God’s promises

Priesting

This is a picture of the end of my first communion service as a priest on the 3rd July 2005.. The theme of the service was ‘promise’, Moyra preached, and it took place in St Michael’s in Basingstoke, where I was curate. My first substantive sermon at Christ Church, South Nutfield, in March 2014, was looking at one of the promises or covenants God makes with his people in the Old Testament. Today, I have just been putting the finishing touches to tomorrow’s sermon at Christ Church, which is my last as a sabbatical rapidly approaches. This is also about the overarching storyline of promise or covenant in the Bible.

I can’t help thinking there is something very circular about this. It is always good to reflect on God’s promises or covenants revealed in scripture – and the way the new covenant works, since the coming of Jesus. It helps us to keep rooted and grounded in our journey of faith. Tomorrow’s sermon finishes with some of my favourite verses from St Paul’s letter to the Romans (8:38-39), as they are found in ‘The Message’

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us*.

As a thinker and someone who likes (and at times needs) time to think things through – I particularly like the rendering thinkable and unthinkable – “kind of” captures the predictable and the unpredictable stuff of life. Though it may feel like I have had more than my fair share of unpredictable of late – none of that stuff whether its predictable or unpredictable can get between us and God’s love for us through Jesus. Amazing!!!

Study leave starts on Monday….