Forget What Is Behind

It would be impossible to miss the fact that the World Cup is reaching its climax - the many England and other flags flying from cars and houses have revealed that something significant is underway, and we seldom see Ashley Road as quiet as it was during the fateful semi-final. 

As we reflect on this sporting disappointment or many more personal ones, most of us are tempted to live life regretting the past and in the realms of 'if only …', but it's both pointless and depressing to get trapped in the past.  We can't change the past, but only the present and the future.  St Paul wrote, "Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on" (see Philippians 3 to discover more).  There's a lesson here as football teams approach the next tournament, and an even deeper lesson for us all in life - Paul was writing about the call to follow Jesus.

 Whether you follow Him or not, I wish you all the best.

The Secret of Being Content

Our Vicar David Writes...

Some of you know that I'm a football fan, and I enjoy being Honorary Chaplain at Poole Town Football Club.  This has been a tough season for PTFC and, like my friends who follow Southampton in the Premier League, we are hoping for the best but fearing the worst at the end of the season.  Prompted by all this I find myself thinking about the ups and downs of life.  All of us experience fluctuating fortunes in life, and prefer to avoid the tough times.

One person who knew both ups and downs well was St Paul.  Early in his career he had been a pillar of the establishment, an up-and-coming Pharisee involved in punishing those early Christians who were ruffling feathers and causing trouble.  But then he became a Christian himself and he started getting on the wrong side of the ‘justice’ he used to mete out.  He was accused, beaten and imprisoned several times, getting run out of town in some of the places he went speaking about Jesus.  And he got shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake and various other misfortunes.

And yet he was able to write, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” (see Philippians chapter 4 if you’d like to read more).  Paul had a clear sense that God was alongside him in the highs and lows of life, and countless others have followed suit all around the world as history has unfolded since then.

However things unfold for you, I hope that – like Paul – you will be able to be content in all circumstances.

Wishing you God's best,

David

Getting More Than We Bargained For...

My earliest service of the year happened recently with the 6am service on the beach on Easter day.  As the S-U-N rose over the horizon, we celebrated that the S-O-N has already risen from the grave.  All along the beach, groups from different churches were doing the same thing – Easter was a special morning.

A few days after Jesus’ resurrection, he himself was on the beach of the Sea of Galilee early in the morning while seven of his disciples had returned to what they knew before they were devastated by his death – fishing.  Jesus was on the shore with a fire already burning to cook bread and fish.  (See John chapter 21 if you’d like to read more).  The risen Jesus wasn’t some sort of ghostly apparition – he ate food and was tangible, showing that his resurrection was real and physical, not just something psychological.

There’s something else we can learn from this chapter.  Even though the disciples were experienced fishermen they had had an unproductive night: they had fished all night and caught nothing.  But Jesus had something better in store for them (I expect at least some of them thought ‘What does he know?’ when an apparent stranger on the shore shouted fishing advice).  When they fished the way he suggested they landed a huge catch of 153 large fish.  With Jesus, we always get more than we bargained for.