This is a very different sort of Jay's jottings. I never like to write something that feels 'empty' (ie: if I didn’t tell you about it would it matter?) The subject that follows does matter - really matters! It is written by someone in the parish who wanted to share their struggles - and most importantly wants to share God's help. It is written anonymously and I urge people not to 'second guess' the identity of the writer. Their anonymity needs to be respected.

It could have stood as an article - by itself within the magazine but I felt that it was worthy both of support & reflection. I will make a few comments after you've read the article.

I write this as an encouragement to anyone who is struggling with addiction or any recurring sin which has ensnared or trapped.
I have been a member of Christ Church for many years and have been blessed by the love and fellowship I have received.
Throughout this time, however, I have had a problem with alcohol, which, by it's very nature, has been secretive and hidden. It has caused problems with relationships, but fortunately no serious medical problems despite continuously drinking 3-4 times the recommended daily limit.
Over many years I have prayed to God for deliverance and my prayers went unanswered. I had tried on my own to stop and did once manage a couple of weeks , but then relapsed.
So, how did I finally defeat this? It was through a series of events and looking back I can see God's hand on all of it.
Someone had a Bible verse as their computer screen saver, 1 Cor 1:18 and I was drawn to it. Over several weeks I memorised it, reflected on it and prayed with it. Then, through some worship our young people led at church I was challenged to change and finally, one day during lent, I broke down in tears and prayed for forgiveness and help.
God heard me and blessed me with His amazing gracious love. He gave me the strength to tell others, who have supported, encouraged and prayed for me and I haven't once felt judged.
There have been moments of severe temptation but God has kept me safe and friends have phoned, sent texts and prayed, for which I am so very grateful.
Months on I feel confident that the Lord has rescued me and set me free.
So, for anyone who is struggling, I encourage you to make this verse your own, for through His word, there is access to God's amazing power. Seek God and ask our wonderful prayer team for help. They do not judge but are amazing channels of God's healing love.

'The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God'

Amen

1Cor1:18

Firstly, I'm really grateful that someone should feel that being honest about their struggles, they may bring help to others.

As a leadership team, we reflected about what such a letter may be saying to our church. Here are some conclusions.

• Privacy and confidentiality are important. It is good that people's private struggles can be handled within the life of the church discretely.
• Prayer and pastoral support are important! Prayer works! We want to trust God in difficult circumstances as well as in good times.
• We want to be an honest church. We want to be honest about the struggles that people face and not criticise or reject people when they admit to addictions or struggles of different kinds. In the honesty, we want to maintain those confidences.
• We want to be a church which helps people in need. I think that Christ Church is pretty good at this, but an important debate flowed from this letter. It went like this.... Where would someone feel that they could go if they were in some deep kind of need? If they were in deep debt, or in some kind of dependency or addiction - how would they know where to seek help? I'm not sure that people would know where to turn first. As such, we are going to create 'signposts'. These will be posters or other forms of literature which tell people where they can find help if they are in some kind of need. We have yet to finalise this, but want to do better at visibly showing our desire to help.

There is much that church can do to help people in their need. The greatest aid that we can offer is Jesus Christ Himself. He knows our weaknesses and He lifts us when we fall. This person - and each of us who have been healed from hurts and addictions - would acknowledge that it is His grace and help that matter most. This isn't a usual Jay's jottings, but life isn't simple and it is sometimes better to bring lifes complexities into the light.

I do wish you a relaxing summer and a deep sense of God's presence - in whatever issues you are facing.

Yours, in his service
Jay Colwill