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In the Sunday service on September 21st, for those of you who were not able to attend in person or online, we had a moment of reflection and prayer regarding the recent events in our country, including the “Unite the Kingdom” protest. 

During that portion of the service, Jon and Tony made reference to two different statements that have been issued: one from Churches Together in Luton and an open letter written by Christian leaders at a national level. The Churches Together in Luton statement can be read here while the national statement can be found in the article here.

If you have not been able to watch the service yet, you can do so here and hear more from Jon and Tony on this topic. 

Please continue to pray for our church, our town, and the nation. May we be pointing people to truth, reconciliation, and, most importantly, to Jesus during this time.

In my previous blog I spoke about how the writer to the Hebrews encouraged his readers to consider Jesus, to fix their eyes on Jesus, as a priority and primary focus. In doing so they would find a better perspective on the troubles and challenges they were facing. In their case persecution. I talked about how helpful I was finding that advice in the middle of the troubles that I am facing, and our society is facing.

In this blog I want to dig a little deeper. 

In addition to looking at Jesus we are also encouraged to look to the future that Jesus has won for us. The writer describes the entry of the children of Israel into the promised land as rest and says that we too have a rest, a Sabbath-rest, a promised land to look forward to.  We are encouraged not to miss out on that rest through disobedience, as happened in the Exodus. Hebrews 4. 

This rest is certain; it is a hope that we can look forward to. As a ship throws its anchor into the protected harbour whilst it battles the storms, so we have this hope as an anchor to our soul, firm and secure. Hebrews 6v19

Knowing we have eternity to look forward to enables us to cope better with the storms of the present, even to find rest now, the Sabbath-rest of the present. By obediently looking to Christ, we can find peace in the stormy sea now, a little taste of eternity in the present. I am fighting to live in that peace during the storms I am facing, looking to Jesus and also looking to the glory that is to come. Seeking to keep everything in the right perspective.

Tony Thompson

I write this amid significant challenges. At a personal level I am waiting for an urgent hospital appointment that could take a month. At a national level I live in a deeply divided nation with unpopular government replacing unpopular government, with what appears to be simplistic solutions being offered by others that would like to take control. Internationally there are wars and rumours of wars at a level I have not known in my lifetime. An outspoken politician who also happens to be an advocate for Christ has just been assassinated in the US; there are protests against the government in France and no end in sight for the political turmoil taking place there. These international conflicts produce further divisions locally, even amongst Christians. Social media seems to exaggerate the worst elements of human nature rather than celebrating the best.

I find it easy to become overwhelmed and I know many just turn their TV’s off when the news comes on and seek to avoid thinking about things.

The first century church faced its own challenges, from extreme poverty to racial divisions.  They also experience religious persecution with the very real prospect of martyrdom to an extent that we don’t in the west. When I reflect on that, I realise we don’t have it too bad. 

The letter to the Hebrews was written to a church that was facing intense persecution, the writer acknowledges that they have not yet to the point of shedding their blood, 12v14 but the implication is that that was a possibility. They were under intense pressure to renounce their faith in Christ.

I think it is therefore significant that the writer doesn’t focus on the challenges being faced, he doesn’t ignore them but doesn’t make them the main point of his letter. What he emphasises from beginning to end as well as in the middle is Jesus. We are continually exhorted to consider Jesus, to fix our eyes on Jesus, to fix our thoughts on Jesus. Who Jesus is and what he has done runs through the letter like words through a stick of rock. You can’t escape Jesus in this letter, chapter after chapter proclaims him.

I feel the importance of this. I am seeking to apply that truth to my own life. Focusing on Jesus helps me bring everything else into the right focus. Starting anywhere else just causes me anguish. I must keep reminding myself, it is all about Jesus.

As the modern song says, 

We lift up our eyes above the troubles
In our land and together we stand 
To declare You as King
In times like these we choose to praise You
For it’s You
It’s You who really matters
You are worthy of our praise

And we will say that You are good
And all the miracles You’ve done have brought us joy
For we are changed and all the hopes we have
We place in You right now.

This is certainly important for me, maybe it is something that you too need to be reminded of.

Tony Thompson

1 Peter 3 v 15