While Dennis is away, our readers are contributing to this column. This month, Terry Monahan says...

I’ve just returned from the annual Portsmouth Diocesan Reader Conference at Sandown on the Isle of Wight where, apart from catching up with Readers from around the diocese, we had an inspiring set of talks from the Bishop of Sodor and Man, Robert Paterson. He spoke of the need for us, as Christians within the context of a local church, to change our orientation from being inward-looking and church-focused, to being outward-looking and Kingdom-focused.

It was a refreshing reminder that the church, however wonderful, is not the same as the Kingdom of God. It was a challenge to all of us to take stock on a regular basis of just how many of the activities that we do for the church or the gifts that we give to the church are concerned with simply keeping the church running rather than in spreading the Good News, or seeking after justice or in serving those in need in our communities.

While we were there, Mary, Peter, Zoe and I also had an opportunity to take stock and spend some time thinking about what the theme of our preaching should be up until Easter and how would that fit with our vision and focus at St Johns at this time. And there was the rub! Just what is on the Lord’s mind and heart for us as a church at the moment?

You might remember that during the Autumn, we had been teaching on various aspects of discipleship from Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s gospel. But with Dennis out of action while he recuperates, it seemed to us that things had changed in many ways.

As we discussed the situation, it seemed to us that while we don’t seem to have a clear vision of where the Lord is taking us, particularly without Dennis to guide us, we were not so very different in some respects from the disciples after the persecution of the young church began in Jerusalem.

They were scattered out of the city, some far afield, maybe in small groups of two or three, isolated, leaderless.

And what did they do? Did they just sit around muttering and waiting for divine revelation? Well they may have been waiting. But while waiting, they would have been praying, studying their scriptures, worshipping God, building each other up in the faith, making disciples, sharing their faith as they had opportunity, remembering the good news that Jesus was and is. And all this as they sought to make a living wherever they found themselves.

So as we’ve started 2010, we’re going to continue, at least until Easter, looking at the life and ministry of Jesus in Luke’s gospel. During Lent, many in the Growth Groups will also be looking at Luke in Tom Wright’s book, so it ties together nicely.

Sometimes building the Kingdom of God is done simply alongside the day to day, ordinary activities of work, family, school, play. It’s certainly true that ‘where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Prov 29:18) but we have enough knowledge of what the Lord’s will is for us as individuals and as a church to spend our lives working out how to ‘go and make disciples…baptising… teaching…’ (Mt 28:19-20). Or how to ‘heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons’ (Mt 10:8). Or how to ‘act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Mic 6:8).

It should keep us busy for a while….

Terry