St James Church
Church Rd
Brownhills
West Midlands WS8 7AT
Tel 01543 372187
St James Church
Brownhills with Ogley Hay
Diocese of Lichfield
Minister Dave’s “Word” for September 2010
And I pray you and all God’s people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love-how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Ephesians 3 v 18.
Paul’s contribution to the church is immeasurable. His letters are full of advice, teaching, telling off, directing, counselling and encouraging. The above passage is one example of him both encouraging and teaching the early church. The early church then, as today, was composed of people from a variety of backgrounds-Jewish, Gentile, rich, poor, young and old. They didn’t always agree and get on, yet Paul knew that for the church to thrive and grow it needed to focus on its unity and work together. This was especially true if the church was to be true to its call and vocation which was to reach out and proclaim the Gospel to their generation. The love of God can bring together a wide and disparate group of people, often with nothing in common, and turn this group of people into the most formidable force the world will ever know. The evidence of this 2000 years of the church reaching out to and covering the globe, where over a third of the world’s population owe some form of allegiance to Jesus Christ. Also the early church faced many difficulties, especially in evangelising. For many, to accept Christ means they face rejection and ostracising from family and friends, loss of earnings from people who no longer want to do business with them, pressure from the many religions to return and political pressure from the authorities who fear they are potential traitors. The love of God is so overwhelming that they could do nothing else but share the gospel, despite the risks. Many Christians today face similar risks in many parts of the world, including the UK. Like the early church, the experience of God’s love is so moving that the risks are well worth taking, so that others too can experience such love and be liberated from sin and its consequences. Knowing such love can help us to see and understand what is truly important in this world and re-focus our priorities.as we seek to live out and proclaim the Gospel in our parish, we will face many obstacles and hurdles. We will face challenges and difficulties. There will be those who will be indifferent and those who actively oppose the advance of God’s Kingdom. We can persevere and overcome when we “understand the greatness of Christ’s love,” This love will transform and renew us in ways we cannot imagine; it will help us to endure when all else would succumb, it will give us such purpose and unity that we could never achieve in our own strength. Brownhills and Clayhanger need this love. People can know it in and through us as Christ’s body.
Yours in the love of Christ, Dave Bishop (Rev)