There’s a line from Ed Sheeran’s The A Team that struck me recently: “The worst things in life come free to us.” It rings painfully true. Disease, injustice, grief, depression, and death all arrive uninvited, barging into our lives without warning or cost. Ed was on to something.
But it's only half the picture. Because the best things in life are free too. The deepest sources of truth, beauty, and goodness aren’t bought—they’re received. They come as sheer gifts, poured out by a generous Father.
In light of this, here are three of life’s greatest treasures that are ours to (freely) enjoy.
Creation
Living in a capital city, we can easily overlook the wonder of nature. For starters, there’s just less to see. Light pollution and the abundance of concrete make the stars dimmer, and wild spaces scarcer. But even so, life has a way of finding the gaps in the tarmac - the sun still dawns in unrestrained beauty, the birds still sing, the clouds still form their patchwork quilts. Creation quietly insists on being noticed.
Step outside the city and the spectacle widens: oceans, forests, mountains, skies that stretch unbroken. It’s all from God, who loves to shower us—all humanity in fact—with undeserved common grace.
People
The people God places in our lives are among his sweetest gifts. For most of us, the love and company of family make life’s highs higher, and its lows more bearable. We didn’t choose our family (sometimes that’s obvious!), but God chose them for us and knitted them into our lives with great intentionality. We never earned their kindness, but he knows we need it.
And when family is absent or strained, God’s grace is no less evident. He gives us friends—often in unexpected ways. Most of my closest peers are not those I consciously invested in from the get-go, but old flatmates, life group members, and school friends. God sovereignly brought us together, and the rest is history.
Jesus
This gift surpasses all others. We get to enjoy time with Jesus every day. He speaks to us through the Bible, hears us as we pray, and nourishes us as we take communion. He encourages and challenges us through prophecy and the faithful words of a friend. He walks with us and loves us. He loves us, he loves us, he loves us.
This intimacy was never guaranteed. Once estranged from God because of our sin, we had no claim to it. But Jesus closed the gap, choosing the cross and paying the debt. The treasure of knowing God is now ours to enjoy, the invoice already settled. Into eternity we go, an endless discovery of his love freely given.
Wherever you find yourself today, why not enjoy God’s gifts and let them stir up thanks? Take 10 minutes away from your desk to walk through a park. Reconnect with a friend. Most importantly, spend time with your saviour who paid for your life so that you don’t have to.
Welcoming like Jesus
Think about the first time you arrived at Grace London. Some of you can even remember the first time you attended any church. How did you feel? Were you confident as you strode in, grabbed a coffee, and took your seat, effortlessly striking up a conversation with others around you?
I thank God for the extroverts among us who can resonate with that image to some degree, but that wasn’t my story the first time I visited a church. I still remember being chuckled at as I fumbled for my wallet to pay for the coffee. I mean come on, every Londoner knows that nothing’s really free. My first time at Grace London was certainly better but I am slightly too introverted to comfortably inject myself into conversations that could form the foundation of meaningful relationships.
A reasonable application of Scripture is to greet one person we don’t know or don’t know well every time we gather with others in the body of Christ. We have been invited, welcomed and greeted by the Lord, and we can reciprocate by welcoming the outsider and the stranger. By welcoming the least, we welcome Jesus (Mark 9:37).
But however outgoing we naturally are, reaching out to people we don’t know can be difficult. There are some people we don't click with, some we don't like, and some who have wronged us. It’s good to move towards others, but it is not easy. The thought of awkward silence or feeling stupid can jeopardise the plan before we’ve even started.
So, what practical steps can we take?
Firstly, start small with a greeting. Greetings are not a form of politeness from a bygone era. They are skills that imitate the Lord and show respect and kindness to others - and we are meant to grow in them.
There are, however, so many people we could greet. We shouldn’t aim to become serial greeters who offer a brief and boisterous “Good morning” before moving on to the next person. Instead, consider whom you are greeting and take time. This means our greeting list might be short because we only have limited time on a Sunday. We cannot talk to everyone. So, here is who you should prioritise:
The visitor (what Scripture calls the “foreigner” or “alien”) comes first.
The visitor who returns comes next.
The less popular, the marginalised, or those sitting alone come next.
Then come the children. Jesus singles them out as examples of the marginalised.
“Ні, _______!” is offered to as many people as possible, which doesn’t have to be accompanied by a hug or a hand-shake.
Good friends can, of course, intersperse these greetings.
As the King goes, so go his people. He moves toward people; we move toward people. He moves toward those who seek him and those who do not; we move toward those who want help and those who seem distant and marginalised. He moves toward friends and even enemies; we move out beyond our circle of friends to those far beyond that circle.
Imagine how this can transform our churches. Instead of talking to the same people – those with whom we are comfortable and who are similar to us – we treat others as God has treated us. Imagine how aloneness could gradually be banished.
Making Room At The Table
Sometimes an unexpected dinner guest comes along just before you’re about to serve up. You had all your quantities measured out, but now the meal you’ve planned will have to stretch to fill an extra mouth. You’re happy to have the extra guest, but it’s a bit of an inconvenience. This is something like how it feels to be part of a growing church. Many of us are excited to have new people joining the church. But, if we’re honest, it also might also feel a bit inconvenient. Perhaps we secretly liked the way things were. It’s no secret that the church has grown quite a bit since we came back together after COVID. Being part of a city-centre church will inevitably mean regularly meeting new people. The fact there are new faces every Sunday might initially feel exciting but can easily become overwhelming. How do we welcome people well without becoming jaded? Let me suggest three principles:
1. Remembering the call to practice hospitality. Hospitality in the New Testament could be literally translated, ‘the love of strangers’. Just as Christ loved us whilst we were outsiders, so, when we’re brought into the kingdom, our lives are turned inside out. We no longer live for ourselves, but rather seek to live lives of love, both for our family, and for the outsider. This should change the way you approach a Sunday gathering. You’re no longer coming just to see your friends. Instead, you come ready to welcome the stranger and help draw them into community.
2. Be willing to make room at the table. We may need to make sacrifices in order to accommodate new folks into our community. It might mean being willing to split your life group into two, so there are more places available for new people. Or perhaps being intentional about chatting to someone new on Sunday rather than the people you know already. Being willing to inconvenience ourselves is part of our call to love each other.
3. Remember we’re family. Ultimately, we’re not just loving newcomers as ‘strangers’. For someone joining the church, we need to remember they’re (likely) our brother or sister. This changes how we greet them. It’s not another encounter with an anonymous Londoner, but rather meeting a member of God’s extended family. We might have very little in common in human terms, but we have a kinship and familial connection that should draw us together. And even if they’re not a Christian, perhaps it’s even more important that we welcome them well, to demonstrate the love of God that they haven’t yet come to believe in!
None of this should be confused with the importance of intentionally building deep friendships with a few people. We all need people who know us well to speak into our lives. But don’t let the need for deep friendships stop us from being intentional to welcome new people well into our community. Let’s create a culture together, where both deep friendships and a warm welcome to outsiders can flourish.
The Transformative Power of the Sofa
In contrast to my last piece, I’d like to offer you a more positive vision for the home.
Early in married life, before we had children, Sie Yan and I became inspired by the amazing story of Francis and Edith Schaeffer. This American couple had been in church ministry in the US in the early part of the last century, but after a few years they uprooted their lives and moved to the Swiss Alps. There they rented a chalet and set up a ministry called L’Abri (“The Shelter”).