After all
the ups and downs in July, are you taking a break in August? Win or Lose (and as I write this I don't know
if England have ‘brought it home’ or not) following the outcomes for both the
Wild Boars and the Three Lions has been a real emotional ride and I for one am
ready for a holiday.
But how do
you take a break from the past? Knowledgeable people are already saying that the Thai boys are highly
likely to suffer from PTSD and other mental health challenges, despite the fact
that the brief reports we have seen already suggest that they have a good
outlook on life. The media are praising
the work that Gareth Southgate and his team have done to disconnect the current
England team from past failures that the pundits seem destined to dredge up
forever. But, in truth, our current national
team had nothing to do with them seeing as most of them weren't born when many
of those mistakes were made!
But how do
we deal with past failures and decisions we have made that were wrong, or
resulted in harm to ourselves or others? For that you need a worldview that speaks to the subject of
forgiveness. Forgetting the past without
forgiveness is impossible the hurt remains. But who can and should forgive and what can be forgiven? Are there things that are just so bad they
can never be undone? Is forgiveness
available even though those involved are long gone?
All of these
questions and more will be answered in our summer series of sermons titles The
Forgiveness Factor. Sunday mornings at
10:30 and Sunday evenings at 6:30 (starting 12th August). You’ll receive a warm
welcome at our public worship services each Sunday at 10:30am (with an all-age
programme) and again in the evening at 6:30pm.
Services last between 60 & 90 minutes and refreshments follow the
morning service.