Weekly Update – 14th July

Apologies to those of you not interested, but following on from the England men’s football team semi-final win this week I am going to continue on with Jenny’s sporting analogy, in the hope that the final will have the desired outcome!

Jenny talked about training ourselves to be better individual spiritual athletes, i.e. taking time out to spend time with God and build our own personal relationship with him through praying, reading the Bible and worshipping. This week (again partly to do with the football!), I’d like to think about being a spiritual team! We can’t do it on our own and  Jesus himself encouraged us to meet, pray  and worship together saying, “wherever 2 or more are gathered in my name, I will be there also”, Matthew 18:20. Those of us that have been part of our first 2 weeks about Prayer conversations, have certainly found great comfort in discovering that we are all struggling with various aspects of praying and prayer life and have encouraged each other to try new things and different ways of praying – it’s not too late if you wanted to join us for the next 2 sessions (22 & 29 July).

In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews he talks about being encouraged by those who have gone before us as witnesses to the good news and likens them to spectators in our race of faith > “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honour, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he ploughed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”  Hebrews 12:1-3

Perhaps this might be worth bearing in mind if the result is not favourable on Sunday night. We need to think about how we deal with failure, as “Failure is the wallpaper of life” ! This is the quote that has stayed with me from the Lent Course in 2023 (Dust & Glory), meaning that failure is always there but its how we deal with it that makes the difference to us in our lives.

Paul was fond of a sporting description, (perhaps he was a sportsman?) and I think this passage from Philippians sums up how we should be as a team of spiritual athletes “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

⁶ So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.” Philippians 3:12-15

Let’s remember that through the summer months as our regular routines change and let’s try and be disciplined to improve our performance for God!

I’m wondering if Paul was a sportsman as he uses quite a few sporting descriptions

 

Fiona