Doubt

We all know what it is to have doubts. But sometimes as Christians we may feel that it is wrong to have doubts about the things that we believe, or that we shouldn't question the things we once were certain of. After all - if we have faith how can we have doubts?

But doubt and faith are not mutually exclusive. They are different sides of the same coin. Because of the nature of faith, a certain level of doubt at times is inevitable. In Mark 9:24 we read 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief'. Faith and doubt.

This week we look at a passage in which John the Baptist wasn't sure that Jesus was the Messiah (Luke 7:18-35). Jesus did not fit the expectations of the hoped for Messiah, so although John was confident that Jesus had come from God, he had doubts over the claims that Jesus was the promised Messiah. And Jesus responds by encouraging John to look at the evidence (in the light of what the OT said about the Messiah - Isaiah 61:1-2) and make up his own mind.

We experience doubts for a variety of reasons. But often it is because our experience of life, our understanding of God, and the way we have interpreted the Bible do not match up. For example, we have always believed that if we pray then God will heal the sick - but then in our experience this doesn't happen; or we believe that God will always give us what we need - and then we lose our job. And then various doubts start to creep in. When this happens we need to do what John did. To go back to the evidence (our experience and the Bible) and work through our doubts to a point where our faith is strengthened.

Faith needs to be linked to actions - what we believe will affect the way we behave. Part of what it means to have faith is to act as though I was certain, even in my doubt. So if I am going through a period where I doubt even the existence of God, I still choose to make choices based on the belief in a loving God.

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Happy Anniversary

Today we celebrated our church's 74th anniversary - remembering God's faithfulness and thanking Him for all that He has done. And as we remember the past we have confidence to go into the future, because God will continue to prove Himself faithful. But what are the challenges for the coming years?

We continue our series in Luke, looking at 6:37-49, with the challenge to be those who don't judge or condemn others, but to be those who are generous givers and forgivers. This follows close on the heals of the call to love our enemies, to treat others as we wish to be treated and to be merciful. The motivation to live this way has to stem from the knowledge that this is the way that God has already treated us - He loved us when we were His enemies ...

So what might this mean for us in the coming year?

Being a multicultural congregation we recognise that we can easily offend each other- without even realising it, because different things have different meanings in different cultures. But we choose not to be offended, we choose to always think the best of each other, to forgive again and again.

In our community we look for ways in which we can love and serve - not to stand at a distance and wag our fingers at all the things we see that are wrong, but rather to embrace all that we see as right and to celebrate and promote those things. And we recognise that that may mean working alongside those of a different faith to us. Yet we choose to embrace these opportunities to love and serve.

Paternity leave

Thought I'd share a few more pictures, as I enjoy the last few days of my two weeks paternity leave. We just about manage to squeeze the three girls across the back seat for a first family outing - to Morrisons!



And maintaining the supermarket theme, here we are just after the new double buggy arrived on our way out to Iceland. Annie is tucked up nice and warm, and laying flat, in the section underneath Sophie!




Rebecca loves her little sister - much better than any doll.

Meeting the sisters

Anastasia came home on Sunday and shortly after got to meet her two older sisters for the first time. Sophie was more interested in sticking her fingers in Annie's eyes and patting her head a little too energetically. But Rebecca wanted cuddles.




The only slight problem is that when she has had enough she
just lets go! Just like with dolly.

We are very thankful to God for Anastasia Hope's safe and healthy delivery.