Dear Friends in the Angus, Dundee and Perthshire Circuit,
Greetings to you. Every Lord’s Day, every first day of the week, every Sunday Methodist people gathering to offer worship in response to the God who loves extravagantly. There will not be vast numbers in the congregations around our circuit, but we are part of a much larger company from around the world, stretching back over centuries. This worship – sometimes noisy (as we beat out the tune to a great Wesley hymn), sometimes silent – expresses the joy and pain of the journey of the Christian life.
On this preaching plan we tell the story of God’s love proved to us in the living, dying and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a story which come to life in us as we experience the depths and the heights of human experience here on earth. We shall hear that story told again – and something will come to us afresh which will prompt transformation in our lives.
This God – so identifying with human experience that there was a death on Calvary’s cross – is real in the rubble which is Gaza as people try to rebuild lives. This God on the Ukraine-Russia border. This God in the depravity of what is happening in Sudan. This God in Scotland. This God in the joy and pain of our families’ stories. This God, who knows us, draws close to us in a special way as we worship and offers hope.
As we make the Lenten journey through to Easter in our worship, study and relationships, we open ourselves to the power of love. Those of us who prepare worship for these weeks ahead will take care to proclaim the reality of that love in the messiness of human life today. All of us who will gather to worship will take care to receive the signs of God’s love made known to us. Those unable to gather will take care to find ways to connect with this God – through whom there is hope for the world – and for each of us.
Peace be the journey.
Andrew