When I was very young and started out in ministry someone in my first church shared two pieces of advice that have stuck with me over the years. Firstly, always have an answer ready when someone asks you about your faith journey, and secondly remember you are a sum of all life’s decisions.

As I reflect on my life today, I can agree that I am a sum of all life’s decisions, and I am reminded of this as I listen to people who have made both right and wrong decisions in their lives. For some people this has resulted in a lovely situation, yet another decision has sent them into a downward spiral. I too have made some helpful and positive decisions, but sometimes I have made some not so good decisions, that have had considerable consequences for me.

Paul writes to the Corinthians and in 2 Corinthians 4:18 it says, ‘So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’. In a few weeks it will be the Paris Olympics 2024, and back in July 1924 Eric Liddell made a choice not to run a race on a Sunday, as it was the Lord’s Day. He made a choice to not run, and he was offered another race to run during the week and won that race. He was the son of missionaries and he believed that he should put God first.

Here at Northampton Methodist Church, we are making choices that will have consequences in the years to come. We are laying the foundations for the next generation, to encourage them to take up the challenges the Methodist Church faces in the future.

The section entitled Evangelism in ‘The Methodist Way of Life’, it says we will speak of the love of God and will live in a way that draws others to Jesus. It is important that we share our faith journey with others. A question you may like to think about is, how is this being worked out in your life today?

The other day I was getting my hair cut and the barber and I got talking about God. We were discussing gambling, and I shared that I did not like gambling, as you win something out of someone’s loss.

His assistant also joined in the conversation, and this led on to a discussion about whether God is real. There are some who would put forward two scenarios, the first is that you believe in a God and at the end of your life find out there was no God, and secondly you do not believe there is a God, and then at the end of your life find out there is a God. My hairdresser’s answered was I believe there is a God but as I am bad, so he would not let me in. My reply was, I believe there is a God, and he loves all, and there is a way we can accept God’s love and follow him.

As we think about our lives, we recognise in our conversations with people, that we share what we are comfortable to share, while there are other things we don’t share. In one of our worshipping communities, we have a prayer breakfast and part of the liturgy we use when we pray together says ‘for those we will meet today and, in the week, ahead … For the places You will take us this week … God can use us in our everyday lives.

In conclusion I am blessed and continue to be amazed at the opportunities we have at Northampton Methodist Church, to meet people and share our faith stories, and invite people to reflect on choices they have made. Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus, the author of our faith, sometimes we make wrong decisions and yet somehow God can use our mistakes for His glory.