“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
(TNIV: Philippians 3:12-14)

These are some of my favourite verses in Scripture. In fact it is because of them that I often sign off emails with, “pressing on …”. There is no doubt that this New Year will bring all sorts of challenges – some we can foresee, some of which at this point (thankfully) we cannot see. But what we do know is that the God who called us is faithful and will be with us in whatever the year brings. I am excited by the challenges that lie ahead as I know that as we meet them together we will all grow in faith and trust in God and deepen our sense of community. I sense this is going to be a year when we are going to learn more about relying on God and one another.

May God bless you in unexpected ways in 2009.
Pressing on . . .

Duncan