An ongoing story

Royal wedding reflections (pictures, analyses and more pictures!), Soccer World Cup, students taking examinations, end-of-school-year buzz, summer break, people travelling … it’s all happening in June 2018! Yes, June has arrived and with it much excitement as we are able to enjoy the outdoors much more than other times of the year. It also provides an opportunity for us to appreciate God’s creation from “up close” much better and more often.

Being in nature and seeing the beauty of it is a great reminder of the start of the Bible’s message: “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth” (Genesis 1:1). But, as Genesis clearly states, this was only the beginning. The Bible goes on to describe the progress of God’s story through Adam & Eve, Noah, Abraham, David, ultimately culminating in the coming of Jesus Christ to this world. And in the New Testament we discover that this was God’s plan and purpose all along. However, it did not happen overnight. God did not fast-forward the story! Many years, thousands of people and numerous events (good and bad) contributed to the chapters preceding the coming of Christ.

And the story of God continued through the Early Church in the First Century and for the past 2000 years. And, if you are a Christian, you form part of the ongoing story of God, planned even before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). The final page of the story of life on earth as we know it will only be written once Jesus returns to earth at the Second Coming. Then life will continue in the presence of God for eternity – a wonderful reality to look forward to.

So, next time you enjoy the outdoors or get a glimpse of God’s wonderful creation, think about the story of God, culminating in your own salvation through Jesus Christ the Saviour.

Enjoy the Summer! And God’s blessings that come with it…

Overcoming cultural barriers

I am currently reading through the Book of Acts again. In it the author, Luke, tells the story of the Early Church, following on from his earlier description (in the Gospel of Luke) of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Acts is the story of the Church, which against all odds, marched on and took the 1st Century world by storm.

Not that it was easy! The early Christians and missionaries faced many difficulties and challenges. They travelled great distances by sea or land, faced persecution and rejection, had to overcome cultural and language barriers in different countries, while trying to convince both Jew and Gentile that Jesus of Nazareth is the Saviour of the world. After the first eight chapters, Luke begins to focus on the life and travels of the Apostle Paul – how he persecuted Christians, became a Christian himself, travelled to distant places to establish churches, and ended up in Rome, the capital of one of the largest and most successful empires in history.

The story of Paul ends with Paul in Rome where, although under house arrest, had freedom to preach the Gospel to all who paid him a visit. This proves both the far-reaching impact of the Gospel of Christ, as well as the fact that spreading the Gospel is still an unfinished task. Hence the “open-ended” ending of the Book of Acts.

And this is where we fit into the story…

As an international church we, in some sense, face similar challenges to that of the Early Church. Many of us travelled great distances to get to Bratislava, experienced culture shock, while we continue to face cultural and language barriers on a daily basis. But my encouragement from the story in Acts is that none of these things should prevent us from being effective witnesses in the places where we live, work and play. Just as the Holy Spirit filled and used the early believers, so we can trust Him to empower us and use us as instruments in his hands to spread the Good News that Jesus is Lord and Saviour.

May He make us faithful in shining the Light in our world!