Whilst it is good that we are now able to meet up face to face with people, and that the long separation from family and friends of lockdown are no longer compulsory - it is important to recognise that for some people doing things online has meant that they were more engaged during lockdown than was possible before.
Discipleship is a key part of our vision as a church here at CBC. This should not come as any great surprise to anyone who is familiar with the gospels and the words of Jesus! Our vision expresses this in a number of ways - using the language of a journey it talks about obedience to God, support for each other and seeing lives changed.
This week I'm going to start a series of weekly emails that will help us engage with some of the themes and topics from Sunday's service - even if you were not at the service. Here's yesterday's email.
It was good to be able to have our main service back in the church building on Sunday and then to meet afterwards in the garden for a picnic tea. We’re sorry that technical issues meant that we were not able to live stream or record the service – hopefully they will be resolved by this coming Sunday.
On Sunday we were thinking about the parallels that the New Testament makes between elite athletics and the Christian life. There’s been a lot of sport on the television this summer, not least the Olympics and the Paralympics. To compete at the top level requires determination, commitment, singlemindedness, focus, perseverance and sacrifice – plus a lot more. Many of those who performed at Tokyo will now be starting a three-year cycle as they prepare for Paris 2024. Some of those who performed in Tokyo would not have been there had the games been held in 2020 – because they were on a training programme targeting 2024. Everything that these athletes do in the next three years will be governed by their desire to win gold in Paris.
Every analogy or illustration breaks down at some point when pushed too hard, but in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul is making the point that the same kind of determination, focus, singlemindedness, and discipline are needed for the person who has committed to following Jesus. Just as an athlete’s decisions are made with the goal of a gold medal in mind, our choices should be governed by our relationship with Jesus. Will ‘doing x’ help me to know Jesus better or not? Will ‘not doing y’ make me more like Jesus or not?
When it comes to determination and discipline with my running, I know that motivation is key. I know that I am most motivated when I am training for something specific and other people are involved. The first time I ran a marathon I trained for four months and because I was raising sponsorship skipping training was not an option. I was very careful about what I ate – specifically what I did not eat – cake, ice cream, chocolate, crisps… And it’s no coincidence that my best times for 5k, 10k and half-marathon distances all came during this period.
I recently trained over ten weeks with the goal of improving my 5k time, and although I achieved my goal I was not quite so disciplined – especially on the ice cream and chocolate front!
In Hebrews 12:1-2 we are urged to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is our motivation. We do what we do because of his great love for us demonstrated on the cross, and our love for him. We do what we do because of our desire to obey him and to be more like him.
As someone who has always had links to the education system, September marks one of those ‘new beginning’ points in my year. One of those points when it is good to stop and pause. To look back and look ahead.
In my desire to be more like Jesus is there something that I need to add into my life to enable this to happen? Or something I need to take out?
And who are the people that help me on this journey? To encourage me? To keep me accountable?
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