Back to Bulletins List

Bulletin 123 Date : 20th Jan 2008
The Lion and the Lamb

In Isaiah chapter 11 we find a vision of what life will be like when God reigns supreme. Wolves, lambs, lions, cows and leopards will all graze together and lie down together in perfect peace. What has this to do with the Church and Hope 2008?

Well, last night I was at a launch meeting of Hope 2008 in my locality and, along with around 100 other Christians from all denominations in the area, pledged myself to the Hope 2008 prayer of commitment. This morning, as a follow on from the launch, around 50 of us met for a prayer breakfast furthering our commitment to Hope 2008.

What was tangible was the new mood among the churches. Gone was the competitive spirit which has plagued so many of our ecumenical endeavours in the past. No one was trying to pull rank on anyone else and the smaller, weaker churches were taking a leadership role, supported by the stronger churches, as our plans for the year were unfolding. In the prayer time after breakfast there was a new sense of honesty and vulnerability and a genuine desire to put behind us the divisions of the past.

This new mood within the Church is being reflected all over the district, and probably across the country. Indeed the lions and the lambs are lying down together in peace and harmony like never before.

I have just started reading Philip Yancey’s book on prayer and stumbled across his chapter on ‘Unanswered Prayer’. Overall it is a pretty depressing chapter and although there are silver linings mentioned, they seem to be surrounding pretty huge clouds. For every ‘good news story’ of answered prayer, Yancey can point to many more ‘bad news stories’. To summarise the chapter, Yancey concludes that miracles do happen but they are few and far between and unpredictable. And yet, we need to be honest about our faith and Hope 2008 will, I believe, if the mood of last night and this morning is maintained, provide an environment where we can be just that.

Last Saturday I, along with another 54 people from the district, attended the Celebration of Rob Frost’s life at Westminster Central Hall. It was an occasion of mixed emotions – the sadness of his premature death, the sense of expectation as his sons, Andy and Chris, took on his mantle and a celebration of a life well lived. And yet I remember reading Rob’s biography on the Premier Radio web site. Rob described himself as ‘small, shy and vulnerable’. Vulnerability is something we have found hard to adopt in ecumenical gatherings in the past but my hope is that we can start again and be vulnerable without the fear of being made to look weak and foolish.

Like many Christians, I took some convincing that Hope 2008 would make an impact. Today I know it will, not least upon the churches. God’s Spirit is at work breaking down the barriers and bonding us together in a ‘new beginning’. Praise God!

PS – here are some resources you might find useful.

1. The Hope 2008 prayer (http://www.hope08.com/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=75101)
2. Philip Yancey’s book ‘Prayer’ (Does it make a difference?) ISBN 978-0340-909089
3. Photos of the Rob Frost celebration – (http://www.district-evangelism.org.uk/robfrost.php)
4. New Beginnings : an audio / visual by Liz Babbs, Simeon Wood with visuals from myself (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyZxuBdpSms)