1 Corinthians 3 v 16 - 22

The rewards for a Christian believer are huge, far greater than any person could possibly imagine. However, as Jesus declared to Nicodemus: ''You must be born again'', and that involves radical changes to the way we think and act, our attitude and our ambitions. Nothing can remain the same! One of these radical changes involves the attitude of the believer to wisdom, no longer is it the domain of those erudite few with doctorate and a long list of bibliographies to their name. No, the wise man or woman in the fellowship could be the illiterate farm worker or the woman with educational difficulties; it could be a young child or a recalcitrant teenager. In the previous church I led there was an 18 year old who used to attend. She had the educational understanding of a 7 year old, was in a wheelchair, she faced lots of daily issues bless her! But when she joined in the singing or shouted out ''Jesus'' in the service, you could experience through whom the Holy Spirit was speaking! Obviously, this does not mean that we don't read or listen to material from learned Bible men and women. It means that we don't assume that they are somehow superior to everyone else. They are to be prepared for God to keep them humble and to look out for messages from God to come from the least expected sources. One of the people I read and listen to is Bishop Tom Wright and he was asked recently what was his favourite church to attend when he wasn't working. He named a church in the Durham area and explained that it was because a large group of men and women with Down's syndrome attended and he was always struck by the radiance of their smiles and the pleasure they took in doing the tasks they were given. Remember that Fi and I are on holiday from tomorrow, so no more blogs until next Sunday. God bless you.