February 2025 Magazine Letter
A message for 2025 – God knows you by name
We live in a world where it is easy to feel like just a number. Whether it’s waiting endlessly being put on hold or waiting to be seen by professionals who only focus on one issue at a time. It can feel like we are never fully known.
But God sees us differently.
In Isiah 43, God says: “I have called you by name, you are mine.” And in Luke’s Gospel, when Jesus is baptized, God’s voice declares: “You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Candlemas, celebrated on 2nd February, marks the presentation of Jesus in the temple and the recognition of him as the light of the world. It is a time when Jesus was known by name, fulfilling the prophecy and declaring his identity to the world. This event reminds us that Jesus was recognized and named, we too are known and named by God.
God does not see us as a collection of problems to be solved or as one appointment among many. He sees the whole of who we are – our hopes, our struggles, our story. He knows us personally, loves us deeply, and calls us by name.
At our confirmation service this June at All Saints Church, the bishop will lay hands on each candidate and say these beautiful words: “God so called you by name and made you his own. Confirm, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit.”
It is a reminder for all of us that we are never just a number to God.
We are known.
We are loved.
We are his.
And that is the message of hope the world needs more than ever.
Yours in the name of Christ, Silke
