June 2023
Dear Friends
“God save the King! Long live the king!” reverberated around
Westminster Abbey as the choir sang the magnificent ‘Zadok the Priest’ while
King Charles, hidden behind a screen, was anointed with oil.
All this is taken from the Bible: Kings in the Old Testament
were anointed with oil as a sign that they were set apart by God for their role
and not self-appointed. Zadok was the
priest who anointed Solomon king in Israel some 3000 years ago while the people
shouted “Long Live King Solomon” and rejoiced “greatly, so that the ground
shook with the sound”(1 Kings 1:34ff).
Not everyone was pleased to hear that sound. One of Solomon’s brothers, Adonijah, had already
decided that he deserved to be king instead and he and his guests were still at
his coronation feast when they heard all the noise coming from Solomon’s coronation. Adonijah’s guests quickly got up from their
meal and fled!
Some people deny that Jesus rules over anything, let alone all
the nations of the world. Others say
that if everything in our world is under Jesus’ authority then his rule is a
disaster. To many it feels as though the
world is out of control, no-one is in charge, and there is no reason to have
any hope that the world, or our lives, will get any better.
We would love to have the opportunity to tell you why we
think Jesus’ rule is gloriously real and indestructibly full of hope for those
who acknowledge his kingship. We’re
running the excellent ‘Hope Explored’ groups again in June – 3 meetings with a
choice of times and venues. Details are
on our website – do please send me a message or ring me if you might be
interested in joining us. You would be
very welcome.
Sincerely
Graham Burrows
