JourneyOnline
By Rev Janet Staines, Minister of the Word, Chermside Kedron Community Church.
The words Surrender, Victory and Peace are central images to the nature of our faith. I suspect images might quickly jump to mind when we think of these words; images that reflect our experiences and faith formation. Surrender brings to mind my experience of kneeling in prayer as a seven-year-old, responding to my revelation of Jesus, and offering my life to the way of Jesus. Victory reminds me of the daily challenges that have or could have been a distraction to living faithfully to Christ’s call. Peace draws me to my longing to be fed by the bread of life and refreshed by the living water. These words carry and hold the narratives of redemption, salvation, and reconciliation. But how these transformative words are enacted in our daily life of faith requires some intentional reflection and decision.
In our Presbytery Standing Committee meeting this week, we set aside time to re-imagine mission, ministry, discipleship and resourcing within the Presbytery. The scriptures we read, and pastoral letters to the early church, spoke to some of the strategic challenges we are facing in our current context.
Surrender spoke to our need to be set free from unrealistic expectations, the guilt and shame of loss, the barrenness of diminishing capacity, and the unpreparedness we feel for the world we find ourselves. (Romans 8:18-32).
Victory reminded us to maintain our apocalyptic hope when we struggle with the true reality of what is, the humility to recognise that we cannot keep doing what we have always done. The insight to see what truly matters. (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10).
Peace is the source of our tender affection for one another, the confidence that Christ is interceding for his church, and the resilience to remain present to each other in challenging times. (Philippians 1:1-11).
The narratives that sit around these words hold us, keep us, and transform us in our life in Christ.
