My favourite moment in Church last week was at Wilton when Michael explained why he and Katrina wanted to have Jack baptised. They want to embrace their Christian beliefs in Jack as he grows up and for him to be baptised in the Wilton Church so they can get the congregations help and support in raising Jack.
It was a beautiful moment in several ways: to see the chuffed look on this nearly 8 year old boys face as he declared his faith in Christ (supported by his parents); as he ran down the aisle high-fiving the congregation afterwards; and as it expressed something very important about our Church community.
One of the important realities of the New Testament letters in the Bible is hidden from us by our English translations. In English, the word ‘you’ can be either referring to an individual or a group of people. We like to read it as individual because we tend to value our individuality rather than our place in the community – we like to think about our own relationship with God. But in fact, the original Greek of the New Testament has a separate word to address individuals and it is very clearly addressing the Church in community almost all of the time.
God never intended the Christian life to be lived alone. The Christian community / Church family is God’s gift to each other for teaching, encouraging and life together. This embraces all kinds of people – as older Church members take a keen interest in the lives of young people, as single men and women participate in the family life of others, as deep friendships form and grief and joy are shared together. Our confirmation service on 13th August will be another opportunity to support our brothers and sisters in Christ as they publicly declare their faith in Christ.
‘Welcome to the family – everyone is welcome’.
In Christ,
Ben
