Do you remember Thunderbirds and their home on Tracy Island with its hidden secrets to protect it from discovery? Today we have brought our ideas of a Perfect Island – but we must ask ourselves, is this what God wants of us? To remain on the island of our creation, whatever it is, within the boundaries we have set?
As people together and as individuals on what we can call Christian Island we have such Good News within us that is too important, too big, too vast for a mere island existence. God says to us “Get off the Island,” because his perfect place is called Paradise and he has not got enough people who leave “Island Earth” to fill all the places which He has prepared for those who know him.
And the people who do know him personally, now, are on “Gospel Island.” God says ”Get off the Island and take this Good News to people so that I can see imperfect people become forgiven people.” Then they, through His son Perfect Jesus, can become inheritors not just of an island paradise, but of His Kingdom Paradise that starts with Jesus on this earth, and His Kingdom lasts for ever.
John Donne wrote “No man is an island, complete of itself.” But you plus Jesus makes completion. Have you met Him and reached Completion Day? Or have you so far put it off? Thunderbirds had a key character called Brains. It takes brains to do the right thing by God. Thunderbirds are go! – are you?

Pastor Jim Beveridge

OUR ISLANDS IN THE SUN

We fielded four teams of children and adults intent on producing a map of their Perfect Island. All of them had white surf on silver sands and sunshine everywhere. One had a diamond mine, which took care of the finances. The maps formed part of our Harvest Display. Two of the teams produced and sang a ‘National Anthem.’

SEASON OF FELLOWSHIP AND FRUITFULNESS
We are pleased to have found the Matthew 25 Mission in Eastbourne which provides daily meals and food parcels for needy people. It also runs a charity shop to support this work. So our Harvest display this year majored on tinned foods and tea bags among the traditional fruit.
A handful of our folk were able to share the Wartling Parish Harvest Lunch and the following Sunday a few of us got to All Saints’ lunch. A big thank you to both Parish Churches for making us welcome.