THE VIDEO OF A SYRIAN BOY THAT COULD CHANGE THE WORLD

There are certain people that I enjoy being around more than others. Without fail, if asked to describe them, one word that would come up repeatedly would be kind.

I’m trying to teach my children to be the best people they can be. More often than not, I find myself saying to them, ‘Please be kind to one another.’

Last week, a video emerged of a young boy. About the age of one of my sons, he was being carried out of a pile of rubble (presumably his house), shocked into numbness.

His face shows no panic or pain, despite the chaos around him and the blood flowing down his face from his head wound.

His completely neutral expression as he sits still in the ambulance is one of the most upsetting sights I can remember ever having seen.

And I found out this morning that his older brother has since died.

I understand the whole world doesn’t agree on everything, and that has led to conflict. But as I see images and stories revealing the true horrors of those conflicts’ results, I’m ever more convinced that building walls and attacking those who are somewhat unlike me doesn’t make the world a safer place.

Put simply, I wish that the world was kinder to each other.

I feel indescribably helpless when it comes to the Middle East – I have too little knowledge, and too little influence. But what I know is that I can be kind to those who are in my life, and pray that others will do the same.

Who wants to join me?

The Bible tells us that one of the fruit of the Spirit is kindness. In other words: if I try to be kind, I will fail. But if I look to God for everything, kindness will grow naturally.

Please gather with us on Sunday, to receive from God and to practice kindness to one another and the whole borough!

WHAT EALING RESIDENTS CAN LEARN FROM ARGUING CYPRIOTS

I wonder if I could take you away from leafy Ealing for a moment - around 2,000 miles away to be exact, to Cyprus.

There's been some optimism in the news recently about Cyprus.

This Mediterranean island that's visited by many every year has been divided since 1974. The northern one-third of the land is inhabited by Turkish Cypriots and the rest of the country is inhabited by Greek Cypriots. This situation arose when Greece backed a coup to overthrow the island's leadership. Turkey responded by invading the island and occupying the northern third.

Over the years, several attempts have been made to achieve reconciliation, but none have succeeded.

But it was reported recently that the leaders of both Greek and Turkish Cyprus are making a go of it again, and there is optimism that a solution can be found within the year.

As you can imagine, there are a number of issues to be agreed upon and these issues are being worked through.

I was very impressed when I heard that between May 2015 and January 2016, the presidents of both sides had 20 rounds of talks!

Nobody has 20 rounds of talks if they are not committed to finding a solution.

This isn't the first separation Cyprus has seen

The Bible captures a story of another big separation that happened many centuries ago involving Cyprus.

Paul and Barnabas were great men who went together on a journey starting churches in a number of places - including Cyprus. They took a young man with them called John Mark, who was a relative of Barnabas.

Partway through the journey Mark dropped out, and the two men had to finish the mission without him.

After some time, they were considering another trip through Cyprus and other places, to visit the churches they had set up. Barnabas wanted to give Mark a second chance and bring him along, but Paul was totally against it.

He couldn't trust Mark after he'd left the team on the last journey.

The disagreement couldn't be resolved, and Paul and Barnabas eventually went their separate ways. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus, while Paul recruited a man called Silas, and went on a journey through Syria.

Maybe this story resonates with you.

Can you recall a time in your life when you had a ‘Cyprus’ moment…a time of painful separation?

How did you manage it?

We live in a world where it's sometimes easier to walk away than find a way through conflict.

Not to dismiss how sensible walking away from conflict can sometimes be, how about when it's wiser to find a way through?

How about when everything suggests that staying and fighting is the better long-term solution, but the temptation to pull away is very strong?

Have you ever been in a situation like that? Have you ever walked away from a job or friendship or relationship where in hindsight, perhaps you should have stayed and resolved your differences with the other side instead of walking away?

And if you're given that same opportunity again, where will you find the strength to get through the rough patch?

Reconciling Turkish and Greek Cypriots is clearly a very difficult process to navigate - discussions on reunification are still ongoing after 20 rounds of talks. We will have to watch that space to see what the outcome will be.

But one man who has been through a very tough ‘Cyprus’ moment was Jesus.

After a night of unjustified arrest, interrogation, false accusations, severe physical chastisement and verbal abuse, he was sentenced to death, crucified on a cross, naked and in agony.

To add insult to injury, not only were the religious leaders and Roman soldiers taunting him as he hung apparently helpless on the cross, but one of the thieves who was crucified with him did the same.

In spite of all these provocations, Jesus stuck it out and stayed on the cross until the job was finished.

When I look closer into Jesus’ ordeal, I find that Jesus found strength to go through His ‘Cyprus’ moment by God’s strength.

The night before he was arrested, Jesus spent time praying, and was strengthened by God for the challenge he was about to face.

Are you facing a challenging period?

Do you feel that the right thing to do is to fight through rather than pull away?  You will do well to do what Jesus did in a similar situation…you will do well to pray.

And you don't have to pray alone

We love to pray at Redeemer.

Every Sunday we meet at 9:45am to pray before coffee at 10am.

Every Sunday our prayer team dedicate time to pray with anyone who wants it.

Three times a year we gather for a full evening devoted to prayer for the church and the Borough of Ealing.