From the Pastor's desk

This is an email I sent out to our NCLC this week.
Hope it helps.

Dear Church

As I am sat here contemplating the year ahead for us as a church I had the thought "What do I want the church to know this year?" There are many spiritual lessons that I want us to learn from the Word of God as well as theology & lessons from the life of Christ. But if I could sit down with each person in or connected to our community what would I tell you?
I didn't write down long lists and then bring them down to 5 most important. I wrote down the 5 that came immediately to mind.
I hope they help you.

1. You are loved. It sometimes goes without saying, and thats a problem. I should say it more. Its not that someone somewhere loves you... I do. Me, sat here at this desk. Whether I know you as a close friend or someone who I say hello to in passing on a Sunday. I love you. Our worlds may not collide very often but please know that I love you.

2. You are more than a bum on a seat, a weekly NCLC statistic or church financial contributor. You have value within our community. Not because of what you do but because Christ has placed intrinsic value on your life and I want to try to make sure you know the value of His own life that He placed on you.

3. You have purpose within the Kingdom of Heaven. You have intrinsic value but you also gain your purpose through contributing to the community. Your purpose comes because you have value, you don't gain value because you have purpose. Each of us are called to bring people to Christ. What greater purpose is there than to introduce people to Jesus. Every skill, talent or gifting should lead you to bring people to Jesus.

4. Its ok to hit crisis point. We all go there at some stage. The last thing you should do when you hit it (or it hits you) is to back away from the people that love you and the environment that will support, build, comfort and embrace you. If you are there at the moment, come back to the house of God. The open arms of welcome are for you as well.

5. Learn to learn. I want a church of people who know HOW to think not just WHAT to think. So many people will tell you exactly what to think and produce long lists of things you need to learn to fit into their club. I want to show you the Word of God and let Him speak to you through it. Study it for all it's worth. As a leader it is much easier in the short term to tell people what to think. The results are quicker & much more visible- people do what you tell them & think what you tell them to think. Teaching people to learn and to think for themselves is much slower and harder. BUT you get mature Christians who know why we do things not just what we do.

Anyway these are 5 simple things I want you to know. But if you forget everything else go back to number 1. In the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Love
Pastor Jon Cook


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