Tag: Ian Banks

We’re learning to taste again – the sweetness of grace, the freshness of hope, and the unexpected goodness of a future that has not yet been written. For the God who has brought us this far is not finished with us yet.

May you discover, that not every sorrow can be explained, nor every wound undone – but no darkness is greater than the patient love of God, who is still writing your story.

Sometimes we are on roads we didn’t choose. Sometimes the road is hard and we simply need the grace to keep walking it. But sometimes God gives us the courage to begin building something different.

The September 2026 magazine includes a message from Keith about anointing and a letter from Ian about the Festival of Creation. Plus all the regular updates.

May you discover that Christ is already speaking over you the name you are still growing into.

May your life become a place of hospitality, where others, too, discover that the grace of God is never measured in crumbs, but always in love that keeps making room.

Elijah hears God in silence after a storm. Peter hears Christ above the storm. Paul reminds us that faith begins with hearing. Different stories but the same invitation – and that is to listen again and hear the voice.

Both passages ask us to move from scarcity to trust. Both invite us to stop measuring life solely by what we lack. Both remind us that God’s economy is different from our own. And both point us toward a God whose first instinct with us is one of invitation: “Come and Eat”

The invitation is to ask for a listening heart. To learn to notice the kingdom already growing among us. To trust that when words fail, the Spirit continues praying. And to become people through whom others begin to glimpse the hidden riches of heaven.

Isaiah says: “Do not fear.” Those words are not simply reassurance. They are an invitation to trust the One whose vision stretches far beyond our own. Because the future of the field does not depend upon our anxiety, but upon God’s faithfulness. It’s a field of mercy.

The word of God is not always comfortable to carry. But Jeremiah can also say: “Yet the Lord is with me.” Even in frustration, even in fear, even in anger, he cannot quite let go of the God who has called him.

Being God’s “treasured possession” is not presented as a blank cheque for superiority or entitlement. It is covenant language. Relational language. Vocational language. Israel is chosen not for privilege, but for purpose.

The Trinity: The music that holds you:
Blessed are you standing at the edge of mystery, trying to name what cannot be contained…

‘Add to Playlist: the Sound of the Spirit’ looks at Pentecost through the lens of the popular Radio 4 music programme…

Paul tells us that God is not far from each one of us. Jesus tells us that the Spirit will be in you. And the Ezra Collective reminds us that you have been given feet for dancing.