Thought for Monday, 25 April

Colossians 1:27-28 (New International Version)

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

Six of us from Holytown and Wrangholm Churches attended a meeting in Hamilton last Wednesday with ministers and representatives from other Churches in our attestation area (Bellshill, Viewpark, Burnhead, Bothwell and Uddingston).  We discussed things like what was working well, what wasn’t working so well and what we could possibly do in the future taking into account the two main factors of too many buildings and too few ministers.

I’m sure we all learned that there were a lot of good things happening in our congregations and in these other congregations, but it took a meeting such as this to all find out what each other was doing.

Yesterday, due to being on holiday, we attended a church service in Benderloch, near Oban (not for the first time) and were made feel really welcome by their new minister and by members of their congregation.  When driving up, we stopped for some lunch at Tyndrum, and due to the beautiful weather, were able to enjoy it on tables outside the restaurant in the spring sunshine.

I have always thought, the countryside on the West coast of Scotland is beautiful and seen at its best from the Islands in front to the mountains behind on a cloudless sunny day and when it is dark, the display of stars in the night sky is truly spectacular.

There are two points I am trying to make today with the first being: in terms of attending church, we tend to concern ourselves with all the things that are going on within our own congregation and sometimes forget we are just playing a small part in something that is much bigger.  The second point I would make is that when we see the beauties of nature, do we inwardly and outwardly, acknowledge that this is the work of God’s hands?  If we do, I believe that this demonstrates part of the ‘glorious mystery of Christ within us’ just as Paul has written.

 

Prayer                                            

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful weather we have been enjoying.  We thank you for the beauty of your creation, especially at this time of year when we see signs of new life all around us.  We thank you that we are part of your universal church in Christ and help us all play our part in inviting and welcoming all and together, aspiring to mature our faith in you.      Amen