Ministers Letter

Forgot to put it on before, so here it is with grammatical errors and all..
Minister’s Letter – February

What a January it was! The snow fell and at first it was lovely and beautiful, but then we started to realise the difficulties that it brought with transport, keeping warm and keeping safe as well as the meetings that were cancelled here at Horfield. There were a number of us who took part in a performance of Joseph along with Tyndale Baptist Church, and a number more that came to watch, it was a great time and real fun, but weather conditions made it a bit more interesting to get there. However, this month will probably be remembered for one of the worst natural disasters in history, and the events that happen on the other side of the world do affect us because in our papers, on our T.V. radio and computers we see and hear of people who are like you and me that have been affected beyond anything we could ever imagine. We will each respond in different ways, some with prayer, others with financial or other gifts and some will go out there to help, how though do we respond to God? When we meet together we sing and speak of God who is Lord over all creation and who loves each one of us and holds us in his hands, yet where was God for the people of Haiti? I wish I or someone else could give a simple answer, but sadly there isn’t one. Maybe we can look at events in our own lives where things have been hard and we have struggled, have we known God in these times, have we felt His love close to us in these desperate times? I look back at the hard times in my life and know that I felt God particularly close by (like He always is, but sometimes I seem less aware of it) and that the events are part of creation, part of life, even though I wish they could be different. I hope that our prayer is that God can be known in Haiti, that His love can be shown in the rescuers; His peace can be shown in the way that society is rebuilt and His hope will appear from despair. Despite all our moans and concerns the snow has now gone and we have resumed normality; the people of Haiti will be living with this for a long time and their difficulties won’t go away with bright sunshine, or warmer climates, let’s hope that our memories and prayers for those in Haiti won’t disappear as the media starts to moves out.
Here at Horfield I pray that we also know God’s love, peace and hope as together we journey and cope with what life throws at us. We may not have all the answers to why what happens happens, but what we do have is what God offers to us, God’s self as well as one another. Together, whatever may come, I pray we will rely on God and one another.
Tim