Abundant Life

March 2023

Dear Friends

When the state pension was first paid out in 1909 (to those aged 70 or over) life expectancy in England was just 52 years!  By the time I was born in 1963 it had reached 71 years, driven steadily upward by improving healthcare and prosperity.  By 2019 life expectancy was up to 82 years although increases had slowed.  Since 2019, of course, it has gone back down, to about 81 years.  On average, a whole year has been taken off our lives.

Those are just averages - there are many individuals who seem to have lost much more than one year of their life, who were taken from us ‘far too soon’.  Expectations of a long life have risen and we can feel that someone who doesn’t reach at least 80 has been cheated.

The Bible turns this on its head: life is not a right that is cruelly taken from us but the gift of a loving God.  Every single day is a fresh gift from our Creator to be lived for him and not something we have earned and which is owed to us.  We can no more complain about this undeserved gift coming to an end than we could complain that the box of chocolates freely given to us by a friend should have been bigger.

In the Old Testament, long life is God’s great blessing and gift to those who trust in him.  In the New Testament, God upgrades his gift, from long life to eternal life, with most of that gift lying on the other side of death.  In words that are read at the start of the Christian funeral service Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”  (John 11:25-26)

That’s why, when the apostle Paul knew that he was going to be martyred for his faith, he was not in despair.  He knew that as he departed this life he would receive the better gift of an abundant life with Jesus forever.  Paul’s life until then had only been chapter one of the whole book.

Christians down to the present day have shared that same confidence: “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Hope Explored

February 2023

Dear Friends,

It’s no exaggeration to say that without hope our lives are done.  We all need confidence that we are moving towards something better than our current circumstances – some reason to believe that the business will make a profit, the illness will recede, the relationship will improve and the world will become a better place than it is now.  We want to be sure that the things we are doing today are going to make our lives, or the lives of those we care about, better.  If we don’t have that hope, why do anything at all?

“Hope is a spark inside you that brings a smile to your lips, a light that shows on your face, a feeling that lifts your head and pulls you forward.”  That’s why dashed hopes are so hard to bear and why hopelessness is so destructive.

At the end of 2021 it seemed to me that many people were struggling to find the hope that they knew they needed.  And then we had 2022, the year that yanked the rug from under the feet of so many in our country.  Hope is more elusive than ever.  Although we know that most of our great grandparents found hope in the promises of Jesus Christ, hardly anyone would think of looking there now. 

‘Hope Explored’ is a brilliant and clear explanation of the things that our culture has forgotten – the hope that Jesus offers – and the evidence for thinking that this is not just wishful-thinking nonsense but a “joyful expectation for the future, based on true events in the past, which changes everything about my present”.

‘Hope Explored’ is an informal and relaxed three-week course.  It’s for anyone who wants to find hope, peace and purpose in life.  The next little groups of explorers will be meeting on three Thursdays beginning on 2 February (either afternoon or evening).  It’s not too late to join us and you will be very welcome.  You can find out more from our church website www.burtonandholmechurches.org   And do please ring or text me if you want to ask more or to let me know that you are interested in joining us.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows