News

One of the ways we evaluate how we are doing spiritually is by comparing ourselves to how other people seem to be doing. This can be a positive thing: being in community with other people who are striving to uphold the same values as us can inspire and encourage us to do better. And it can be a negative thing: comparing ourselves with other people can lead us to be envious or judgmental or it can even lead us to the absurd situation of trying to prove that we’re more spiritual than other people. Let’s talk about how the Lord can help us to deal with these challenging dynamics. – Malcolm, Head Pastor

In fact, it’s inevitable. From our point of view anyway. If the Lord hadn’t “failed” the expectations of His followers, He never would have achieved His goals. He needed to face hell, be crucified, and die in order to achieve the greater victory of the resurrection. We cannot avoid the apparent failures that come our way. We can, however, trust that in letting us fail the Lord has a greater plan for us, and if we are willing we will find something better than any of our expectations.

Palm Sunday represents a crucial turning point in the Lord’s ministry: It was the point at which He went from preaching in the outskirts of the countryside to directly challenging those at the heart of religious life. It also led to His death and eventual resurrection. There is also a turning point for us when we submit to the Lord as King: as He enters we find new challenges, unseen evils, and deep spiritual struggle. Yet ultimately it is all for the good: just as Palm Sunday points through the Crucifixion to Easter Sunday, the Lord’s presence with us cuts through temptations and brings us to eternal peace.

When confronted with hard choices the easiest thing to do is to make no choice at all. Yet this choice is often the worst choice of all: in trying to keep our options open we lose out on all of them. The Lord is adamant that we make a committed choice: He sets before us life and death and urges us to choose life. Commitment to a choice is the only way to succeed spiritually.

In our last service of the Mindful Communication Challenge program we’re going to be looking at the question that underlies all the different ways of improving our communication that we’ve talked about: am I willing? Am I willing to try to improve how I communicate? Am I willing to put in the work that it will take to change the way I typically act? So… are you willing? And if the answer (honestly) is no, what do you do about that?
– Malcolm, Head Pastor

We have spent time exploring the questions “Is it true?” and “Is it kind?” This week we ask “Is it useful?” At the heart of this question is putting truth and kindness into action. Truth and kindness without use are simply airy ideas. By asking “Is it useful?” we bring our focus to the actual impact that our words will have on the people around us.

– Joel, Assistant Pastor

This Sunday we have the first topic of the Mindful Communication Challenge program: listening. As the person talking, really feeling heard by someone can mean a lot to us. As the listener, there are a lot of things that can get in the way of our being able to listen fully. Let’s learn from the Lord about how to get better at listening to Him and to other people.

This Sunday we are celebrating the founding of Kainon School and so will have the whole primary school community joining us for worship. The topic of the service is the school theme for the year: “Watching Our Words.” On Sunday we’re going to be exploring what needs to be in place for us to be able to watch or pay attention to anything.

– Malcolm Smith, Pastor