January 2021 Newsletter
Author: Ruth Preston
January 2021
Reaching, serving and empowering older people
Welcome to this January Faith in Later Life newsletter where we will be sharing updates and news, signposting to new resources, and highlighting opportunities for you to get involved.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
Resource of the month: Undated Devotions
Heroes of the Bible: 30 Undated Devotions
We are familiar with the stories of Bible heroes like Abraham, Moses, and Daniel, but perhaps we neglect to consider their faithfulness through their later years.
The Bible provides us with numerous examples of what trusting the Lord and walking with Him looks like when we are older. In these undated devotions, Roger Hitchings draws on these examples to encourage us to keep going for God, even when our pace of life slows.
January news
Welcome to this January newsletter, and amidst the day to day challenges relating to the coronavirus pandemic, I hope this message finds you well. Many of us will have had a difficult Christmas period, maybe even suffering loss. These times are challenging, but even as we may grieve, or simply struggle with daily challenges brought on by our current circumstances, we can be thankful that despite everything, God is with us.
Many of us are praying that 2021 will be a year of hope; that the new vaccinations will mean the end of the pandemic, and that life will return to normal. We are hoping for a ‘new’ normal, where the kindnesses and volunteering and reaching out to others will continue. It was wonderful to receive all the feedback we did from those who sent or received Christmas postcards as part of our Christmas #notforgotten campaign. And we have lots more plans for 2021 which will hopefully encourage and equip us all, in seeking to reach, serve and empower older people.
So, as we look out across 2021, and reflect on the Bible verse in this newsletter, can I encourage us and remind us that God has a purpose for us; for you. Whatever your circumstances, whatever your age, whatever your gifts or even your limitations, God has created you for His good purposes.
There is hope in 2021 in human terms, but as believers there always remains the guaranteed, unstoppable and ever more wonderful hope that we have in Jesus. So by God’s grace let us continue to focus on Him as we navigate through whatever joy or tragedy 2021 may bring, knowing God is with us.
As we start this new year, we thank God that Faith in Later Life continues to grow as a Christian voice for older people, with our website resources and Church Champion community equipping more churches in reaching, serving and empowering older people. Thank you for supporting us and praying for us.
Yours in Christ
CEO, Faith in Later Life