Hope for Seaford

Dear Seaford,

This past week has been an awful week for our town, and it’s been a very destabilising week for our nation in general. I want to offer you some words of comfort and hope.

A year ago, I was invited to speak at another church and they said I could speak on anything I wanted - pick a subject that’s close to your heart. 

I spoke about our sons.

I have three sons and so it’s a subject close to might but I spoke about boys in our society and about how they are struggling, and that we need to sit up and take note - that we need to all lean in to help them. To be clear, our young people in general are struggling, boys and girls both of them. New technologies have transformed their experience of childhood and that, coupled with the historically unprecedented absence of fathers from many homes means that for a growing percentage of young people they’re missing out on the massive benefits that dads bring to family life. Boys and girls both need to know that they are accepted and loved but boys, unlike girls, often turn to dangerous and violent means to resolve their pain. 

Hurting boys hurt others in a way that hurting girls don’t.

In the talk at this church I quoted statistics and I told stories all to try to make my point and urge the church to take seriously the need to love and lead its sons. Help them, train them, accept them - don't demonise them and don't leave it to social media and netflix to raise them.

Back then, a year ago, that’s mainly what it was, statistics and stories. Today, there are names and faces and families that have been ripped apart. In our town. Maybe things are worse than we realised.

But of course this week hasn’t only seen this local devastation as many people also have been affected by the assassination of Charlie Kirk someone who was, in his own way, trying to speak truth as he saw it, trying to offer conversation as a way to bridge divides. He was silenced for speaking and that fact alone is enough to scare us.

The news of his death broke upon our shores just hours after the youth violence occurred on our streets.

The internet age is odd isn’t it. Events that occur thousands of miles away unfold on our phones in real time. Everything seems so close at hand and in your face; partly because it is…

In the Middle Ages you had to go to the town square to watch a hanging, now it gets piped into our pockets and shoved in our faces.

We like to think, don’t we, that we’re different from the people who lived back then in the medieval period. Our society is different, we have sanitation, the rule of law, fridges and indoor plumbing… but human nature is the same and now we have videos. Videos and memes and reels and clips of real life violence, outrage and horror across the pond and in our own backyard. Is there no escaping despair we might wonder?

Beyond this people are saying that England is on the brink of a new soft totalitarianism where comedians are being arrested by armed police officers for tweets. Flags are being used as symbols of division but also as a sign to unite around as more than 100k people in our capital felt drawn to demonstrate over the weekend. There are tensions simmering all over the world we need something to unite us, to bring us together and to bring us hope.

The message of Jesus and the historical reality of his death has the power to do this.

In 33AD the author of our world wrote himself into the story. He came not to condemn us but to save us. He came to offer himself as someone we could punish and blame for all the wickedness and pain we feel. He invited us to spend our anger on him, and we did.

When goodness came into the world we killed it. We pierced the son of God, we spat at him and jeered him and the crowds called for Barabbas, a known murderer, to be released instead of him.

That was a dark day in human history. But look how God has transformed it.

It looked as though the might of the empire had won again, where injustice had prevailed once again and yet that day, and that mode of execution (the cross), is now the most well known and well loved symbols of hope and love the world has.

On the cross as Jesus died, the Bible says, ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself’

He was bringing peace to a divided and divisive people. 

He offers you that hope too.

The cross has the power to destroy dividing walls of hostility, something we’re only too familiar with. Jesus came to destroy the ultimate wall, the one that separates us from God and that keeps us from knowing peace and delight in God’s loving arms - he came to destroy it and he came to bring us back to God and reconcile us to one another.

In some parts of our nation people are trying to find unity around the sign of the cross again, this time emblazoned on a flag.

But it isn't through the cross of St. George but through the cross of Jesus Christ that we'll find hope.

The cross of Christ isn't creating a romanticised 'England of old' or any earthly kingdom in fact, but is creating one new humanity, one new kingdom; a kingdom centred around the lamb of God who was killed for us. The cross of Christ is the ultimate sign of inclusion and equality since we all come on the same terms, we all need the forgiveness he offers.

Jesus brought hope not through protesting and by insisting on his rights. He didn't bring revenge and yet neither did he downplay the trouble we're in.

He came as the compassionate one who literally suffered for us. Look how he bleeds for us, look how he weeps for us.

The death of the Son of God in history offers you the greatest hope and the greatest comfort there is.

Come to him today. Whether for first time or the one hundredth set your hope, not on princes or on patriotism or on free speech but set your hope on Christ and find life through Jesus' death. 

Through the cross forgive and be forgiven, through the cross find peace and hope. 

Things are better than you ever could have imagined: God loves you, has come for you, suffered for you and offers forgiveness and hope to you today.

Many have discounted Christianity and written off going to church as an option even before thoroughly considering it.

You're invited however to take a fresh look at life church. Perhaps, like many in this town, you'll discover that the greatest hope and healing there is has been 'hiding in plain sight' all along.

For more why not pray now, ask the God and Father of Jesus Christ to forgive you and to heal you, ask him to bring hope to our town.

You could also email us connect@seaford.life or come along one Sunday morning. We meet at 9am and 11am every Sunday. Join us, we'd love to meet you.

Thanks for reading