Growing Up

September 2023

Dear Friends

On 24^th September it will be 10 years since I began as the minister of Burton and Holme.  I sometimes think that nothing has changed much in that time (I don’t look that much older!) but children are an inescapable reminder of the passing of years.  Those who were in Reception when I began are now entering Year 10 to study for their GCSEs and many of those who were in the top year at our primary schools are now working or at university.  As of July, we no longer have teenagers in our own family. 

Children, of course, are meant to grow up!  Parents and teachers have a responsibility to train children, to pass on wisdom and a love of learning and maturing, so that they grow in body, mind, character and abilities.  But that’s not enough, for our children or for us.  Because we can only grow up to be like our teachers or our parents.  And that means sharing the same disappointments in life and the same destiny – decline and death – that our teachers and parents faced.

God’s Word says that children and adults also need to grow up in Jesus because he is the head of a new human family that will not be subject to frustration and decay.  If we want to know what it is like to be truly human then we must look at Jesus – loving, trustworthy, self-controlled and fearless.  If we become part of his family and grow up to be like him, then we will share in his glorious and forever-secure future.  And in the same place (Ephesians 4) Paul says that church ministers have a foundational responsibility to make sure that the truth of the Bible, spoken in love, is bringing people to maturity in Christ.

I hope that you’ve been growing in Christ.  I’m sorry if I’ve not been a help to you in that.  I wish I could have been more fruitful over the last 10 years but I hope that you’ll give me a chance to help you in the next 10, whether that’s through our Sunday Services, our regular study and discussion groups like Christianity Explored, or in conversation whenever I meet you.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows