“Come in…”
Over the last 6 months, ‘come in’ wasn’t something we heard much of, until businesses started slowly reopening in the summer and the government were encouraging us to get back to work and eat out. Now we’re facing a second wave with increasing restrictions and the prospect again of neither being invited in nor being able to invite others to ‘come in’, it’s quite depressing.
When I was praying the other day, I felt God saying to me “Come in… join us”. I don’t know what that makes you think of, but what struck me was how the invite wasn’t join me, but join us. We often think about God as an ethereal other being, but the God we discover in the Bible is three persons and one. Because we can’t get our heads around it (how you can be 1 and 3, impossible right?) we call the mystery the Trinity. But it does mean that when we relate to God, he’s more than a concept, he’s three persons already relating, talking, having fun, enjoying one another, creating and moving.
God is Father, who holds our lives, carries us when we’re worn out and brings justice. God is Jesus, who came to earth as a baby human and grew up to be a man. Who knows what sand feels like between his toes, the joys and pains of relationships, the feeling of exhaustion after a long day and the taste of fish & chips (assuming they too couldn’t eat fish without fried potatoes 2000 years ago!). God is Holy Spirit, which is how we can not just know about God as a theory but feel, relate to, connect and walk with each and every day.
It’s these three who invite us… ‘join us’…
Immense.
When I have been praying over recent weeks, God has kept giving me this invite. Prayer isn’t a to-do-list or even a wish list, but an invitation to be with God. And not just in solitude on our knees. But walking through our everyday lives; an invitation to see what God, three persons, the Trinity, Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit are up to, and join in.
Over the coming weeks and months, we are unpacking this bit by bit, as we look at what it means to respond to this invitation, which is another way of saying to ‘be a Christian’ or ‘a disciple’. And when we do that together, we’re God’s Church. It will include the issues we’ve been talking about already on racial and social injustice, as well as practices to help us walk with God like reading the Bible, and worship.
We’ll be exploring this on the blog each week, but we’ll be working it out in our everyday lives as a group of people sharing the journey, as a church. We meet on Wednesday nights (adult focused) and Sunday afternoons (all-ages), all on Zoom for the time being, you can join in here. If you’re nearby and would like to get involved or find out more, you’re really welcome, drop us an email or check out our social platforms.
Listen out for the invite from the Trinity, you never know what will happen when you come and join the party they’re having.
Like that thought!
What a brilliant post Anna. A wonderful articulation of truth and hope. Really helpful and encouraging, thank you.