Dear Friends, At the time of writing this letter the England football team has just played Brazil and we know the result. Who could have predicted at the beginning of that week what the outcome would be? When you read this you will probably know who's won the World Cup (Brazil 2 Germany 1?). This sparked me to thinking that we often know what we want or what we would like to happen, and plan our lives in our own time schedule, but is it our Lord's will and is it in His time? Who knows what our Lord has in stall for us this next week, month, or years to come? Life can appear to be so complicated and sometimes painful with much to do in so little time. Need it be so complicated? I am regularly comforted when I remember this extract from a book by Corrie ten Boom where she writes:- "It is all so simple! Yes, the truth is simple, but very deep. The complications come from the devil or us." Jesus did it; the Bible tells it. I believe it; that settles it. In the beginning was the word." John 1 verse 1. In a world where apparent satisfaction is owning the latest gadget and people strive to have more, people's sense of spirituality gets squeezed out; we become more materialistic and less spiritual. In business, people have to achieve more, communication is done by email and there is little time to STOP and TALK to people. Let's make someone's day (I include myself in this) and talk to someone - a neighbour, a friend, or a work colleague. It is deeply reassuring to know that through daily prayer we are able to put our trust in our Lord, to be humbly confident in our daily approach to life with His spiritual guidance, even if the day does not work out how we had planned it. May we, through the depth of our prayers and the boldness of our faith, have the confidence to show God's love to others in and outside the Church and in turn renew people's awareness of Him. May we also have patience to acknowledge that things happen in God's time, not ours. Psalm 32 verse 8 reads "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." One of the things we do look forward to is welcoming Chris Eddy to our Church; to supporting him in is work and reassuring him that he is part of One Body. As we approach the holiday period this may be a time for us to unwind, relax, chill out, reflect on our sense of purpose and direction with God, our Church, our family, and friends and refresh our commitment to our Lord and Saviour. May you and I be guided by His spirit, whatever lies in store. On a lighter note, may the sun shine over the next two months, Derby return to the Premiership and Leicester Tigers remain champions! I wish!! Whatever lies ahead for us over these next few months, have a peaceful and enjoyable summer. Yours in Christ, Jonathan Webb |