Category: Sunday Letter

Welcome everyone!

This past Tuesday we had our first Order of Donkeys’ meeting.  This is the name we have given to the Leadership Team at CMM, reminding us of that old, old story, and our single most important task is to humbly carry Jesus into this city.

We realize that in order for us to faithfully carry Jesus in this city our most important task is to safeguard and grow our relationship with  Jesus through prayer and reflection on the Scriptures, together.  We have therefore not only committed to hold each other accountable to prayer and devotion, but also agreed to meet at CMM on a Sunday morning at 9am before the service to pray together.  This actually may be the most important decision the Order of Donkey’s ever makes!  This is open to everyone!!  How good it would be if we could all gather for prayer practice at 9am before the service.

Wednesday Church is alive and nourishing.  Remember none of us can survive longer than three days without water.  Wednesday Church promises living-water to inspire, challenge and comfort.  Once again how awe-some it would be if all us met midweek to worship God and grow as a  Christ-centered Community.  See you there, Alan.

Welcome everyone!  On Thursday evening, as I sat down to write this letter I heard the State of the Nation 21 Gun Salute.  I felt the buildings around my office slightly shudder.  I heard the  military band and imagined the military accompaniment.

Why is it that we use machines of death to celebrate the state of a nation?  These instruments of destruction point to a nation’s shame not glory.  Have our imaginations become so stunted that we are unable to express our nationhood with signs and symbols of life and unity?  Symbols that remind us that we are part of a larger world, that we are called to care for, instead of threaten.

There is one country in the world that we can learn from in this regard.  On December 1, 1948, President José Figueres Ferrer, of Costa Rica, abolished the military of Costa Rica after victory in the civil war in that year.  In a ceremony in the Cuartel Bellavista, Figueres broke a wall with a mallet, symbolizing the end of Costa Rica’s military spirit. In 1949, the abolition of the military was introduced in Article 12 of the Costa Rican Constitution.

The budget previously dedicated to the military now is dedicated to security, education and culture; the country maintains Police Guard forces. The museum Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, was placed in the Cuartel Bellavista as a symbol of commitment to culture. In 1986, President Oscar Arias Sánchez declared December 1 as the Día de la Abolición del Ejército (Military abolition day) with Law #8115.

Thank you God for inspiring and faithful examples.  Lord help us as a nation, to follow.  Alan

Welcome everyone!

Last week I wrote about having recently met a few people whose lives were scarred with suffering yet there was no hint of bitterness or blame.  They took responsibility to live their life fully and freely.  They were not victims—they were survivors.

Their courageous example is in stark contrast to the many moments when we play the victim even in the absence of real suffering.   The attraction of this victim mentality is that it releases us from full responsibility for our living.  It helps to convince us (or is the result of having convinced us) that we don’t have a choice, which in turn convinces us that we don’t have to do anything because there is “nothing” we can do.  When we play the victim we are never wrong—everyone else is—everyone else is to blame.  In fact, victims are    passionate about finding out the faults of others and exposing them—it helps turn the spotlight away from our own inadequacies.

Another characteristic of this victim mentality is the great ease with which we take offence.  I read the other day the following quote from a certain radio personality, “Remember you TAKE offence, nobody gives it to you”.   To take offence is therefore more a reflection of our inner insecurity than any particular trait of the other.

Lord heal us from being a victim!  Alan

I was reminded this week again about how painfully difficult life is for some people.  That through no fault of their own they have suffered at the hands of others – be it sexual abuse when they were a child, or beatings by a father who would otherwise never speak to them, or the death of an intimate     partner, for the third time – “Whoever I love dies!”  At times, suffering seems to stalk some disproportionately more than others and it makes one want to yell at God and say, “Are you blind, or do you simply not care?”

This depth of pain is such that one does not “get over” it—ever!  One may be able to live with it in less debilitating ways and by time, work and grace may even live with it in life-giving ways—but it is always there living with us.

There is something very humbling about being in the presence of one who has suffered so much.  Perhaps because their lives have been taken beyond the trivial forever, never to return.  They literally do life at deeper depths.

What further moved me was that none of these people sounded like a victim.  Their language was free of bitterness and blame.  They had such a sense of ownership and responsibility to live life fully and freely.  Their life—though scarred—was still their life and they were determined to live it.

Thank you Lord for inspiring people!

Grace, Alan

Welcome everyone,

On the homepage you will notice that our annual Covenant Service takes place on the 30th January.  In order for us to prepare for this we are all invited to join together on Wednesday 26th (7pm – 9pm).  This will be our first Wednesday Church gathering and we will be reflecting on the Covenant prayer.

I believe the psalmist speaks for all of us when s/he prays, “As a deer longs for flowing streams so my life longs for you O God” [Psalm 42:1].  I also believe that the psalmist is speaking literally rather than metaphorically.  Simply put, we thirst for God as we thirst for water.

Human beings can only go without water for about three days and even one day without water is tough!  The same applies to our relationship with God—reminding us to drink daily from the multitude of means of grace given to us, not least the gifts of silence and prayer and reading of the Scriptures.

Equally it would be a health risk for us to think that we can last much past three days without connecting as Church.  Church simply understood is Christ-centered Community.

For this reason I want to invite you to attend Wednesday Church.

The evenings will generally include a mixture of  worship / teaching / discussion / coffee….from 7pm-9pm.

Prayer Practice will be from 6:30pm7pm every Wednesday

Grace, Alan

Welcome everyone

I am not sure what decisions you have made about your life for this New Year, but one resolution that we should all have is to follow Jesus more faithfully – to trust in what he trusted in – to love what he loved – to be occupied with what  occupied him – to resist what he resisted, etc.  In order for us to follow Jesus and have faith in what Jesus had faith in, we need to be constantly growing in our knowledge and understanding of Jesus – learning about the way he lived and the way he calls us to live.

I have just planted a small garden and one thing I have been reminded of again is that plants are either growing or dying.  There is no in-between for plants.  It is growth or death!  I think we humans are not too different to plants – we too are either growing or dying.  So the question we need to ask ourselves is what are we doing to grow?  Where is our water and nutrient supply and are we getting enough sunlight?

To this end I want to invite you to seriously consider signing up for Connections (a 12- week course starting Sunday 30^th January at 19:00).  If you have done it before—there is no harm in doing it again—because it WILL be different, not least because there will be a different group of people doing it.  This will also give you an opportunity to meet new people at CMM.   Or if you have done Connections then it may be time to try the DISCIPLE course (also starting end of January).

What I know about my own journey with Jesus is that when I am meeting weekly with other serious seekers of the way, the truth and the life – I grow and when I don’t I die a little.  It is as simple as that!  I want to encourage you to carve out some time this year for GROWTH…to journey with others in following Jesus.

Just do it!  Alan

Welcome everyone                   

At this time of the year we are encouraged to reflect on the journey of our life.  To  re-evaluate the road we are travelling on.  Is it a road of truth or falsehood?  A road of life or death?  A road of liberation or bondage?  With this in mind I share with you Portia Nelson’s poem, AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS…

[1]

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost … I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.

[2]

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place
but, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

[3]

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit.
my eyes are open
I know where I am.
It is my fault.

4]

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

[5]
 I walk down another street.

Welcome Everyone                                                                                                                          

Blessings on your first days of 2011! Now the celebrations are winding down. Most likely everyone is a bit exhausted by the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. But I have news for you: it’s not over.

Now the work of Christmas begins. 

Listen to theologian and poet Howard Thurman…

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring Christ to all,
To make music in the heart.

At CMM, we have many exciting plans underway for 2011. My prayer is that each of us will bring about the true work of Christmas collectively in our church community, and in our individual lives.

May we do the work of Christmas with music in our hearts!   Alan

Welcome everyone!

For unto us a child is born! In the Roman Catholic tradition, this day is the Feast of the Holy Family—Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Many of us have probably spent a lot of time with our families over the last several days—possibly too much! Others of us might be separated from our families—by physical distance, by emotional scars—and are feeling that absence acutely. Today, you’re surrounded by the family we’ve created together as Central Methodist Mission. These words might help us remember what family means: 

“….We must carry with us mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and—please don’t forget—forgiveness. These virtues must be done out of love. Not always an easy task, but we are also called to be family to each other, and in strong families, these virtues are learned and encouraged. Family members—biological or not—remind us of these virtues, sometimes at the moments when we are least patient or when our tank of compassion is on empty.

Close your eyes and give thanks for the family that enriches your life, either the family into which you were born or the family you have found to support you, or, if you are doubly blessed, both of these communities. Close your eyes and consider how you are family to others. Close your eyes and celebrate the presence of God.”

(Judy Coode, Pax Christi USA)

With thanksgiving for family ties of many kinds….Alan

Welcome everyone                                                                                                                         

The busy-ness of the commercial side of the Advent Season distracts us from the real meaning of Advent – to reflect and be transformed by the amazing gift of God – His Son with us – Emmanuel!

Last Sunday we fed over 300 homeless people at a sit-down meal.  A Wonderful celebration, but a mere moment in their lives.  We have just ended the 16 days of activism:  trauma, hardship as well as death and injury still made headlines.  Many will not realize their God-given potential in life.  For many vulnerable people nothing seems to change. Joseph, Mary and Jesus were also vulnerable.  Yet this Jesus is the Son of God, who went on to engage with humankind and transform the lives of women, men and children. Joseph was vulnerable – homeless with an unmarried partner and baby.  He responded in “silent activism”.  He stood by Mary, he did not reject her (emotional abuse) harm her (physical abuse) or force himself on her (sexual abuse).  He helped her to be the mother of the Messiah against all the “customs and culture arguments,” that we so heartily defend.  Activism can also be making a stand from a position of vulnerability.

As we try to focus on the true meaning of advent, pray this prayer even if you yourself feel vulnerable. May God’s strength and grace be sufficient to help us bring peace and justice into our world.

The Grail Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work.

I give you my feet to go your way.

I give you my eyes to see as you do.

I give you my tongue to speak your words.

I give you my mind that you may think in me.

I give you my spirit that you may pray in me.

Above all, I give you my heart that you may love in me, your Father and all humankind.

I give you my whole self that you may grow in me so that it is you, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me.

Peace, Gilbert.