face of such a challenge what are we to do? The Gospel and example of Jesus compels us not to turn our backs on the poor and vulnerable. So, redouble our efforts, strengthen our cooperation and solidarity. Yes. And as part of that effort what about a new start with an old habit? Prayer. Many of us struggle to keep a daily discipline of prayer and quiet when we are open to God and the direction of the Holy Spirit. However, if individually and corporately our relationship with God is weak, what do we have to share with the world? I have a feeling that to be better pray-ers we need to learn to be more natural – to simply plonk ourselves down before God and be ourselves; to come as we are with our concerns and those of others on our heart and mind. Somehow we get the idea that to do it properly, we must screw ourselves up and be so neat like the first page in those books. And because we don’t think we can really do it, we don’t try! God loves his world and his people and the Bible tells us that he has a special place for the marginalised in his affections. Part of our apathy may be that we feel useless faced with so much need and our own weakness and lack of resources. However, as some wise person said: ‘God is not concerned with our ability or our inability but only with our availability’. The lesson of the feeding of the 5000 is that God can make a lot out of a little. He longs to work through us for his good. So, like the small boy with his picnic by the lake, offer what little you have to God and ask him to make a miracle of it.”
Technorati Tags: Church of England: Community: Fresh Expressions: Mission: Missional: safespace
It certainly was a blessed evening, gave me strength to face the storm that I'm walking into on Monday. Bishop Mark is truly a humble man of God, its good to have him here.
Posted by: Steve Tamplin | 16/01/2010 at 10:47