Opening THE Book with Rev John K-S December 2023

Rev John Kinchin-Smith
Assistant Minister, St Andrew’s Church, Gorleston

Last month we reflected that the Bible gives us the answers to the most important questions in life and that we can actually come to know God through its pages. In fact many people aren’t that interested in these questions and do not care whether they know God or not. It’s certainly easier to believe that God does not exist, because if God does exist – then you cannot ignore him. Human beings generally want to live their lives as they wish, to be in control of their own destiny and not have anyone else tell them how to live and what to do. The Bible teaches that this is the ‘normal’ condition of things and has a word for it: the word “sin”. The actual meaning of the word sin is “missing the mark” (like an arrow fired at a target). It results in lives that are impoverished, far less than they should be. Sin also results in everything that diminishes and harms human life: selfishness, greed and every attitude that leads to poverty, war, and every kind of human misery
 
Does the Bible have a solution? Well, it’s not so much that the Bible has a solution, but rather that God has a solution and that solution is found in the Bible and what it teaches. Above all, the Bible teaches about the extraordinary, unconditional, and perfect love of God and what God has done through sending his Son Jesus Christ to be the world’s saviour
 
But how can God have a son? How can Jesus save the world? Once again, the Bible teaches that if you really want to know the answers to these questions, then you will find the answers in the Bible itself but also through having a personal relationship with God himself. We have once again come full circle, a circle that begs the question about the nature of a relationship with God. The Bible teaches that the heart of that relationship is found in prayer – a heartfelt engagement and communication such as between any two people. Next month we will explore this further
 

courtesy of the Gorleston Community Magazine

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