Tag: John

Epiphany 2: Wedding with a Difference

Paolo Veronese – Wedding at Cana (1440’s)
19/1/25
Epiphany 2

1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11

O God, we give you thanks because,
in the carnation of the Word,
a new light has dawned upon the world,
that all the nations and peoples may be brought out of darkness to see the radiance of your glory.

The Wedding at Cana is one of the great epiphany stories that is included in the lectionary for Year C. An Epiphany is to have ‘a moment of great or sudden revelation or realisation’ as I have mentioned over the last two Sundays. The Year C epiphany set features Jesus. First as an infant/toddler at the time of Wise Men’s visit. This first epiphany was to the Gentiles; all of those outside of the Jewish faith. The masses down the ages; millions and billions of people. Epiphanies need witnesses.

The second epiphany involving Jesus was at his Baptism when he was revealed as God’s Son. This was witnessed by those standing on banks of the River Jordan immediately following their own confessions, repentance and baptisms. Jesus is washed in the same waters as those He came to save. This too is a witness for all those baptised after Jesus including us that we are significant as called by name by God.

The third epiphany is the sign at the wedding of Cana. It is a familiar story and has many threads on which to be pulled. Many sermons highlight the scarcity and humiliation the lack of wine would have brought on that family. Jesus’ miraculous provision protects and covers the couple from shame. Some focus on the relationship of Mary and Jesus as the mother pushes son into acting despite his initial resistance. What did Mary know about Jesus that the rest of us do not? Others go for the miracle of the water into wine, serving the best first instead of last.

Unlike the Wise Men and the crowds at the river, no one at the wedding is searching for anything. Except for maybe a good time! The preparation for the banquet is done and festivities are underway when the potential problem arises. Only one person directly witnesses this epiphany: the steward.

It only took the chief steward a mouthful to know that he was drinking something magnificent. The symbolism here being of course that God takes what is ordinary and makes it extraordinary. We are told that a faith the size of a mustard seed is all that is required.

The steward then calls over the bridegroom to taste the new wine and praises him for serving the good wine. And the party goes on.

Where is the bride? There is no mention of the bride at this wedding. There had to have been one. Before we get hung up on another voiceless woman in the Bible; note that the bridegroom is not recorded as having said anything and only his presence.

There is another symbol here: there are references in the New Testament that refer to Jesus as the bridegroom. Taken on its own that might mean that Jesus signifies celebration, fulfilment and new beginnings. Yet Paul in Ephesians argues that the marriage relationship could be understood as the model of relationship between Jesus and his Church. Jesus the bridegroom and the Church is the bride.

Jesus went to the wedding to find his bride: not the bride at Cana but people needing redemption by his blood. Water and wine together pointing to the Eucharist. Jesus’ overflowing love is signified in the water becoming wine was lavished upon his Bride, the Church.

The Church as the Bride is not always very well behaved! The Church of England is going through an anxious, strange and confusing time. Many people can become disenfranchised by the corporation, the lapse in integrity, compassion and understanding by senior leaders. An unwillingness to listen and change. A loss of trust in the leadership at the highest level. How are we doing as the ‘Bride of Christ’ in Charlwood and Sidlow Bridge?

Jesus still seeks out his bride and calls her home in the water and the wine. The waters of baptism and in the wine of the Eucharist. Baptism is a one time event but the Eucharist is to be repeated and shared over and over again and is new each time we celebrate together.

Back to the wine, Jesus uses six stone water-jars which each hold 20-30 gallons each; let’s say 150 gallons. That is a lot of wine and it was good wine; not the plonk served when the wits of the guests had been numbed. Jesus provided an abundance of wine; probably more than was needed and this is where this story goes from scarcity to abundance. There will always be enough, Jesus as the bridegroom will always provide. He comes looking for us.

In this epiphany season, we consider the Wise Men and the message of inclusion to all. The baptism of Jesus and the revelation of being the Son of God. The wedding at Cana and the epiphanies that come when no one is waiting or looking, Jesus comes as the bridegroom with enough water and wine to care for us all. Maybe Mary was on to something when she told the servants to ‘do whatever he tells you’. May we do the same.

Christmas Eve Mass

St Nicholas
Christmas Eve Mass
24/12/24

Christmas Eve – Set 3 (Year C)
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
John 1:1-14

God of love and life,
we have glimpsed something of your glory.
Your glory in creation.
Your glory in Jesus.
Your glory in re-creation.
Your glory in us.
We thank you for your unconditional love for us.
For the abundant life that you offer.
Amen.

This is a two part prayer; the second half to follow shortly. It is taped on the wall in my airport office at about eye level and has been there for over a year. Today was the first day that I properly read it. Why today of all days?

Desperation for something to say this evening? My disbelief that it is really Christmas Eve? Lack of planning and time? It was the glory that got me.

It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old from angels bending near the earth… Glorious imagery weaves through our hymns tonight.

We will see his glory. What does glory look like?
How do we know if something is glorious?

John 1:14 tells us that we have seen God’s glory. Really?! Really. It might be just a glimpse of glory but we have seen it. We might have to look for it; orientate ourselves to expect it. It might be in plain sight like a prayer on an office wall.

The essence and glory of Christmas is the greatness of God coming down to meet us and sweep us into the bigger picture of his love and His kingdom. It always has been and always will be.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah is alluding to the beautiful feet of the messenger who announces peace, brings good news and announces salvation to the Israelites in captivity and slavery in Babylon. They had been taken away from their homes, families had been separated and some would never be reunited. Most of the Israelites were desperate to go back home, back to what they knew and how it was.

The Israelites needed to be reminded that better times were ahead. God had not forgotten them; He was making a way for them to be rescued. Theirs was not only physical captivity, but spiritual, emotional and social. They desperately needed the messenger Jesus and his glorious message.

St John begins his Gospel in darkness and mystery, casting us back to the opening of Genesis when in the beginning there was nothing, but God created order out of chaos. Like a human author who creates a new world with words on a page, God speaks a word and things come to be. A burst of light and a new life coming through Jesus.

John proclaims that the light in the midst of darkness is Jesus and this needs to be worked out. These big readings hold grand visions and promises that break into the lives of people who are struggling, who are in need of good news; for those who need to see glory.

‘The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee (Jesus) tonight.

Who’s got some hopes and fears here tonight?

Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.

Anyone meek of soul?

God’s glory will be full of grace and truth. That is how we will know it is from God. Jesus is love, grace and truth. God’s glory in creation and Jesus. And God’s glory in re-creation.

Tonight we go back to the beginning, to when the Word became flesh and all things came into being through him and lived among us. We see his glory, the Son full of grace and truth.

We were all created in His image. We all need to be continually re-created in that image. Sometimes our shine wears off and we weary. Anyone else weary on the road tonight? Take a rest and listen for the angels. Watch for their glory to help recreate yours. God’s glory is in each one of us.

You satisfy our deepest longings for living water.
You equip us for service;
to love as you love,
beyond our comfort zones.
In those places, you are with us.
We thank you for your faithfulness
and an invitation to be with you.
We praise and worship you,
the one who delight in us.
Amen.

Advent 2: Lives of the Prophets – Light in the Darkness

Emmanuel – 11:00 am P&P
8/12/24
Advent 2 – Year C

Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 3:1-6

This past week I have spent quite a lot of my parish time on funeral planning for three upcoming services. Yes – we are starting on a happy note. I went looking for a grave from 1872 in the St Nicholas churchyard with no luck. While there I ran into an aunt visiting the grave of her nephew on the anniversary of his death. I also went to East Surrey Hospital to give our dear Marion Dallison last rites before she died on Wednesday evening.

There has also been a spate of deaths in the Gatwick terminals that I have been made aware of. And I learned about the impending death of an old school friend in Canada after a horrendous cancer journey and she will be leaving a husband and two little boys.

My heart has been rather heavy! This is supposed to be a holly-jolly time of year…

Yet in the midst of this I met a family to discuss the baptism of their delightful first born daughter Anthea. What a joy that was. To bask in the smiles of a 5 month old baby to talk about her life in Christ at the start of the journey was balm to this soul. This was a reminder about light in the darkness, in the sorrows of life that there can be joy.

This theme is found in the heart of the messages and prophecies of the prophets.

The Second Sunday of Advent focuses on the prophets of the bible. The Wednesday Advent study group has been looking at them as well. There are four Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The prophets and prophetesses in the Old Testament were spokespersons for God. Their job was to announce God’s will or intentions for people, predicted the future, or did both. They represented God to a particular people at a particular time about specific events. They voice God’s opinion on what is going on – offering God’s perspective.

The messages of the prophets cannot always be applied to other events so careful reading is required. The original messages are rooted in historical events. Some spoke to the political & military crisis (Isaiah). Amos spoke about lament and social justice. The prophecies are always connected to the now and possible future consequences; prophets are not fortune-tellers or speaking directly to future events.

Many of the prophets found themselves literally and figuratively in the wilderness. That place of loneliness where nothing grows; all seems empty and lifeless. We too can find ourselves in those wilderness places, maybe when things do not work out the way they should, when that death comes sooner than we thought, health fails, that job gets lost, a relationship breaks down.

To make wilderness experiences all the more painful, we can often feel that God has somehow left us alone and has become distant or absent. We may not feel close to Him or Him to us.

Malachi is assumed to be the last prophet of the Old Testament as his book closes it out. There was roughly a 400-year gap when God was silent. (Jane Williams): In Malachi there is an argument going on between God and his people. At the end of chapter 2, Malachi says that the people have wearied God, and they ask indignantly what they have done.

Malachi replies that they have called into question God’s justice and so his very character. The people have said, ‘All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord. Where is the God of justice?’

God answers them – both in Malachi and Luke. God is a righteous God and he will make sure his righteousness prevails. He does this by sending his messenger and the people may well live to regret it. God’s messenger is of course Jesus. The Lord’s messenger will be sent to prepare the way and then the Lord will suddenly come to his temple. There is no time given for this. The people have to watch and wait for the signs.

And then the dawn breaks in the wilderness. After 400 years with not a word from the heavens, the forerunner to the messenger appears in the wilderness. ‘The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.’

This is no random appearance. If you look at the detail that Luke provides: ‘in the fifteenth year of reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, when Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.’

John’s timing was precise and divinely ordained for that exact moment and place in the wilderness. Our time on earth is just as precise and divinely ordained. When you pray with and for someone around the time of death there is always a space for prayers of confession, repentance and absolution. This is a very fruitful time for many people.

I understand not everyone gets this opportunity for repentance at the time of death as it is very dependent on various factors. Therefore, my friends, we need to take the opportunity in life to use our time and timings for this very fruitful activity!

Like John, we too have been given a way to prepare. The way of repentance. This is what the people who heard Malachi’s prophecy and later John’s and likely many of us today may not want to hear! John came at that exact moment to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. What if we too started this new church year with an honest, wilderness-style reckoning of our sin?

Debie Thomas. ‘What is sin? Growing up, I was taught that sin is “breaking God’s laws.” Or “missing the mark,” as an archer misses his target. Or “committing immoral acts.” These definitions aren’t wrong, but they assume that sin is a problem primarily because it angers God.
But God’s temper is not what’s at stake; he’s more than capable of managing his own emotions. Sin is a problem because it kills. It kills us.
Why? Because sin is a refusal to become fully human. It’s anything that interferes with the opening up of our whole hearts to God, to others, to creation, and to ourselves. Sin is estrangement, disconnection, sterility, disharmony. It’s the slow accumulation of dust, choking the soul. It’s the sludge that slows us down, that says, “Quit. Stop trying. Give up. Change is impossible.”
Sin is apathy. Care-less-ness. A frightened resistance to an engaged life. Sin is the opposite of creativity, the opposite of abundance, the opposite of flourishing. It is a walking death. And it is easier to spot, name, and confess a walking death in the wilderness than it is anywhere else.

Here’s the really great news, repentance and forgiveness are not far away from any of us. We do it in every service whether Matins or Communion. We started this morning with the Sentences of Scripture before we are invited to confess our manifold sins and wickedness.

Can I ask you to think back a few minutes, what did you do with that time this morning? What goes through your head when we say these things? Did you repent of anything? Ask for forgiveness?

You were then offered absolution; did you take it? I make an assumption every time I put my hand up to make the sign of the cross, that you have repented and that you take the comfort of the absolution offered. There is also further reference to repentance and forgiveness; in the Benedictus and the Apostles Creed, ‘suffered under Pontius Pilate’ – there’s that timing again – ‘was crucified, dead and buried.’

Lord’s Prayer – forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

This is not in any way to condemn, make us dwell in our failures and shortcomings but rather to free us from the bonds, to wake us up to the reality we may live in, become more aware of the dust and sludge has built up and we may not have even realised it. This is what stands in our way to the manger on this Advent journey.

Our human love, however well-meant and deep, remains imperfect in the light of God’s love. Love and repentance go together. There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.

At the start of this new year, we need a wilderness moment that will lead to fruitfulness and abundant living in this new season. The time is now and the time is always right to confess, repent and accept forgiveness that is on offer to us. If this is a wilderness season for you, start to look for signs of new life. That life may start with confession.

We don’t have to go far: it is in your hands at every service, it is in the words we say. Sometimes it simply needs to be brought to our attention. Grab hold of the promises of God, grab hold of the messenger who has come to prepare the way for us, grab hold of the deep and unchanging love of God. Listen for the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness.

All Souls: Wound & Bound Together

St Nicholas Charlwood
All Souls
November 3rd, 2024

All Souls by May Sarton
Psalm 27:1-6, 13-14
John 11:32-44

May Sarton ‘All Souls’

Did someone say that there would be an end,
an end, Oh, an end to love and mourning?
What has been once so interwoven cannot be ravelled,
not the gift ungiven.
Now the dead move through all of us still glowing.
Mother and child, lover and lover mated,
are wound and bound together and enflowing.
What has been plaited cannot be unplaited–
only the strands grow richer with each loss
and memory makes kings and queens of us.
Dark into light, light into darkness, spin.
When all the birds have flow to some real haven,
we who find shelter in the warmth within,
listen and feel new-cherished, new-forgiven,
as the lost human voices speak through us
and blend our complex love,
our mourning without end.

In Church of England tradition, we come together over these few days at the beginning of November for a short season of remembrance. The Church has marked All Saints and All Souls for hundreds of years. It stems from the belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven and those living on earth. It is often said in my family that the dead sit at the dinner table long after they are gone.

This service offers us space and time to give thanks to God for the life and love that was shared, for the memories we carry and to ask for God’s help if we have unfinished business with those who have died. Not all our remembering will be of the good, sweet times as none of us are perfect and neither were they!

The only alternative to avoiding grief is to avoid love. To avoid the grief I feel over my person who has died means I would have had to forfeit the love and the relationship that we shared. We cannot have it both ways. May Sarton’s poem that Lorne just read begins with a very good question…‘Did someone say there would be an end to love and mourning?’ I doubt there is anything more complicated than love and grief.

I appreciate that many relationships are complicated. We should not pretend they are not. Some feelings about the person who has died might be mixed or ambiguous; maybe there is guilt or shame if you felt you did not do enough for them or felt relief when death finally came. We must be very careful in how we interpret relationships; especially ones that are not ours even if they are in the same family. There can also be great temptation when someone dies to want to paint a rosier picture of them, their life and relationships than actually ever existed. We lie! We do it for all sorts of reasons; some even noble ones.

We are wound and bound together and plaited together as May Sarton says. It cannot be undone even if we come undone. We are held together by love.

Love is a thread through the story of the raising of Lazarus. We can be held together by love and belief even when it seems impossible and we do not understand what or why things are happening. This is a complicated story as it raises a number of questions about the nature of life and death, faith and belief, Jesus’ miracles and the wider story of what will happen to Jesus.

At the heart of this story is a close-knit, loving family with a brother who is ill. There is an assumption that Mary, Martha & Lazarus have been orphaned at some point. If this is true then they know something of grief. We also know that they lived in Bethany which was on the edge of Jerusalem. Bethany was known to be a place where sick and poor people lived. Along the way these three poor orphans met Jesus and they became friends. When Lazarus became ill, the sisters sent a note to Jesus telling him that. They did not ask Jesus to come to them; maybe they assumed He would.

The story unfolds that Jesus does not immediately go to see them. Lazarus dies and his body is put into the tomb before Jesus arrives and the normal Jewish grieving process begins. There was no waiting around like many people today have to wait around for cremation or burial.

Jesus arrives and the sisters react differently. Martha goes out to meet him while Mary stays home. Jesus has to ask for Mary to come to see him. Mary’s opening statement is relatable to anyone who has ever felt abandoned by God, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ If if if. If the cancer was caught earlier, if the NHS waiting lists were not so long, if the scan showed, if they had left the house 10 minutes later or earlier, if God really loved them or me, then…

Jesus offers no explanation or excuse for his delay as though an answer would make anyone feel better at this moment. Jesus does not speak. He sees. Jesus sees Martha & Mary and all the others weeping and begins to weep too. If nothing else we see a God who weeps with us, knows and shares our pain even when we think we have been abandoned. Jesus’ love for these poor orphans is visible to everyone.

If the story stopped there we would still have a wonderful picture of God’s love. It goes further of course with the raising of Lazarus from death. Now we might wish to have had longer with our loved ones and ask why they did not get more time. Why did God not spare their life and give them back to us for a while longer? These are questions that cannot and will not be answered on this side of heaven.

Lazarus was given more life and would have died again in the future. There is also no indication if Lazarus was healed from his illness. Whatever happened to the three siblings they knew that God was their light and salvation (Psalm 27). They had faced death and had nothing to fear as they knew Jesus to be the true resurrection and life.

Jesus wanted Martha, Mary and Lazarus and the others gathered to see the glory of God. When the stone was rolled away, I believe that they did. The same as when the stone was rolled away on the first Easter.

Where does that leave us on a November afternoon in Charlwood at an All Souls service?

Love and mourning have no ending because they are tied up, plaited together
Jesus sees
There is a lot we do not and will not understand
But we can inquire in his temple, be hidden in the shelter of God
We can know that there is life in the resurrection

Finally, let your heart take courage. You are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses in the heavenlies and around you right now. All of us here have loved and lost. We can share God’s goodness with each other in the land of the living even while we wait.


Bible Sunday: Staying on the Path

Bible Sunday
27/10/24

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
John 5:36b-47

I am going to start today with a Bible quiz:

How many copies of the Bible are sold or distributed every year?
(average 100 million plus millions of downloads. It is through there are 5-7 billion copies in print)

How many languages have at least some scripture translated?
(Approximately 3,756)

How many human authors does the Bible have?
(Give or take 40)

How many years was the Bible written over?
(1,500 – give or take)

How many books are in the Bible?
(66 – 39 in the OT; 27 in the NT)

What is the longest book in the Bible?
(Psalms)

What is the shortest book?
(3 John)

Which human author wrote the most books?
(Paul – 13)

Which book of the Bible did Jesus write?
None!

There we go! I hope that you learned a few new fun facts about the Bible.

Another question for you: How many Bibles do you own?

I did a quick check on my bookshelves and I have: Anyone want to guess? 17. Plus an app on my phone and a website I regularly use. Which is not too surprising given my job! I do not have 17 copies of my favourite non-Bible book. So why do I have so many copies?! I am aware that I take for granted the 17 copies I have. This comes into sharp focus when the Bible Society shows a person getting their first printed copy of the Bible. I find that I can be embarrassingly blasé about the 17 that I own. Equally it would be hard to get rid of any of the copies currently occupying shelf space.

I have asked you to bring your own Bibles to church this morning for a few reasons. I want to think about the Bible in your hands for a moment (or one that is at home!):
Where did you get it?
Who gave it to you?
How much of it have you read?
If all the Bibles disappeared from the face of the earth tomorrow – how much of it do you know?

At the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, she was presented with a Bible from the Archbishop of Canterbury with these words: Our gracious Queen: to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords.

How far do you agree with the Archbishop? Is your Bible the most valuable thing you own? I believe this to be true even though I do not understand all of it. I have neglected it, avoided it and got frustrated by it. Yet I believe it because I deeply love it, want to know and understand more of it.

If you are in any way daunted by the Bible here is a secret: do not worry about what you do not know or understand about the Bible. Worry about what you do know and understand.
Am I living to the standards that are set out here?
Am I becoming more Christ-like?
Is there any actual evidence of what I know about this book to my family, my friends, or the wider world?

Today as we celebrate Bible Sunday, each reading has something to teach us about how we can take the Bible more seriously for ourselves.

The Bible is God’s means of our development and growth as Christians (2 Timothy 3.16)

To be honest, many of us struggle to see the usefulness of much of the Bible. We get comfortable with what we know or what we think we know. We might try to make excuses: the Bible is too hard, it is outdated, old, irrelevant to the world now, it is too violent, too misogynistic, etc. The God who breathed his Spirit into scripture, who understands us better than we know ourselves, loves us enough that Jesus would die for us tells us that ‘All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.’ Therefore He can be trusted. He knows what we need.

Growing and developing in our faith is a whole of life activity. It may ebb and flow in different seasons and situations but should never become stagnant. We need this book to help us get on with it. How can we possibly become more Christ-like (this is not the same thing as being a good person!) if we have not uncovered who Jesus is in the pages of the Bible? We have been called to abundant life, life in the fullest sense. This does not just happen but takes effort. We need the teaching, the reproof, correction and training that the Bible offers us.

The Bible keeps us on God’s path (2 Timothy 4.3-4)

Have you ever had a driving experience in thick fog? Those fogs that descend so quickly that all you can do is crawl along the motorway with the fog lights on and make slow progress. It can feel claustrophobic, like you are lost, and you can’t just stop and wait it out. You have to keep going. The lines marking the lanes suddenly became a lifeline. They showed you each metre of the road one at a time, helping to navigate the bends, avoid collisions, and eventually to getting to your destination.

Many people unfortunately believe the Bible to be a rather long and boring set of rules to take the fun out of life. We need rules, guidelines to keep life between the lines like the markings on a motorway. Imagine trying to watch a footie match that had no rules, or bake a cake without a recipe, or drive a car without road markings!

It would all end in disaster as we would each individually have to make up the way to do these things. Now we might be tempted to think that we know best. But likely the person next to us thinks that way too. This is what Paul is talking about in verse 3: ‘the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine (teaching or belief), but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires.’

Paul is commending the importance of scripture to Timothy because he realises that a time is coming when the church will struggle to stay faithful to God’s word. Paul predicts a time when instead of seeking the truth, Christians will let their own desires be the filter for what they hear, distracted by false teaching.
Things like ‘just be a good person’; ‘it’s all the same God we believe in anyway’; ‘we all basically get there in the end’; ‘The Bible, church, Christianity, etc is fine for you but not for me.’ Those are not God’s words nor Jesus’ teaching. Watch out for itchy ears; especially your own.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus is taking on some Jewish people who have itchy ears. They know their scriptures and they are trying to find eternal life in them. Jesus is saying ‘no, no, no – I am the way to eternal life.’ The Jews are missing this because they do not believe that God has sent Jesus. They will not go to him to have life even though it is all there in the Jewish scriptures. Right back to Moses and yet they refused to believe it. Itchy ears can make you deaf!

How to grow & develop as Christians and stay on God’s path

First thing – pray! Pray to want to grow and develop in your faith. Pray for a closer relationship with God. Pray for purpose and guidance. No one is going to force you. Not even God. Maybe you have to pray to want to want to grow and develop, deepen your relationship and stay on the path. The Wednesday Group is going to be looking at prayer this week.

Secondly, do not take it for granted. Today access to the Bible is only a click away on a smartphone. I suspect many of our homes have multiple copies of the Bible and in multiple translations. As it is so easily available, it is possible that we undervalue it. Paul reminds Timothy of his rich and privileged heritage, because he wants to leave a legacy in the life of Timothy and the life of the church that will carry on into the future. What if all the Bibles disappeared overnight? How much would we still know?

Thirdly, Do it! Does the Bible feel like a dry and dusty book to you or does it captivate you like a long-awaited love letter? Maybe take some time this week to revisit parts that in the past have been especially meaningful to you.
For many people there are Psalms that have a special significance or the gospel accounts of Jesus. If regular Bible reading has become difficult why not revisit the parts of the Bible that you are familiar with. Pray that God would give you a fresh passion for his word.

In this book we have the most valuable thing that this world affords. It is God’s way of communicating to the world that he created and loves. We as his followers need to know what is in her so we can share that message with the people that so badly need it.