Last month, Garry talked about choices and gave us the opportunity to choose between white, milk and plain chocolate. That got Julie thinking about all the other kinds of chocolates there are (such as Celebrations, Quality Street and Heroes) and the children found out which were the most popular for us…

However, it seemed restrictive to only think about chocolates, so we also thought about Liquorice Allsorts & Haribo sweets!

The confectionery business is full of variety… and this is really a reflection of the variety we see all around us in creation (think of all the flowers, trees, animals, birds and fish God made!) God loves colour and vibrancy and vitality and makes beautiful things… including people who are infinitely varied and all unique. We can be sure that God welcomes all sorts!

Jesus got into trouble with the religious leaders of His day precisely because He welcomed sinners and ate with them (Luke 15:2). He went out of His way to befriend Zacchaeus, a tax collector hated by many. (Luke 19:1-10) Welcome and acceptance need to be part of our everyday lives (Rom 15:7). It doesn’t matter what our racial identity, gender, religious background or intelligence is. We are all welcomed by God into His family; there are no outsiders to His love.