From the Letter to the Ephesians chapter 6: “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Be bold, be strong. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go.” That’s the verse from Joshua chapter 1 that is on my pinboard where I see it whenever I sit down at my desk. Because despite all the extraversion that being a bishop demands, I am as some of you will know actually a class A introvert, who can find even a nature programme on the telly a bit too exciting at the end of a busy day.

So I really value the prayers which you say for me right across the diocese and so often, because it is by them and by the power of the Holy Spirit that I can keep on getting up on my hind legs and proclaiming the good news of new life in Jesus Christ our Lord, with the boldness it deserves and our world surely needs.

I want to talk about boldness tonight. Not aggression, or even self-assertiveness. But the work of the Spirit who can enable us to be more like Jesus and do more of his work, whatever our personality type, and with the sort of gracious power that only comes from him.

I’m reminded of a line in a song one of sons learned when he was little, at a Christian camp – and I apologise for the awful pun, which will also be pretty awful for our signers to translate, but:

With Jesus as your rock you can be a little bo(u)lder Read more of this post