"Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?"
Jonah 9:11

Many of us didn’t plan to settle in Woolwich — I certainly didn’t. Yet here we are, called to more than just survive. It’s easy to despair when faced with violence, addiction, and poverty in our city. The temptation is to retreat into safe Christian circles. But Jesus calls us to engage, not escape.

God loves this city, just as He loved Nineveh (Jonah 4:11) and instructed the exiled Israelites to seek the peace and prosperity of Babylon (Jeremiah 29:4-7). We are called to do the same in Woolwich.

Rather than consume the city’s resources or critique it from afar, we must ask: How can I bring life here? Jesus says we are the salt and light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Salt preserves and flavours; light reveals and transforms. Our presence and actions should make a tangible difference.

Examples like the Mizens — who responded to their son’s murder with forgiveness and hope — remind us that faith empowers us to bring good out of bad.

Let’s pray, participate, and love our city. Whether through serving, building relationships, or simple daily actions, we are sent here for a purpose. God has entrusted this space to us. Let’s shine brightly.

They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

- Mark 12:14-17

We live in politically divided times. So did Jesus - and in this story he is asked to take a side in the most politically charged question of his age. There were people refusing to pay the imperial tax - killing and dying for their beliefs. Then there were the collaborators, who just paid the tax and accepted the way the world was, even if it meant closing their eyes to injustice and oppression. What kind of man was Jesus?

Jesus gave an answer which meant he not only escaped the trap, but also showed them he wanted a deeper revolution than the kind that could be delivered by swords. Whose image and whose inscription on this coin? Caesar's? Then give Caesar his scraps of metal.

But what is the inscription? Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus, High Priest. King, Son of God, High Priest? The same claims Jesus was making for himself. Caesar called himself the ruler of the world, and so did Jesus. Now that's a conflict.

But not the king of revolution that burns everything down, destroys and kills. A revolution that lifts up, heals and brings life. This is not a king who would ask you to kill or die for him. He is the King that dies for you. This is the King that makes the most subversive claim - one that undermines the claim of every empire - that we are all made in the image of God, and belong not to any human ruler but to Him.

As we ask ourselves what it is to be sent, we can ask what it means to be sent to the public world of political decisions, the economy and public debate. There would be those who would say that religion should be handed in at the door to this world - that it's a matter for our private lives. Jesus didn't 'privatise' the things of God, and he didn't just stick to the options that he was offered. Instead, he performed 'signs of the Kingdom' in the public world, bringing healing, freedom and forgiveness.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
- Ephesians 2:8-10

As we step into the rhythms of a new week, many of us return to routines that feel ordinary: checking emails, caring for children, fixing broken things, attending meetings. It’s easy to feel like Monday has little to do with God’s mission — but the gospel tells a different story.

You are not just going to work. You are sent to work.

In Christ, every task, however routine or hidden, can become sacred. Not because of the job title, but because of who you do it for. Whether you're caregiving, creating, or cleaning God sees your work and calls it good when it’s done in love and faithfulness.

As Colossians 3:23 reminds us: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” That transforms how we work. Grumbling becomes gratitude. Excellence becomes worship. A job becomes a calling.

You are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works and that includes your work this week.

So go into your Monday with purpose. See your workplace, your home, your classroom, your commute, as holy ground. Not because it’s easy. But because God is already there.

You are not just working.
You are participating in God’s mission.
You are sent.