Pastoral Letters - February 2010
Dear Friends
I have two questions for you this month. One is on a human level and one is at a spiritual level, but both are to do with love.
1 Will you be looking for a Valentine's card to know that someone loves you?
2. Do you ever think of the Holy Spirit as loving you?
We all want to be loved - it's a basic, deep seated need and we can feel miserable if it seems as though no one loves us. People let us down. They don't act in the romantic way we want them to. Worse still they don't seem to appreciate us - they take us for granted, or perhaps don't even know we exist. No wonder we feel miserable. In our human state we feel lost and alone.
So what about our spiritual level then? Who thinks I've got the question wrong? We talk about God loving us, but not the Holy Spirit. Isn't the Holy Spirit the Power that moves through the church, giving us gifts and producing fruit? He might pray for us, as Paul describes in Romans 8, or he might act as a Counsellor, as John writes in his gospel, but the Holy Spirit as a lover - isn't that wrong theology?
We understand God as being in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father loves us so much he sent his Son to die for us; the Son loved us so much that he was willing to die on the Cross for us; and the Holy Spirit loves us so much that he floods us with his love (if we allow his power to work within us). This is no human love that forgets to send us cards or flowers on the appropriate day. It's not a love that fades over a period of time. It's a vibrant, life changing love that makes you realise you are the most precious thing on earth and makes your eyes glow with the wonder of it all.
During the month of February we will be having a mini series of sermons on the Holy Spirit. Don't worry about whether you get a Valentine's card. Instead, why not try thinking about the love of the Holy Spirit for you and for our church this month and see if it changes your outlook on life?
Yours in Christ
Evelyn Cornell
Member of Central Baptist Church & Pulpit Secretary
Hi Everyone
It's good to be able to write this letter at the beginning of a new and exciting year. The early part of this month brought back memories of winters long ago when the snow was deep and crisp and even for weeks on end. This time what started as a Christmas card picture turned very rapidly into sheet ice with lots of extra accidents for our already stretched hospitals to deal with.
How like life that is as often things appear to be new and exciting and perhaps a little risky but before long they turn to ice and disaster is just round the corner. The young person who partakes in recreational drugs just to be one of the crowd, soon finds they are on a downward spiral to addiction and crime.
The good thing about our Christian faith, is if we stay close to God,it just gets better and better. I can't think of a better example of that than our dear brother Harry Cover, who wherever he went just radiated the love of his Saviour. It was a terrible shock to all of us when Harry passed away so suddenly on 20th January and our thoughts and prayers go out particularly to his close friends and family. However I'm sure Harry is with his Lord and his merry chuckle is bringing joy to all.
How good it was to see the church full for the President of the Baptist Union's visit and grateful thanks go to all those involved in organising the evening.
If you are anything like me then once January is over, and the nights start to draw out a bit, your thoughts turn to Spring and new life, in fact a local flower shop had both daffodils and tulips when I went by the other day. In the garden, now the snow has cleared away, the bulbs are all starting to push through the ground with the promise of a glorious Spring just round the corner.
For our church we can look back on tremendous blessings during the past 16 years of ministry and look forward with excitement to what God is going to do in the next 16 years. Our profile is finished and we are waiting for the first names of potential ministers which we'll receive in February. But it's important that in this time of interregnum we don't just tread water but we continue to go on with the Lord, so that the church grows numerically and Spiritually.
I am delighted to be your Moderator in this exciting time and I hope that together we can continue the great tradition of this church as a spiritual oasis in the centre of our great City. I'm not just here to chair your meetings but I'm here to support you and help in any way I can, so feel free to contact me if you think that would help.
Finally, what an inspiration the people of Haiti have been in their hour of need. Where we may have blamed God for the terrible earthquake that hit their community, instead many have very publically praised God for those who have survived or been pulled many days later from the wreckage. It would be tempting to think that now the main rescue operation is over, that we no longer need to pray or to give. However those people are going to need our help for years to come as they attempt to rebuild shattered buildings and lives.
David Statham, Moderator
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