It’s easy to be sucked into the current news narrative of despair and doom. The pandemic is still a pandemic, we’ve entered a second lockdown, there’s political turmoil all over the globe and so much of our world seems broken and bruised. I know that if I’m not careful, I find myself taking part in this narrative; it’s easy to join in the moaning - and it means I fit in with the world around me who’s also complaining.

There’s an amazing verse in the Bible which says Christians are meant to be like a city on a hill, or a light in the darkness on a stand.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

Matthew 5:14 

Jesus Christ is telling us that Christians are meant to be different to the world around us - we’re meant to stand out and speak out into the darkness of our times. We’re not meant to join in with the doom and gloom but proclaim a message of hope - like a light in the darkness. What is this message of hope that we’re to proclaim? Is it a vague, wishy washy message of love and platitudes? No. It’s a message that there’s a god who made us, knows us and loves us beyond our wildest dreams. He blesses us with so much that is great in the world. Supremely he blesses us and loves us by sending his son, Jesus Christ to redeem us and give us eternal hope - even in the face of a deadly pandemic and lockdown. What incredible news!

So the next time I’m tempted to join in the doom and gloom, I’m going to try to pause, remember and give thanks to God for all the good things he’s given me - whether it’s food, family, fun, fortune or faith in His son. Maybe it’s even something simple like a frosty morning sunrise to start my day with!

It’s my hope and prayer that over these next few weeks many of us in the King’s community would do just that - we’d be like that city on a hill or that that light in the darkness! Deo Juvante.

George Beverly - Chaplain

A beautiful frosty morning over Bruton. So much of God's creation shows his goodness. On the eve of a second national lockdown, our prayers are ascending for the wider @KingsBruton community & our world. pic.twitter.com/93MAfSZuuj

— Chaplain (@KSBChaplain) November 4, 2020