Page 2 - Grace Mail June 21

Dear Forever Family
We’ve been thinking a lot about culture and community, in our house, over quite a period of time. And, especially in the light of enforced lockdowns and distancing, the importance of strong community has become even clearer to us.
I wonder what it is that you imagine when you think of a strong and healthy community. Perhaps you imagine a street, where everyone knows their neighbour, and helps one another out with blocked drains, cups of sugar, and sometimes celebrates or mourns together.
Maybe your picture is of an extended family, where the bonds are established in love, and life is lived together, whatever comes; where maybe sometimes there are fallings out and arguments, but everything is mended and forgiven by the next morning.
For a group of people to become a community there has to be things that are shared. Whether it’s beliefs or belongings, a place or a purpose, there are things that connect people together, a culture that everyone is part of.
As God’s family we get our culture and our community from Him. It becomes a piece of His kingdom in action. Our shared purpose is found in Jesus, and so too are the elements
of our culture.
One of those elements is what The Salvation Army has often referred to as “whosoever will”, a sense of welcome to whoever comes through the door, and a belief that the good news of Jesus is for everyone.
2. Grace Mail