On a day in which we marked the movement of some of our young people into Secondary School and away to University, we thought about belonging and hence I explored something about belonging to the Reformed Tradition and to the United Reformed Church looking at the five classic marks of a Reformed Tradition - Grace, Faith, Scripture, to the glory of God, reformation we added two more that more recent documents and thinking seem to be highlighting - Ecumenism and Inclusive Justice.

Sola Gratia - By grace alone

Sola Fide - By faith alone

The United Reformed Church acknowledges that the life of faith to which it is called is a gift of the Holy Spirit continually received in Word and Sacrament and in the common life of God's people. (The Nature, faith & Order of the United Reformed Church). Today we have given some of our young people gifts - it is up to them whether those gifts are used and valued or tossed in the corner of some cupboard, neglected and forgotten. We have been offered the gift of grace - faith is about taking hold of the gift God has given us and letting it be part of our everyday lives.

Sola Scriptura -  

The United Reformed Church acknowledges the Word of God in the Old and New Testaments, discerned under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as the supreme authority for the faith and conduct of all God's people.

disclosing new worlds reflects on last weeks reading.

The role of the preacher as the conveyor of the word of God is to proclaim Jesus Christ. Good news is brought alive to hearers in their context. Preaching is a creative activity of bringing scripture into dialogue with the contextual realities of hearers, this is what is valid within Reformed worship, not oratory or a rational intellectual discourse. Who are We called to be?

Soli Deo Gloria - to the glory of God

Ecclesia Reformata, semper Reformata - the church reformed is always reforming

Reformed - The church is a creation of the Holy Spirit who continues to create. As a pilgrim people on its way to God's future we are not bound to the contents of thoughts and contexts of our ancestral history. The Reformed churches of the 16th century themselves could be seen as the result of their sensitivity to the word of God in their particular context. The church continues to meet new challenges in different contexts - cultural, social, economic and geopolitical. These encounters impact the churches' understanding of the word of God and its self-understanding as a pilgrim people. We are freed to participate in this continual recreation by the Holy Spirit as a result of our belief that ecclesia reformata est semper reformandaWho are We called to be?

Ecumenical

- mission orientated - unity in diversity - affirming our differences as gifts we offer one another - sharing our experiences with others who explore the ecumenical journey.

Inclusive Justice -

We have a structure which is essentially democratic and we have always seen social justice at the heart of the gospel. Growing emphasis on including all people without regard to gender, race, age or background. Exemplified in a  commitment to an open table -