Message

Just A Thought for January 2012, written by a church member.

Bright hope for tomorrow

I AM half way through reading Jeremiah.

Oh no! Not more gloom and doom, you might say. Is there not enough of that around already?

Not without justification Jeremiah is a byword for spreading gloom and doom. Without any claim to understanding the context in which Jeremiah had to deliver his sombre messages, I'd like to share what I have discovered so far. Let's start at the beginning with his call to serve God.

Like many others he didn't feel equal to the task – not the right person – too old – too young – of no importance. But also as to many others came the words to him: "Do not be afraid ..." not because everything will be all right but because "I am with you".

I'm not sure about this, but I believe someone has worked out that these are the most frequently used phrases in the Bible. And they come to us today.

In the Covenant Service we will say that we will do whatever God asks. Scary or what? We shall need those words of reassurance "Do not be afraid ... I am with you".  It's a good thought to take with us into every day of a New Year.

Plodding on with Jeremiah (and it is plodding, possibly because I don't know the context) we come to awful prophecies of terrible times to come. So it is no surprise to find that there were times when Jeremiah rebelled, believing that God was asking too much of him. The opposition was so great he even wished he had never been born!

One of the things Jeremiah was asked to do was to write a letter to the exiles. This time it was a letter of promise to bring them back to their land. "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm … to give you a future with hope" .

Why? Because "I have loved you with an everlasting love".

A future with hope. WOW!

Well we have a future with hope because of Jesus, but also because of our plans for the future of Southlands – plans which we believe and pray match God's plans for us. We have appointed John Hattam as our Children and Families Worker, giving him the task of helping us to reach out to the community with that message of God's everlasting love to all. We are all included in this project in a variety of ways – prayer, support, enthusiasm – and maybe in ways we haven't yet thought of.

In Jeremiah I have reached the chapter headed "The joyful return of the exiles", which describes the festivities that will take place on that day with singing and dancing and general merry-making. Clearly Jeremiah is not all gloom and doom, and I'm looking forward to the second half of the book especially as it starts with a chapter headed "A New Covenant".

Let me suggest that we take into the New Year this thought: "Do not be afraid … I will be with you" and a prayer that we may have "Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow"