New academic year = same old, same old?

Having been in Southampton, and particularly the Polygon for 5 years, its very easy to fall in to the pattern of the academic institutions. After all, we have two universities in the city, 1 in 8 of the population are students and approximately 90% of the houses in Polygon are student housing - oh boy is it easy to fall in to the pattern of the majority.

But, as our calling is to be Salt & Light as followers of Christ (ie to stick out like a sore thumb as salt preserves meat and light prevents you from falling over in the dark) I believe we should be different. As a church we have spent the summer looking at the book of Joshua and this Sunday marks the end of the book, where we have Joshua challenging the people of Israel to make a decision to hold fast to their inheritance and fight for the land God has given them. Not being able to answer for them, this wise old warrior makes this personal claim - "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" 24:15. After leading the people of Israel through some unbelievable experiences, he speaks for himself, accepting the challenge of leading his family in to the promised inheritance in the hope that the people will copy him. He leads by example and they respond - they don't shape him, he shapes them. But the good news is you don't have to be a Joshua to shape people, because when we live our lives to the beat of a different drum, people will respond and even emulate the way we live by putting God first. Yes, some will mock and sneer, but believe or not the grace and mercy of God being worked out in and through YOUR life some will find attractive enough to ask questions!

Please note, I said different NOT weird. Coming from the "Far Side" (ie Gary Larson rather different view) of life, I know how easy it is to stand out for all the wrong reasons. Remember Jesus said the meek shall inherit, not the geeks shall inherit the earth! So what are the right ways of standing out? During the coming months, from September through to Advent, I will be preaching on the theme "On to maturity", where we will be exploring what the right things are whilst continuing to take up the challenge of grasping hold of our inheritance. Why stay as kindergarten Christians, when God wants us to have a PHD's experience of His love for us?

We also hope to revisit the ALPHA course in October and start opening our Community Coffee morning (Thursdays) to the student majority that lives in the Polygon. We will be hosting our Second "Welcome to Southampton" meal for Students on Sunday 28th September and (we think) be sharing a part of our extensive building with the Drama department of Solent University.

New Academic year = Same old, same old - I don't think so, but that choice is up to you rather than me (Joshua 24:15).

Yours in Christ

David Masters