Dear Friends,
The story is told of a small town that was proposed for the site of great hydro-electric plant. A dam would be built across the river and the town would be submerged. When the project was announced, the people were given many months to arrange their affairs and relocate.
During those months a curious thing happened. All improvements ceased. No painting was done. No repairs were made to the buildings, roads or pavements. Day by day the whole town became shabbier and shabbier. Long before the waters came the town looked uncared for and abandoned, even though the people had not yet moved out. One citizen explained. ‘The town was cursed with hopelessness because it had no future’.
It is so important that as a congregation of God’s people we should be able to look forward with vision and hope for the future. As I travelled among tiny settlements in remote areas it was easy to tell where there was vision and hope for the future. Houses, roads, gardens, even signs were neat and tidy. But where there was no vision and hope everywhere looked tatty and neglected.
Our churches always look neat and tidy and loved and as such they are a visible sign to all who see them and use them that we are a people of faith, with hope, and vision for the future.
With love and blessings,
Marion
Categories: Minister's Blog