A retired headteacher phoned me a couple of days back, enquiring if our church was involved in any projects concerned with supplying food parcels to those in extreme need. I was happy to respond that we do run such a project, in partnership with our neighbouring congregations.

He said, ‘I thought if anyone was doing that kind of thing it would be St. Andrew’s!’

We all get a reputation for something. I’m glad to know that our church is known for actually putting its faith into practice.  I pray that we get better and better at it in the days to come.

I was in a conversation recently during which we commented on how amazingly well a certain person was doing following a close bereavement. The other person chipped this in: “I suppose it’s something to do with their faith.”

Y’think!

We got a new car a couple of weeks ago. It’s been great driving around town without being noticed! In our last car – which was the only one of it’s kind – i was easily spotted, sometimes too easily. On one occasion I had been pulled over by the police – as part of a random check process – and within minutes the word had reached the church office that the minister had been arrested for drunk driving!!

The truth is that as Christians we are always ‘in the public eye.’ How we conduct ourselves will influence what people think about the One we are following. The question is: if you were an advert for Christ, would you persuade anyone to buy?

That’s a challenge from which there’s no hiding.