Pastoral Letter
Dear Friends,
I am writing this letter on a dark cold Decemberevening. Many people find these short winter days very depressing. Many folk who live in more northerly countries find this time of year even more depressing because there is hardly any daylight at all.
Francis Thompson 'Shelley'put it this way:
Light! Nature's resplendent robe;
Without whose vesting beauty
All were wrapt in gloom.
We all need light in our lives, and I am sure that is why so many people at this time of the year seek to pierce the gloom with great displays of coloured fairy lights in their gardens and on their houses. It is as if they are saying, 'We're not going tolet the gloom overcome us, we're going to beat it'.
I think it is important that our lives are not filled with gloom, but are full of light.The well-known Bible teacher Keith Brooks once spoke to a large group of businessmen on the Christian's responsibility to be a "light" in the world. He emphasized that believers are to reflect the Light of the world, the Lord Jesus.
After the meeting, one of the members related to him an experience he had in his home, which had impressed upon him this same truth. He said that when he went into his cellar he made an interesting discovery. Some potatoes had sprouted in the darkest corner of the room. At first he couldn't work out how they had managed to get enough light to grow. Then he noticed that the cook had hung a copper kettle from the ceiling near the cellar window. She kept it so brightly polished that it reflected the rays of the sun onto the potatoes.
The businessman said to Brooks, "When I saw that, I thought, I may not be a preacher or a teacher with ability to expound Scripture, but at least I can be a copper kettle catching the rays ofthe Son and reflecting His light to someone in a dark corner."
Jesus said "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
All of us need the light of hope in our lives. Sometimes our lives seem absolutely hopeless,yet the story of the potatoes in the darkest corner of the cellar helps us to remember that even in the darkest times there is hope.
Jesus Christ suffered the most terrible pain a man can ever suffer, but in doing so he has brought hope to the whole world by his saving work on the cross. A hope that says that God loves us, and that God understands our pains and difficulties at firsthand. In fact he understands them better than we do. Jesus also brings to us the hope that God cares for us in a way that we shall never fully know or understand, not until one day we stand with him in paradise.
Until then remember that, as January unfolds, the snowdrops begin to appear, thedays begin to lengthen and we know that spring is not far away. In the same way remember that God is never far away. So never give up hope.I wish you all a happy and blessed new year.
May God bless you all,