The Christian Healing Mission
Gently changing the way people experience God to find relationship, healing and transformation
Thoughts from Rob
As we move forward together into this new year and new vision for The Christian Healing Mission I wanted to share some thoughts from scripture that have especially influenced my prayers and thoughts.
The first of these is: “And Jesus said to them, Foxes have holes and birds of the air have their nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” Matthew 8:20, NRSV
I was struck by the sense of movement and dislocation/re-location in Jesus’ description of his own ministry in this response to a young scribe who declared that he was prepared to follow wherever Jesus went! It reminded me of the blessing now enjoyed by CHM of not being anchored to a particular geographical place or building, but being free to roam and respond to God’s call, not just through an effective online ministry, but also through a physical mission – a going out.
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It is this sense of us being refreshed and renewed to bring the transforming touch of Jesus to villages and towns and to the places and people to whom God leads us, that I have found especially exciting. We will soon be able to publish some of the dates for events and retreats happening later this year, but as a clue; one of these will be in July near the Ribble Valley. Watch this space!
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The second verse is John 11:35 “Jesus wept” (NIV)
This verse is a powerful reminder of how much we all matter to our creator God. Not just that we, as created beings matter to God, but that what we are experiencing in each moment of our lives is taken seriously and respected by God. Here is God made flesh, Immanuel, the Messiah, entering fully into the suffering of human grief even as he; Jesus, moves towards Lazarus’ tomb to raise him from the dead. Jesus knows the end of the story, knows that he will restore Lazurus to life and reunite him with his family, yet he is fully involved in the depth of human suffering and suffers because of it himself.
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It is a story of deep connection to us; a testament to how fully Jesus wants to be in relationship to us and to bring transforming new life to us all.
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Thank you for the way you have supported and prayed for CHM over this transitional period and I look forward to getting to know you more and perhaps meeting some of you in person. I will share more of the vision God is revealing and details of events you can join in next time!
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Wishing you every blessing in Christ,
Rob
