Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As I write this we are celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2012. It is good to worship Jesus together with our brothers and sisters from different denominations. Last Sunday’s service at Cornard Christian Fellowship marked a resounding, well-attended start to the Octave. Our worship was led by Future Vision - a group that does so much work for God’s Kingdom in local schools.
Sudbury and District has a strong ecumenical bond which is wonderful, though it could always be better. For example, when will I, as a Methodist minister, be allowed to preside at Communion in a Church of England establishment?
The theme for the 8 days is “We will all be changed”. Here is what the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland say about this year’s focus.
“Change is at the heart of our Christian faith. Saint Paul said that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, and we are called to live as children in the light.
The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2012 comes to us from the churches in Poland, who have reflected upon their own experience as a nation, and in particular how, as a nation, they have been changed and transformed by the many upheavals of their history, and sustained by their faith.
Change is also at the heart of the ecumenical movement. When we pray for the unity of the church we are praying that the churches that we know and which are so familiar to us will change as they conform more closely to Christ. This is an exciting vision, but also a challenging one. Furthermore, when we pray for this transforming unity we are also praying for change in the world.” [www.ctbi.org.uk] The Polish church has written a daily focus on processes of change: serving, waiting, suffering, struggling, peacemaking, loving, feeding and uniting.
When we become a Christian we are changed; our sins are forgiven and we are filled with the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5: 17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” [TNIV] This does not mean that we never sin again but it does mean we are given the spiritual power to overcome temptation and when we lapse, forgiveness.
We strive day by day towards becoming more like Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Wesley calls this Christian perfection.
Personal change does not stop. Paul wrote “ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor
does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” 1 Cor 15:50-52 TNIV
So we look forward to growing more like Jesus both personally and as a global church, the body of Christ. Fred Pratt Green puts it this way:
“Lord of all, of Church and Kingdom,
In an age of change and doubt,
Keep us faithful to the gospel,
Help us work your purpose out.
Here, in this day's dedication,
All we have to give, receive:
We, who cannot live without you,
We adore you! we believe!”
Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 55896 Copied from HymnQuest 2012: CLUE Version HymnQuest ID: 53367
How different a Christian will you be in January 2013? And how much closer together will the body of Christ be?
Let us both pray and work for positive change in ourselves and Churches Together.
God bless,
John
