November/December 2024
I may have told you before but one of my favourite pastimes, is reading. I
usually read when I’ve gone to bed but also when I’m on holiday and then I
like to sit in the sun (if we get any!) and read. I like to read series of books
because then I can get to know the characters and how they think. Recently,
Val Gee and I have been reading the same series of books about a detective
in the North East and so we have been able to discuss the books and where
the story is going.
Stories are important, aren’t they? We read them, we watch them, and we
listen to them – why? Because sometimes they allow us to escape from our
own problems and immerse ourselves in something else, sometimes they
teach us things we would do well to remember, sometimes they tell us things
about ourselves, our lives, our country, our world. Stories can help shape the
world and everything in it.
The Christian faith is focussed around a great story – the story of Gods
people, the story of the Gospel. It has the power to reform and to transform,
and it is that great story that unites Christian people everywhere. A story of a
God who comes to his people to save them – that’s our story, that’s the truth
Christians proclaim and by the time you are reading this magazine our
thoughts will be beginning to focus on Advent and then celebrating the
Christmas story where we will hear the familiar birth narratives when God
came among his people in the form of Jesus – ‘the Word became flesh and
lived among us’ [John1.14] Gods story, a story that brings hope to all people.
In a world that seems to be out of control, let us continue to share our story of
hope and love to all those people we interact with so that others can hear how
God is moving in the lives of his people.
I wonder what is your story? And are you willing to share it?
Every blessing,
Sue