Newsletter - November December 1999   IN FOCUS -  Our Mission Statement A couple of years ago the members of our church got together to decide what our mission statement should be. This is what it looked like... "The church has to be urgent because God has a purpose. We need to be a community where people are encouraged to be like Jesus. We must be a light-stand showing Jesus and the hope of salvation to those around, using all of our God-given resources to serve wholeheartedly. We must be open for God to work in and through us to His glory and our spiritual growth and unity." THOUGHT -  "Getting to know Jesus" How well do you know Jesus? Perhaps you have imagined yourself as being alive in the time of Jesus and actually having the opportunity of meeting him. What would your first meeting be like and how would it compare with the experience of the man below: "When I look back to that day, the day on which I first met Jesus, I see it as a great turning point in my life. For many years I had been both deaf and dumb and practically unable therefore to communicate with the people around me. One day the people of my village seemed very excited. They all stopped work and ran to the centre of the village. Two of my friends took hold of me and before I knew what was happening. I found myself standing face to face before a man I had never seen before. Putting his hand on my shoulder he led me away from the crowd and started to act most strangely at first, he put his fingers in his ears, then he spat and finally he touched my tongue. Suddenly I realised what he was doing. He was telling my by sign language what he was going to do - he was going to make me hear and speak. He then looked up to heaven; I saw his lips move (later I learnt what he said) and immediately I was able to hear and speak fluently. Isn't the ability to hear a marvellous gift? It was then that I realised why Jesus had taken me away from the crowd for he was talking to me softly and quietly and I could hear the birds singing and the trees rustling in the breeze. By the time we returned to the crowd, my ears were becoming accustomed to many different types of noises and although the babble of the crowd's voices jarred a little, my ears were able to cope with it. What a marvellous man; not only did Jesus cure me, but he fully understood my needs and was prepared to spend as much time as necessary in order to help me. I decided from that day onwards to try and follow his example and show real concern for those around me." You will find this man's story in Mark's gospel chapter 7 verses 31-37. We may not suffer from any physical disability, but it is just as vital that we get to know Jesus as it was for that man 2000 years ago.
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