Pastor’s Thoughts – Summer 2023

Hello everybody, it looks like we finally have some good weather on the way so I hope that this will be a good summer for everyone who wants to enjoy the beauties of our Father God’s creation. What a joy it has been to have two baptisms in the last few weeks; people with very different backgrounds and stories, whose lives have been touched by the love of God. Our God is an awesome God and moves in amazing ways in people’s hearts.

I have been re-reading a report that came out last year from a team called Talking Jesus. At the start of last year they conducted interviews with a large sample of people that attend Church regularly, and of people that do not. Their research makes interesting reading, and has been conducted by a market research company who understand how to interpret data in an unbiased way.

I wonder what you think is the percentage of the population that are practicing Christians?

Research suggests that it is about 6% of the UK population. That’s the same as it was when they last did this research in 2015. That’s good news, because it means that as our brothers and sisters are promoted to glory, others are coming to faith at the same rate.

48% of the population identify as being Christian.

45% believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

Now there are two ways of interpreting those differences. You could say that people are very confused about what they believe – that would perhaps be true; but another way of looking at it is that 1 in every 3 people that you meet day by day who are not regular Church attenders, identifies as being a Christian and believes that Jesus died and rose again from the dead.

Now we have an idea in our mind of what someone that isn’t a committed follower of Jesus looks like. I want to suggest that we need to rethink that. It is easy for us to set up evangelism in our minds as a battle. Whilst there is a spiritual battle going on, we shouldn’t imagine that everyone we meet is going to be antagonistic to what we believe. All the research suggests that sharing our faith is about building relationships.

53% of the population know someone that is a Christian.

75% of those said they had had a conversation with them about Jesus, and that they felt comfortable doing so. (Maybe we’re more afraid of that conversation than they are!)

33% said that as a result of that conversation they wanted to know more about Jesus

36% said that they were open to an encounter or an experience with Jesus.

1 Peter 3:15 says:

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

One of the groups behind Talking Jesus is Hope Together. Along with hundreds of other churches in this country, we will be taking part in a year of mission - Hope 23-24. Building on our experience of mission from last year, we will be looking to help everyone think about how to have conversations with their friends and family.

Looking at the picture that emerges from the above research, we ought to approach this with a lot more confidence in what God can do, than we often have in the past. Don’t be afraid to get involved, and start by praying for people that you know.

In Christ,
John