Dear Friends,
I write this on a day when a group from the church will visit Mrs. Wiltshire for a short service of communion and also when we have just heard that Esther Titus has lost her battle with cancer.
We thank God for Esther’s brave testimony through the final months of her life. Although there were times when she had great pain, her confidence was in God. She and her husband Buniyan had no children of their own and their wider family is still in India, but on a number of my visits I met individuals and groups from churches in Cardiff and Bristol who had taken time to be with them in their struggle. It was encouraging to see the warmth of care that was being shown. The Christian and cultural identity has been a help to Buniyan at this time and I am sure reflects the Biblical emphasis to “… one another”. (It would be a valuable use of time to find a concordance or search engine and to see in how many ways the Bible uses the term “one another”.)
The latter half of the twentieth century saw a great emphasis on personal development. The strengths and needs of the individual were promoted almost to the level of idolatry, summarised in the phrase, “It’s all about me.” This has sadly pandered to the sin of selfishness and has produced a culture that knows very little about deep relationships. The Church has not escaped the influence of this thinking and in some areas there has been an emphasis on ‘my’ personal relationship with God, with some arguing “I am a Christian, but I don’t need the church or don’t to go to church.”
What a sad state of affairs. The practice of occasionally taking communion to those unable to attend church services highlights our understanding that we see each member of the church as important, but the greater importance being that we as a church see ourselves as a body and members one of another. It is a sad that we have about half a dozen members, who through age or infirmity are not able to worship with us regularly, but “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”(Rom 15:1) They cannot come to us, so we go to them. Any visit is always greatly appreciated by those not able to leave their homes, but especially so when a group representing the church is able to visit them.
Those of us who are well have a great privilege that we can attend the regular meetings of the church, be it Sunday Services, gatherings for prayer or other forms of fellowship. Do we realise the privilege? Church history records many periods in history when the freedom for public worship has been denied Christians, but they have so treasured it that they have often taken huge risks in personal safety in order to be present with other believers. There has been mutual encouragement, but there has also been corporate growth. The Church has been able to grow together.
Do we value the importance of being together in order to grow together? The night Jesus rose from the dead, the disciple Thomas was not present in the Upper Room when Jesus appeared to His disciples. Those present were encouraged and their faith was strengthened. Thomas, for a week struggled with his apparent lack of faith. We have to give God the glory that in recent weeks there seems to have been a special blessing on our church gatherings, but I wonder how many like Thomas are missing out on encouragement, because other demands put fellowship lower down the list of priorities?
As this edition of the Gazette is published we have just completed a year of worship and ministry together let’s take the opportunity of again reviewing our relationship with each other and with God.
Grateful for your fellowship,
Bernard Lewis March 2011
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