Ealing Half Marathon - A Review!

Last Sunday we were out in force cheering on the runners in the Ealing Half Marathon, Josh Gagel takes us through exactly what happened on the morning….

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Drums? Bunting? Shouting? A megaphone?

What on earth was going on yesterday outside Ealing Town Hall?

Well of course it was us lot cheering on the half marathon runners!

 Despite the dreary weather, the Redeemer family came out in force to support those participating. Despite being somewhat rhythmically challenged I was fortunate enough to be part of the amazing drumming band that encourages the runners as they go past.

 Leslie Mailloux, a runner in the half marathon and a part of Redeemer, had this to say

 “As I was running up towards the town hall on the 11th mile I could barely feel my legs, but then I heard the drumming in the distance and it spurred me on to finish the race!”

The Redeemer runners did amazing, and we’d love to give them all a shout-out! Well done to Anna Unwin, Hannah Kinning, Jon Flower, Rich Smith, Mark Siburns, Lauren Siburns, Farayi Hobwana, Nicky Cornford, René, Tara Chandler, Bracken Pluckrose and Jess Bugembe. These guys were amazing and if you see them on Sunday then give them a massive pat on the back! (Not too hard though, they might still be a bit sore!)

Kayla Carter, who had a cameo drumming, had this to say

 “I’m flipping loving it, the atmosphere is great”

 Nico Ofoajoku was drumming but had a bit of trouble with our method of protecting him from the elements.

 “Currently I have seen no running because I’m too tall for the gazebo, but nonetheless I am drumming and encouraging everyone”

 Toby Elliott clearly had some bias towards a specific one of Redeemer’s runners.

 “My favourite part of this is that Mark ran past before Rich”

 All in all, a wonderful time was had, as always we were thoroughly impressed by those running, bring on next year, when rumour has it I will be running myself!

- Josh Gagel

THE EALING HALF MARATHON OF GENEROSITY BEGINS NOW!

In my job I have the joy of getting to know many radically generous Christians.

I work for a charity, and this last weekend was busy as I met with a number of our wealthier supporters. At the end of one meeting I commented to the couple opposite that everyone I'd met there had one thing in common:

They all started to give when their means were modest.

Not all from their first pay cheque, but nearly all from their first job. 

First jobs, just married, starter homes, and growing families. All of these are good distractions to a generous life when you are early in your career.

Then there are all the experiences and opportunities on our doorstep in Ealing. I love the food, the shows, the endless places that will hoover up money when you thought you were going out for one drink.

But...giving is a choice hard-won - a muscle that needs to be exercised.

I think some have a rosy picture of life, assuming that they will naturally become generous as they accumulate wealth...

This is not the case!

Jesus talks a lot about money.

If you're reading the New Testament for the first time, you'll have noticed this. He tells stories about the über-rich...and the terribly poor.

When I read Jesus' story of the widow who gave sacrificially out of virtually nothing, we see it's not about the row of zeroes on the cheque, but the attitude of the heart.

When I read of the three servants who were trusted with unequal funds (Matthew 25:14) - the master judged all equally on his return. The one who was given little and didn't invest wisely as the others did was rebuked by the master. 

Perhaps most challenging though, are the words that introduce the above parable:

Where your treasure is, your heart is also.

Are we choosing to put the extra each month towards something that's going to fade away, or could we invest in God's plan for a broken world and give our money to the church, a charity, or someone we know who is really struggling?

You may have a little or a lot of money.

That doesn't matter.

God asks all his children to be generous - generous today - and he promises to entrust much to those who are faithful with little.

Don't be fooled to think that generosity is something easy to be acquired when life is more comfortable.

I am not running the Ealing Half Marathon.

I know some in Redeemer are, but even if I woke up that morning in September with the desire to do so, my muscles wouldn't let me.

It wouldn't be a pretty sight as my legs seized up and failed me!

If I wanted to run the Ealing Half, I'd need to start my training a little at a time, and start today.

How's your generosity training going?