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Reflections - Archive - 2010
These reflections are published most Sundays on the front page of our parish newsletter.
Current reflections may be found here.
When Mary was approaching Bethlehem she would have been full of hopes and fears. She was expecting a baby but it was not just any baby, it was to be the Son of God. She knew this, even though it was nine months since she had been told so by the Angel Gabriel. But her fears were numerous and had been with her like a constant shadow. She was a virgin, unmarried and, until Joseph pledged himself to her, would have been shunned by her community; an outcast with no support or friendship. Approaching the lights of Bethlehem her fears could well have returned. Would she survive the heat? What if there was nowhere to stay? What if she had complications? What if…
Her confinement and the birth of Jesus finally happened and like any expectant mother she was exultant. The joy of new life is always wonderful. What then did it matter to be surrounded by the pungent presence of all those smelly animals? But might not her fears have returned, when she was not left alone with her baby. A succession of visitors arrived; shepherds, kings, and they were only the ones we know about. She was unique and blessed among women but was still a woman and we know that as time goes by she understands that her blessedness comes at a price. She will have to give this baby up and allow the man to make his own decisions in life, even if, as she comes to fear, it will lead to a most painful death. She knows that her responsibility is to provide him with all her love, guidance, moral teaching and much more. All this is done in the quiet of their home, invisible to the community. Mary’s success as a mother is contained within the Gospels.
The most important God given task of caring for helpless babes was given to women, and mothers today can learn much from Mary’s example of patience and acceptance. It is in the quiet times, in the home, in the nursery, in the play area where the personality of a growing child is nurtured and this happens while the hopes and fears of all the years are met, by a mother who accepts both, with equal determination and whatever each new day has in store.
Richie Brown
We get so used to the Christmas story that it loses its power to shock us. We make the baby lying in the manger a delightful Sunday School play instead of saying literally “What on earth is God doing here?” If God asked you to plan for the arrival of his only Son in this world what would you do? Where and how would you have the birth take place? Would you allow Mary, heavily pregnant, to walk or ride a donkey for virtually 86 miles, with nowhere for her to rest, as her labour pains begin. Would you allow her to give birth in the part of the house where the animals shelter, and place the promised Son of God in a manger? God’s ways are certainly not our ways. The way God orchestrates this history-making moment is a message in itself. He joins humanity right in the middle of busyness, disruption, poverty and ‘making do’. This is how God chooses to arrive. The birth of Jesus gives us confidence that God is to be found in the vulnerable, hard, messy places of life. It is where he delights to be received, welcomed and nurtured.
Wherever you go this week you will see tinsel and bright lights and push your way through crowds of people shopping for presents. Look and listen at another level though, see if you notice any shadows of anxiety, darkness or loneliness in yourself or in others. Sometimes the expectation of a merry Christmas filled only with cheer makes the shadows seem darker. The promise of Christ’s coming is that he brings light in the darkness. A fragile little baby is God’s sign that his peace can be born in very unlikely circumstances. Maybe you have a ‘wooden shed out the back’ in your own mind where you put the things that don’t fit your picture of the way life should be. Go there in prayer and expect to find Jesus, who loves to bring new life into difficult places.
The mystery is that this vulnerable child is the Mighty God and the promise is that the darkness cannot overcome the light. We can look back on Isaiah’s promises and know that God fulfilled his word and that’s why we celebrate.
Shirley Wallin
Does anyone remember David Icke? He was the well known BBC Sports presenter, who in 1991 announced that he was the son of God, turning him practically overnight from a well-known respected name to an object of ridicule. I was 15 at the time, and the one thing I remember thinking was that yes this was an odd claim and not right – but when Jesus does come again, will we recognise him? Or will we be so caught up with rules and regulations of church and life generally, full of our own ideas of what the Messiah should be, should do, should look like; that we just don’t get it?
I actually think that when Jesus comes again we’ll be left in little doubt! But the question this season of Advent asks us is: will we be ready? In the Gospel reading for Advent Sunday last week, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’ Advent is a time where we need to look forward and prepare for Jesus’ second coming, seeking to make sure we are ready. Actually taking Jesus’ words above seriously means this is something we need to be ready for all the time! But Advent does encourage a particular focus on Jesus’ second coming. Plenty of people have tried to predict when exactly this will be, plenty have already been proved wrong! But look at Jesus’ words – ‘you do not know on what day …’, ‘the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’ Our job is not to second guess God – but simply to be ready.
But what does being ready mean? There’s lots I could go into here, but I think Jesus himself gives us a significant clue in the parable of the sheep and the goats: ‘the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father … I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in … Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ It’s about living life as Jesus would, seeking to help those in any kind of need however we can – playing our part in loving others as God first loved us. Keep awake! Be ready!
Simon Elliott
28 November 2010
Advent Sunday
It seems that as the world becomes supposedly less complicated through technological advances, we still find ourselves waiting. Researchers tell us, for example, that the average person will spend 5 years of their life queuing and 6 months sitting at red lights. That is over 5.5 years of waiting, at best doing nothing, or at worst experiencing great aggravation! Even in our fast-paced world we still have to wait for some things.
During the Advent season, we discover a purpose to our waiting. You think we have it rough, how about waiting thousands of years, not for something minor like our shopping to arrive, but for the King whose eternal reign would end the oppression of the world? That was the situation of the people of God in the Old Testament who waited expectantly for the coming of the Messiah.
Then, born in Bethlehem, a small town in the Roman Empire, their hope is finally realized, but with a twist, because Jesus is not the earthly king many expected. And even after waiting, the final realization of the Messiah’s eternal reign is still yet to be seen, coming in the future, when he returns in power to judge the living and the dead.
During the Advent season we symbolically participate in the waiting of the patriarchs, kings, prophets, and priests, as we await Christ’s final and glorious return.
As we wait in queues or at red lights over the next few weeks, we can remind ourselves of the waiting of those expecting the Messiah, and always wait with patience, humility, and expectant hope in a state of prayer.
Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus!
Pete Spiers
Victory
Brother death, I know you stalk me
at my shoulder night and day.
I do not fear thee, Christ is near me;
bright sword of Michael lights my way.
Through its light I will press onward
in the hope, the path, the way.I feel no sadness, only gladness,
safe beneath God’s covering wing;
brother death, get thee behind me,
I cannot feel thy awful sting;
night is passed and blessed morning
lifts me up, bird trumpets sing.Brother death, you’ve lost the battle,
my God alone has won the day;
your darts of pain have torn and fraught me,
still my Saviour held the sway;
in his gentle arms he caught me;
bore me gently home to stay.Davie Webster
We have had ten funerals or ashes interments over the last week, please pray for all the bereaved families and friends as they come to terms with the loss of their loved ones.
14 November 2010
Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday is traditionally put aside to remember all those who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today, and people across the nation pause and reflect on the sacrifices made by our brave Service men and women.
This day was originally conceived as a commemoration of the war dead of the First World War but after the Second World War this was extended to focus on the nation's dead of both World Wars, and later was widened to include the conflicts in the Falklands, the Gulf, Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and to extend the remembrance to all who have suffered, died or been injured in wars in the service of their country and all those who mourn them.
Some of the worst fighting of World War One took place in the Flanders and Picardy regions of Belgium and Northern France. The poppy was the only thing which grew in the aftermath of the complete devastation. Ironically, some of the largest poppy fields in the world today are found at the very heart of the fighting in Afghanistan.
During the laying of the wreaths we will have a two-minute silence. This is to enable us to remember the terrible cost of war and the fact that it is still going on; we remember that some people have paid the price with their lives and we remember those who still suffer or grieve.
We can also use this moment to remember what has happened in the past; to remember what is happening now and to remember not to go on choosing the way of war because peace is not just the opposite of war; it's meant to be a way of life.
Jesus said in John 15.12-14: This is my commandment; that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
Barbara Chambers
7 November 2010
The Central Message of Jesus
I read lots of ‘Christian’ books. Some are helpful but theological tomes confuse me. I wonder whether they have similarities to the 64 page booklet that came with the microwave. That booklet contained pages that I will never understand or use and I don’t want to cook a three course meal with a microwave. I don’t know anyone that does.
This introduction is intended to make a simple point about the life, teaching and actions of Jesus. In first century Palestine, few people could read and the message of Jesus was by word of mouth. This is why his use of parables is so important and why, when we read the scriptures, we should look for central messages, act upon them and avoid taking so much time in debating what this or that word or phrase might mean. This leads to inaction. It also leads to churches splitting and once friendly Christians finding doctrinal issues separating them. I know this in my own life. I have seen friends move to another church over differences in understanding about infant baptisms. How sad!
After Jesus had been tempted by the devil he gave his first sermon in the synagogue. He said his ministry was to preach good news to the poor and oppressed, and to work at challenging injustices. For the rest of his life he did just that. Look at the gospels. Whilst there might be phrases and small passages that you and I find difficult to understand his central message of caring for and working on behalf of the oppressed, the powerless and the disenfranchised is clear enough.
Today and tomorrow there will emerge a temptation to view some people in our community as undeserving as the government puts its austerity measures into action but let us read the gospels and take action in their light of Jesus.
Richie Brown
So tonight is Halloween, a chance for some innocent fun? After all what harm is there in dressing up as witches and enjoying a party? So what is it all about, where did it start and why has it become the third most celebrated event after Christmas and New Year and such a huge marketing opportunity for commercial enterprises.
Halloween is an annual occult celebration when children venture out after dusk to trick or treat. Dressed as witches, ghouls and demons they beg a treat off their neighbours, those who refuse are tricked. Most people play along with this so as not to disappoint the children. For the majority it is regarded as lighthearted fun, or is it?
Halloween has its origins in Baal worship when, in old Testament times people started worshipping creation instead of Almighty God the creator. The Assyrians developed a complex system of sun worship which spread all over the world, and in Britain the sun god was called Samahain and the priests called druids. Druids believed that on the night of their new year festival, 31 October, spirits of the dead were released to roam the earth. In order to ward them off people put food offerings outside their homes and made frightening lanterns to ‘spook the spooks’; hence children out trick and treating actually represent the evil spirits demanding a sacrifice of food under threat of being cursed. Still good fun?
C S Lewis wrote that one of Satan’s most deceptive tactics is to convince people that he doesn’t exist. “The god of this age has blinded the minds on unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4.4) Sadly many people think of the devil as no more than a symbol of evil, like Santa Claus, he is just a fictional symbol and that witches are not real people, but simply imaginary figures who represent the supernatural and all that is ‘spooky’. When in actual fact the truth is quite the opposite and those who oppose Christ take Halloween very seriously and are known to organize rituals on this day. The Bible warns very strongly against such activity, the word God uses is ‘detestable’.
So why allow our children to have anything to do with the celebration that glorifies the power of God’s enemies, when we can instead celebrate the truth that Jesus is the light of the world: whoever follows him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8.12)
Shirley Wallin
I don't know if you have ever tried to go on a diet. At first it is difficult to change your eating habits and to cut out those things which are bad for you and to start eating those things which are good for you. However if you persevere, you will often find that you grow to enjoy those things which are good for you and to not like those things which are bad for you.
If we are to grow as Christians then we need to develop a good diet - 'Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God' (Deuteronomy 8.3). Most of us would agree that it’s a good thing to eat daily and regularly. In the same way, we need to read the Bible daily and regularly if we are to grow.
Today we celebrate Bible Sunday and thank God for the translation of the Bible into our own language and acknowledge that for many people around the world they are still waiting for this to happen. Next year the Bible Fresh initiative on the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version will give us the opportunity to focus our attention on the Bible.
Our TAG group (Teenagers And God) were challenged at Soul Survivor in the summer to read the whole Bible in a year and fifteen of them are doing so. There will be books on our bookstall today that will help you get into the Bible. Why don't you make an investment of a few pounds that will pay you eternal dividends?
Pete Spiers
The ten commandments set out very clearly the high standards that God sets for us. He does this, not to make life hard for us but to save us from living our lives in a way that causes us to miss out on the benefits of his love and compassion. Not that he ever wants this to happen but because he has given us the free will to live our own lives and make our own choices.
At the end of his life Paul wrote to Timothy urging him to continue to proclaim the message of God’s love in sending Jesus. He said that people will tend to turn away from truth and would rather listen to myths (2 Timothy 4.4). It is not easy to go against the culture and attitudes of those around us.
Does it matter that we follow God’s law or tell people about Jesus? Absolutely! Because he is the one who will judge the living and the dead and we must continue to teach and preach and be faithful to the Word of God. He calls us to follow him in every aspect of our lives and to devote ourselves to his work. The choice is ours. What will we devote our lives to?
Alan Lewney
St Paul wrote these words to the Philippians:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Over this week of prayer, I’ve been struck again by the privilege we have to worship a God who longs to hear our prayers, who longs to communicate with us, his people, a God who is near – not distant, cut off, or aloof in any way. A God who longs for us to bring all that worries and causes us anxiety to him, and seek his peace. God longs for us to rely on him, to know that he is with us through whatever life brings our way and he longs for others to know that too.
As part of this week of prayer we have invited prayer requests from our community through an article in the Crosby Herald, and prayer boxes were placed in four different venues around the village. Each day there has been something for me to collect from those boxes – requests for prayer from people who are anxious. Prayer for themselves or for loved ones for a variety of reasons. People who are looking for something, people who, in real anxiety and often desperation, are open to being prayed for – willing to try anything almost, people who might not even consider setting foot inside a church on a Sunday, who might not even really understand what prayer is about; but are reaching out for something, for some kind of help, some kind of hope.
I think it’s a privilege that people are asking us to pray for their concerns and worries, but it brings a challenge to us as well. A challenge that as God’s people here in Crosby, he longs to work through us to reach out to people in their anxiety and desperation, to reach people who are looking for something with the good news of the hope that he offers, the good news of the power of prayer, the good news that in him all can find a real peace. Pray for people who desperately need to know that peace, seek them out, draw alongside them, listen to them, support them, show them Jesus – a challenge for us all to respond to.
Simon Elliott
Trust the Lord… Take delight in the Lord… Commit your way to the Lord… Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…
All are exhortations to patience and trust written by King David and recorded in Psalm 37. I have recently been challenged in the use of my time and the need to ‘Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…’ What we consider important is what we spend most of our time on, and we reveal what we value most by how we allocate this valuable resource. Patience is important to producers of food, as it necessary to spend time preparing the ground for planting, nurturing the seed, tending the growing crops and then waiting for harvest. As we celebrate harvest festival today, through our worship giving thanks for God’s provision, let us take time to ‘delight in the Lord’ by giving of ourselves, through giving of our time to him. When we say the Lord’s prayer in our services today, let us pause and reflect in particular on the words ‘give us this daily bread’. The future banquet of the kingdom of God is something we can anticipate, and we can ask God for whatever ‘bread’ we need today. In doing this let us also bring with us to the table the hungry of the world whose need is simply bread and pray about what we will do about that need.
Gillian Beardwood
26 September 2010
Back to Church Sunday
Today is Back to Church Sunday. Welcome back. For many of us it is the first time since last Sunday! For others it might be the first time in years. So if that's you - a special welcome back.
There are many reasons why people might stop going to church - boredom, doubt, an argument, disillusionment, unanswered questions, anger; to be honest, I can go through any of these in any week. Others just drift away. But whatever the reason, today could be a new beginning. A chance to start to deal with things. They are not going to be sorted once and for all, but this could be a time for first steps. So feel free to tell someone. Get it off your chest. Tell it like it is.
All church is a group of followers of Jesus. He welcomed everyone - outcasts, lepers, tax collectors. His most famous parable is about a son who walked out on his family and then returned to be welcomed back with a party. That is what today is about. It isn't about coming back to a building or services, but it is about being welcomed back!
Steve Cornforth
19 September 2010
The Ten Commandments (Exodus
20.1-17)
As far back as I can remember and until after my mother died we always had a bookmark, printed with the Ten Commandments, pinned over the fireplace. She’d tell us that when we were tall enough and could read them then we were old enough to live by them. The first four commandments are about our relationship with God and the other six about our living with each other.
Living by the 10 commandments is a way of life, but it’s only when we get our relationship with God right that we can begin to get our hearts right and our relationships with each other right.
I think the first four commandments are very hard and nowadays are ignored by society at large. Often people think that because they have tried to live a good life God won’t hold it against them for trying to be good. But by God’s standards of holiness: “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3.23)
Most of us realize when we read the 10 commandments how we have failed and fall short and know we need to be redeemed, and that is why Jesus came. He came to be our Saviour and Redeemer. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. (Romans 5.8). Jesus came that we might have a new life in him. God’s commandments are timeless and can apply to all people for they guide us into all truth and keep us on course and headed in the right direction.
During the next few months the ten commandments will be preached on several Sundays (please do look at the autumn programme), if you can’t make the dates please do ask for the recording of the talk.
Barbara Chambers
‘JESUS WRECKED MY LIFE. I know there are people out there who say, “My life was such a mess. I was drinking, partying… and then I met Jesus and my whole life came together.” God bless those people. But me, I had it together. I used to be cool. And then I met Jesus and he wrecked my life. The more I read the gospel, the more it messed me up, turning everything I believed in, valued and hoped, for upside-down. I am still recovering from my conversion… I was in the in-crowd, popular, ready to make lots of money and buy lots of stuff, on the upward track to success… But as I read Scriptures about how the last will be first, I started wondering why I was working so hard to be first… I thought about leaving everything to follow Jesus, like the apostles, and hitting the road with nothing but my sandals and a staff, but I wasn’t sure where to pick up a staff.’
Words of testimony from a guy called Shane Claiborne that resonate with Pete’s challenging words about the cost of following Jesus Christ last Sunday (if you didn’t hear him – it was recorded, ask us for a copy). I believe God is speaking to me and to us all. Being a follower of Jesus is not an easy option – it costs us, it has the potential to turn our lives upside down. Truly following Christ has the potential to bring a sense of peace, joy and fulfilment greater than we can ever begin to imagine; but it does not come easily. If you’re sat there wondering what this all means to you, what needs to be done, where do you start; you’re not alone! Claiborne didn’t know where to ‘pick up a staff’, where to start with all this stuff, and it’s quite normal to hear such words of challenge and not quite know what to do with it. But, if you think that God is speaking to you and challenging you through all this – don’t just turn a blind eye and try to ignore it. Pray, ask for God’s guidance, speak to others about it. If you don’t think it applies to you, keep questioning that, and still pray and ask for guidance! Let’s keep this conversation about the challenge of truly following Jesus, a conversation that I believe God has triggered through Pete’s sermon, going and see what journey it takes us on. Are we ready for Jesus to ‘wreck our lives’?
Simon Elliott
On 15 September, Sefton Council’s planning committee will once again consider Sainsbury’s application for planning permission to build a much larger store in Crosby. This is a controversial proposal that has caused heated debate within the community and amongst the existing traders themselves.
One of our hopes for the Crosby room was that it might be a place which community groups could use. It has been great to welcome the Crosby traders association and A Better Crosby group for their meetings, and Sainsbury’s themselves have held meetings this past week with community members and our MP to address their concerns.
Jesus lived a life of service and we are to serve one another and the Church is to serve the community. In this way God could be made known. I believe that through the use of our Crosby room, St Luke’s has been able to serve the community of Crosby, their concerns should always be our concerns. Christians are to be the ‘Salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world. (Matthew 5.13,14).
When we say the Lord’s prayer we ask that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and so we need to be praying for the planning department, the councillors on the planning committee and Sainsbury’s themselves over these next 10 days.
Pete Spiers
If you would like to contact the Councillors who sat on the recent planning committee there is a contact list at the back of church, or available from the Parish office.
As I’ve been listening to or reading the set Gospel readings over the last number of weeks, I’ve been struck time and time again by the way in which Jesus constantly turned the etiquette and perceived wisdom of the human world on its head!
To a world that places value on importance, power & prestige, Jesus says: ‘whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave’ (Matthew 20.26-27), ‘For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted’ (Luke 14.11).To a world that places such value in personal wealth and possessions, Jesus says: ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions’ (Luke 12.15), and ‘Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven...For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ (Luke 12.33-34). To a world that says ‘put number one first’, look after yourself; and a world that struggles with tensions on racial / national / religious grounds, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan, a man hated by Jews on racial grounds, helping the beaten up Jew by tending his wounds and taking him to a place where he could recover and then paying for his keep and care (Luke 10.25-37). To a world that promotes ‘busy-ness’ and the need to be constantly ‘doing’, Jesus gently rebukes Martha when she wants Jesus to tell Mary to help her with the various tasks that are distracting her, saying that Mary, by sitting at his feet and listening to him, has chosen the better path (Luke 10.38-42). To a world that emphasises rules and regulations and the importance of doing things in the ‘right’ way and so on. Jesus emphasises the importance, above any, of that of compassion, mercy and responding to people in desperate need, through his healing of a crippled woman on the Sabbath day when any ‘work’ was against the rules (Luke 13.10-17).
I could go on! Jesus was not scared to stand out, to act and speak according to his own Godly values and nature, even when it went against the grain of culture, even when it wasn’t the ‘right’ thing to say or to do. What is our response to Jesus and his message today? Are we truly seeking to live out his teaching and follow his example even when it means taking a stand for something different? Where is our ‘treasure’? In what do we place value? Where are our hearts?
Simon Elliott
At the very end of the film Schindler’s List, Oskar Schindler walks over the train tracks to his car surrounded by 1100 Jewish immigrants, waiting to thank him for saving their lives. However, the only thing that he’s thinking about, are the people he couldn’t save. Oskar looks at his clothes, car, and jewellery with new eyes. He now understands that if he’d sold these things in order to save more lives, ultimately they would have been worth so much more than they can ever be worth in his possession. Unlike the rich man in our gospel story today who stored up riches for himself and wanted to build bigger and bigger barns to hold all his wealth, so he could eat, drink and be merry.
God called the rich man a “fool” because instead of sharing what he had with others, he hoarded it, and before he had time to spend anything he would die. He would need to leave everything behind and leave with nothing. Unfortunately people who do put their trust in wealth and possessions thinking that it will make them happier usually end up disappointed.
Jesus warned about that. He said, "Beware! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."
God didn’t say that we shouldn’t have wealth or possessions, just to be careful how we use them. He has promised to supply all of our needs, but he has not promised to fulfill every desire.
Lord Jesus, help us to be content with the blessings which you so generously give us and help us to be on guard against selfishness and greed. Amen.
Barbara Chambers
The teaching of Jesus about how we should pray is simple yet very profound. In the Lord’s prayer we are taught to first of all acknowledge our dependence on God. He is our Father in heaven. We are to recognise his holiness and authority as we say “hallowed be your name” We are assured that when we sincerely approach him and depend on him, he will give us the guidance and assurance of his Holy Spirit, in other words he is not distant from us but near to us and with us.
How can God be everywhere, hear all our prayers at once and be the Father of all who believe in him? As a communications technician I had to try to understand how thousands of messages could travel along a glass fibre, then be separated out and used to make the air moving my eardrum vibrate in exactly the same way as it moved upon leaving somebody’s vocal chords hundreds of miles away. Today we have many ways to receive messages on screen, iPhone, on tape, iPod, CD, HD. Every week it becomes more amazing. I don’t know how God hears us but maybe the answer lies in the fact that he is Spirit. In John 4.24 we read ‘God is Spirit and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is’. God’s universal WEB does not need physical connections or signals of various forms . He hears us through a system of which we have very little knowledge, which is beyond our present understanding and yet he is still as close as any earthly Father and able to supply our very needs. WOW!
Alan Lewney
Revelation 3.20 is one of the most familiar of bible verses - ‘Here I am, I stand at the door, and knock: if anyone hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will eat with him, and he with me.’
Great words – but what do they actually mean? I think they are about welcome and hospitality. Eating in the bible is a big deal – and why not?? You never read of them going into Maccies for a quick burger. Oh no – it was normally a bit of an occasion, where the host would entertain honoured guests – a sort of biblical Come Dine With Me without the witty voice-overs. So we read that King David said of Mephibosheth – ‘…he will always eat at my table…’ and David said to Solomon about the sons of Bazillai – ‘…let them be always those who eat at your table.’ It was a great privilege to eat with the King.
Jesus was criticized for eating with all the wrong types – including Zaccheus (Zac the Rat) the tax collector. I always think of that episode of Keeping Up appearances where Hyacinth Bucket goes on a cruise. She has no interest in the ship or the exotic locations – her only concern is to eat at the captain’s table!
So when Jesus uses these words he is saying to us – ‘you are significant to me, you are important, I will dine with you…’ And the only condition is that we accept his invite. There is nothing to suggest that anyone is unacceptable. It gives us a great sense of worth to know that we are important.
Do we understand that? And do we treat others in the same way? Jesus said in Luke 14 – ‘…when you give a banquet invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.’ We live in a world full of people crying out for value and significant. I think that we should be saying to anyone in need – ‘ Here I am – I stand at the door … I will eat with you … and you with me.’ In other words we are saying that they are important and significant to us – with no sense of judgment, preferential treatment or discrimination.
Right I’m hungry after all that – anyone for a Big Mac?
Steve Cornforth
Our reading this morning is the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. At the beginning of the story Jesus is asked the question “What do we have to do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied “What does scripture say?”, he is given the right answer -“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbour as yourself.”
We have been studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians in Cell Group, a letter quite different from his others, not concentrating on problems or crises but on relationships. It helps us to get to know Paul as a person and friend rather than a preacher or missionary. Paul mentions learning secrets, for example he has learned to be content whatever the circumstances. He knows what it is to be in need and to have plenty. He has learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, for he can do everything through him who gives him strength. He knows what he is talking about, he writes this letter from his prison cell in Rome, facing a lonely future and a trial which could lead to death. In spite of Paul’s situation, the letter is filled with rejoicing, with words like ‘joy’, ‘rejoice’ and ‘thanksgiving’. He and his companions turned the cell where they were placed into a worship service! And as if in response to this God sent an earthquake bringing the cell walls down and throwing open the whole prison whereupon the jailer asked Paul the same question Jesus was asked - “What must I do to be saved”. I believe the source of Paul’s joy was that he loved his Lord with all his heart, soul, strength and mind, and that we too can know that joy, not happiness depending on what is ‘happening’ but a deep contentment and feeling of wellbeing when we put Jesus before everyone and everything, falling in love with Jesus, as opposed to just coming to church on a Sunday. He talks about living for Christ, to die is gain! Being eager to go, but willing to stay, don’t we tend to have it the other way round to be eager to stay but willing to go? We talk about having Christ in us but Paul talks about being in Christ, Christ always being the greater one. It is clear that he is utterly content in spite of his circumstances. The answer to the question? Eternal life starts, not when we die, but the moment we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
Shirley Wallin
There is a popular saying: 'you can do anything if you put your mind to it.' However it's simply not true! Roger Federer, Venus Williams and the England football team are testament to that. No-one can say that they didn't set their minds to win Wimbledon or the World Cup!
The truth is that no matter how much we might want something and no matter how much effort we put into achieving it, we sometimes fall short. This saying is useful for inspiring ambition and effort but doesn't recognise that we are human with limitations.
God has created each one of us as unique individuals with different skills and personalities. Setting our minds to try different things and to take on new challenges to discover what we can achieve is part of our humanity. God doesn't say that we have to be good at everything to be of significance or to be objects of his unconditional love.
We might never be as good at tennis as Roger Federer or Venus Williams or at football as the England football team (!) but that's OK! Accepting our limitations does not mean that we must be bound by them.
St Paul shared his experience of God with the Christians in Philippi and he is far more realistic: I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4.13)
Pete Spiers
So, love it or hate it, the fact is sport is dominating our TV screens, internet sites, newspapers and much conversation at the moment. The World Cup, Wimbledon, it’s hard to avoid it! I must say I love it, but it is so frustrating sometimes! Which type of England performance are we going to get in the second round against Germany - play well and lose, play poorly and sneak through, or face a nail-biting penalty shootout? At Wimbledon – can Murray win it? The fact is, that following England in the football, Murray in the tennis, or any other sporting team or individual is more often than not a bit of a rollercoaster ride isn’t it? Ups and downs, high points and low points, exciting times and more flat times.
Life generally is like that as well isn’t it? A rollercoaster ride on a journey which takes us through good times, hard times, busy times, calmer times, exciting times, and so on. The exciting thing is that no matter who we are, Jesus longs for us to take that journey through our lives with him. He longs to lead and guide us, to be there for us, to support and encourage us, to give us the strength to keep going, to help us when we have difficult choices and decisions to make. This isn’t an easy option; following Jesus does not mean we get off lightly and avoid the difficulties that life brings; following Jesus does sometimes involve having to make tough decisions about following him and what he would have us do, rather than just thinking about what we want to do all the time. Not easy, but so worthwhile! Jesus longs for us to choose, to follow his way because that is the best way for us. He longs for us to respond to him, and live our lives knowing his love, no matter where we are on that rollercoaster ride of life. Jesus is calling each one of us today, whether it is to think about him and turn to him for the first time, or simply as a reminder to those, who have turned to him already, that he is still with us. How are we going to respond to that call today?
Simon Elliott
Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a landowner wanting to hire workers for his vineyard (Matthew 20.1-16). We looked at it in our Shared Ministry Team (SMT) meeting last week. Those who worked for one hour were paid the same as those who worked all day. When he was accused of injustice, the landowner declared that each worker knew before they began their work, what their reward would be and so where was the injustice?
We concluded that establishing the kingdom of God requires work and effort. It will not just happen and it will not happen if people are not prepared to put themselves out. We also concluded that God can use anyone in his service. In fact he is looking for people to hire and to answer ‘the call of the kingdom’ and that as an SMT we need to continually remind people of this.
Since my letter of last week, I hope you’ve been praying and I would like to know what you believe God has been saying to you.
Let us remember our verse for 2010, another saying of Jesus:
‘You did not choose me but I chose you. I appointed you to go and bear much fruit, fruit that will last…’ (John 15.16).
Pete Spiers
Invitations – these can be a source of great delight; being invited to a birthday party, a wedding or other social occasion. They are an opportunity for us to gather together to enjoy a celebration. During the course of our lifetime we may receive many different invitations, but perhaps the best is that offered by Jesus to ‘come and see’ (John 1.39), what a marvellous opportunity! Originally these words were spoken to the first disciples but are still being said to us today.
What is remarkable about Jesus’s invitation is that it is not just for a ‘one off’ occasion; it is an invitation for life; he invites us to walk with him each day, to share our lives with him.
How can we encourage others to take up the invitation? What is Jesus’s challenge for people in the UK today?
Each of us has our own experience of Jesus and what he means to us, and we would be describing ‘our’ Jesus. We don’t know what he looked like, there are no descriptions of him in the Bible, but there are many other aspects we could describe. So, would we tell others that Jesus the son of God, was sent to demonstrate God’s love, compassion and mercy for people through teaching and action; a saviour who died so that we may live? Would we tell others about what he did and said as recorded in the Bible? Perhaps we would recall some of the parables, or tell of his championing of social and economic justice for oppressed people, and how he demonstrated the ‘good news’ through his ministry.
Jesus’s invitation is for all: class, ethnicity, race, gender and culture are no obstacles; to those who are victims of poverty, disease, hunger and oppression; to everyone he shows his love for justice and peace. When we accept his invitation our lives are changed, we are invited to see situations and others differently, and to do what he taught.
Invitations are usually from people we know; Jesus knows us all, he is just waiting for us to ‘come and see’.
Gillian Beardwood
We are studying Joshua in the evening services, and coincidentally tonight in the Café service the theme is ‘freedom’. The book of Joshua can be seen as an analogy of moving into personal freedom in Christ. Canaan was the goal to which God was leading his people. He promised not only to deliver the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt but to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you.” God said. The whole land was given to the people, but they could possess only the portion which they claimed. Isn’t that the same for us? If we think about freedom, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing but we possess only that which we press in to receive. And just like them, we have an enemy to conquer and giants to face in our lives. These could be the defences we use, the walls we build around ourselves to stop us becoming vulnerable or hurt again, the expectations put upon us by others, becoming what we think is acceptable to others for fear of rejection, but in reality our freedom is measured by our defencelessness. We need to be true to ourselves and get back to the person God created us to be, our confidence and identity being in him. But Joshua was only a shadow; Jesus is the reality and he has already defeated the enemy and equips us with all that we need to move forward and take ground, and when we have taken ground to stand, and when we have stood to move forward again. We have the power of the cross, the empty tomb, an ascended Lord and Pentecost, the giving of the Holy Spirit. We have all of Jesus at the moment of conversion but only posses as much of him as by faith we claim.
God had done wonderful things for the Israelites when he had delivered them from Egyptian bondage and brought them safely to the border of the Promised Land, but they were afraid to move into the land and even wanted to go back to the familiarity of Egypt.
Our freedom is gained through the blood of Jesus and our acceptance of his work on the cross but very few of us live in the full benefit of it. We are often like the elephant, chained by its leg and held captive, not because it doesn’t have the strength to pull out the stake that holds the chain, but because it is all that it has known. Chained when it was younger and weaker, it learned then that it couldn’t break free, so now as an adult it believes nothing has changed.
Let’s press in together against all the assaults of the enemy and take hold of that which is our inheritance in Jesus Christ.
Shirley Wallin
Trinity Sunday
Today is Trinity Sunday which falls one week after Pentecost.
We have little trouble imagining the Father and the Son as being in relationship, and each of them reflecting the nature of the other. The concept of the Trinity reminds us that the person of the Holy Spirit reflects the nature of the Godhead in the same way. Just as the Son was in the beginning with God, so the Holy Spirit was there at the time of creation and involved from eternity to eternity with all God has done and is doing.
The Holy Spirit is more than an influence, he is a real live person. He has not got a physical form like you and I possess. But he is a real person all the same, in that sense he can think, and feel, and move, and act.
It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that make being a Christian totally unique. As soon as we become a child of God, God’s Holy Spirit enters our hearts, crying ‘Abba’! Father! (Galatians 4.6). So here is the heart of the matter when we think of the Trinity. God indwells us by his Holy Spirit. He speaks to us, guides us, in fact lives with us and makes us more like his Son every day when we listen to his Holy Spirit within us. I can think of no better way of trying to explain the meaning of The Trinity, the three in one.
Alan Lewney
What if our stories were painted on our bodies? What if our hurts and heartaches were displayed up our arms and down our legs, with vignettes of healing and resurrection brushed across our back and chest? What if our body was art, showing 'our' story of becoming? What if we were all living, breathing murals of rising from the wreck, beauty from ashes, bent but not broken, broken but not crushed, crushed but not destroyed? What if we weren't ashamed to show our hurts and wounds and scars, and what if we came to believe that even these are what makes us beautiful? What if we were naked and vulnerable, offering our stories to one another? What if we had the eyes to see the beauty of that nakedness? What if our stories were painted on our bodies?’
This was recently written on Facebook by the writer Jim Palmer who is one of my oldest ‘friends’ in the social networking world!
I think it stands as a powerful reflection in its own right.
So often we are the opposite of this. We feel a need to present an image that all is well. What will people think of me if I admit that I am struggling, that I don’t know where I fit in, that I feel that I have let the side down, that my faith is a bit shaky?? And yet if we are honest these are thoughts that we all have at some point. I can remember being a little shocked when a well known speaker said that he doubted God sometimes. Then I thought – ‘I feel like that sometimes’. Then it became clear that everyone else felt the same!
When we do this we are not only presenting a false image of ourselves, we are also depriving ourselves of the opportunity to be carried by the ones who are strong. And we are isolating anyone else who feels that they are the only ones.
The psalmists had no problem putting it out there - My God, my God why have you abandoned me (Ps 22), Do not ignore my cry for help (Ps 55), Don’t let me be disgraced (Ps 71)…
We can be so much more effective in supporting each other if we are open about how we feel. Our stories may not be painted on our bodies. But we can start to take painting lessons…
Steve Cornforth
Our family has been very excited by all the news from Westminster in the forming of our new government. They have switched on the TV for news updates and followed developments on-line. Would it be Brown or someone else? Would it be Brown and Clegg or Cameron and Clegg? Would it just be Cameron or should the Green MP be Prime Minister…?
Well now we know and who would have thought it? A coalition government of Conservative and Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party looking for a new leader. We have been praying for our country as we all cast our votes and for wisdom for our politicians over these last few days. We will need to continue to pray for them as they promise to usher in a new way of doing politics and governing. They face a great many difficulties.
God is actively involved in our world not only in the great political events of our world but also the little local events of our own individual lives.
Sometimes it's very difficult to see that he is working and for our best interests. Job was entitled to feel like that but he ended up saying: 'I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted' (Job 42.2). Let us remember that God is working his purpose out and continue to put our trust in him.
Pete Spiers
Paul compared the Christian journey to running a marathon. There are certainly similarities. It’s tough, it’s long and it can be lonely. It’s tough because competing in the race is way beyond our comfort zones. It’s long because 26 miles is the equivalent of going to town and back, turning round and doing it all again. It can be lonely if there’s no one nearby. A marathon race can often be competitive so that individuals can be upset if they are beaten by a friend or fail to finish. As an athlete myself I can own to feelings of disappointment and pleasure depending on who I beat and how my time compared with other runners.
But the analogy of the marathon is flawed. The Christian life can be lonely and tough but we never have to do it on our own. In our Christian life the important point is to start. To start we need to recognise our need for a life with Jesus. We can move forward towards the finish line by reading and seeking understanding of his word. The miles slip by as we put his teaching into practice and do those acts of service to others that the Bible tells us are bringing the kingdom of God closer.
But what about those times we slip, those times when the going is tough and wearisome? What about those times we see a brother or sister doing much better and who seem to be racing away from us? What about the times we doubt because of life’s injustice and can no longer see the point because the world’s fog has descended? These are the times when the Christian life is at its most different to the marathon because at that moment only you matter to the Lord, no one else. He isn’t looking at the other runners at that moment. He is only interested in you and your willingness to stand up and start again.
Richie Brown
On 29 April, the Church commemorates an amazing lady. Catherine of Siena was born in 1347 – the youngest of 25 children (!!!). At the age of 6 she had a vision of Christ in glory surrounded by his saints, and from then on spent lots of time in prayer and meditation. She joined the 3rd order of St Dominic, where she became a nurse, caring for patients with leprosy and advanced cancer. She acquired a reputation as a person of insight and sound judgement, and many people sought her spiritual advice. She became very active in standing against corruption in the church, in seeking to reconcile church and society, and in working for unity within the church. So she is remembered as
- a contemplative who devoted herself to prayer;
- a humanitarian who worked tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the sick;
- an activist, a renewer of Church and society, who took a strong stand on the issues affecting society in her day, and who never hesitated ‘to speak truth to power’;
- an advisor and counsellor with a wide range of interests who always made time for troubled and uncertain people who came to her with their problems.
It strikes me that here was someone who took Jesus and his example seriously! Catherine lived out the call, seeking to continue the work of Christ in whatever ways she could. For Catherine, faith was not a separate personal private thing, but something that impacted the whole way she lived out her life in the society in which she lived.
What about us today? Is Catherine’s example something that challenges us to look to the example of Jesus, and seek to follow him as she did in the way we live out our lives day by day? Do we truly know as she did that our faith needs to impact our actions, and is about our whole lives not just about church on a Sunday? That faith needs to lead us to be involved in our society and the issues of our time just as Catherine was. Election time needs to act as a wakeup call to us all! As Christians it’s vital that we don’t bury our heads in the sand, but that we take the issues of our time – justice, environment, immigration, family life, education etc etc – seriously and show the world that God cares and as his people so do we.
Simon Elliott
Most people don’t want to live forever, and when we enjoy an autumn breeze, evidence of a natural end to all things is all about us. But Christians have eternal life. What will that be like? We will be with Jesus and will join with the angels in praise of him for ten thousand, thousand years. What does it mean? If I limit my praise to raised hands I find the prospect a tad tedious. But praise is more than this limiting picture. Slow down from life’s furious sprint for the day’s end and glimpse the opening of a flower, the grandeur of the solar system, the variety of landscapes and there’s much more. Add to this our relationships; those near at hand with our families, friends and, further off, our brothers, sisters who we haven’t met, in cultures of which we have no understanding. There’s so much to praise God for now but what will be different about heaven?
Jesus was present at the birth of the cosmos. He was part of all that was ever given life. When I arrive in heaven, might I not have the God inherited capacity to experience a bigger glimpse of creation? I know creation has happened but with the heightened spirit of God within me, might I not be able to experience creation with the use of all my senses in the same way as the spirit did as it hovered over God’s newly created order. I would be so much more aware of what God has provided for me to experience in his creation and that is even before I recall the love of Jesus and all he has done for me. If all this is possible then I would be as eager as the angels to stand in awe of my maker, extend my arms, and praise him for ten thousand, thousand years and that is just for starters.
But I’ve a problem. I can’t conceive of God who I glimpse in Jesus being able to give us all this and leave others to oblivion. I have friends who might be elsewhere and it worries me. What can I do about it?
Richie Brown
This is a story of forgiveness, healing and restoration. The words ‘inner healing’ might or might not be familiar to you, but sometimes Jesus takes us back to past hurts and re-enacts the scene, transforming it and freeing us from its crippling effects. He doesn’t erase the memory, but it no longer has its old power over us. I believe this is what Jesus did with Peter.
The story starts back in Peter’s home territory, Galilee, and the security of his familiar life of fishing from which Jesus had called him. Three times Peter denied his Lord by a charcoal fire, three times beside another charcoal fire his Lord asks Peter about the genuineness of his love. John, who had witnessed Peter’s denials, notes that Peter was grieved because Jesus asked the question a third time. It must have suddenly dawned on Peter why Jesus was following this line of questioning. Having publicly denied Jesus three times, and the third time he cursed and swore – and Jesus had overheard his words and looked him in the eye. Now on the seashore, leaning toward Peter and looking him in the eye he asks the final question in a far more intimate way. Jesus was giving Peter three chances to make good his three denials and this third question has all the power and passion that Peter’s third denial had. So Peter responds, I am sure through sobs and tears, “Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you passionately as my closest friend.” Jesus’ confrontation wasn’t about shaming Peter but reclaiming him. So Jesus, our Saviour, the healer of broken hearts, in his infinite love, grace and mercy has balanced the scales and purged Peter’s heart of guilt in a way no simple ‘you are forgiven’ could have done.
Previously, Jesus had told Peter he was going to build his church on Peter the rock, and Jesus now comes to him in affirmation that his plans for Peter have not changed. Nothing had changed. God’s purposes for Peter were still on track! And then Jesus spends precious time before his ascension reaffirming his plans for Peter. Do you love me? Yes. Then feed my sheep.
Christ’s interaction with Peter before, during, and after the crucifixion epitomizes gospel grace. Peter earned nothing and nearly squandered everything. But though Jesus knew Peter would betray him, he loved him anyway, pursued him with his grace, and affirmed to him his purposes for him. And this same Jesus loves, pursues, and affirms us. Like Peter we are faced with our own lack of understanding, inadequacy and inability to deal with life’s twists and turns, but Jesus is our friend and Saviour too. He knows our failings better than we know them ourselves, but still loves and accepts us, he takes our guilt and sets us free and gives us work to do in his kingdom.
Shirley Wallin
To believe in the resurrection is to believe in God. If God exists, and if he created the universe and has power over it, he also has power to raise the dead. If he does not have such power, he is not a God worthy of our faith and worship. Only he who created life can resurrect it after death.
To believe in the resurrection of Jesus is a testimony to the resurrection of human beings. Unlike all other religions, Christianity alone possesses a founder who transcends death and who promises that his followers will do the same. All other religions were founded by people and prophets whose end was the grave.
In 1 Corinthians 15.12-19 Paul writes that without the resurrection our preaching is useless, our faith is futile, we misrepresent God, we cannot find forgiveness, when we die there is nothing else and we are to be pitied more than anyone else.
On the contrary, Christians can take comfort in the fact that at Christmas we celebrate that God became man, on Good Friday that Christ died for our sins, and on Easter Day Christ rose again. The grave could not hold him. The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty. He lives today.
Happy Easter!
Pete Spiers
Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name
of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!
So cried out the palm branch waving crowds as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that 1st Palm Sunday. Yet just five days later:
Barabbas, Barabbas, free Barabbas. Crucify Jesus of Nazareth, crucify him...!
We’re a fickle bunch us humans really, aren’t we!
The crowds on that first Palm Sunday knew what they thought Jesus was all about, what they wanted him to be all about, what they thought he was going to do, and what they wanted him to do, so they greeted his arrival into Jerusalem with real joy and excitement! Yet it didn’t take them long to start thinking: hang on maybe he’s not going to be who we want him to be or do what we want him to do! He wasn’t about to start raising up a mighty army to overthrow the Romans and boot them out of Jerusalem. Jesus had other plans, that they couldn’t grasp. So after five days, when the Jewish leaders drummed up support against him, many of that same crowd who had greeted Jesus with joy turned on him and called for his death. This sets me thinking. Maybe crying out for his blood is an extreme reaction, and not something we think we would do. But how often do we treat Jesus as if he should be at our beck and call, our personal helper who should do as we ask, who’s there for us when we think we need him or when we’re in the mood to pay him attention but otherwise can be ignored? And then get angry or feel disappointed and let down if our prayers aren’t answered as we want them to be and so on. We often ‘know’ what we want Jesus to be all about, what we want him to do; just as the crowds did. Of course Jesus does love us, he does long to help us, and he does love to hear our prayers. But for whatever reason it might be, we don’t always get the answer we want, things don’t always work out as we’d like. How do we deal with that? That’s a challenge for us all! Jesus is to be worshipped simply for who he is and all that he’s done. Not for what we think we can get out of him, or when he does what we want or whatever. This coming week of all weeks is time for a poignant reminder of all that he’s done for us – of God’s amazing grace shown in what Jesus went through for each one of us in that first holy week.
Simon Elliott
The man held a rock in each of his hands. In his left a stained, sharp rock and in his right hand a smooth one, comfortable to touch. He looked at the rough rock, thought about his violent past, his imprisonment. ‘A handy weapon,’ he muttered. ‘Cain would have made good use of this one dispatching that brother of his.’ He threw it into the bushes and rubbed the dirty cloying stain on his sleeve.
He looked at the other rock and admired its striations, its contours. It was attractive. His memory fled back to a time at home when his parents told him the old story of David and Goliath and another story of a man, another victim who died cruelly. At the memory of Jesus dying on a cross several tears, unbidden, splashed onto the rock’s surface and the rock’s attraction was enhanced. The man was so amazed at the change that took place that he dropped it and it landed in a shallow stream. Once the ripples subsided the man looked again and the rock which had had a certain quality was transformed into an object of great beauty. The beauty of the transformed stone kept changing as the stream journeyed on.
The man contemplated the message behind the two rocks. The first one was predictable and led to the known life of violence and hostility. The second was full of uncertainty but of beauty and transformation. It was then his parents’ oft told story of redemptive love that was possible through taking the chance of following Jesus that struck him forcefully. ‘But is it true?’ he mused, ‘Can I trust my parents? Were they right?’ The man would have to make his own mind up. The choice was between staying with the known and all that was predictable or having the faith and belief in the possibility of transformation and walking into an unknown future.
Richie Brown
14 March 2010
Mothering Sunday
As I thought about mums and Easter my thoughts turned to Mary, Jesus’s mother. We talk a lot about other personalities in the Bible, Paul, the prophets and the Gospel writers, but how often do we hear about Mary? Even though the Bible tells us that she was the most blessed of all women. God chose Mary, someone who was low and humble, a servant girl, not with brains or from a high noble class of people, to accomplish God’s grand purpose, and Mary had the courage and confidence to believe she was chosen to be the mother of God’s son. She didn’t say, like Moses, that she wasn’t good enough, nor was she like Zechariah who asked for a sign. She simply believed and because of this she was able to put into effect what God had chosen her to do—”Do with my life what you want to.”
She was the only one to love Jesus before he was born. All mums know how deeply we love the child within us long before they are born. She would have loved him at his birth, remembering every detail of that experience for the rest of her life. She would have loved him as she placed him into the arms of a righteous and devout man called Simeon, remembering his words, that Jesus would cause a sword to pierce her heart. She would have loved him as he grew up as a young child, caring for his every need. She would have loved him in the temple at the age of twelve when Jesus amazed all of them with his profound wisdom. Mary pondered all of these things in her heart. She would have loved him when he told the crowds that she and her other sons weren’t Jesus’s true family, but those who did the will of God. Mary would have understood. She would have loved him at the foot of the cross, when she had to suffer the unbearable pain of watching her son die and she could do nothing about it. She would have loved him as she held his lifeless form, bloodied from the nails, thorns and spear. To love is to be fully human, but to love is also to lose and therefore to grieve. Mary would have known the depths of sorrow to which wholehearted love inevitably takes us. In the depth of tragedy and death she must have sensed the absence of God and the desolate abandonment of her cherished hopes for her son. But although God may have been hidden for a moment Mary had not been abandoned. Through her son’s resurrection she will live forever. It is amazing what God did through Mary, surely she was the most blessed of all women.
Shirley Wallin
Our separation from God began when Adam And Eve rebelled, followed by the murder of Abel and our speedy ejection from Eden. A story it may be, but it’s also a depiction of how difficult it is for us to live in harmony for very long. We are sinners and this knowledge should help instil within us a spirit of humility. Don’t judge lest ye be judged! But we do.
And yet it wasn’t always like that. In Genesis we learn God created heaven and earth. He created the animals, the birds and fish that populated their own habitats, and they were sustained by any number of nourishing foods. And last of all he created humanity and after each act of creation, he uttered those life affirming words, ’It is good’.
So God was pleased with us all, not just Christians. I grew up as a Christian believing in ’original sin’ which goes back to the fall of Adam and Eve, which has led me to see the need in others to repent of their sinful nature, but God’s belief in our goodness preceded that so I am now trying to look for the essential goodness in others, whoever they may be. I might be wrong, but in my time of reflection over this I was reminded that teachers, instead of pointing out children’s mistakes are asked to catch the children being good and then praising them. This has the effect of increasing the child’s self image and teaching becomes less difficult.
In your own time of prayer ask God to give you the time and patience to talk long enough with those with whom you disagree until you find common ground and on that common ground tentatively explore your differences. But be careful it might be you and I who are wrong. But that’s where humility comes in doesn’t it.
Richie Brown
Who could have predicted 10 years ago that there would be more mobile phones than people? That Islam would be part of our national consciousness? That there would be a rise in militant atheism? That people would spend more time on-line than watching TV? (I heard someone suggest recently the Lord's Prayer should have a new clause: deliver us from e-mail.)
This rapidly changing world in which we live ought to change the way in which we as a church live out our calling. 90 of us met in the hall last Wednesday to think about what it means to be a 'mission-shaped' church and developing Fresh Expressions of church.
'It is simply a way of describing the planting of new congregations or churches which are different in ethos and style from the church which planted them; because they are designed to reach a different group of people than those already attending the original church'. (Bishop Graham Cray)
This will be a challenging course because it asks us not to think of ourselves but of others. This reflects the character of Jesus himself and reminds us that our main aim as a church is to strive to look more and more like Him in terms of his nature and character.
Pete Spiers
Lent began in the very early days of the Church as a time of preparation for Easter, when Christians rededicated themselves. It was also when those new to the faith were instructed and prepared for baptism. By keeping the forty days of Lent, we imitate Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness.
The baptism of Jesus comes just before the temptations. God has just told Jesus that “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Jesus is then led by the Spirit into the wilderness to spend more time with God. He trusted that God would provide everything he needed. At the end of the 40 day period Satan took his opportunity to tempt Jesus when he was weak and hadn’t eaten anything. Jesus resisted each temptation with words from the Bible, “it is written …”
As followers of Jesus we are aware that we are tempted every day. In what we think, in what we do and in what we say. And our answer is the same. What does scripture say? If we know our scriptures we are able to resist the devil and all his works, over and over again.
It tells us in 1 Corinthians 10.13: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”
When we are tempted we know that God will help us, through the Spirit who lives in us and by the scriptures. He will help us by providing a way out.
Lent is a time for reflecting and taking stock. Do you need to commit yourself to learning more about the scriptures or maybe go on a prayer walk around the neighbourhood, listening to what God is saying. Do you need to give up something or take up something in order to spend more time getting closer to God.
We often sing this song in church. “He chose the cross with every breath, the perfect life, the perfect death, he chose the cross … because of Jesus’ unfailing love, I am forgiven, I am restored.”
Barbara Chambers
So, Valentine’s Day – the romantic day of the year! Sent your card? Written your nice, corny limerick? Received your card signed ‘Love?’ or ‘from your Valentine’? But what is it all about? Where does the whole idea of Valentine’s Day come from? Who was Valentine?
He was actually a bishop in the early church in the Roman Empire during the reign of Claudius II as Emperor. Claudius thought that unmarried men made better soldiers, and so passed a law banning young men from marrying. It is said that Valentine took pity on these young soldiers, became their advocate and began to perform secret marriages. He was soon found out and jailed around 270 AD. The Emperor tried to turn him from his Christian faith to worshipping the Roman gods, but he refused and instead tried to convert Claudius to Christianity, and he was sentenced to death. There are various other stories about him, such as the claim that he fell in love with his jailer’s daughter, and shortly before his death sent her a note signed ‘from your Valentine’. Whatever the truth an aura of romance surrounded his life and demise, his tale was told and spread far and wide, and he became the patron saint of love and romance.
What struck me about this was that faith was crucial to who Valentine was, and what he did arose from that faith. And actually while the various stories about him marrying young couples in secret and so on sound nicely romantic, the fact is it involved real risk and led to his death. He did it knowing full well the risk he was taking in disobeying laws passed by the Emperor. He showed a love that meant real self-sacrifice. To my mind this idea of love involving real hardship and self-sacrifice, arising from a deep faith is something that is hard to see in the images of love portrayed by our modern Valentine’s Day!
Enjoy today, celebrate love – but remember that love is about more than cheesy cards with hearts on, limericks and cuddly bears! Valentine’s story gives us a glimpse of that, and ultimately God fully demonstrates what true love is. As John writes ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…’ (John 3.16), ‘Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.’ (John 15.13). Putting others first, selfless, sacrificial, courageous, challenging and yes romance – all part and parcel of what love really is.
Simon Elliott
One of the readings today from the lectionary sheet is Revelation 4. Coincidentally (or Godincidentally) the same scripture will be used this evening in the Café service, although it was chosen a couple of weeks ago as the service was planned.
Just picture the scene in heaven, of endless worship and that beautiful familiar verse which we sing at communion “Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” But do we revere his holiness or have we made God a casual God, an ordinary God, our best mate, do we need to rediscover God’s holiness? He is not common, he is not ordinary, he is not casual, he is distinct, he is unique, with no rivals or competition, he is so far above and beyond us, he is not like us and never to be taken lightly. “Who is like Thee among the gods, O Lord. Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders.” [Exodus 15.11]
The first thing Jesus ever taught us to pray ‘Our Father in heaven, holy be your name’, - let your name be regarded as holy. Sometimes I cringe when I think of how we have marketed that name, on tee shirts, cups, key rings, made it common and ordinary. I recently heard the phrase “Playing marbles with God’s diamonds”. God is holy, there is no other attribute of God repeated in scripture apart from his holiness. The emphasis and importance is in the repetition, holy, holy, holy.
And how do we think of Jesus now? Do we think of him as he once was when he walked the earth, during his three year public ministry? But the truth is that his resurrection changed him, so that he no longer possesses a merely earthly body, but now is glorified by his transformed body. His glory and holiness are no longer veiled, and the description of him in the book of Revelation is the description of him as he is now and will be for ever. John, his closest friend, who once laid his head on Jesus’ breast, in the book of Revelation falls before him as a dead man, overcome by his holiness and glory. So when we come together today let’s worship him in the splendour of his holiness.
Shirley Wallin
Today, EDUCATION SUNDAY, is a national day of prayer and celebration for everyone involved in the world of education. In our worship today we, as a congregation, will be able to demonstrate our commitment to learning and teaching, and, more specifically, to those who learn and teach.
With standards in education at the forefront of the political agenda, those who teach are under constant pressure to “deliver”. I believe teachers don't just need prayer to help them manage their time more wisely and cope with their often excessive workload. They also need to be covered with the full armour of God if they are to be physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually protected in their day-to-day work. I know many teachers would welcome powerful prayer support which sought to address the nitty gritty of life at the ‘chalkface'. For example: dealing with relentlessly unruly pupils; coping with sometimes offensive and ill disciplined parents; and remaining clear headed and professional whilst trying to be an effective Christian witness.
Some years ago the General Synod of the Church of England gave the following resolution its overwhelming support “The C of E considers Church schools to be at the centre of the Church’s mission to the nation” We at St Luke’s are considering ways of involving more children in the life of our church, and investigating how we may take the church out to where the children are, recognizing that in today’s society Sunday morning is not perhaps the best time for some families to come to worship.
Eric Linford
The written Word of God, the Bible, has been changing people’s lives ever since God first called out his special people through Moses and he first wrote the 10 commandments with his own hand upon the tablets of stone on Mount Sinai. When the Jewish people returned from Babylon the law of God was read publicly to them by Ezra, and it caused them to weep. By the time of Jesus there was a Greek version of the Old Testament, and probably many parts in Aramaic, the language of the ordinary people.
Having recently had my 65th birthday I have been reflecting on the fact that I have been teaching the scriptures and preaching for 45 years, over twenty of them at St Luke's. What a privilege it has been and how patiently you have listened. What has encouraged me more than anything is the way that the scriptures are still changing and moving people in so many ways. From children to pensioners scripture is still powerful and life-changing, comforting and convicting.
The important thing is that we respond to God’s Word. We do not need to be intellectual or have wonderful knowledge for God to speak to us each day through his Word. We do need to be open and responsive, because the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4.12). My prayer is that I will continue to be challenged and changed because I certainly need it!
Alan Lewney
I was reminded of a parable recently that was not from the Bible. A father is telling his son about life. He says that within us all there are two wolves who are at war with each other. One of them talks about envy, resentment, self-pity, dishonesty and selfishness while the other wolf talks about joy, goodness, love, confidence and humility. ‘Which wolf wins,’ asks the little boy? What do think the answer is? Read on.
At the end of the day I recall the things I should have done and did not do and I recall those things I should not have done but did do. I seek God’s forgiveness and am forgiven and I resolve to do better on the morrow. Two thoughts came to me as I thought about this. The first was that I should spend more time reflecting on what I do right than on what I do wrong. Not to be conceited but to grow in confidence in what I do well. The second was that reflecting on what I do right is a positive approach to tackling the concerns of the next day.
I don’t spend enough time building on the positive aspects of what I do that is pleasing to the Lord. If I spent more time dwelling on my better actions then maybe I would consider others before myself more often. I might also consider the consequences of not completing tasks I know I’ve had the opportunity and time to have done more often as well.
The grandfather seemed to know this because his answer to the boy was that it was up to the boy and up to every one else, including me, to decide which of the two wolves to feed. Perhaps if I concentrated more on doing the right thing and reflecting on the good I do then the wolf representing joy, love and kindness will be fed and be allowed to grow and the wolf of self interest and envy will wither. What do you think?
Richie Brown
New Year is often seen as a good time to take stock of one's life. Christian discipleship has always involved allowing ourselves to be examined by God and re-launching ourselves afresh in his service.
George Whitefield was an 18th century preacher and evangelist who had a huge impact in the UK and in America. He was a contemporary of John Wesley and a fellow founder of Methodism. What was the secret of his extraordinarily effective life? Perhaps it was the fact that he had a daily checklist with which he assessed his day before going to sleep each night. It involved asking himself questions such as:
- Have I been fervent in private prayer?
- Have I been simple and well controlled in everything?
- Have I been diligent in studies?
- Have I thought or spoken unkindly of anyone?
- Have I after every pleasure, immediately given thanks?
In this way he was able to seek God's forgiveness and his help in living as a Christian. What have you decided is going to be different for you in 2010 in your life as a Christian?
Pete Spiers