‘We are co-workers with Christ’ 2 Corinthians 6 v 1. How liberating is that; in doing what He is doing in active relationship with Him and with fellow believers, we share the responsibility and the blessing of bringing in the Kingdom.

Our mission may look immense but it is definitely in the room, the home, the workplace, the shop, the neighbourhood where we find ourselves as well as the church. It is fulfilled in the manner we conduct our ordinary affairs, in the demeanour we live our workaday life, in the grace we demonstrate when coping with people and problems, and in the fact that our presence brings in an intangible but nevertheless real presence of Jesus. Paul put it another way:

“You are a letter from Christ the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the spirit of the living God” (2 Corinthians 3 v3).

The secret of the early believers was that they could live out and tell the story of Jesus and their own transforming encounter with Him.  It proved sufficient to change an empire and as we write our lives in the reality of our conversations and actions, they provide an open letter to everyone who wants to look.  People will not come to the water of life unless we first give them a taste from our own water bottles. We must join them on the journey and learn to share our lives with them as we disciple each other.In his series Every Day with Jesus “The Spiritual Journey” the noted Christian teacher and author Selwyn Hughes says this in the 2008 edition:

“As we choose to relate to others in a real way we discover our relationship with the Trinity becomes more real too.”

Are we real enough with each other, our neighbours, our family, with other Christians? – I doubt it at the moment, it is still something we all need to work on. There is a greater reality needed in finding the needs of families in particularly the 30-40 age group, in knowing when and how to reach the unchurched young people of today, and yes in our own expression of worship and church on a Sunday morning as we ask honestly if we are responding to what God is clearly wanting and saying.

These issues are not just ours but shared by many churches at this time. So may we too as Wesley did look to know the reality, the power, the presence and partnership of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit upon us in all we do during this coming year, and may God Bless us with a union and oneness with others that will transform all our lives into that “cord” that cannot be broken as we live in and bring in the Kingdom for His Glory.

“What people do day in day out is just as significant in God’s eyes as the most respected church leaders roll…everything we do as followers of Christ is ministry of the kingdom.”