Rivertown United Reformed Church

We currently do not have a Minister. Guest letters may appear sometime, otherwise this section of our web site will remain unused.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So his disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ John 4:31-33

The disciples’ puzzled inability to understand is oddly endearing. Surprised to find Jesus talking to a woman, they didn’t, however, feel able to voice their disquiet. As she left, they set out the picnic, urging Jesus to join them. His response puzzled them even more, as he added metaphors of food and harvest to that of water.

The disciples frequently failed to understand what Jesus was talking about. They asked for explanations of parables. They rejected his warnings about his own death. When he spoke about the ‘yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees’, they thought he was talking about the bread they had forgotten.

As he washed their feet he told them, ‘You do not know now what I am doing but later you will understand.’ As he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, they did not understand, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered – and understood. They didn’t understand – Luke says it, Matthew says it, Mark and John say it. Writing in the post-resurrection power of the Holy Spirit, they look back at their failure to understand, recording that Jesus kept on teaching them as they travelled with him, listened to him and watched him in action. He knew he was investing in their part in taking the gospel to the world.

Dear Friends

Are you a hoarder or are you ruthless in throwing things away? Do you keep things just in case they might be useful at a later date or do you throw things away even though you know there is a risk that they might be needed in the future? Do you hold on to things because of sentimentality or do you see things merely as inanimate objects?

We live in a throw-away society today, much different from the way things were 50 or more years ago. Then items for the home were expected to last for many years and the purchase of new furniture such as a dining table and chairs or a sofa would be seen as an investment that would stay with the purchaser possibly for the rest of their lives. Then, TV sets were only just beginning to be commonplace and few homes had refrigerators or washing machines. Today, most homes have a wide range of domestic appliances and many have personal computers and other electronic paraphernalia. With the rapid change in technology we have experienced over the past few years, we now no longer buy items to last for a long time but buy them in the knowledge that when they wear out or break down we will be able to replace them with the latest version which is much improved on the “old” model we had.

I have the pleasure of being the first to write the ‘Minister’s Letter’ just a couple of months since Greg moved to South Shields and married Adrienne. A number of us went to Adrienne’s and Greg’s blessing and their smiles still go from ear to ear!

The Elders agreed to take it in turns and step into Greg’s shoes and write a letter for the magazine. Whether we are as eloquent or as evocative as Greg is left to you to decide. As always, and especially now, the Elders will be grateful for any feedback and even more thankful for your support in the coming months. I am reminded of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12:12-31) where he said ‘now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.’ This passage talks of the many parts of the body and that they are all important. Using the body to describe our faith and our community together in Christ has, I am sure, been the source for many a sermon. Reading this in the context of ‘losing’ Greg our minister brings to mind how a body would operate with out a major part. How did you see Greg? What part of the body did you see him as? Some would say the heart - the beat of Rivertown that ensured all parts of our fellowship received support and teaching as we grew; or maybe the head – seeing Greg as the leader to guide us, perhaps even to see for us; possibly the skeleton – keeping everything together!

My dear friends,

A few weeks ago, at the Elders’ Meeting, I commented on how I was now in the process of doing the “last” of everything. It was my last meeting with the elders, and I felt quite sad about it. And now, as I write these words, I am deeply conscious that they may well be the last thoughts I share with you in The Spark. August is upon us and I only have four more weeks as your minister. Meanwhile, I am trying to ensure that life goes on as normally as possible - which is not easy, since August has always been a strange month in the life of every church! More than that, it is easier said than done: I realise that it is unsettling for all of us, and I enter this last month with a growing sense of sadness.

You have all become very dear to me, and I regard you as my friends, not simply the congregation I serve. Consequently, I shall miss you very much and will continue to cherish the friendships I have made. People say that it is the nature of life to change and move on, but it is never an easy decision to initiate the process ourselves. I am grateful, therefore, that you seem to appreciate and understand the reasons for my leaving you. God has a new and different future for me, as he has for you, and that is both a source of excitement and challenge. Please don’t enter that future anxiously or fearfully, for whenever we make the service of God our chief delight, “our wants shall be his care.”

My dear friends,

You’ve probably heard of the playwright Dennis Potter. He wrote such plays as “Pennies from Heaven” and “The Singing Detective”, both of which were screened on television. Shortly before he died he was interviewed by Melvyn Bragg on the South Bank Show. He had cancer of the liver and spleen and only had a matter of weeks to live.

It was a remarkable interview because Dennis Potter was totally positive. There was not an ounce of self-pity in the man. He just wanted to live each of his remaining days as it came, and to do all that he could in that time. I found it very moving throughout, but one thing he said has remained with me: “Life can only be defined in the present tense.”

What did he mean when he said those words? I think he was saying ‘today’s what counts.’ Dennis Potter said that he cherished every minute and was able to see things with fresh eyes. As he looked at some blossom on a tree he said that it was “the richest, whitest, blossomiest blossom” he’d ever beheld. Isn’t that wonderful!

My dear friends,

Let me begin by asking you two questions. First of all, I wonder what it is that you find hardest to believe. Out of all the things you believe, which of them demands of you the most faith? I can still remember as a child planting my first packet of seeds in our small garden. It took a lot of faith to believe that some time later lots of brightly coloured flowers would appear. But they did. My mother kept on encouraging me to believe it would happen and, even though I often gave up, it did!

For most people the thing that they find hardest to believe is that a dead person can live again. And that comes as no surprise, does it, because we have all encountered the finality of death. And yet Easter is about a dead person who lives again: but, more importantly, who will never die again! The death of Jesus had certainly been final. He had been tortured and crucified; he had been wrapped in burial clothes and placed in a sealed tomb. Yet, three days later, he was seen by many people and proclaimed to be alive again.