Letter from Jon, February 2021 

 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being
Heb 1:3
 
Dear Liberty Family
 
Over this last month I feel like I have been re-discovering a faith that is centred upon Jesus.  That might sound a bit surprising and obvious; surely our faith is all about Jesus.  We call ourselves ‘Christians’ or’ ‘Jesus followers’ so surely it is all about Jesus.  I realise, however, that it is so easy to lose sight of Jesus in the midst of the busyness of life, and indeed the busyness of church life. 
 
In the days when Christian drama groups were all the rage (whatever happened to those days!) I had the idea for a sketch where someone comes and plants a cross in the middle of the stage.  Then someone else comes and plants a big sign with ‘WORSHIP’ written on it in front of the cross, then someone else brings another sign with ‘THE BIBLE’ and, again plants it in front of the cross.  This continues: ‘PRAYER’, ‘PREACHING’, ‘CHILDREN’S WORK’, ‘SERVING THE POOR’, ‘MINISTRY’, ‘EVANGELISM’, ‘PROPHECY’ (actually when I thought of this sketch I’m not sure I had any idea about prophecy!!).  The list goes on until the stage is so full that the cross is completely obscured and there is no more room for another sign, so someone comes along and removes the cross in order to create more room for other signs!!
 
The point, of course, is that all these good things which stem from our faith in Jesus, and indeed just the things of life, can easily become our focus until our eyes lose sight of the One who saved us, the One who laid down his life for us, the One who called us to look to him, follow him, love as he loved. 
 
The verse from Hebrews reminds us that if we want to know what God is like, then look to Jesus.  This is the God who made our lives possible.  This is the God who by his sacrificial love has given us hope, even in the darkest days.  This is the God we want others to know and to experience.  This is the God we want to become more and more like.  Even as we take time over these next weeks to grow in our understanding of what it means to love one another as Jesus loves us, I pray that we would equally grow in our love, our fascination, our devotion to Jesus.
 
Lot of love
 
 
Jon