Dear Congregations
We’ve had an amazing summer – a trip to the USA where we met up with good friends, spent time with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and then of course the fabulous holiday club at Polbeth Harwood Church…
But the summer holiday is over now (not that it ever really was summer this year!!), and although it was special to do lots of exciting things with the boys, it’s also nice to be back into a routine again. With the start of the new school year, also comes the time for a new start here at church. And I am so excited about everything we are going to do before next summer!
When we were in the USA, we visited friends that we’ve known for 10 years, but we’ve not seen them since 2008. So although we were super excited to see them again, we were a little nervous too, because what would it be like after all this time? But from the minute they welcomed us with open arms at the airport, we felt as if we were with family. They made us feel special and almost treated us like royalty! Even the rest of the extended family, whom we’d never met before, treated us as if they had known us forever.
We treasured every minute spent with them, and that made me think that we as a church should be exactly the same. If somebody comes through our doors, whether they walk through these doors every Sunday, only once in a while, for the first time in 7 years or for the first time ever – we should make them feel like family.
Because that is what we are – brothers and sisters in Christ. In Luke 8 we read: 19 Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”
When it was time to leave and we were saying ‘goodbyes’ to our friends, we were already started making plans for when we would meet up again. Because we had such a lovely time we can’t wait to spend time with them again. And that is the way every single person who exit our church doors should feel – excited about coming back again soon!
As the cold is creeping closer, slowly but surely, let’s make sure our churches are places of welcome and warmth – even warmer that the summer sun in Florida!
May God bless you all.
Nanda