Rachael Newham

The following statement is one of the most obvious I’ve ever made. God knows me very well.

It struck me, yet again. You see, I quite like order, I don’t know if you knew that.

And the two most important things I’ve learned at LST fall into two parts and would fit quite well as 2 points from a baptist 3-point sermon!

They are, relatively simple.

1) We are not alone.

Yes, Rachael, I’d noticed that, I can hear you say. It is something I bang on about.

It’s something I think we forget all too easily. It is something I forgot as I floundered in the depths of depression. LST reminded me otherwise. It reminded me that we were born to live in community, with friends and family who can come alongside us; cry with us, laugh with us and ‘do’ live with us. God loves us and shows us we are not alone, as the stories in the Bible are testament to His faithfulness and the work of God in others.

2)It also reminds us that we each have a responsibility to ensure that we reach out. We must not shut ourselves off from life, we are called to get involved with the mess and mire of people’s lives. We have a responsibility to play our part in the community in which we live, whether that be at work or church. God has shown us that we are not alone – we need to pass on that knowledge to others.

Times are hard. Economically and socially.

And the two most important lessons I’ve learned are that God has shown us, through His Word and the life and work of His Son that we are not alone. We are also shown that we are called to follow the example of Jesus’ attitudes. To reach out to those the world shies away from.

And so ends possibly one of the most obvious blog posts I’ve ever written. It’s stuff we’ve all heard a million times. These are the things that have truly begun to sink in as I’ve navigated life the past three years. They are lessons I hope I never forget.