Aim High!

This is a copy of my church magazine article for January 2012

What a year it has been! In our church, we began as we usually do with our motto for the year:

‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.’ (Psalm 119:105)

From there, we launched out into the Essential 100 readings from the Bible, which led us into 20 Sunday sermons and weekday small group studies. If you shared the journey with us, I hope that you feel both better informed and increasingly inspired by the Word of God! I encourage you to go on reading the Bible regularly, for it is foundational to our faith.

What about our motto for 2012? In this year when the Olympic Games is coming to London, we (that is the deacons and myself) thought it would be good to develop that theme. The Games were familiar to members of the early Church, and the apostle Paul often drew upon the world of the games for inspiration. Here, then, is the verse we have chosen:

‘I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 3:14).

Paul is picturing the athlete in a race, never looking back but always looking forward. The moment that the athlete looks over her shoulder, she is likely to be beaten. The more she looks and strains towards the finish line, the more likely she is to win.

This is a scene we may return to many times in the coming year, as we look towards all that God has for us to be and do. We need to press on in everything to which God calls us, treasuring the past but never wanting to return to it, looking towards the glorious future that God has prepared for his people.

May God bless us all in 2012, as we run the race and keep the faith!

New Beginnings

Once again, it is that time for new beginnings and New Year’s resolutions. I wonder if you normally make a resolution and if you do, whether it is trivial or serious?

I want to challenge us all to make a resolution for 2011, that has the potential to be life-building and world-changing! Will you (and will I) make the commitment to read something from the Bible every day? I believe that the Bible reveals the Word of God to us. It is our book of faith containing guidance for life. If we don’t read it, we will miss out on much that God has to say to us. If we do read it, we won’t – simple as that!

It is our practice, as a church, to have a bible verse as a motto that highlights a special emphasis for the coming year. In 2011, the verse will be:

‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.’ Psalm 119v105

Four hundred years ago, the King James Bible was published in Great Britain. It has been life-building and world-changing in its impact. It is universally admired for its prose and poetry. Many of its phrases have become part of everyday language. It made the Word of God available to the masses in this country for the first time (to those who could read, and afford it) rather than just to a small group of ‘professionals’. It meant that, for the first time, people like you and I could read the Bible and meditate upon it and let it direct our lives.

Will you take up the challenge of reading the Bible daily? Our programme at Park Road Baptist Church can help you! During the first part of the year, I encourage you to join me in reading the ‘Essential 100’ Bible readings. These will be introduced through Sunday morning sermons and discussed in our small groups. Would you think about joining one of these, if you’re not in one already, for help and support?

Our motto as a church is that we be ‘a Light for our City’. Our Scripture verse for 2012 is that God’s Word be ‘a lamp to my feet and a light for my path’. May the two come together so that we can shine brightly for Jesus, the Light of the World!

Note to blog-readers: What are you launching in your church? I'll be interested to hear!