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Cove Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Team Rector’s Address
By the Team Rector, Rev Jeremy Tyndall
with reference to Ephesians Chapter 1
I have been so encouraged in my first year here of seeing God at work amongst us as reflected in the Reports, in seeing such talented leadership and giftings in colleagues both lay and ordained, and all the numerous people quietly getting on with their tasks behind the scenes. Thank you all!
Tonight, let’s have a look at the bigger picture of our context as Christians today, In our culture here in Western Europe and North America, there is a battle for what informs and dominates our world view on life.
Talking with people, we become aware that the Christian story is no longer a shared one. We read of a more militant secularism and even atheism, and more subtly but just as dangerous an outlook that I might call “ ultimate relativity“, that is it’s about what works for me or for you, where there is no absolute truth, no one way has more credibility than another. We live in a very different world to that of most of our parents. Where we find ourselves today is perhaps closer to the world of the New Testament church which was a minority in the religious and cultural scene.
What do we need to work effectively in this situation? No new answers, but there are good responses..
To Know His Word – God’s primary toolkit. See how this worked out for the Ephesians:
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
The people had both the Old Testament scriptures and the stories about Jesus and other early writings that would become Scripture too. God’s word changes lives!
Confidence in the Gospel Message.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
we are not resource poor!
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Be encouraged because God has chosen us and will have chosen others too!
13 Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.
We have the help of God the Holy Spirit.
A Nurturing Strategy: Stepping Stones
I would like the CVGs this year to reflect on how we can provide “the next step” for people in their growth in faith and service for the Kingdom, or at least help people see what their next step is. There is always a journey from where we are to that place of maturity in God’s service. I believe the Holy Spirit works in growing us along that path. We can help by encouraging people to ask the question of themselves : what is the next step for me and how can I do this? And by thinking how we as church can provide those appropriate stepping stones and opportunities. This applies right through for example from the person who telephones with a baptism enquiry to mature Christians discerning God’s call to them. All of this fits alongside the challenge of enabling the discovery and nurture of people’s gifts which we looked at last year at our PCC away day.
Claim the Ground and Claim the Day!
All we do needs to be prayed into being. We claim the place, the people, the occasion for Christ. And what is our remit for doing this? Back to Ephesians:
9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will -
Globalisation is not a new phenomenon of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It began with creation when God made the universe and this world on which we live. All is His! God redeems us through Christ and all will be recapitulated (and so healed) –literally this means put back with its head – i.e. with Jesus as Lord -
Thank you for playing your part, and I thank God for the privilege of serving this community.
Jeremy Tyndall
April 27th 2009
Rev Jeremy Tyndall © 2009
*Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton, a member of the Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved. "NIV" is a trade mark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.