Happy New Year

New Year Hopes and Dreams…

I’m not very good at New Year resolutions, they are so quick to get broken. The Covenant Service (see next week’s newsletter) gives us a much better approach, as our covenant with God is a partnership, so we don’t just have to rely on our own willpower. It is good to have hopes, dreams and aims for the New Year though – I wonder what yours are. Hard though it is to meet and make contact, God is still at work in people’s lives and if we are open to him, the church’s work will still continue, so we need to be bold in our dreams for the work of God, not just our own lives.

I have some hopes for the church in South Bristol which I hope others will share:

To grow in spiritual depth;

To encourage more people to join our church communities, and deepen relationships;

To make a bigger impact on our local communities, especially where there is need and hardship.

These things also only come about through partnership, with each other and God: as Paul wrote, ‘I planted, [my fellow disciple] Apollos watered, but God gave the growth’. (1 Corinthians 3.6). We have to play our part by planting and watering, and then we pray that God will act; as we already see him doing.

We will be thinking about how we go about this in the leadership team and other meetings over the next few months, all on zoom for the time being so not the easiest way, but we trust in God’s Holy Spirit to use every circumstance for his good purposes, if we are willing to work alongside him.



Vaccinations

Good news! Increasing numbers of people from SBMC and beyond are being offered vaccinations to protect them from Covid-19. It’s going to take a while, but this gives us all hope.

Let’s pray too for people in poorer countries who won’t get such quick access to the vaccine, and for whom the economic suffering may be much greater.

Rev Sally Spencer
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