Influence

Who do we look up to? Who has the biggest influence on us? – Our families? – our friends? The people we work with? the T.V. ? British soaps like Coronation street, Brookeside or EastEnders ? -Or maybe football stars or pop stars like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs or Robbie Willaims?

Who shapes us? Who makes us what we are? – Is it our parents – our families? – our DNA? – Is our personality and attitude towards life – something we are born with – or are we shaped by our experiences and the choices we make in life ?
it’s a sad fact – that many of the things – we learn in life – we learn the hard way – by personal experience – We all know about the dangers of – smoking – drinking – taking too many pills – driving our cars at speeds that put ourselves and others at risk – but many of us ignore them – until something happens – only then do we realise – what effect they could have on their future –in the end – it is our personal failures – that are our most powerful teachers – and its how we learn from them that determines our path in life and the kind of person we will be –
Pressure, pressure, pressure
There’s certainly a lot of it about – particularly at Wimbledon this week.
What do we value most in life? – The house we live in? the money we earn? The car we drive? The holidays we experience? Or the people we share them with? God has not made us to be alone – He wants us to mix, to belong – to share – to love – Our friendships and relationships are the most important things we have –

The struggle for power in this world – is a serious business – we’ve only got to look at the problems in Israel – India and Pakistan – Afganistan – Northern Ireland – history is littered with destruction and death because of it. As we see from our readings this evening – power is not easily shared – As Christians – how should we react to the power seekers?