THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - From VicarGeoff

Drawing Close to God

In the busyness of church life it is very easy to loose touch with God. What do I mean?

So often church life becomes about doing. We have to have our services - even if we don't always go to them. We expect there to be someone to open up, hand out the hymn books, play the organ, lead the prayers, do a reading and most importantly provide coffee. These are all good and part of church life, but they are not the purpose of church or core to us following and serving Jesus. Don't shoot me down, but I want to bravely suggest that church in itself, and the activities we do as part of belonging to our churches in ancillary to the real reason that church exists. To be a community of people who gather to worship God, submitting our lives to His authority and serving Him.

Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful, as I hope we all are, that people take on those roles and we are able to fellowship after our services and do so many other things. Where would we be without our Church Wardens and tea and coffee makers, cleaners and flower arrangers? Fellowship and community are a vital part of church life, but not the central or core purpose of the churches existence. Worshipping God is the core purpose, putting Him at the centre of all we do. We are to 'be' in His presence, not just 'do' in his presence. August is a month where we can all spend time drawing close to God, having the space of a less hectic lifestyle. Drawing on a more contemplative lifestyle of prayer and meditation on the Scriptures, space allows us to simply sit in God's presence and soak up His love. Being in His presence.

During August our pattern of worship across the ABC Churches is changing dramatically. There will be only one service each Sunday at 10:30am and at a different venue each week. This is partly to accommodate many people being away in August and so lessen the workload on those who are around. This service will include Communion and hymns and songs, but it will also be a wonderful opportunity to worship in a larger congregation with folk from the different church communities within the ABC Villages, which I believe will be appreciated following the feedback we had from our last wider ABC Churches gathering at the end of June.

I hope this will give everyone an opportunity to enjoy a more relaxed pace of life in August and the opportunity to travel around to get to know other churches, villages and people in ABC Land. If the travel is an issue please do get in touch with the office.

Yours in our Saviour's Name!

Geoff