One of the great joys of being the minister in training here was recently when I spent a lovely Sunday morning with Jackie and our young people in Sunday club and the story and activities were related to the parable of the lost sheep. Following on from Norman’s thoughts last month about the anxiety we all feel when we think we have lost or mislaid our keys, I thought I would share a modern take on the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) entitled: the parable of the lost credit card: –

A man was walking on the Whitehouse estate and realised he had lost his credit card out of his pocket. Anxiously, he went back and started to re-trace his steps and carefully searched the paths and grass verges. As he was walking along he saw another man walking in the opposite direction, so he stopped and asked him if he had found a credit card. Amazingly the man had found one and handed it back to him. The man said to his new friend: ‘rejoice with me I have found my lost credit card.’

Whether is it a lost sheep, lost keys, or a lost credit card, we can all relate to the joy and relief upon finding something important to us that was once lost and its great to share that joy with someone. Similarly the lovely hymn Amazing Grace says ‘I once was lost but now I am found’ reminds us of the love of the good shepherd, Jesus our wonderful saviour who brought us back into the fold, the hour we first believed. All of Heaven rejoices and has a great party every time someone looks to Jesus and is saved.

God through the Holy Spirit at work in our hearts helps to create opportunities for us to get alongside those who have perhaps lost their way in their lives and to share the love of Jesus. In doing so, we too can play our part in bringing the lost back into the fold and into a relationship with God – replacing darkness with light, sadness with joy, despair with hope and conflict with peace.

We continue to pray for each other and lift up those in the church family who have ongoing health worries at the moment, those awaiting hospital appointments and those who have family members who are poorly. May you and they know God’s love, peace and comfort in the days to come.

Blessings and Love, Robert