GRAPEVINE
A weekly spiritual insight, sharing a Bible verse paired with a thoughtful reflection to deepen your connection with God and illuminate His path for your life.
As we come to the end of our series ‘For the Beauty of the Earth’, we might ask: what reason do we have to hope? It is an important question. We see beauty in creation, but also its fragility. Forests are lost, species disappear, landscapes are damaged and the climate is changing. We may wonder whether the damage we have caused can ever be repaired.
The Christian answer begins not with optimism, but with Easter.
The resurrection of Jesus is not the escape of a spirit from the material world. The bodily resurrection of Christ affirms the goodness and significance of the material world. Creation matters because God has not abandoned it.
St Paul calls Christ “the first fruits of those who have died” (1 Corinthians 15.20). The first fruits are the beginning of a harvest: what has happened to Christ points towards what God intends for the whole creation. His resurrection is not simply the happy ending of Jesus’ story. It is the beginning of God’s new creation.
This gives Christian hope a particular shape. We are not hoping to escape from this world into somewhere entirely different. We hope for the renewal and transformation of what God has made. Scripture speaks of all things in all Creation being reconciled in Christ. The God who made the world is the God who is redeeming it.
COLOSSIANS 1:15-20
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
Thought for the week - 23rd September 2026
The Beauty of a Renewed Humanity
Season of Creation
We’re pausing our journey through the Bible to consider the Beauty of Creation.
This hope changes how we live now. If God loves creation and intends its renewal, then our care for the earth is not an anxious attempt to save something God has forgotten. Nor is it simply about preserving what we have for ourselves. It is an act of faithfulness: a way of joining, however imperfectly, in God’s renewing work.
There is beauty here too. Every act of restoration, every tree planted, habitat protected, river cleaned, creature cherished, meal shared and neighbour cared for can become a small sign of the future God promises.
The Season of Creation therefore ends where the Christian story always leads us: to hope. Not a vague hope that somehow things will get better, but hope grounded in the risen Christ. In him, the future has already begun.
So when we look upon the earth, let us see both its wounds and its beauty. And let us remember: God has not given up on creation. The risen Christ is the first fruits of a renewed world.
The beauty of the earth is not only what we see - it is also what, in Christ, we have been promised.
Associate Minister
Revd Steve Turville
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