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Talk less. Listen more. Put the screen away. Enter every conversation assuming you have something to learn from the other person.

With Vision Sunday setting before us the calling to speak, I’ve been mulling over how we speak well. As the above list shows, there is no shortage of conversational tips to be had – tips that I have personally found helpful since my own conversations have an ongoing need for improvement! But as I’ve reflected on how to keep growing, there’s a diagnostic question I’ve needed to return to time and time again that isn’t usually found on the how-to lists.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who, at the end of the day, loves nothing more than sitting on the sofa, putting on the TV and just relaxing. God knows that we all need rest, and He has blessed us with many ways to take this rest, and TV and movies can capture the beauty of His creation, the joy of laughter, or point us towards needs in our world and ways we can act to help. But, with so many different shows and films out there, what can we do to make sure that what we watch helps us “live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way” (Colossians 1:10)?

‘Science has disproved God’. ‘We don’t need God now we know better through science’. I’m sure you’ve heard similar comments. They reveal that the relationship between science and religion is more than an optional academic discussion, because it can truly affect how open people are to God. So how can we help turn potential stumbling blocks into stepping-stones?

As life opens up after a l.o.n.g period of lockdown, it is wonderful to know that God has plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11) and that the One who created us and knows us, better than we know ourselves, has all the days ordained for us written in His book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16).

“All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

- ACTS 2:44-45

I wonder which is more of a struggle for you: sharing or being shared with?

My guess, is that you read the title of this blog and assumed I’d be focusing on how we can be better at sharing with others, which admittedly was the original direction for this piece. Alas, God had different plans.

Thomas Fuller knew what it meant to live in a time of crisis. He was a pastor and a Royalist chaplain during the English Civil War, during which he wrote a work call Good Thoughts in Bad times. This was a series of conversations with God, intended to provide encouragement in this bleak period.

Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-78), as well as having a splendid name, is best known for writing the hymn ‘Rock of Ages’. He served as Vicar of Broad Hembury, Devon and wrote extensively, including a set of prayers for use by families for each day of the week. The prayer for Sunday morning asks for God to help the family and God’s people more general to observe the Sabbath well. Toplady prays, for example, for Gospel ministers to preach faithfully on this day.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has found lockdown hard, I am missing church family and missing being able to gather properly. Many times I have questioned what God is doing and doubted his love and goodness. This pandemic has forced us to rely on God in ways that perhaps we never have before as the lies of this world have been revealed – we are not in control of our health, our economy, our work, our social lives or even our daily routine – but God is! He is good, he is sovereign, he is faithful and we have a sure and certain hope in him.

Tell me anyone who doesn’t enjoy receiving a letter or a card from a friend? There is something joyful about a handwritten colourful envelope plopping onto the mat. But if it’s not your birthday or Christmas it may even take you by surprise. Yet, watch any period drama and you will see that this is where much of the action takes place; correspondence by letter fuels the plot!

Why don’t we do evangelism?

There are different ways to answer that question. Here’s one – we don’t do evangelism because of a failure to love.

Or rather, because of a failure to love properly. Everyone loves, the issue is what we love and how much we love it.

It is funny how Christmas TV adverts have become such a big part of the Christmas build up these days. “I wonder what the [insert shop] Christmas advert will be this year?”, is said in anticipation by many. Hints are dropped in almost trailer-like fashion and then the advert arrives, and social media goes nuts.

Our God is a generous God: not a sensible, give-them-what-they-need kind of God, but a God whose heart overflows with kindness, richness, and a desire to bless. When God gives, He gives the best. And it is so good —so refreshing, liberating, and challenging—for us to remember that.

Why do children gather with us to worship on Sundays? Because they’re included with us in God’s gracious covenant promises in Christ! (Acts 2:39)

So what does that mean practically in our services?

What can we be doing as a whole church family to serve our children in the time they are there with us?

It’s Sunday morning and as our service begins, there sitting amongst the adults, in the building or at home watching the livestream … are children. And what exactly are they doing there?! Just killing time waiting to head out for Sunday Club activities? Feeling fidgety, distracting those around them, raising the blood pressure of self-conscious parents trying to keep them quiet?! If we’re honest, there’ll be elements of all that going on – being family together is rarely neat and tidy! But they’re also there, gathered with us, because we’re convinced that it’s a good thing … for them and for us!

At the beginning of September there was a big push to get children back into school, and rightly so: education is important. It was also the time we began to gather as a church again. It has been limited of course: restricted numbers, lack of singing, some unable to return for health or practical reasons – but we have gathered. We have gathered from some of our oldest to some of our youngest, and it is our youngest I wanted to mention briefly. While we might instinctively feel ‘children should get back to school, it’s important for them’, we should have the same instinct and hope for their presence with us as we gather for worship.

“All is flux, nothing stays still” remarks Heraclitus, one of the earliest philosophers in Western history. If we take a moment to think about it, it is indeed so. Actually, there aren’t many things in life that are as certain as change, even if we are not necessarily aware of it, nor do we think about it very much most of the time. Nevertheless, change is constant.

The Church is no stranger to crisis. In fact, the human history of the Church could be considered one crisis after another, each bringing with it both uncertainty and disruption. Earthquakes and epidemics, dearth and drought, conflict and persecution, every emergency imaginable has faced God’s people at one point or another: COVID-19 is simply the most recent.

We’ve all been doing a lot of waiting. Waiting for lockdown to end. Waiting for schools to restart. Waiting for government announcements. Waiting for church to meet in person. Waiting for the next parcel to be delivered.

Waiting is strange. It has so many forms. Some waiting is rather appealing. We eagerly anticipate the arrival of a good friend. We long for the start of the summer holidays. ‘I can’t wait’, we say. But, of course, we can. Indeed we must, because most of the time we have no choice. Not waiting simply isn’t an option open to us.

I was walking down a busy road recently when I noticed a young boy on a yellow bike by a zebra crossing. As he noticed me, he declared that he was trying to get to the other side but he was scared, sensing rightly that it wasn’t safe to cross on his own. After a minute or two, his parents appeared around the corner. The little boy still needed to cross the dangerous road but he belonged to two adults who went with him and he was kept safe.

With summer now truly upon us and lockdown easing still further, our minds are perhaps turning to holidays and the possibility of taking a break, whatever that would look like! Even as we continue to push through with the new normal we are, I’m sure, glad of opportunities for rest and refreshment.