Some years ago, David Watson wrote a book examining what the New Testament has to say about the Church. The title expressed his first conviction: “I Believe in the Church”. I believe in it too. It is that belief that both motivates and sets the direction of my ministry among you.

The Apostle Paul writes in Titus 2 v14 of “our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all our wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

The Apostle Peter declares to Christians in 1 Peter 2: “You are a chosen people, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

The New Testament challenges the rampant individualism which so easily infects modern Western Christianity. Christ gave himself to save us from, amongst other sins, our selfish isolationism, and to bring us together as the “the people of God”. We are His community, belonging to Him and thus to one another – his new society in the world – that through our corporate life we should bring him honour and reveal Him to the world that doesn’t know Him.

It is through the God-shaped personalities of people who practice the presence of God, through their worship and work together, their service and love towards one another, and their unself-conscious witness, that God’s glory is revealed.

The Scriptures insistent call to us as the “Body of Christ” is to “unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God” and to maturity. We are “to grow up into Him  who is the Head, that is Christ.” “From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up as every part does its work.” (Ephesians 3 v13, 15 & 16).

We are to seek together to keep growing in our relationship with God, in our knowledge of Christ and his word.

We are to keep working at our relationships within the church, so that we may grow in the unity which is founded on love. Through the gifts and ministries God entrusts to each believer for the benefit of the whole body, through loving and thoughtful acts of service, we are to build one another up in Christ.

Our prayer should be: “Lord, make us growing Christians, and our church a growing church.”

Your friend and Pastor, Kevan

Haiti

1) $30,000 (approx £18,400)

For two search and rescue teams, which has enabled Baptist World Aid to work closely with local Baptist groups on the Island

2) £3,300

This amount has been given to the Haiti Hospital Appeal (HHA) which runs a small hospital in northern Haiti. They have transported the injured and supported the care and feeding of refugees being brought from Port-au-Prince. They are also mobilising medical teams and seeking to import supplies to Haiti.

David McLellan, BMS’ Manager for Mission Partnerships, says,

“Thank you to those who’ve already given through BMS’ Relief Appeal following the earthquake in Haiti. You can be assured that your gift will be well-used by BWAid as it works alongside local and international groups to help those in greatest need.”

“Please continue to pray for this situation – both for the survivors and those trying to bring aid in difficult circumstances.”

It is your support which allows BMS to respond to disasters like these. Please help us to continue making a difference by giving to the BMS Relief Appeal:

www.bmsworldmission.org/relief

Strange isn’t it, that in spite of what Jesus had told them, they seemed to have had no thought of a resurrection, while the authorities, who had had Jesus executed, thought it prudent to seal His tomb and mount a guard over it. No doubt they expected the disciples to be as devious as they would be, stealing His body and faking a resurrection.

But to the disciples the news that He was alive seemed “as idle tales” until they met Him face to face, and then they were scared stiff! Thomas who wasn’t with them at the time flatly refused to believe even then, until later he, too, met Jesus.

And so it went on as they gradually became accustomed to the idea that He was with them even when He wasn’t, as it were. He came and went mostly meeting individuals or small groups but on at least one occasion He addressed a gathering of 500 or so. But it was galling, having nothing to do and wondering what was going to happen next. Patience is a hard lesson to learn and eventually Peter, always impatient and impulsive, couldn’t stand it any longer. He just had to get back to something he knew, something where he felt he could cope. “I’m going fishing” he said and eagerly the others went with him. They, the professional fishermen, toiled all night and caught nothing and as they neared the shore in the half light of dawn Jesus stood waiting for them. Once again, obeying His command, they hauled in a massive netful of fish and they had breakfast on the beach.

Then came the transformation of Peter from the guilt-ridden failure to the leader who would be a rock of strength to the others. But first he had to face up to the real reason for his failure. “Do you love Me?” Jesus asked him, using the agape word for total commitment. His old boastful arrogance gone, poor Peter couldn’t rise to that level. He knew his limitations and he replied “You know I love You” but he used the lesser philo word meaning a much watered down form of love. Again Jesus asked the same question with the same answer. Then, the third time He asked the question (remember Peter had denied Jesus three times, too) Jesus also used philo, accepting Peter’s limited level of commitment because it was honest. His faith may have been weak but it was genuine. Peter was restored because he would now serve relying on Christ and not on his own strength which had failed before and would have done so again.

Everything was now nearly ready. Shortly afterwards Jesus gathered the disciples on the Mount of Olives, gave them some last instructions about waiting for the Holy Spirit, said farewell and left them. And as they stood there gazing open mouthed, they were reprimanded by an angel who told them to go home and remember what Jesus had told them. They went and with a new spirit they spent their time in the Temple praising God and looking forward to whatever it was that was to come. It turned out to be Pentecost!