Many are talking about churches needing to have a reset ready for our post-covid world. To reset means to readjust, to recalibrate, to reconfigure ready for a new future. It also means to return to the simple, essential things that we are about as a church. The things that we want to be the guiding centre of our life and mission. It is like doing a factory reset on our smartphones so that they go back to the manufacturer’s original settings. If we are going to learn from the experience of the last 18 months, we cannot just carry on as if nothing happened. We need to press the reset button.

In doing this, we see that at the heart of what we are about as Christians is simply following Jesus. We are called to be followers of Jesus, to be his disciples, and this is something that always has to be done together. It is not a solo journey. And so over the next few months and years, we want to reset our central focus on following Jesus together. And to work out together what that means and what that looks like in real life and in the real world.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

And so between now and Christmas, we want to review together what it means to follow Jesus. On our Sunday mornings and in Family Hubs we will use the gospels, and other parts of the New Testament, to explore what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ. And to discover more fully and more deeply what it means to have our whole way of life shaped by the call to follow him.

Those of you who join us on Sunday mornings – either online or in-person – will be in different places concerning this call to follow. Some of you have not decided if you want to be followers of Jesus, others of you are following from a distance not quite sure, others are trying but stumbling, feeling discouraged, and others may have been passionate disciples of Jesus for many years. That’s fine. You will find that he is willing to meet you where you are at, and then invite you and lead you into the life that can only be found in following him. Wherever you are at, you are welcome to come and join us and learn what it means to follow Jesus.