Abundant Life. Living life to the full!!

Rain, rain, rain!

I don’t know about you, but I have been known to moan about the amount of rainy days we have had over the past few months! I do miss the sun and hope that by the time you are reading this that we will be in an Indian summer. How can I moan when in many parts of the world the weather conditions have been much worse? We have seen so much devastation – mud slides in Sierra Leone, floods in

Bangladesh, Nepal and India; hurricanes in the Caribbean and the United States. We are truly lucky living in a country which very rarely experiences extreme weather.

Once again it is harvest time and we see the farmers gathering in the crops in spite of the weather, making the most of every opportunity. Years ago, one of the most popular Sundays of the year was harvest festival when most of the rural community would gather to give thanks for the harvest and enjoy a good old harvest supper. Sadly, this doesn’t seem to happen as much now.

One of the Bible readings quoted at harvest time was Genesis chapter 8 verse 22, ‘As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease’. This promise was given by God after a catastrophic flood which engulfed the known world. In spite of all of the pollution, misuse of the planet’s resources and massive population growth, the promise is still true. So often we worry about the future and what will happen to the planet and it is right that we are concerned and do our best to care for all that God has given to us, but remember this: He is the Lord and He will look after us. Jesus said, “the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy. I have come that you may have life and have it to the full”.

Pastor Martin