Looking to the future

A lady had driven her car into a ditch, and there she sat. When the police arrived, they asked her what had happened. “I was looking in the rear view mirror, instead of looking at the road ahead,” she explained. What a thought! There is no way to go forward if your eyes are focused on what’s behind – either in driving, or in life. A lot of people ‘ditch’ themselves because they can’t take their eyes off the past, focus on the future, and move ahead, with hope in God.

We have to admit that we can’t change the past. Instead, consider that there are over 500 verses in the Bible that tell us that God is merciful and longing to forgive us and restore us, if we only turn to him. Listen to these words from Isaiah: ‘Do not remember the former things, neither consider the things of old. For behold, I am doing a new thing…’ (Is 43:18,19) Don’t let the past ruin your future – let God begin to do that ‘new’ thing in your life. The same principle applies to church life as well as to individuals.

Recently the Parochial Church Council (PCC) at St. Peter's and All Saints' have been thinking about this very topic. We have been asking ourselves some hard questions about what we are here for, and how are we doing.

At St. Peter's the PCC took an evening out to ask themselves how healthy is the church. They came up with some ideas to make the church fitter and better equipped for ministry in the 21st Century.
Recently the people of All Saints' took a morning out to pray and write down ideas of what God is calling us to do to be more effective in mission to our community.

This is the beginning of a journey. It will take time, prayer and courage to work out the way forward. It will mean changes in how we do things, and change is a difficult thing to cope with. Some will be bursting with excitement and want radical changes, others will dread even the smallest change. But even though the way may be difficult, we must look to the future, and follow where God is leading us.

After all, we are here with a purpose, to love and to care for people, to share the gospel with them, and to be Christ’s hands and feet here in Crewe. Christ is counting on us, and that means you and me together.