So now we know the outcome

Our nation looks very different from the Britain we knew last weekend. Even in our church opinions were sharply divided between whether we should leave the EU or stay in it. And now we know the answer.

The campaign preceding the referendum has been robust and at times hurtful to people on both sides.
Whether you feel the result was a triumph or a disaster, we now have a huge task ahead of us. That task is to rebuild a cohesive and grace-filled church and for that attitude to spill out into society. As Christians we have to be people of hope and courage. I believe we need to face the future together without bitterness or recrimination, but with love, forgiveness and determination.

I want to say something about the multinational make-up of Victoria Baptist Church, because immigration and the contribution of people from outside these shores has been such a contentious part of the last few weeks’ debate.

In Colossians, Paul celebrated the reality that in the church  “… there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” That tells us that the most fundamental divisions which split society outside the church have no place whatever inside the church of Jesus Christ.

So if you are not originally from the UK, or if English is not your mother tongue, or if your skin is a different colour from mine, I want you to know you are welcome as part of the church.

So let’s pray for country and its future, for our leaders, especially David Cameron in his last few months in office and for the future government of our nation. Pray above all that God’s blessing may flow through people who disciples of Jesus Christ to the society where He has placed us.

Ian