Living Faith

Make a connection with God through church

YOU only have to look around the room that you are now sitting in to realise that CONNECTIONS are vital to our
existence. The appliances have to be connected to a power source. Some furnishings have to be connected to
the walls.

Sometimes we even disconnect things for safety reasons. However, in this very progressive technological age we
have even connected invisibly and now have many `wireless' things going on around us.
This is not new of course as wireless was the original name of the radio, picking up an invisible signal and bringing
sound into our homes, cars and ears.

People also want to make connections, so that they might sell you their products or offer you some service and so
through personal introduction or advertising the connection is made and you have the choice to respond. The
more you look, the more you realise that connections have a very major role in your life and mine.
But this section is called 'Living Faith' and there must be a clear reason for introducing this thought.... well yes!

The very core of the Christian gospel is that God wants to connect with men, women and children.
Jesus was born and lived among us to establish that connection, no longer as some distant figure untouchable
and invisible but the bible records that He became flesh and lived amongst us and we saw His glory
Now that same work continues through the church, the many programmes and services that the churches run
have inherent within them the goal of connecting God and people together, or at least reminding them of the desire
God has to be close to each one of us.

One such programme that runs weekly and has done for over twelve months now is Lichfield's own LATE NIGHT
LISTENERS based on a nationwide initiative known as street pastors, seeking to bring life and light into city
centres amongst the drinking and partying that happens.

There are many volunteers who give freely of their time from the hours of 10pm-2am come rain or shine every
week in the centre of the city serving warm drinks, providing a smile, conversation and chance to let off steam
to the many regular and new visitors that we have. WHY?

Do these people not have beds to sleep in? OR have they caught some of the compelling nature of God's love
that creates the opportunity for another one of those connections?

So they are presenting to the people of this great city care and love, representing the hands and feet of Jesus
through His vehicle of connection - the church.

Why not make the connection yourself?

But it doesn't have to be midnight Friday - it's available at a church near you!

First Published in the Lichfield Mercury

Revd. Steve Speight – Emmanuel Christian Centre, writes: -