Sunday 27th April 2025

Luke 24: 13-43. On the Road to Emmaus

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along? ”They stood still, their faces downcast.  One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”  

"What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

Sermon on Luke 24: 13-43 

A long standing anecdote of my family is about one family  member taking their first very long distance car journey, shortly after passing their driving test.  They were travelling from Surrey to Newcastle with several friends.  This was before the days of sat-navs and they had little map reading experience.  When they reached DOVER……. it occurred to them they were going the wrong way!  They turned around and eventually made it to Newcastle. A common dynamic in many relationships involves couples disagreeing about directions or navigation, sometimes stemming from different preferences in driving, using maps, or relying on GPS or unwillingness to ask for directions from those they see en route. 

In our reading the dialogue between these two people on this journey, does not seem to have been entirely positive and may be better described as an argument or a quarrel.  Jesus’s question to them in verse 17 may be best translated as “what are these words that you are throwing against each other?”   

Now you’ll notice that in the little video I showed you, the two people making the journey to Emmaus were a man and a woman.  Scholars have speculated that the couple may be Clopas and his wife Mary, who stood at the foot of the cross and stayed with Jesus as he died along with Jesus’ mother Mary.  So what you may have, is Jesus stumbling upon a marital argument.   We’ll never know for sure.  But they are certainly lost, they are travelling in the wrong direction ……. but I think it’s unlikely in their case that they are arguing about directions.  

So what are they arguing about?  Well we’re not quite sure, but they are in a state.  We hear that their faces were downcast or long.  They are downcast because they had hoped that Jesus would overthrow their enemies and they were full of hope that Jesus would restore the power of the people of Israel.  But on witnessing his death on the cross they lost their faith,  despaired and gave up hope.  They thought Jesus had become a victim of the oppression that they hoped he would free them from.  They have received the hard Gospel, the suffering, without the resurrection and transformation.  They had failed to understand that Jesus’s suffering was the path to glory.  They have remembered Jesus’ words that the third day is significant, but it seems they are too lost and heartbroken to wait to see what happens and make so their escape to Emmaus.

They are heading away from Jerusalem towards Emmaus – this is the wrong direction – they should be staying in the city.  Jesus’ destiny and that of the whole of humankind lies in Jerusalem and they are heading away from it.  They are so consumed with all these preoccupations that they do not recognise Jesus coming into their midst.  They are stepping out of discipleship, stepping out of redemption.   And do not realise who they are talking to.  So what happens next?  They have an encounter with the risen Christ that changes their lives forever.  And at the end of that meeting, they turn around and go back to Jerusalem, exactly where they should have been all along.  In this encounter the risen Jesus gives them exactly what they need.  

At Vicar college, I had a friend who always began her sermons to a new congregation by telling them a bit about herself and her life..  But I’ve never done this.  I always wanted it to be about what I said …I didn’t want it to be about me.  But in other circumstances, it’s normal for fellowship to begin with a relationship, and then trust is built up through eating together…Breaking bread together.  And then for the relationship to start making a difference to their lives, prompting them to consider making changes and be transformed. 

But in this case everything starts with Jesus gate crashing their conversation or argument and feelings of despair…… and transforms things.  His relationship with this couple begins with a revelation.  His rebuke can perhaps best be translated as saying they are “slow of heart.”   And so he offers a counter narrative to their despair and the problems of their hearts.  They turn away from what they think they know…. and trust in his words.  He offers them a message of love, hope, and amazement.  For them ……and us……. a divine disclosure of Good News is the beginning of transformation.  Having put their trust in their still unidentified companion, they realise they need more.  They ask him to eat with them and stay with them longer.  And he does so.   While this couple have travelled a physical journey, Jesus now takes them on a spiritual journey.  The couple’s first words to Jesus show their astonishment because they think Jesus’ death has gone unnoticed and unheard of.  

But really Jesus is the only one of the three who is ‘in the know’.  And at the dinner table Jesus takes control and moves from the position of guest to host and opens their eyes further. They were despairing so that it seemed to them that scripture had not been fulfilled in Jesus.  They had assumed that his death meant he wasn’t the Messiah and that they’d put their hopes in a fraud.  But they suddenly recognise that their companion is Jesus and see clearly the spiritual path that is before them and that they need to go back to Jerusalem with the rest of Jesus’ disciples.  They see who their companion is and they see their salvation is found in him.  And they see that their transformation derives from continually encountering Jesus Christ.  And they feel compelled to obedience and faithfulness in him.  He points us to the glory that will transcend the bad of this world, the hardship and limitations.  

Where is the resurrection lived out in our story and our journey? We are all a story in progress.  Our vocation is also to be turned round.  And to journey to the place Jesus wants us.  Not just in a conversion.  When our lives are difficult our relationship needs to be built on encounters with the risen Christ that are trustworthy and true and can sustain us emotionally and spiritually.  

In the morning Jesus left his tomb, but resurrection continues, and at nightfall these two believers recognise that their relationship with him needs to be continually worked at ….so that we grow into the likeness of Christ.  To see the source of our salvation. And applying that clear-sightedness to our life’s journey so that we can make sense of things.  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus we have access to the fulness of salvation.  So when we move past despair we can see clearly that Jesus was walking with us all the time.

 Amen.  

Rev Larissa Trust

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Easter Sunday 20th April 2025

Reading  Luke 24:1-12  Jesus has Risen

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.

 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Sermon on Luke 24:1-12

I wonder if anyone here grew up with the idea of being an international journalist ? Like the Kate Adie’s of this world who found herself in all kinds of life threatening situations of war and violence. Does that appeal ?

We are seeing plenty of these journalists now aren’t we, with reporters in Kiev, Myanmar, Israel, and Russia. Their role is to seek out the real stories, which might put them in danger like talking to soldiers on the front line in Ukraine. They report on our screens through interviews with people in the street, soldiers on active service, and politicians. They show us challenging pictures of death and destruction, of digging out bodies after earthquakes. The news we get is pretty full on, and sometimes we feel that we have had enough and switch off.

 Now a question. How would these modern journalists have handled the bursting news that first Easter Sunday? They would of course have been there on Good Friday, with cameras trained on the cross, watching for any sign from Jesus, also  interviewing those passing by, even asking a soldier what he thought. Do you remember what that one soldier said ? “Surely this was a righteous man”. Someone must have reported that to Luke.

Let’s Move now to the third day as Jesus had predicted, and the shout goes up that the grave is empty. You can guarantee that before the group of disciples arrived to check for  themselves what the women had said about the stone and the angels, that the press today would have already got there.Just imagine the speculation about the possibilities . Press reporters detailed to get the views of the authorities, perhaps even Pilate, and the disciples if they can find any!  News reports would show pictures of the inside of the tomb. Imagine the headlines in the Jerusalem Chronicle:-

DEAD KING OF THE JEWS MISSING ! 

We know don’t we, that with the news today what is reported is never the full story. We don’t know the background circumstances or the history of those involved. Usually what has happened is in the context of a long standing situation. That would have been never more true, than a modern reporting of that first Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Jesus. So what would those reporters have missed ? What background information was essential to believing, not just that Jesus had indeed come back to life, but more importantly why it had to happen at all.

Some of you will be aware of a book written many years ago by a man called Frank Morrison, who set out to disprove the truth of the resurrection. He called it ‘Who moved the stone’. The amazing outcome of his attempt was that he became convinced that it was in fact true.

The book that  gives us all the background we need is in the one we call the Bible. What we glean from that, is that in God’s overall plan to help us, that the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus would be the most critical event in the history of the whole world for every single human being. You see everything in history, since the beginning of time, was leading up to this point, and everything after this event is leading towards a new beginning planned by God for all who accept Jesus as their risen Saviour. So this new world after the Resurrection, brings about the possibility of a sea change in our individual and personal relationship with God.  

Before Jesus, God created life through one nation, the Jews  with some special leaders like Abraham, Moses, Solomon, David who were close to God.

After Jesus, God offers new life and eternity for every single one of us through forgiveness.

The resurrection event, not surprisingly, offended all natural laws and experience and remains totally unique to Christianity.

I find it a great shame that only recently , our culture has purposely taken a step away from seeing our  Christian faith as significant It has done that by removing one aspect of the Gregorian calendar .This calendar was adopted in 1582 and is still used by most of the world. In this calendar the period before the life of Jesus was called B.C. Before Christ. The period after Jesus was called A.D. Latin Anno Domini meaning ‘The day of the Lord This has now become, B.C.E  Before Common Era followed by C.E.  Common Era.  How that change came to be agreed I have no idea but it moves us away from publically accepting the importance of Jesus.

Going back to Luke 24, what was the response of the disciples?  V4 Wondering ?  V6 remembered. V11 they did not believe and nonsense. V12 again wondering.

The point I am making here is that believing something is true is not always an instant response.It was not surprising that such an extreme event for those first disiples was hard to believe. Coming to a belief in God’s plan, and in the resurrection of Jesus was going to be a process for them as it is for anyone. If we read on in the story we see and understand the process those disciples went through but that leads us ,i.e  you and me, to a question. What was the process you went through to really believing in God’s plan through Jesus, or maybe you are still working on it ?

Bearing in mind what happened to these very human disciples at the time, it is not surprising that many today do find it difficult to come to a firm belief in Jesus and the Resurrection being a vital part of God’s plan.

This country occasionally carries out a survey on people’s attitudes towards the Christian faith, which Christians can find a little depressing. Well,  I don’t feel it’s a guide to anything. There can be a multitude of reasons why folk may feel negative  about answering the questions. Thoughts may range from :- 

I just don’t want to really engage with the issue

OR  There might have been a bad experience of some kind and God was blamed.

OR It seems too complicated, I can’t be bothered

Or I am very comfortable with how things are

OR Peer pressure can be strong

Or Faith issues have caused many wars in history.

The one thing major thing that can change people’s misconceptions, hang ups and old chestnuts, is to meet with Jesus. That’s what did happened to the disciples and we have the stories of those encounters. Now you won’t have missed that during this service we are declaring that Jesus is alive, Halleluia. Let me tell you that He is still alive through those who choose to follow him.

Are we sincerely rejoicing today that Jesus is alive, because if we are, we can be that contact for those who do not yet believe ? 

We have been reminded that those early disciples went through a process towards believing, as did most of us no doubt, but even though we may not consider ourselves to be especially good a t being disciples, God can and wants to still show our faith through how we conduct our lives how we respond with words and actions. We can be the example why someone might move from being  ‘Before Christ’ to’ Anno Domini ‘The Day of the Lord. There is no better day for it to happen than today.  Don’t let the opportunity pass by.

JESUS IS LIVE Alleluia

Amen

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Palm Sunday 13th April 2025

Reading  Luke 19: 28 – 40 Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,  “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”  “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

 Sermon on  Luke 19: 28 – 40

Palm Sunday, one of the most well-known times of our Church’s year. One of the most vivid episodes in Jesus ministry and mentioned in all 4 gospels. Which means that, as each gospel looks at Jesus life from a slightly different perspective, and was written for a different audience, this is an event of great importance. 

Last year we looked at the account in Johns Gospel, this year its Lukes account. But both John and Luke highlight the same points – and in only a very few verses, 8 in John, 13 in Luke. This was the pivotal point in the earthly clash between 2 competing ideologies – that of the Romans and religious authorities, based on rules and force, and that of Jesus, based on relationship and freedom, love and self-sacrifice.

I’m going to be political for a moment, so if you’d rather not listen, cover your ears. In the world today we have currently an upsurge in narrow nationalism…..we have one gentleman shouting Make America Great Again backed up by economic trade wars, we have another gentleman shouting Make Russia Great Again backed up by violent military wars. THAT FIRST PALM SUNDAY IN JERUSALEM, WE HAVE A HUGE CROWD – IN FULL VIEW OF THE POWERFUL ELITE – IMPLYING BY THEIR WORDS AND ACTIONS FOR JESUS TO MAKE ISRAEL GREAT AGAIN……..AND JESUS SEEMINGLY SAYING NOTHING TO DISSUADE THEM.

Imagine it – Jerusalem , the heat and the dust, the crowds, the noise, the waving of the palms, the shouts, the throwing down of the palms and cloaks in front of the man as he rides on ……”Hosanna to the Son of David”, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”. IN HUMAN TERMS…HAIL TO THE KING

And in a sense that’s why I often feel uncomfortable on Palm Sunday. With the benefit of history we know what comes between Palm Sunday and Easter Day – we can’t just hop from one to the other! I love to celebrate all the high points of Jesus ministry but we always think of next week – Holy Week – as a particular time to reflect, rather than break out the streamers and party poppers. We’ve read the book, and that first Palm Sunday appeared to be a false dawn of hope, primarily because the crowds and EVEN HIS OWN DISCIPLES completely misunderstood Jesus mission, ministry and kingship.

As we remember Palm Sunday, then, lets think about the 2 images which always come to my mind…firstly THE PALMS, and secondly THE DONKEY.

In Jewish history, the cloaks and the palms were signs of royal welcome. Isn’t it appropriate though that what we hand out each year are not Palm branches but Palm crosses. For the crowds here were probably some of the same people who a few days later shouted “Crucify Him!” and even “We have no King but Caesar”. Has it ever crossed your mind – how could they change so extremely over a few days? In a sense that’s also the answer – it’s precisely because we are earthly creatures that such a change was, and is, possible. Let me suggest 3 contributing factors – 

(1)The Fickleness of the Human Heart. Naturally speaking, we blow hot and cold. Look at the prime example, a SPORTS crowd! Magnified when it comes to the national team. One week they’re everybody’s darling, next week we get “what a load of rubbish”.

(2)Pressure from opinion-makers, friends and family. The chief priests and the elders persuaded them to turn against Jesus; WHY? BECAUSE THEY SAW THEIR OWN AUTHORITY SLIPPING AWAY. Crowds act as a pack and can easily be influenced – look at social media. We actually now have a job title of “Influencer”, and their impact is measured by their number of “Followers”. Just read the news to see how the press can sway mass opinion. No man is an island. Other peoples opinions have a great influence on us – particularly those  closest to us either at home or at work.

(3)Disappointed Expectations. What did the crowd expect of Jesus? Well, there would no doubt have been many different expectations, but making life better for them as opposed to what Herod and the Romans meted out would probably have been high on most peoples list. Allowing himself within days to be arrested and handed over to Herod and the Romans must have been a crushing blow to peoples hopes. It would inevitably make them question their own belief in him. What about us? It is ever so easy for us to make our picture of Jesus the way we would like, wanting Him to answer our prayers the right way, helping our life to go the way we think best. But what if He doesn’t do it our way?

But if the crowd hadn’t understood, Jesus certainly did. By His actions – riding in on a donkey not a fine warhorse – he showed absolutely clearly the nature and foundations of his Kingship.

(1)Humility not an outward display. Would there have been the temptation for Jesus to make the sort of triumphal entry that Roman generals would? Fine horses, trumpets, razzamattaz – the sort of stuff we see in Biblical epic movies. Possibly - Satan was always trying to get Jesus to compromise his mission. But Jesus was always consistent. He had been born with domestic animals around him, so the pinnacle – in the worlds eyes – of his ministry saw him seated on a humble, slow moving, donkey. The Son of Man coming to His Fathers City, but No Pomp. No Cant. No sound bites to the Press. No appearance on Celebrity Big Brother. Riding on an animal which, like all other donkeys, would have had on its back a marking in the shape of a cross.

(2)The attitude of a Pilgrim. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” is from Psalm 118, one of the songs sung at Passover time as a blessing on all the pilgrims coming to the Temple for the festival. Jesus understood that He, and all Christians down through the ages, are in this world on a journey of pilgrimage. We enjoy the good things in this earthly life but it never completely satisfies. That satisfaction can only come through the Kingdom of God living in our hearts through the presence of the Holy Spirit, as a foretaste of the life to come in a New Heaven and a New Earth. Our greatest hymn writers have always understood this……Guide me O thou great Jehovah, PILGRIM through this barren land; He who would valiant be gainst all disaster……there’s no discouragement, shall make him once relent, his first avowed intent TO BE A PILGRIM.

(3)Following the Word of God. Why the donkey? Jesus knew the book of the prophet Zechariah (Ch9 v9). He knew the scriptures; and he knew how he fulfilled his lifes purpose. WE have both Old and New sections of the Bible to give us the whole picture ...but we have to know them to live by them.

(4)A heart of worship. What did Jesus do as soon as He reached Jerusalem? Did He have a public meeting? Did He lead an assault on the Romans? No, He went to the Temple – the house of his Father God, the place of worship and prayer…. and the only assault He carried out was on the stalls of the salesmen and the loan sharks. Its no coincidence that we as His followers, draw strength from rooting our lives in worship and prayer, both on our own, and together as a fellowship. It’s the way its meant to be.

And so Palm Sunday – through Jesus actions – shows the root values of His Kingship, His Leadership and His kingdom…..humility in action, pilgrims in this world, taught by the word of God, and with hearts committed to worship and prayer.

IF WE WANT THE BEST aims and priorities for our lives I think those will do, won’t they?

But to finish….

We started with the palm branches, mistakenly waved in the wrong way, at the wrong time, and for a wrong type of national liberation.

But its not the last time in the Bible we come across the waving of palm branches. That’s left to the writings of the apostle John, and one of the end time visions he was given by God in the Book of Revelation Chapter 7 vses 9 - 12

 That is THE Palm Sunday I am most looking forward to. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 9th March 2025

Reading Romans 10: 5 - 14    Salvation

For Moses wrote that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. But the way of getting right with God through faith says, “ You don’t need to go to heaven’ (to find Christ and bring Him down to help you). And it says, ‘You don’t need to go to the place of the dead’ (to bring Christ back to life again).  Salvation that comes from trusting Christ- which is the message we preach- is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say “The message is close at hand;  If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.” Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who generously gives his riches to all who ask for them  For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

Sermon on Romans 10: 5 - 14 

Lent is with us. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had the discussion about “What are you giving up for Lent this year”.  But of course for Christians, that ignores the second half of the sentence, which should be…..”so that you can give more time to reflection and the deepening of your own faith relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.”

One obvious way is by setting aside more time to “get into the Bible”, which is why our readings for today are so particularly appropriate. 

I love Paul's letter to the Romans. Unlike most of the places to which he wrote his recorded letters, Paul had never been to Rome, and at this point had never met the Christians there. It’s reckoned that the church was planted by Jews returning to Rome after that first Pentecost, but by the time Paul wrote his letter, the church had grown, through the witness of those first Christians, to include both Jews and non-Jews. Just like in Jerusalem and all the new churches in between them geographically. So, Paul – to ensure they haven’t let false doctrine or practice creep in – sets out What To Believe in chs 1 to 11, and How to Behave in chs 12 to 16.

So, for the Christian today, both Romans and the season of Lent are like a Back to Basics course, and looming large are the two big Ss of the Christian faith……sin and salvation. Today I want us to reflect on salvation, by reminding ourselves of 3 obvious questions -

SALVATION – WHY IS IT NECESSARY? Paul has spent the earlier chapters of Romans spelling it out. Ch3 v23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Ch6 v23 “For the wages of sin is death”. Theres a great description of sin in my study bible. Its this – “ sin means refusing to do Gods will and failing to do all that God wants. Since Adams rebellion against God, our natural behaviour is to disobey Him and this cuts us off from Him.” Many of you will know how I loath the great anthem to the Godless life – My Way; but most of its verses contain great material for talks!!! Heres one quote “To think I did all that /And may I say, not in a shy way /Oh no, oh no, not me/ I did it my way”. At least I did it my way is being honest. Its My way or its Gods Way; there isn’t a 3rd option. The 2000 years of well documented human history since Jesus birth has shown us what doing it my way looks like – come to think of it, you only need to look back the last 10 days. But there is the alternative, and it’s lives transformed by the Holy Spirit, step by step. The 2 earlier passages from Romans I quoted – 3.23 and 6.23 – are only the first halves of both sentences. Listen to the second halves …3.23 “and all who believe are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” 6.23 “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord.” Salvation is ultimately about getting right and staying right with God, not by our efforts but by His grace as our readings expressed. It’s a very Lenten theme.

SALVATION – HOW? In v5 of our reading Paul writes that the OT laws way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all its commands….all the time. But the children of Israel, even when they were in a devout phase, recognised this was beyond them. So they had to rely on a system of regular animal sacrifices. But it didn’t change anyone. The prophets promised that something – someone – better was coming. Perfect Salvation now and for eternity. And so they longed for a Messiah……for all the wrong reasons. What they wanted was a warrior king to free them from the curse of all the nations who progressively humiliated them – the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Romans. And who appeared? A carpenters son who criticised their religious leaders, who told them to pay to Caesar what was due to Caesar, to love their enemies, to not expect a new political order. Instead, salvation – getting right with God, finding freedom to live the lives for which we were all designed – would come from the self-sacrifice of one God/man for all, in front of their own eyes, whose perfect life would ensure once for all the gate to Gods presence being opened. As v8 says, being within easy reach. For any human being in any generation. What sacrifice would we need to make then – if Jesus did it all? Paul spells it out clearly in vses 9/10 – “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” At first reading, that seems so easy, doesn’t it? However, if you lived in Rome when Paul was writing, the thing you were required to say was Caesar is Lord; if you said Jesus is Lord, you were putting yourself – literally – in the firing line. And if that threat has gone away for Christians in Rome in 2025, try proclaiming it openly in North Korea or Iran or Somalia. Its one reason why I like us to say or sing what we call the Creed – our core beliefs – when we get together. We are proclaiming with our lips what we believe in our hearts. But lets face it, its easy to say or sing it in church. If we say in a discussion outside church that we have Jesus as the Lord of our lives, or that we believe he actually rose from the dead that first Easter Sunday, we cannot know what the reaction will be, even within our family and friendship groups. Remember that, even in a recent survey, less than 50% of the UK population said they would identify as Christian. Following Jesus has always been counter-cultural on earth – its just that in the developed countries people do not currently shout Caesar is Lord but My Way is Lord instead. It’s a very Lenten theme.

SALVATION – WHO IS ELIGIBLE? For the Jews in the first century, this was a real issue. After all, Yahweh was THEIR GOD, all the OT promises were made to THEM. And of course Jesus was born into a Jewish family. But even if the first followers of Jesus hadn’t spotted during his ministry his involvement with Roman centurions, Samaritans, tax collectors, prostitutes, adulterers, lepers, children etc etc, the divine revelation to Peter soon after Pentecost made it clear that the message of Jesus, and of Gods love and grace, was for ALL mankind. And so Paul spells it out in vses 12/13. The Romans would have needed to hear it; the church would have been of very mixed types and there were bound to have been arguments………just like in church fellowships today! We are all one in Christ. It’s a very Lenten theme.

 And there's one final challenge from our passage. Lent is a reflective season, leading to the highs and lows of Palm Sunday to Good Friday, and then the wild celebrations of Easter Sunday. If Lent is all about our discipleship with our Lord and our need of a saviour, Easter Sunday has always been about proclaiming the Good News – salvation for now and eternity - including to those who haven’t heard yet. And that’s what vses 14/15 are about. Remember that the church in Rome wasn’t started by any of the first Apostles and their teams, it was founded by the likes of you and me. The church we worship with in Tenerife started when a few Christians who were wintering there put an advert in the local paper enquiring whether there were other Christians interested in meeting together. That was 40 years ago and they now meet in a room twice the size of this, English-speaking but multi-national. And as for the church in Rome, well, 2000 years after it was founded, theres a rather large community of Christians still there, isn’t there? They took Pauls words to heart; lets resolve to do the same.

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 23rd February 2025

Reading Luke 19: 1–10  Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”

Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”

 Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”

Sermon on Luke 19: 1–10

In Great Britain in 2025, we have very mixed views of taxmen. When I finished my surveying course at college, my first job was in the Governments Valuation Office. It was part of the Inland Revenue. My announcement was met by a mixture of surprise and amusement. My Dad had a different view of taxmen. He would regularly grumble…There are only 2 things that are certain in this world, lad, death and taxes. And of course if you’re as old as I am, you’ll remember the satirical 1960s song by the Kinks, which starts “The taxmans taken all my dough, and left me in my stately home, lazing on a sunny afternoon….”

But being a taxman in Israel in Jesus day was rather more edgy. So I’d like to look at this well-known encounter from 3 different perspectives.

FIRSTLY, THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CROWD. To be a taxman in Jesus time was to be hated. By pretty much everyone. Remember that Israel was part of a province of the Roman Empire, so people would have to pay taxes both to the local puppet king, Herod, but also to the Romans. Jesus, of course, used elsewhere the phrase “Pay to Caesar what is due to Caesar”. To pay money to the Romans was bad enough, to pay it to a fellow Jew WORKING for the Romans was far worse; and to pay it to someone who was charging them over the top AS WELL would likely have put Zacchaeus in the Top Ten most hated people in Jericho. And our passage tells us he was a CHIEF tax collector. Elsewhere in the Gospels the term “tax collector” is linked with robbers, evildoers and pagans. In other words he was “not one of us” – in fact, far worse than that, he was considered a traitor to the Jewish nation. The crowds of people in Jericho were wanting to see Jesus because he was the new big thing and they thought he just might be their promised Messiah. They would have spotted Zacchaeus trying to get to a good place to see Jesus – but there was no way they would have helped him do so, quite the reverse….and when Jesus DID connect with Zac they started grumbling.

So, heres our first challenge today. Do we want everyone in our community to meet Jesus, or do we only really encourage and wholeheartedly welcome people like us? Any church fellowship needs to be a cross section of the community of which it is a part. It’s always worth us checking OUR perspective from time to time. Perhaps this morning……

SECONDLY, THE PERSPECTIVE OF ZACCHAEUS. Why DID Zacchaeus want to see Jesus so desperately? By this time in Jesus ministry Zac would have known about Jesus teaching about the poor, that Jesus was becoming unpopular with the Romans, rulers and religious establishment, that the ordinary people in any Jericho crowd would spot Zac and react unfavourably. But he pressed on and climbed a tree. A tax collector just didn’t do that! There can, I think, only be 1 real explanation. In the midst of his wealth – much of it gained by dubious means – there was a nagging feeling that wealth, ambition and position only glossed over a big emptiness in his life. Perhaps Jesus had something to offer? This might be Zacs only chance to see and hear Jesus. He was not going to let the chance slip away. But he got more than he expected. He got called down centre stage by name, down into the midst of people who loathed him. He could have stayed at a safe distance, up in his tree…..but he took the risk.

So, heres our second challenge today – actually 2 challenges. Don’t believe the media when they say that no-one under the age of 70 is interested in the Christian message today. Many people have never heard the message of Jesus and the transformation he can bring to any life; and every person is conscious that they have a need for the anchor of a meaning to life which can keep a hold of them whatever they are going through, good or bad. Also, there are particular times in every persons life when the search for meaning is particularly strong, when they are asking the BIG questions. We need to be sensitive, through the Holy Spirit, to spot those signs in our friends and neighbours, our families and work colleagues…..and offer them the Jesus message.

THIRDLY, THE PERSPECTIVE OF JESUS. Jesus came walking through Jericho, surrounded by people at street level, eyeballing him. But Jesus knew already, revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, that there was someone else present to whom he needed to give particular attention. This is the Jesus who teaches elsewhere that Gods heart for humankind is so big that he is like a shepherd who leaves the 99 safely grazing sheep to find the 1 who has lost his way. Jesus lifted his eyes and saw Zac. Zac had come to find out something about Jesus, but Jesus already knew all about him. Jesus also knew that this was a crucial moment in Zacs life. So he didn’t shout Hi Zacchaeus, nice to see you. Pop round to see me when I’m next in town. He said (1)Come down from that tree (ie to where everyone can see you with me) IMMEDIATELY, and (2) I MUST come to your house today. Jesus KNEW that Zacs life was at a crucial point and the 2 of them needed time away from the bustle of the crowd to have a talk….over a meal! The result – a life transformed through meeting with Jesus. Mr Wrong spending time with Mr Right and Mr Wrongs way of life changing. How do we know Zac wasn’t faking it? Because he publicly announced that he would use what he had built his life upon – his ill gotten wealth – to help the poor and bless those he had wronged…..EXTRAVAGANTLY! That is a transformed life.

So, our 3rd challenge is this. As we live OUR lives with Jesus, do we let him transform our lives and our outlook - piece by piece? And if we feel we are insignificant, like gazing at life from a tree, remember that Jesus sees us, knows all about us, values us, and wants us to share daily life with Him and lead us on a unique life journey. Last week we went to the Hippodrome to see a production called Dear Evan Hansen. One of the merch items from that show is a tee shirt with a single slogan – You Will be Found. Jesus is the ultimate seeker and finder, whether we’ve been far away from him or just drifted.

Finally, I started this section of our time together with the cartoon story of Mr Wrong and Mr Right, and I left it with Mr Wrong going back to his house, having spent time with Mr Right and having all his wrongness taken away. But that isn’t the final page of the story. The text of the final page is this…”Now you probably think that’s the end of the story, don’t you? Well it isn’t. And the reason it isn’t is because of what happened to Mr Right. The trouble was, you see, that the longer Mr Wrong had stayed with Mr Right, and the more right Mr Wrong became, the more wrong Mr Right had become. Isn’t that extraordinary?”

 And that is probably the closest parallel you can get in a secular cartoon to the mission and life of Jesus. At the beginning of time, Father God always intended that humanity would work to steward this earth, hand in hand with God. Everything Right. But we thought we could do it on our own, and in the process we got to get more and more Wrong. So Father God sent his Son, the perfect Mr Right, to us, to take on Himself our individual Wrongness so that by living with Him day by day by His Holy Spirit within us, we could become Right more and more. But Jesus did more; He took ALL humanitys Wrongness – not just our individual Wrongness - with Him to the Cross and freely offered his life in self sacrifice to restore forever the link between Man and God. Its what we reflect on each Good Friday. The celebration of Easter Sunday couldn’t happen otherwise.

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 9th February 2025

Reading 2 Corinthians 4:1-18  Weakness and Resurrection Life

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

A baby polar bear went to his Mummy and asked: “Am I a polar bear?”  And she said yes of course you’re a polar bear.  Then the baby polar bear went to his Daddy and asked:  “Am I a polar bear?”  And the Daddy polar bear said:  “Yes you’re a polar bear.”  And the baby polar bear went to his big sister and asked:  “Am I a polar bear?”  And she said yes you’re a polar bear, we’re all polar bears.”  And the baby polar bear said:  “Well if I’m a polar bear why am I so cold?”

Similarly a Christian might say:  “If Jesus has overcome evil….If Jesus has reconciled the world with God ….. why is this world so painful, difficult and horrible?” If Jesus is “the light” …..why are things so dark? If Jesus is the light, why do so many people not see him? If Jesus is the light, why does life feel so uncertain? If Jesus is the light, why are so many people consumed by the darkness?  What is Jesus doing to reveal his light to the world? 

God has resourced the world with “clay jars” as vessels for his light.  His light is the greatest treasure we can ever have.  These clay jars are you!  I say it all the time.  God could have zapped us into belief, faith and adoration of him.  That would have been much more efficient. Damascus experiences all around!  But instead he created Christians to bring light into the world.   He made us capable of love and care so that we could make the world a better place and to enliven the faith of others.  

I’ve spoken quite a bit about reaching out to our friends. And this is something I really feel God is calling us to take seriously in our two villages.  To be willing to represent being a Christian well locally and among our friends.  To watch and wait.  And to be prepared to talk about our faith and the help God gives us in our everyday lives.  We need to patiently persist in our friendships.   Think:  In Friendship, In Fellowship, In Christ.  How might you and I reveal the story of Jesus and his Good News to our friends.   

So back to these clay jars.  These clay jars were used as lamps amongst other things. Clay jars were the disposable packaging of the ancient world.  They weren’t spectacular.  They were everyday and ordinary.  These clay jars were often very cracked.  Very imperfect.But… the cracks and weak spots allowed the light to shine through, to light a whole room and overcome the darkness.  God’s light, his message of salvation, shines in the world through frail and fallible human beings. And though we are weak God uses his power to help and enable us to carry out the tasks he is calling us to do.

But we must remember that the power is God’s, not ours.  And this should keep us from self-importance or indeed using the Gospel for our own ends.  Our task is to enable people to see God’s light and to hear his Good News.    Another reason Paul uses clay as a way of describing us as disciples, is because clay is constantly and repeatedly changing.  Constantly being pummelled, moulded, bashed about, broken, rebuilt and re-used once again.  It is constantly being formed.  Transfigured even.  What Paul is saying is that we who are believers, we who share the Gospel, are like things made of clay, constantly moving from dust to glory.  Not that we want to glorify suffering, but when we do suffer, God will be moulding us so that he can use us in particular ways.  He promises:  “we are always being given over to death so that the life of Jesus my be revealed in our mortal humanity.” As clay jars, our life’s mission is not our own, but a calling from God to share his mercy with the world.  

In the 1960s Sir Oliver Franks the UK ambassador to the United States frequently had to pass secret messages between Washington and London.  Telephone messages were too risky.  There was a diplomatic bag that went to and fro each day transporting confidential documents across the Atlantic.  But when a really secret message had to be sent, Sir Oliver wouldn’t trust the diplomatic bag for fear of infiltration.  Instead he put the message into an ordinary envelope and posted it from an ordinary postbox.   In both cases, it was not the diplomatic bag or the ordinary envelope that was important…. It was the message.The bag, the envelope, the letter bearer, the clay jars and indeed the apostle Paul were all dispensible.  It was the message that was the treasure.  That’s good news, because we can be confident that if we fail, God has got this.  And if we fail or die, God’s work will carry on without us.  God lasts forever and thankfully we don’t.  God is the treasure not the clay jar.  God is not dispensible.  

Do we treat God as indispensable in our lives?  Or do we say. He’s got to fit in with our priorities, our conveniences, our preferences, or our plans.  Do we try to fix our eyes on him even if our gaze wanders?  Or are we just too fixated on our own priorities?  

One of the ways in which we can be light bearers is being honest about our own cracks and weaknesses rather than making ourselves out to be super Christians. In some areas of our lives we’ll have weaknesses that we can’t do much about.  They’ll just be part of who we are and how our brains and bodies work.  Part of how God made us though, we might like to be different. And of course we never stop trying to get better. You are not the finished article this side of heaven.  So we can be honest about our mistakes and weaknesses and expect to learn from them.  We don’t need to be embarrassed or worried about what we don’t know – just concentrate instead of increasing our knowledge and becoming better disciples.  

Are we honest about our cracks?  Our weak spots?  Sometimes we are going to be quite cracked, quite weak.  Are we thinking how we could make the light shine through these cracks a bit more.   If we’ve got a fault – can we be honest about it and use it missionally to help and encourage others?What might be helpful or inspirational for your friends who are seeking?  Who need to know they don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be faithful.  As we seek to be bearers of the light, we must ask for God’s strength to help us.  Paul faced much suffering in his ministry but he was assured that one day it would be over and he’d be with God forever.  

Thankfully the clay jars (and that’s us) won’t last forever – the best is still to come.  And the best will last forever.  The best thing in the world is love.  And God is the only thing that lasts forever.  God and love are the same thing. So the definition of God is: love going on forever, which is why it’s so important to put God front and centre in our lives.  

The apostle John was on Patmos.  In the eye of the storm, at the heart of persecution and suffering.  John was approached by one of the younger monks, who asked him:  “Why do you always go on about love?” And John replied in the end there is nothing else.  This world will pass away. But God and his love will last forever.  

As clay jars we have a role to play, bearing the light of God’s love to the world, reflecting Jesus’ message of mercy and salvation.   Shaped, formed, moulded by the divine potter’s love.  Let’s bear that message to our friends.  So that from a friendship with cracks and imperfections comes God’s love reflected.  So that those around us may experience the only real relationship which is truly indispensable; abiding in his love forever.  Amen.  

Amen.  

Rev Larissa Trust

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Sunday 25th January 2025

Reading John 6: 5-15 -  Feeding of the 5000

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Sermon on John 6: 5-15. 

In our story we heard that a little boy, probably tired, probably hungry, gave the little food that he had to Jesus.  And then Jesus transformed the small offering so that it turned into something much, much bigger – a bit like the popcorn.  So I’ve got some of these corn kernels, which are quite little.  And when we put them in the popcorn maker and wait….we can watch them be transformed. Watching the popcorn turn from little to big can help us remember the story today.  Let’s remind ourselves of the conundrum we heard earlier!

The crowds flocked to see Jesus.  They followed him.  They got further from home.  Jesus and his disciples were desperate for a bit of rest and relaxation and peace and quiet.  So they headed to remoter and remoter places in the hope the crowds wouldn’t follow so they could recuperate.  But the crowds pursued Jesus – they wanted more and more from him.  They were fixated on Jesus, so much so, that they didn’t stop to consider their need for food it seems. Jesus saw the crowd and knew that he must care for them spiritually and nutritionally.  He knew he would have to give them something to eat.  But there were no shops, no markets.  There was no human solution to the problem.  So what do the disciples do?  

Andrew said:  “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”  (v9.)

And the solution.  “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.  He did the same with the fish.  When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over.  Let nothing be wasted.’  So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.” (v. 11-13.)

When you trustingly give something to Jesus, he can turn it into something great.  I remember when I was 12 … one day I didn’t eat until 3pm.  That was a big deal at that age.  I’d been walking a long way, as that little boy had probably done.  I was hungry.  I was grumpy and I wanted to sit down and eat some food. But if I was in the position of that little boy….if I had remembered a packed lunch where others had forgotten….I probably would not have been willing to share what I had with those around me.   With Jesus or anyone else.  I’d say those others hungry around me, should have been more organised and brought some lunch.  After all my parents paid for this and they wouldn’t want their things going to feed anyone else.   I’ve confessed my childhood resistance to share.  

Let’s turn to the inadequacy of Philip now.  And then we’ll look at Andrew.  Poor Philip misses the point completely.  He fails the test that Jesus sets for him and focuses entirely on the human impossibility of the situation.  We presume Philip had seen Jesus perform miracles and healings before, but he does not seem to expect Jesus to solve this particular problem.  He doesn’t seem to go beyond the monetary conundrum of how to get enough money to feed everyone and so despairs.  Andrew gets a little further.  The little boy’s fish and barley loaves catch his eye.  We wonder whether Andrew asked the little boy to give up his lunch or whether the little boy asked Andrew to take these little offerings to Jesus.  Whatever…. he forms something of a bond with the little boy and gains his trust and takes the loaves and fishes to Jesus.  

Andrew’s approach offers us an important lesson…that a situation can be transformed when we take a problem to Jesus.  When we lay what we do have before Jesus, and have faith that he can provide for those who love him… he can do great things.  When we find ourselves in a situation where we don’t know what to, we too need to take the problem to Jesus, perhaps with a vague solution, give thanks, pray and ask God to help and transform so that his will is done.  

This miracle took place at Passover…Significant because it takes us back to the first passover, when God brought his people out of slavery in Egypt, provided them with manna or bread from heaven in the wilderness and then led them to freedom in the promised land.  The manna was a sign that providence was being enacted, freedom was coming and the best was still to come.  And again bread (with some fish thrown in,) is a sign that the provider, is going to transform our subjugation into liberation, and sin to perfection.  The gift of this food is an act of immense generosity…. and on the cross Jesus will express generosity on a far greater scale even than this.  Jesus gave freely.  Jesus gave his life for our freedom. 

It’s important to remember that this little boy also gave sacrificially, and so God honoured that and worked through him.  I wonder what the little boy thought when he met Andrew.  Did this boy have greater faith in Jesus than Jesus’ own disciples?  Are there children in our midst who put the grown ups to shame.  Undoubtedly! Who judge a situation in a much more Christlike way than grown ups maybe.  This boy had a little to offer Jesus, to help the people around him.  But Jesus worked through the little offered, to carry out his mission to the world.  Like the little boy, we should expect Jesus to replace our scarcity with abundance, our hopelessness with confidence.  This little boy thought Jesus was enough.  

Philip, and slightly less so Andrew, failed to realise Jesus was enough.  And we fail to realise Jesus is enough.  We all suffer from a degree of hard heartedness.  We all fail to have faith in God’s provision at times.  (Remember Bishop Michael has asked us to pray this for him – for his confidence in God’s provision.  Please remember to do this for him and all ministers and churches.) We all forget…. God has got this… and that he WILL have his way, one way or another.  

There is a dark end to this beautiful story. This sign does not stir up the right response in those who witness it and benefit from it, but their concern remains themselves and even though they’ve just seen the power of Jesus they still seem to think they can control him, and force him to do what they want.  The people in the story witness a very physical miracle, using every day earthly things.  But this miracle points to the realm beyond this earthly one.  Yet their response stays within the earthly sphere. 

They want Jesus on their terms.  They understand him to be a prophet and they treat him in the same way they treated all the prophets before him. They want him to provide their next dinner and to kick out their enemies.  They fail to understand Jesus’ fundamental goodness and power, by expecting they can make him do what they want by force.  They think they can make Jesus their puppet. They reject the sacrificial nature of serving Jesus and of discipleship.  

And I think very often we do too.  We want Jesus too often on our terms.  Not on his.  We think we don’t need to give up our things for his service.   What does God want you to give up?  Maybe our first choices, our time, our comfort, our money, our pride.  Is there anything there that applies to you?

Do we think Jesus is enough and has provided enough?  Or are we like Philip overwhelmed by the scarcity and challenges in front of us, and focussing on survival.  

Do we allow ourselves to be satisfied, at peace, content, with God and what he has offered us?  Giving thanks for the gifts we’ve been given.  

Or do we expect God to spoon feed us?  And cooperate with us on our terms.  

Or do we look for the signs of the Kingdom and look to help the one who is trustworthy and true and who has given everything for us, and is generous beyond our wildest dreams.  

Amen.  

Rev Larissa Trust

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Sunday 19th January 2025

Reading John 2: 1-11  - Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,  and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman,why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so,and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Sermon on John 2: 1-11

I wonder what your attitude to alcohol is ? We know what damage it can do, but that it seems to have become an essential element in socialising . We heard from John 2 that Jesus and some disciples and his mother were at a wedding where alcohol was expected. We do need to be aware of course that water then  was not the safe liquid that it is today, and that wine was a staple part of refreshments. It was the same in this country for centuries. But in this story, the very first miracle that Jesus does, is to change water into wine with him saying very little. It has always struck me as being a bit of a challenge as this miracle is quite different from all of the others. Why this one first ? It’s not a physical healing or casting out of demons. It’s not one which satisfies hunger as the 5 loaves and fishes, or shows his power over the sea by calming it or walking on it. It’s not a resurrection as in Lazarus. All it seems to be providing is the best wine at a point when the guests have already had enough . So the question facing us is, what are a we to learn from this miracle? What is it teaching us ? We know that It’s a wedding, that the wine has run out and that the guests are already quite happy. We are told  that it is Mary who has either spotted this problem or been made aware of the possible embarrassment for the hosts. How can you run out of wine? It’s a miscalculation with serious consequences for the hosts. We are told that Mary alerted Jesus. His response seems a little abrupt, but there is a clue here about the reason for the miracle, because there must be a reason for what happens.next. The clue is the word ‘time’ . Jesus says to Mary,’ My time has not yet come’

Now we know that Jesus never does or says anything without having a good reason. He told the servants to fill the large jars with water. Then he tells them to take a sample to the M/C of the banquet. He takes a sip and can hardly believe it, so probably takes another sip just to be sure. Relief and astonishment result in him rejoicing in the best wine now available and gives the good news to the bridegroom. 

The miracles are always part of the teaching ministry of Jesus, so what is happening here. Jesus actually says very little, so what is he doing ? What is the teaching ? Just to add a comment at this point. We don’t know if all the water in the jars became wine or alternatively, whether only when it was poured out did it actually turn into wine, so rather than one big miracle it might have been many individual ones! The one important thing we do know is that it was the BEST wine, and that fact was spoken by the MC. That I feel is significant. The section then ends by saying that this miracle revealed the glory of Jesus, and that his disciples put their faith in Him.

Was that the sole purpose? Did he say anything else to them I wonder?

Now I have heard other possible explanations as to why this miracle happened but they are all a bit complicated, but I feel that the one that has merit, is the link between his words to his mother in v4” My time has not yet come” and the words of the MC in v10 “You have saved the best until last”.

The common denominator is a sense of ‘time’. Let me explain. ‘Time’ refers not only to the time when Jesus is beginning His ministry  leading towards His death and resurrection, but also time in terms of God’s time in reaching out to the world with his message of love. During that time of the Old Testament we are aware of the many prophets who were all pointing forward to Jesus. In that context the MC said it all. Jesus is the best prophet. God has saved the best until the last. All that had gone before was good , but Jesus is the best. 

This is for me the sense of the miracle. It is a statement by Jesus that He is the best part of God’s plan for the world.

We can have no doubt that Jesus knew what was ahead of him in his arrest and death. He knew that he needed to make an impact and train his disciples. So he didn’t want to be too quick in provoking the authorities. He needed a measure of control over the timing of His ministry, which I think was behind his response to Mary. The impact of this miracle was I think fairly limited in terms of being a public statement, and the bridegroom would have been left with relief . Whether he drew any conclusions from talking to the servants, we will never know but this miracle probably didn’t make waves  outside of that wedding reception.

So to move towards a summary, this very first miracle before Jesus embarks on his travels, with all the other miracles to follow, is the revelation of God’s final and perfect solution to the problem of sin and the way sin divides us from our creator.

In the past, the prophets, the psalmists, the characters we read about in the O.T., the system of sacrificing animals to atone for their sins, all has been good and served a purpose, but now the best has come. Jesus’s ministry and coming sacrifice will effectively enables us to know forgiveness and is available to any who will respond. We can have no doubts that in Jesus God has saved the best until last.

Those guests at the wedding were keen to sample the new wine pronounced as the best. The MC would not have thrown it away. It would have been readily shared and tasted. Part of our task now is to bear witness to the best news that there ever has been, with folk who think that this life is all we have. In our context now in the rich part of the world, we invariably find that  folk are all too prepared to dismiss the news of Jesus, unwilling even to taste it . The psalmist wrote “ O taste and see how gracious the Lord is”.

Jesus turned the water into the best wine which is a statement of what God has done in sending Jesus. It is also a promise of what is ahead for us. You see,  as we open ourselves to the gift of His Spirit and to be changed more into the likeness of Jesus, we know that for us the promise is that the best is yet to come in terms of life in Heaven for eternity. Hallalujah

The message of this miracle certainly impressed his disciples as they confirmed their commitment to him. That can be a challenge to us as we share this communion meal this morning and as we seek to receive and  share God’s best news in our lives to the world at large.

So this miracle has nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with the arrival of Jesus being the very best message of forgiveness and love. May we rejoice in that today.  Amen

 Rev Geoff Hobden

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Sunday 12th January 2025

Reading Matthew 5:13-16  - Salt and Light

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Sermon on Matthew 5:13-16

Cast your minds back to last week when I talked about being salt and light in the world.  Last week I focussed on Salt and what it might look like to be more salty, and today we’re going to look at what it might mean to be more “lighty”.  And how we can be salt and light in the world.  

Depending on your translation, light is used around 433 times in the Bible.  In Genesis God said:  “Let there be Light.”

Psalm 27 describes God as “My light and my salvation.” (verse 1.)

Isaiah calls the people of God to “Let us walk in the light of the Lord.”  (verse 5.) So that’s about what you do. 

Psalm 119 talks about light as God’s guidance:  “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”   (verse 105.)

So when the different authors of the Bible use the word light, they don’t all mean the same thing, but they are all talking about something good, something life giving, something righteous, something wisdom invoking, something Godly.  

Some of you will be very familiar with John’s Gospel, talking about the light of the world.  I think it’s important to recognise that Matthew and John speak about light differently:  When John talked about “the light”. He is talking about Jesus.  So the light of the world is Jesus.  But when Matthew uses the word light, he is usually talking about disciples – and today – that’s us!  

A little girl was visiting a cathedral on a school trip and was watching the sun stream in through one of the huge stained glass windows, and it bathed the cathedral floor in colour.  She asked her teacher who are the people in the pretty window.  “Those are the saints” the teacher replied. That night as she was getting ready for bed she told her mother, “I know who the saints are!”  “Do you dear” said her mother, “who are they?”  She replied:  “They’re the people who let the light shine through.”

That’s you.  You’re the saints!  That’s your calling as Christians, to let the light shine through.  So let’s look again at our passage today.  

“You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew’s message is that the disciples (and that’s us,) will tell the world about Jesus.  Those who hear the message will be drawn to it.  Not only will they be drawn to it, but that they will give glory to God, who we, the light, declare.  

Verse 16 says “they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  They will see your example and it will impact their relationship with God.  Your light, your witness, will provide a foundation, a spark, a meeting place for their Christian faith.  No pressure there! Let’s break down this passage a bit more.  

A lamp in biblical times would have been clay.  It would have been lit, and may have been raised up so that it’s flickering light would reach dark corners.  So it’s not really terribly appropriate to measure this light – you just need to let the light reach as far and wide as possible and to reach as many people as possible.If you’re being a good Christian your faith shouldn’t be anonymous.  A town on a hill, will always omit some light.  It’ll be impossible to conceal all the light from it altogether.

But Jesus goes on to talk about hypothetical and illogical circumstances of covering up the light.  I think Jesus is saying on the one hand what a waste covering up your Christian life, your Christian goodness.  But he’s also saying that it’s very dangerous when the light is covered.  The light needs to shine.  If you are living your best life as a Christian, it’s good for you to be sharing the Good News with others.  It’ll be life affirming, even if it isn’t always easy and takes courage.  It’s crucial for the hearer too.  

This darkness, this absence of light brings danger, or a lack of life, both for the disciple and for the wider world.  From a practical perspective a lack of light might be hazardous, it causes accidents, it conceals predators and attackers, you might get lost in the dark and never be seen again.  From a spiritual perspective light is a corrective.  We need spiritual clear-sightedness.  If we place our trust in the wrong teaching or the wrong person, or the wrong things, that can break us, or seriously mess up our lives.  We need this light, or clear-sightedness to ensure this doesn’t happen. 

How do you feel about the scrutiny of having the things you keep covered brought into the light?  If we manage to conceal our misdeeds, our less honourable actions from others, we cannot conceal them from God.   This is not a very body positive thing, and I would not recommend dwelling on it or trying this at home.  

Do you remember the Trinny and Susannah 360 degree mirror.  The sexes might be divided on that!  They had this mirror, which shed light on and showed up every bodily imperfection.  The idea was that it was supposed to show you which clothes emphasised your wobbly bits in an unflattering way, and which clothes enhanced your figure!  In short, the idea was that you learned what to wear and what not to wear which was the name of the programme. Don’t worry about your appearance, you are all wonderfully made in God’s image.   

Do we appear spiritually attractive?  Do we need to shine a light on the most imperfect parts of our lives so that we can make positive changes.  I am ashamed to say that if there was a spiritual equivalent of this 360 degree mirror, I am unsure that my Christian life would bear its scrutiny. But we have the responsibility to try to be good witnesses.  That’s going back to retaining our saltiness, our goodness and absorbing God’s light.  

I think sometimes we focus so much on what’s lacking in other people, that we forget our job is to walk closely with God ourselves.  I think it’s easier sometimes to focus on what’s wrong with the world, than to be fed by God ourselves.  Do we do this to God sometimes?  Is it easier to focus on the dark in the world and complain about that, rather than work at our own relationship with God.  And let me say, I’m as guilty of that as the next person.   

The salt and light verses sit alongside the Beatitudes. Matthew 5:  3-11.  

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ”

The Beatitudes tell us how to live in a way that lets our light shine.  They tell us how to live lives that look more like Jesus’ life.  If we choose to follow Jesus in this life, expect trouble.  Our Christian calling is not to be popular.  We have to live as a big flashing neon sign for God’s goodness.  Expect to face all the things which were mentioned in the Beatitudes.  Expect to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be slandered, persecuted.  

Each Beatitude begins with a suffering or a misery.  A darkness. This is followed by a comma.   And then a resurrection promise.  A light.  There is the promise of eventual, providential blessing, but at the moment things are quite dark.  The person who is suffering is experiencing dark times, walking the way of the cross.  Then there’s the comma.  Then there’s the light, the promise.  The promise tells us what the Kingdom might look like.  The consummation of God’s work.  Being more salty and lighty is about bringing light into these dark situations. 

Dwelling in the comma.  Standing between the darkness of the misery and the light of the promise.  Coming alongside those in the darkness, staying with them but doing what we can to bring the light of Christ into the situation.   Anticipating the hope of heaven.  This is the witness we are called to – to dwell in the comma.  Do we try to build people up?  Or do we focus on what they’re not good at, not capable of or have got wrong? 

If we were living under Christian persecution like Matthew’s readers, would you be conspicuously “guilty” for your lively, lighty, life giving faith?  Would the light shine though you and give you away?  Do you look enough like Jesus to be thrown to the lions?  Or would you be the last person anyone would’ve thought of was a Christian?   I don’t want you to think, I think, I’m perfect.  I am not sure there would be enough evidence to convict me!  But that’s the goal!  

Does your life reveal God’s glory to your friends, neighbours and the people you struggle with.  Are we making the here and now closer to God’s Kingdom?  Do our lives radiate enough the light of the resurrection or are we pointing backwards to the darkness of the cross and highlighting and perpetuating the bad of the world?We are ordinary people, and we will remain ordinary people.  But we’re called to extraordinariness.  

Jesus was as ordinary as they come.  As Jesus, God came to earth as an ordinary man to experience our ordinariness, and its joys and challenges.  Jesus came into the ordinary shade, to transform this into the light of the resurrection. You are not called to be Christ on earth.  You are not called to be experts with all the answers.  But you are called to make yourself look as much like Jesus as you can.  

Do we try to promote harmonious relationships?  When dark words, are aimed at us, do we resist the temptation to respond with dark words back.  Do we try to be people of light in how we speak to and about others?   Are we a reconciling presence between God and the world?  And once again, I am most certainly not perfect in this. 

The good news is that God comes alongside us, when we try to be more lighty and take our faith onto the frontline.  If you’re worried about people asking questions, listening to their questions is a good witness in itself.  If they’re straightforward questions, hopefully you can give a basic explanation from your Christian knowledge and experience.  If they ask something complicated, it may not be their time for conversion.   And of course we start off by praying for them, even if we get distracted in the middle of it!!  Ask God for the right words, for the right person, at the right time.  

If you’ve given the best answer you can, don’t worry and leave it in God’s hands.  Be kind to yourself and don’t expect a spectacular conversion, it’s likely to be a small steps thing.  So I’ve introduced our strapline, to help us take our faith to our frontline.  In Friendship, In Fellowship, In Christ. 

So here are some ideas of how to prepare ourselves, and then some practical ways in which we can be good friends.  Salty and lighty friends.  It’s helpful to be prepared and willing to talk about your own relationship with God and how that has helped you.  If you think God is wonderful, but can’t say how, that’s probably an area to work on!  What would be understandable to you if you had never prayed, read the Bible or been to church.  How would you describe God’s presence, impact, help in your life?  

Be ready to talk about how God has brought you comfort in the saddest times of your life: 

Maybe God’s brought a person or an activity into your life that has been comforting or made a difference.  

Maybe you’ve not got a job which turned out to be a blessing in the end.  

Maybe something’s worked out when it really shouldn’t have done – and you think God had a hand in it.    

Maybe God’s injected just enough peace into your life to help you through some sadness.  

Maybe God’s guided you to a good decision?  Or helped you avoid a bad choice?

Maybe all has been well when the odds were against you?  

Maybe God’s taken you on to a really long journey that’s made life better than if you’d taken a direct route.  

What’s good about your prayer life? Where are the weak spots? How could these be better? Be honest about those, both with yourself and with your friends.  Make sure you pray for your friends who are seeking, asking questions, and pray for yourself, asking God to help you. 

Pray:  Who is God calling me to come alongside?  To sit with, and be a friend to?    What can you learn from them?  Who could they help in the future?  In what ways are you being the light of the world? How can you uncover the light a bit more?  Are you concealing what God is doing in your life?  If so, how?Do you “dwell in the comma”, and try to bring in the brightness of the Kingdom?

Let’s pray.  

Loving God, In our prayers help us to feel your love, your presence, help us hear you voice.  Shine your light into our hearts and onto our actions.  Let us bear the scrutiny of your light.  Let us live your love.  Show us your direction for our lives and give us courage to obedient.  Let us be people who show your love and tell your story.  Let there be light!   Amen.  

Rev Larissa Trust

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 Sunday 24th November 2024

Reading Revelations 3:20-22 - Behold I stand at the Door

“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That’s my gift to the conquerors!

 “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.”

Sermon on Revelations 3:20-22

Firstly, I’m going to admit something! Like many Evangelical Christians, I’ve often used this particular passage in the Bible to challenge folks to make a decision to follow Jesus, and to be reassured that He will respond by joining them on their lifes journey as their Saviour, Lord and friend. And all of that is true. So, if you’re sitting here this morning and you’ve never responded to Jesus calling you to be His follower, why don’t you do it today? I’ll be leaving a small time of quiet at the end of this address to enable us to respond.

HOWEVER, as you know I always say we need to put any - particularly well-known - Bible verses in their context when we’re considering them, and Rev 3. Vses 20-22 are no different. So, if we look at Ch3. V 14……..what do we find? These words – spoken in Johns vision by Jesus himself – are addressed NOT to those who have not yet come to faith, but to an existing church fellowship at a specific time (roughly AD 95) in a specific place, the city of Laodicea in what is now Turkey.

But, as with all the other 6 “letters to the churches” at the start of Revelation, the words comprise a mirror into which all churches in all ages are challenged to look.

As I mentioned earlier, today is a crossroads in the church calendar – Christ the King of the Universe Sunday (thinking of the risen and ascended Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords) and also the Sunday before Advent (the coming of Jesus to earth as a normal human baby). We could have sung the well-known Graham Kendrick song whose first verse starts… Meekness and Majesty/Manhood and Deity/In perfect harmony/The Man who was God. And in our picture and our reading, we have Jesus the King/Man knocking on the door of His church (v20) and in v21 Jesus speaking of Him being seated now victorious in the throne room of God. Meekness and Majesty.

Because if we who would own the name Christian really want to live as such, we need to recognise both aspects of Jesus.

And the church at Laodicea in Revelation ch3 had forgotten their calling, and become off the boil, or lukewarm. And Jesus had some very firm words for them. If we want Jesus to be known in our community, it starts in our lives, it starts with the Church.

So today is a time for us to reflect, as we are on the cusp of the commercial acceleration up to 25th December, on just WHO we will celebrate on Christmas Day. The church in Laodicea listened to Jesus challenge and responded………if you fast forward in time to AD400 the church was still there and had its own Bishop!

Holman Hunts picture, and the discussion we’ve just had, are the perfect focus, and I just want us to think about 3 words from our passage

All of them show Jesus taking the initiative in our lives. He doesn’t want us to be stumbling around in the dark. He is after all the Light of the World, just as our picture shows Jesus standing with a lamp in His hand. Remember another worship song we often sing - Christ be our Light, shine in our hearts, Shine through the darkness/Christ be our Light, shine in Your Church gathered today.–

The first word is KNOCK. When Jesus returned to Heaven, He promised that His presence wouldn’t be lost from the earth, it would continue through Gods Holy Spirit, who was present at the point of Creation (see Genesis 1) and who would now be given to all people who put their trust for living in Jesus, as well as continuing to work generally in the world to see Gods plan for humanity worked out…….and as we are a large element of being Jesus hands and feet serving our local community now, the Spirits work includes nudging us when we are going off the boil. Look at the picture – there are brambles creeping round the door. Knock, knock! Are you awake in there? Are we awake? Jesus loves us, and the world, too much to let us doze off – just as he loved the Laodicean church. BUT – and here is the thing – he won’t strongarm or force us, either individually or collectively as a fellowship; as the picture shows, he needs US to open the door of our lives, open the door of our ears, open the door of our eyes.

The second word is COME. No surprise here. After all, the word Advent means the Coming. Here in Revelation Jesus says if we open the door He WILL come in, not might come in provided we satisfy certain conditions. Over time, I’ve met several people who, when we’ve discussed becoming a follower of Jesus, have said it’s far too simple, we must have to meet a certain standard, achieve certain things. No, Jesus just says Come and invite Him in! There are a number of occasions in the Bible when Jesus Comes into situations…..think for a moment about just after his Resurrection, the disciples are hiding in a room in Jerusalem behind locked doors in case the authorities come for them next. They are hearing tales of Jesus being alive again; they’re confused, alarmed, the whole range of emotions. And what happens? Jesus comes in. He could have gone out into Jerusalem and started a revival with a whole new set of people – after all, when it came to the test, this original bunch didn’t do very well, did they! But the Jesus way is to keep with the folks who started off with Him – and guess what, they became the leaders of the first big push in spreading the Gospel around the world. In the same way He keeps with us, when we’re on fire with our faith or a bit rusty. He comes in as WE open the door.

The last word is EAT. With Jesus, it’s not just pop in for a moment and leave. It’s about a close bond, its about intimacy. Who do we have meals with? Our family and close friends mainly. It’s where very often some of the most important conversations of our lives happen. A good example is currently showing on TV. Anybody watch a series called Blue Bloods? It’s about a family of New York policemen, who are Catholics, and the central piece of most episodes is that they sit down for Sunday lunch together – normally at least 3 generations of them, with sometimes specially invited guests. And they say Grace!And the conversations take place – sometimes not easy ones. And what about in the Gospels? Take a moment to think about the occasions when eating together is the core of a major episode in Jesus ministry. Here’s a few – a meal with the tax collector Zacchaeus and his friends…the rejects of society. The meal when a woman of dubious standing, came in to a religious leaders house and anointed Jesus feet with costly ointment, to the outrage of the important guests. The meal off the Emmaus Road when 2 devastated disciples invited a fellow traveller in for a meal, only to discover He was the risen Jesus. The breakfast on the beach when Jesus helped Peter find forgiveness for his betrayals. And of course the Last Supper of Jesus and his first disciples, which all subsequent followers have celebrated in remembrance right up to this very Sunday. 

All in all, what better time than the Sunday before Advent, BEFORE we celebrate our Lord and Saviour coming to us first, as the baby in Bethlehem, to ask ourselves…is the door of our lives always open for Jesus to come in and eat with us, individually and as a church fellowship, to speak gently but clearly to us through His Word, His Spirit and each other to guide our lives for our good and His Glory? Or do we need to clear a few brambles away from the door of our lives first?

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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 Sunday 17th November 2024  - Safeguarding Sunday

Reading Proverbs 31: 1-9

 The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.

Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb!   Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers! Do not spend your strength[a] on women,  your vigor on those who ruin kings.

It is not for kings, Lemuel— it is not for kings to drink wine,  not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. Let beer be for those who are perishing,wine for those who are in anguish! Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Sermon on Proverbs 31: 1-9

We have very little idea who King Lemuel is… but it seems he wasn’t so powerful or arrogant to learn from his mother!  He remembers his mother’s wisdom, and the influence her words had on his reign.  We hope her words were heeded and his judgements and behaviour were good and not bad!  mWe don’t know who King Lemuel was or anything about him!  It’s likely that he may have come from an Egyptian background as Egyptian monarchs in waiting were sometimes instructed on their future responsibilities.  

And this is exactly what the Queen mother does.  She warns her son, the future King, of:

- the potential for distraction from his future vocation and
- how easy it is to misuse his power.  

The Queen Mother addresses her son as someone on whom power has been gifted.  She recognises there is potential for great good and great harm to be derived from how he uses this power.  The Queen Mother identifies sex and drink as two things which are likely to distract her son.  She is concerned that his behaviour could slip and slip and slip, with the ramifications negatively impacting the well being of his people.  So she tells her son that he must lead a life that lends itself to making good and just decisions for his people; and being a good model of how to treat others.

It's radical that twice she identifies the “rights of others”.  In verse 5 and verse 8.   In those ancient societies the male head of the household usually controlled all those under his roof, and it was the luck of the draw whether he treated you well or badly.  Whether he hurt you and exploited you; or whether he treated you kindly and gently.   As King – no one else had rights!  People did as you said!   But evidently the Queen Mother did not want a tyrant for a son!  The standards expected of him, are higher because, as future King, his potential to do harm is so much greater.  

She tells her son to uphold the dignity and needs of others.  She warns him not to make others vulnerable.  She tells him not to exploit a person’s broken heartedness, or to give someone false hope or expectation.  The King’s job is to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.  To defend those who cannot stand up for themselves.  Even if others can afford to, a King must not find solace in booze.  As leader he has to face harsh realities.  

And the Queen Mother hints that her son should be a very different King to his contemporaries.  A king wearing a very different type of crown.  A King that does not hold on to power for himself, but shares it.  A king who makes himself vulnerable by speaking out for what’s right.  Being brave.  Ready to be unpopular to defend what’s right.  Speaking of a King who knew vulnerability himself…….before and during his execution Jesus experienced the deepest of traumas.  

- His body was in the power of others.
- Public nakedness was enforced on him, and he endured humiliating mockery and insults.
- His captors dressed him in clothes intended to add to his degradation.  
- His body was beaten and mutilated by nails and thorns.  
- And his abusers used his humiliation as a weapon.  To show their power, to strike fear into those who might challenge their might.   To keep others weak, afraid, subjugated.  

The Council of Trent forbade that Jesus’ crucifixion be painted in an “unbecoming way”……But the cross was a scandal.Completely counter cultural.   Utter weakness.  Utter degradation.   And tidied up portrayals of Christ’s crucifixion, have veiled us to the messiness off the cross and shielded us to the humiliation that Jesus went through.   It makes us think we can’t talk about the nasty stuff of our lives to God.  And if that nasty stuff is abuse of one kind or another, we might think that we shouldn’t pray about that.  And that it must be unspoken in Christian circles.  As if God was too embarrassed or squeamish or offended. And our Christian friends likewise.  Jesus’ experience has much in common with people who endure all kinds of abuse.  On the cross, Jesus stands shoulder to shoulder with survivors.  What does this mean for the church today? 

Returning to our text, the standards the Queen Mother expected of her son and future King, are higher because the potential for harm is greater when he is distracted or abuses his power.  The same is true with the church.  It’s reported that the church is most trusted and respected when it’s humble and servant heartedness.  This gives us pause for thought when we lament the church’s perceived weakness or muffled voice in society.  

At the end of the passage the Queen hints that her son (and we) need to be prepared to hear uncomfortable truths. The Queen warns of the possibility of forgetting God’s way.  And unfortunately, the church has done just this down the ages for various reasons. Religious leaders condemned Jesus to death and his body to terrible mistreatment.  And others stood by silently, turning a blind eye to injustice, ignoring what their colleagues were doing.  Sound familiar a little familiar?  

How might the Queen Mother advise Christians today? Perhaps…

- Care for those around you. 
- Treat them with respect.    
- Bring everything to God in prayer.  
- Open your heart to his scrutiny.  
- There is no pain, hurt, humiliation, brokenness that is too much for God.  He’s been there before.

And the church? If the church ignores its biblical mandate to protect those with the least power, it is denying its primary vocation:   To faithfully preach Christ crucified, and to defend the weak and powerless.   This is why safeguarding must never be treated as a bureaucratic exercise.  Safeguarding is part of how the church is salt and light in the world.  Safeguarding training is intended to help us 

- Become an institution dedicated to protecting the weak,
- Learn from the experiences of others, 
- Challenge our assumptions, 
- Become more empathetic,
- Be the safest space possible.

If you don’t have a particular role that requires it, we would be delighted if you were to complete the safeguarding training because we think this helps inform us all.  

A final warning and a final warning from the Queen Mother to King Lemuel.   You won’t be a King in heaven.  There will be no hierarchies in heaven.     In heaven there won’t be any kudos.  What will differentiate you is whether you treat others well or badly.  

The weakest will be first in the Kingdom of heaven. Those who have the most on earth, the most opportunities, the most wealth, the most power – and they misuse all that – they will go to the back of the queue in heaven.  Those with the least, the poorest, the most marginalised, the most exploited will be sitting closest to Jesus in the Kingdom.  Let’s keep close to Jesus and heed the advice of the Queen Mother:  

“Speak out on behalf of the voiceless,  and for the rights of all who are vulnerable. 
Speak out in order to judge with righteousness and to defend the needy and the poor.”  (31:8-9). 
Amen.  

Rev Larissa Trust

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Sunday 10th November 2024

 REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

Naturally our thoughts today are around the effect of two world wars and both remembering and expressing gratitude for those who fought and died. War was awful then, still is today, and always has been. Whilst we all might agree with that, our challenge now as always,  is how we deal with it, and vitally , how we can help prevent it happening not just here but everywhere? Everyone of you will be aware that we have a national symbol for this time of Remembrance. 

Do the children know ?      THE POPPY

The same symbol is used throughout the Commonwealth plus America. France uses a blue badge.

The poppy may appear to be fragile, but the seeds are very resilient and after the 1st  world war, over many fields in France which were churned up by battles and where many men died, the poppies later came out in huge numbers, with their colour red representing the blood that was shed in defending us.

Why the poppy ?? there are 4 reasons.

1. It helps us remember the sacrifice of the many lives who fought for us.

2. It is the symbol of a charity which raises money to support those injured and those who were bereaved.

3. It is a sign of HOPE because of where the poppies grew  on the very ground that had been a battlefield.

4. Finally, it can be a sign to us of PEACE.

I would like us to think for a few moments about the poppy as a sign of PEACE. Being at peace is something for us to welcome ,not just when it comes to nations fighting nations, but also in our everyday lives. We all from time to time experience the possibility of conflict and disagreement. Even in the playground at school there can be arguments, hurtful words and maybe even worse. In all areas of life we face examples of how, as human beings we can treat and react to each other badly. It doesn’t matter which part of the world we live in. There are people everywhere like you and me having contact with each other and when sometimes, that contact is not as good and pleasant as it could be. 

So what is the answer ? How do we solve this challenge of bad reactions which can so easily become nasty and, in national terms, lead to war? 

I offer the word PEACE. A word containing just 5 letters but it has a massive potential to be the cause for good relationships, less anger, more forgiveness . Why can I be so certain? Because the PEACE I have in mind is the PEACE that God offers us through Jesus. At the start of our service we heard and have printed on our service sheets, the statement from Jesus:-  

“PEACE I leave with you, my PEACE I give you”. This is the PEACE that God wants us to have, because it is the perfect answer to arguments, fighting and war. Wanting PEACE is the way to stop angry words, to calm tempers and stop us hurting one another with harsh words.

Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers”.You know, It’s a really good thing to be a peacemaker. To be someone who stops to ask :-

How can I stop this problem getting any worse?

How can I forgive to find a way forward?

How can God help me to find a way to stop the spiral of harsh words?

But being a peacemaker includes another vital set of questions:-

Am I being selfish here?

Am I refusing to see the need someone else has?

Am I being a bit arrogant and unforgiving?

We need to recognise that as we can so easily be the cause of a problem, we can also be the solution. You and I can be as thoughtless and selfish as anyone else and that is the very point  where we need to ask for God’s help. He can help us to be peacemakers.

Do any of you children here have to carry an EPIPEN with you at all times ?

It provides a vital injection against any allergy that causes ANAPHYLAXIS SHOCK. 

The Epipen  is an immediate antidote to a serious problem. Similarly, our antidote to human relationship problems is PEACE, the peace which comes from God and that applies both personally and across the nations.

We heard from James earlier, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 

Paul wrote ‘ Because we have been justified through faith, we have PEACE with God though Jesus’. That is the kind of PEACE that both we and  the world need because it can bring healing in our troubled world’  That is the kind of PEACE that you and I can bring as an antidote to any situation that we come across.

It all begins with us and our response to God, and the poppy is a reminder that that kind of PEACE could be just as effective on the national and international stage as for us in our daily lives.

The problem is that Selfishness and greed can easily sweep a nation into wanting to possess more and prepared to fight and kill in the process. Look at Ukraine. It has ever been the way between nations, but there is a better way and we can play our part in our actions and prayers for those who lead us. Jesus probably wasn’t aware of poppies but I feel sure that he would be supportive of them as a symbol of PEACE. 

 So wear your poppy with pride and maybe as a statement that you want to BE God’s PEACE to everyone.

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Sunday 27th October 2024

Reading Matthew 25: 34-45 - I was a stranger and you invited me in

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Sermon on Matthew 25: 34-45

To recap on our video, we saw Paddington Bear, sitting on Paddington Station, lost, alone, down to his last marmalade sandwich, when he is spotted by the Brown family.  And of course they end up taking him home, he becomes part of the family, and the rest is history.  

The Brown’s weren’t the only people who cared for Paddington.  Paddington’s Aunt Lucy cared very deeply for him.  She wanted the best for him, she wanted him to experience the best opportunities for his life.  She and his uncle believed that emigrating to London would give Paddington the best chance in life.  They believed that in London, “the rivers run with marmalade and the streets are paved with bread.”  

Aunt Lucy heard that in the second world war, evacuee children were welcomed.  She had faith and confidence that Paddington would find a good home – which indeed he did.  She believed an unknown family would take Paddington in and treat him like their own.  And she was right!    In the film Aunt Lucy told Paddington:  They will not have forgotten how to treat a stranger.  So, she famously tied the famous ‘please look after this bear’ luggage label around Paddington’s neck to communicate to strangers that Paddington was in need.  

And when we become Christians it’s a bit like God does this for each of us too.  And at the end of the Paddington 2 film, spoiler alert, Aunt Lucy and Paddington are beautifully reunited in a tender reunion, which is a bit like how God feels about us when we have a relationship with him.  But those luggage labels have responsibilities.  

‘I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat.  
I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in.  
I needed clothes and you did not clothe me.  
I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

‘Lord….when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

During my curacy I was told to preach on this passage and I was somewhat reluctant because it’s so hard to live up to this teaching of Jesus.  I am much more like Mr Brown than Mrs Brown and I think that’s pretty common.  

We live as Christians, we say we are the body of Christ, we call one another brothers and sisters in Christ.  Children of the same heavenly father.  But when it comes to sharing our stuff… serving one another – it’s hard.  Showing love to those around us.  We guard our own possessions, and our own time.  Life is unfair.  We don’t all have the same start.  Some people are born into wealth or inherit money.  They have all the best toys and a nice big house to live and play in. The system works better for some than for others.  And if I’m honest, I - as most of us do - want to protect what I’ve got.   

But the early church took radical steps to overturn this sort of thinking. The early church took seriously those “Please look after this person labels” because they took seriously Jesus’s words.   He compels us to care for one another.  We have invisible labels round our necks from Jesus because he died for us.  

If we accept the love that Jesus offers, we need to imitate the love that he modelled.  Caring for the poor, feeding those around us, meeting the needs of others, treating those around us with respect, bringing equality.  This is why I’ve introduced our new strapline:  In Frienship, In Fellowship in Christ to help us think about how to be good friends and good witnesses.  

The early church had this sussed.  They shared what they had with one another.  Those with bigger houses used them for worship and they made sure that every member of the church was fed.  Meeting practical needs, extending he hand of friendship, spreading the faith.  

In Greco Roman culture, babies were often abandoned, particularly if they were girls.  Christians frequently picked up the girl babies and welcomed them into the first century church family, which is why there were so many women in the early church.  They responded to desperation and also recognised what was going to make the world a better place.  Unless you happened to be a queen or a princess, the only people in that society who had any clout, were the men heads of the household.  All those who lived under his roof were subject to his authority.  Women, girls, boys, slaves had to do whatever he commanded.  And it was the luck of the draw whether he wanted to look after you - whether he wanted the best for you - or whether he wanted to hurt you, mistreat you, exploit you.  

Paul made it very clear that you were to treat one another decently.  In the church, we are all equal, we don’t do hierarchies:

26 In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  (Galatians 3: 26.). 

But even this did not go far enough.  Perhaps if Paul had had more time in ministry, he would have spoken more against slavery which would have brought it to an end much earlier. 

Unfortunately the dedication of the early church got watered down.  Unfortunately when Christianity became more mainstream, their radical message of sharing and provision for all, became hazy.  Wealthy Christians wanted the hope of heaven…. But they also wanted to retain the socio-economic upper hand and the wealth and power that went with it.  They wanted to keep all the nice things for themselves.  

And few of us have really moved on from this – few of us can say that this isn’t us too!   We’ve ignored the needs in front of us.  We’ve ignored those luggage labels. Most of us haven’t done our bit to reduce the division between rich and poor. 

Returning to our words from the Bible, I struggle to remember that the words were not spoken by the disciples and Jesus.  They were spoken by a benevolent and righteous King and his subjects in a story told by Jesus.  The subjects say: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison?’  And of course, the joke is this is exactly what Jesus will shortly do on our behalf.  

When we say ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison?’  God answers: “On the cross.”  

God loved us so much that he became, hungry, thirsty, alienated, lonely, naked, in utter pain, in chains.  All for us.  He understands all the things that we miss out on, he is in touch with all our shame, and pain, and loss.  

Jesus can look all the suffering of the world in the face.  Jesus underwent the very worst that life can throw at us because he wants to relate to us, so deeply, so intimately, so sympathetically,

And say “I have given everything for you, this is how much I love you.”  

 Rev Larissa Trust

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Sunday 20th October 2024

Reading Job 38/42 

Job 38: Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man;  I will question you, and you shall answer me.

 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"

Job 42: Then Job replied to the Lord:

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,  things too wonderful for me to know."

“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Sermon on Job 38/42 

I wonder if you can imagine what it would be like to make some fantastic discovery that affects the whole world. It would have been great to have invented the wheel, then there’s electricity, penicillin and the man who shouted ‘Eurika’when he was in the bath. All these discoveries and many more made life so much easier. We might still have mini eureka moments when we solve a problem at home of how to do something or how to stop a squeak . All sorts of situations where a mystery is solved. Life is full of discoveries. Those moments when a light bulb goes on in your head. Young children with their fertile brains are doing that every day, but for all of us too, there are always more discoveries waiting to be made no matter what age  we are. This is true not just about our everyday lives but about our spiritual lives as well. We don’t know or  ever will know or understand the mysteries that confront us at times. Why does God do or not do some things, especially when it comes to prayer? In our Christian journeys, which will be different for all of us, some of these mysteries will be solved. We might read something, share in someone else’s experience, or even hear a sermon, when the penny drops and a muted ‘eureka’ comes to mind. That which was woolly and uncertain is suddenly clear. Light dawns. As Christians we should want that process to continue, even though we will never get to the bottom of everything whilst still accepting that ‘God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform’.

Let’s take Job for example. We all know something about Job. Here was a man and his family who were hit by disaster and personal tragedy. He had three good friends who meant well but all they did was to confuse him with their attempts to comfort  him by laying the blame on God. Even his own wife told him to blame God. After a long period with Job having complaints with God ,he has a eureka moment, chap 42 v5 “My ears had heard of you, but now, my eyes have seen you.” This was a big moment of discovery for Job, a real lightbulb moment in his spiritual life. His understanding of God moved dramatically from simply hearing, to seeing , from head knowledge to understanding, from his brain to his heart. Both Job, and our, relationship with God need both ear and eye, head and heart. To hear is to listen and evaluate, to see is to understand and receive. To be a Christian is to have heard the Gospel and to have ‘seen the light’. What is heard must travel to the heart. That is a process that never goes away as we grow in our faith. We will hear many things from Scripture, from sermons, from others, but our understanding will be a little slower sometimes until we, like Job, get that eureka moment. Growing in our faith needs both head and heart, rational thinking as well as emotion in discovering the depths of our wonderful God.

Job had apparently been an absolute model citizen. In Chap 1 it tells us that this man was blameless and upright, he feared God and shunned evil. V3 goes on ‘ He was the greatest man among all the people of the East’ WOW.

It seems however that something was missing. In his spiritual life there were areas where the penny had not dropped. He had heard about God and trusted and feared Him but maybe he hadn’t seen that he could love Him. Remember his testimony we heard earlier ‘ My ears had heard but now my eyes have seen you’

We have the same guidance. Yes to fear God in the sense that He is righteous  and holy, so we are to be in awe of Him and obedient to His commands, but at the same time to love him and open our hearts in worship, praise and adoration. We need both.

Job, through his many trials and sufferings and the temptation to give up on God, through 37 chapters , we hear him questioning God and trying to counter the bad advice of his comforters . He cries out ‘Though I cry that I’ve been wronged I get no response, though I call for help there is no justice’ God seems to be silent for a while.

Maybe you’ve been in that place, wanting answers but getting nothing from God. There is then the subtle temptation to conclude that God is not interested in me because I am too insignificant. There is nothing further from the truth and when it comes to Chp 38 we have ‘The Lord answered Job out of the storm’. His challenge is direct V. 2 Brace yourself like a man. I will question you. That’s a scary challenge, to be questioned by God. As it turned out, it wasn’t  questions about his general knowledge and they weren’t even questions he had to think about very much. You are probably ahead of me at this point ?

Q. V4 Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Nowhere.

Q.V5 Who decided it’s dimensions? God

Q..V8 Who shut up the sea? God..   the questioning goes on through chap 38 to 42. It’s worth reading because by the end of it Job has got the point. Job now has a much better idea of who he is dealing with. In the face of this reality of God’s creative ability and control he recognises that his own understanding and his role is to confess and admit that his place is to worship and repent. He said  42V3 I have spoken of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. Having this take on who God is, is very important for us as well. Remember at the sea of Galilee when Jesus told the men after a hard night with no fish. Put your net over the other side and the amount of fish was huge. Simon Peter we are told, fell at Jesus’s feet and said “Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man”. That was and still is a right and natural response when coming face to face with the perfection of God’s Holiness and power. For both Peter and Job it put everything into perspective. Any questions that Job had suddenly became of no consequence. All his earlier questions had lost their importance. When we are in a personal relationship with God through Jesus, the more we need to both hear and see the reality of who God is in His greatness and Love, and the more we are faced with our need, not to question his decisions but simply to pray for strength and forgiveness. Maybe some of us still need to have that eureka moment when the penny drops about who God really is ,which is a vital point in our growing relationship with Him along our spiritual journey, when what we have heard, which drew us to confess through Jesus, becomes something that we now see more clearly for ourselves.

So hearing but not seeing ? Have you ever listened to someone explaining something to you and you hear every word, but at the end, you haven’t got a clue about what they said ?  But if you are honest and own up and they explain it again ,and it can suddenly become clear! Isn’t that where we can find ourselves with God sometimes?  Not understanding, like Job, but needing to be honest and open so that the penny can drop.

I am going to suggest that we have a few moments of quiet prayer so that each of us can be honest before God as to where we see ourselves in our understanding of who God is and asking ourselves if the penny has dropped for us as well. Does your testimony include the same as Job, that as you once heard, now your eyes are fully open? Do you really want that ?

Allow God to open your eyes as to who He is, and submit to His deeper call on your life. 

Job already was a good man. He feared God and shunned evil. But God wanted him to see more, and he did. God wants the same for you and me. A few moments of quiet.

Paul wrote to the Romans Chap11 :33 O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgements and His paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been His counsellor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay Him?

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory for ever. Amen

 Rev Geoff Hobden

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Sunday 13th October 2024

Reading 1 Sam 23:15-18.  

 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

John 15: 9-12. 

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 

Sermon on 1 Samuel and John 15:  9 -12

Last week, in my first sermon as Vicar, I was adamant we were going to focus on our relationship with God.  That is our FIRST starting point before we do anything else.   But God’s love is there to be lived! And today I am going to focus on showing love to those around us.  And in particular I want to think about friendship.  So I’m going to be thinking about three great friendships:  

- Jesus and the disciples! 
- David and Jonathan! And…… 
- Frodo and Sam!  In Lord of the Rings!

“It doesn’t seem that I can trust anyone," said Frodo.  Sam looked at him unhappily, "It all depends on what you want," said Sam. "You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin - to the bitter end.  And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours - closer than you keep it yourself.  But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word.  We are your friends, Frodo… We are horribly afraid - but we are coming with you; or following you like hounds."  

If you’ve seen the film or read the book, you’ll probably remember that Frodo the main hero of the Lord of the Rings is given the job of destroying this magic ring so that the evil powers can be destroyed with it.  Sam is Frodo's steadfast and servant hearted companion who willingly offers to accompany him, despite knowing that this long journey will put them both in grave danger. Sam is portrayed as stocky and physically strong.  But he is also emotionally strong, supporting Frodo through difficult parts of the journey.  Frodo grew weaker under the Ring's influence, as they move through the dangerous lands towards Mordor, and Sam protected and cared for him throughout, and especially when he was vulnerable.  Sam served as ring bearer for a short time when Frodo was captured.  Sam then rescued Frodo.  He was momentarily tempted by the ring’s promise of power but didn’t succumb to it, once again showing his emotional strength.   

At the climax of the story, Frodo becomes too weak to go on and Sam carries Frodo on his back into the fiery heart of mount doom so that the ring can be destroyed.   Scholars have suggested this point in the story is reminiscent of Simon of Cyrene carrying Christ's cross. When Frodo became overwhelmed by carrying the great burden of the Ring, he comes to rely more and more on Sam for help.  At the most perilous points on Frodo’s journey, Sam carried Frodo (literally into the place of darkness).  I’ll come back to Lord of the Rings later.  

A marker of being a friend of Jesus is being a good friend to others.  In our culture we might chuckle that Jesus’ greatest miracle was that he was a man in his 30s… with 12 close friends!  It’s true that youngish men tend not to be very good at friendships.   They’re often not very good at staying in touch, and not very good at sharing unless it’s over a practical task to complete together.  And the pressures of work, family life and other responsibilities push friendships out.  

But as we heard in our Gospel reading Jesus looked at his disciples and thought…you are going to need each other when I’m gone. You are going to need to be good friends to each other, and to support each other, after I’ve died, risen and ascended!  

You are going to need one another’s prayers, wisdom and advice.  

You are going to need one another’s encouragement and forgiveness.  

And you are going to need one another’s hospitality and contacts, and aid. 

You are going to need to work through mistakes together, new situations together.   

And you’re going to have to advocate and mediate for each other.  Using any influence you have for the benefit of your friend’s mission work. 

So he commanded: “Love one another other as I have loved you.”  

We heard in our reading, Jesus calling his disciples friends, and promising to share with his friends all that God has revealed to him.  Today in the 21st century we are Jesus’ disciples and so we are his friends.  Jesus wants us to model the kind of friendship that he showed.  Jesus wants us to offer the kind of friendship that he showed in his life.  We’re called to go on revealing what God revealed to Jesus to our friends.  

David and Jonathan’s is a particularly faithful expression of friendship, and they teach us some really important things about being good friends. The first is trust.  Jonathan and David were loyal, dependable friends.  David and Jonathan made covenants and swore oaths to one another.  Jonathan defended and protected David, endangering his own life in the process. Friends do not gloat at the troubles of others. They rejoice when good things happen to them and are sympathetic when troubles come their way.  David and Jonathan’s relationship had a depth of care and understanding.  Jonathan was delighted to serve David, when he expected to inherit the role of King.  

In chapter 23, verse 16 we see Jonathan encourage David spiritually, helping him to depend on God.  He reassured him all would be well.  There’s a genuine desire to help.  There’s openness and a commitment to be vulnerable in the interest of building up the other person.  We hear they were one in spirit.  And that’s really helpful to us today as we think about being witnesses to our friends.  If we love God and understand his goodness, we hope that our friends will come to know that too.  As we share with one another our hearts become united.  So with that in mind some ideas for witnessing to your friends:

- Try to be ready to talk about how God has brought you comfort in the saddest times of your life.  
- Maybe God’s done something that has really made a difference at a difficult time.  
- Maybe a bad situation turned out to be a blessing in the end.  Maybe something’s worked out when it really shouldn’t have done – and you think God had a hand in it.    
- Maybe God’s injected just enough peace into your life to help you through some sadness.  
- Maybe God’s guided you to a good decision?  Or helped you avoid a bad choice?
- Maybe all has been well when the odds were against you?  
- Maybe God’s taken you on to a really long journey that’s made life better than if you’d taken a direct route.  
- Who is God calling you to come alongside?  To sit with, and be a friend to?    
- What can you learn from them?  
- Who could they help in the future?  

David and Jonathan’s loving friendship had more depth than many marriages.  It was God inspired and blessed.  David lamented and grieved for his friend when he died, saying: “Your love for me was wonderful.” Their love was self-sacrificing.  Jonathan enjoyed a privileged position.   As Saul’s son, Jonathan could have kept his head down.   He could have protected his privilege, and treated David as a usurper to the throne, and right for bumping off.   How many people if someone else took their job would enthusiastically accept the role of their number two?  Jonathan reconciled David and Saul and brought unity, albeit temporarily.  

Being a reconciler is really important if at all possible.  But then Jonathan recognised his father’s murderous plans and chose righteousness and truth over evil. He opted to lose the throne rather than betray his closest friend.   Greater “love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”    This is what Jesus did.  This is what Jonathan did.  And this is what the hobbits were prepared to do!

A verse from this passage that can really motivate us is:  “Saul’s son Jonathan helped him [David] find strength in God.”  1 Sam 23: 16.  I feel this verse can help us to understand our mission going forward.  To help us understand how to reach out to our neighbours in love and friendship.  To be agents of the Kingdom in Hutton and Locking.  

I think you two churches are really good at friendship.  Serving one another.  Being welcoming and friendly and loving people.  Caring for those in adversity.  David, Jonathan and the disciples were committed to God and were obedient to his call to love people.  And we’re called to do the same. 

I expect we’ve all been in situations supporting someone to do a task that we could do much quicker if we just did it ourselves???  Yes???  

God’s in that situation with us.  He could zap us into belief, faith and adoration of him.  Damascus experiences all around!  But instead he created the church and chose the love and care borne in it, to enliven faith.  

God chose predominantly small churches planted over the last 2000 years, along with the Bible, to show his love to the world. 

Jesus commanded remain in my love.  

We need to persist in our relationships.  

We need to invest in our friendships.  

As a church family we need to do life together in love. 

Come together in worship, knowing we all need God’s help.  

We need to allow ourselves to be shaped by his love.  

And we need to patiently stay with people going forward especially those who don’t know Jesus.  

And like Jonathan did for David, help them find strength in God. 

Amen. 

Rev Larissa Trust

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Sunday 6th October 2024

Reading Ephesians 3: 1-21 - God’s Marvellous Plan

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you,that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. n him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Sermon on Ephesians 3: 1-21

This is quite a well known story, so apologies if you’ve heard it before. A girl was adopted by a family.  But she, and they, never quite gelled.  After a couple of difficult years, the adoption was dissolved, and she was adopted into a new family. 

For one reason or another, whenever the first family holidayed in Disney World, they left their adopted daughter behind with a family friend.  Usually — at least in the child’s mind — this was because she did something wrong.  So when her new family announced they were visiting Disney World she expected to be left outside the Magic Kingdom, though they did not initially realise that this was her expectation!  

The family were confused when the prospect of visiting this dreamworld, produced a stream of challenging behaviour, a month or so prior to their visit. She stole food when a simple request would have gained her a treat.  She lied when it would have been easier to tell the truth. She whispered particularly hurtful insults to her siblings - and, as the days on the calendar moved closer to the trip, her mutinies multiplied.

A couple of days before the family headed to Florida, her Father talked through her latest incident. She responded:  “I know what you’re going to do - You’re not going to take me to Disney World, are you?” The thought hadn’t actually crossed her Father’s mind, but her downward spiral suddenly started to make sense to him.  She believed that she would be excluded from the holiday.  And it was a lot less scary to believe she was being punished for her bad behaviour, than she was unloved by her new family.  She was making doubly sure that her behaviour was the deciding factor, rather than consider the other possibility.  

Her Father asked her, “Is this trip something we’re doing as a family?”  She nodded, her eyes tearful.  “Are you part of this family?”  She nodded again.“Then you’re going with us. There may be some consequences to help you remember what’s right and wrong — but you are part of our family, and we’re not leaving you behind.”

You might think her behaviour immediately got better.  It didn’t. Her choices spiralled out of control at every opportunity.  But the family headed to Disney World on the day that was promised.  And the family experienced all things Disney. Overpriced tickets, overpriced meals, and lots of lines, mingled with just enough manufactured magic to consider maybe going again someday. But by the end of the trip, a very different child emerged. She was exhausted, pensive, and a little weepy, but her month-long facade of rebellion had faded.  On the last night her Father asked “How was your time at Disney World?”She reflected “Daddy, I finally got to go to Disney World. But it wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.”

I’ve chosen these two readings for my first sermon with you, because the starting point for everything we do, needs to be because we belong to God and that we are loved.  And these two readings show us how much God loves us. How much he forgives us. And how desperate he is for us to accept his love. 

As Vicar, my prayer for the Hutton and Locking church families needs to be the same as St Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:  I pray that you:  “being rooted and established in love,  may …grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses [all] knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God”.  

Our first task as Christians is to know how good God is … and that he is watching for us coming home.  To be God’s children before anything else.  We need to know we are all lost sons. And that our only hope lies with our Father.  Just like the lost sons in the parable, we are lost in different ways, different places, at different times.  Some of us are at rock bottom.  Others fail to realise how good God is.  Either way, we miss out on an abundant party.  If we know how good God is, we shouldn’t have an aloof relationship with him.  We cannot negotiate a middle point through our own merit.  We are lost without the Father and homeless without a place in his family.    We must recognise and confess that we go astray at times and betray our Father’s embrace.  But our un-lostness is found in the Father’s arms and the curtilage of his household.  We need to work on our own relationship with God before we start worrying about anyone else, partly because it’s by knowing God really well ourselves that we will point him to others. By being really at home with God that makes us big flashing neon signs for him.  

Turning to Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians.  Firstly Paul prays “for the strengthening of their inner being.  In other words for Christian maturity.   We don’t do things in our own strength.  Without God’s love we are lost like the older son.  We can’t fruitfully or authentically act alone.  God goes with us and helps us.  It’s not going to be me… or you…. who brings about renewal to Hutton and Locking …it’s God.  When we forget Jesus, when we are busy running around serving him, it’s quite easy to forget to love him!We need to stay grounded, and rooted in Jesus’ love!  Immersed in prayer, living and breathing the Bible, taking in God’s word.  

Secondly Paul prays for the blossoming of faith through a loving relationship with God.  With God, everything is ultimately about relationship.  Paul paints this wonderful picture of dwelling together, living with one another.   Making a family with.  Sharing a name.  Passing down a good inheritance to loved ones.  It’s important for how we understand our own relationship with God and it’s also important for our coming together as a church family and for our mission to people who don’t yet know God.  God claims us for his own.  He wants to be part of our lives and for us to belong to him.  mAnd he wants that from all people.   Those that attend church, and those who don’t. We all want God’s family to be bigger. To welcome more people into God’s household.    

Thirdly Paul prays that his church family will know God’s love which surpasses knowledge.  Cleverness doesn’t count.  Service doesn’t count.  You are loved, honoured and cherished by God… and responding to that love is what makes a difference.  Saying yes to God when he claims you for his own.  Thanks to God’s love and devotion, you and I are fully known and accepted.  God knows all the things that we’ve got wrong in our lives, whether we pray about them or never acknowledge them, he knows about them and still loves us.  Once we’ve grasped how loved we are, we need to share God’s love with others.  God’s love needs to be front and centre of our ministry here in Hutton and Locking.  

The best thing that we have received and the best thing that we can share is God’s love.  We want every person in Hutton and Locking and Parklands to receive that love and be a part of that family life.  We want our church families to be a dwelling place for God to be found in our communities.  But in doing this we must be rooted in God’s love and motivated by God’s love.  Our motivation cannot be about more bums on seat, healthier finances or better building maintenance.  Our motivation needs to be more people knowing God’s love for them and more siblings in God’s family for us to dwell with, love and cherish.  And I am preaching to myself here as well as you.  I have only been a rector for 3 days, but I suspect it’s easy to slip into this mindset! 

And finally, our heads need to follow our hearts.  Our heads need to understand our own limitations.  To comprehend that God’s love drives everything.  When we stay rooted and abiding in the love of Jesus, he is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.  But this ability lies with the Holy Spirit not with us.  God’s love surpasses all knowledge.  I know you’re excited about having a new vicar but any clever ideas I or anyone else can come up with are not ultimately going to make a difference.  It all comes down to God’s blessing in love.  And we need heads, hands and habits that allow our faith to flourish.  We need to remember to be persistent in prayer and persistent in loving God and neighbour and ask him to work, maybe using us.  We need to be observant and attentive to what God is doing in the world, pray about it and discern God’s nudging, bidding, moving.  

Ephesians is an attempt by Paul to encourage the fledgling church to love God and neighbour and to stay on track in this.  And I want this sermon to encourage you too!I think you are probably already salt and light in your neighbourhoods and we need to work out how to be renewed in this new season.    I think you already love your neighbours and are already serving them well.   And we need to ask God’s help, anoint, and bless our attempts to serve them even better.  

Let’s pray for that and for our faithfulness. We want more family members including some younger ones.  And just like the church in Ephesus we face some challenges – telling the Good News of Jesus Christ into a culture that is really unfamiliar with things Christian.  Our task is to be the body of Christ alongside people who are different to us … who don’t have a Christian background.  Ephesians offers us a vision of God’s hope for the world, to a church with all the same problems as us, except that the Ephesians live under fear of persecution and Paul was under house arrest, expecting execution, when he wrote this letter.   

Preachers often preach the message that they need to hear.   And in his imprisonment, Paul needed encouragement for himself.  And he also wanted to offer encouragement to his fledgling churches.  And I suspect many of you may need a bit of encouragement too.  

I am really excited to be here and I take seriously the need to love and care and cherish the congregations that you are.  Next week I want to talk more about God’s mission going forward and I’ve spoken about how I see this in my pastoral letter:  “In friendship, In fellowship, In Christ.”  The role each of us is going to have in the homecoming party the Father’s hosting.  Welcoming our fellow siblings who need the Father’s hosting.  Welcoming our fellow siblings who need the Father’s love. 

But I want to leave you wallowing in God’s love for you. God calls us into his household not because we’re good but because we’re his. God has chosen us and made us his own.  For our neighbours who don’t know him - HE WILL chase them to the ends of the earth to discover his lost child, and nothing on earth can stop him.  Throughout history, God’s grace has been revealed to the world, and he has used the lives of ordinary people like you and me to show his love to the worlds and welcome our brothers and sisters to the party.  Amen. 

Rev Larissa Trust

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Sunday 22nd September 2024

Reading Matthew 13:  1–9, 16–17 - Flourishing

At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed them. “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth,and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. “Are you listening to this? Really listening?”

“But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.

Harvest Sermon on Matthew 13:  1–9, 16–17

Well, it’s Harvest Festival time, so our Bible reading today is no surprise…the parable of the sower. It’s  another of those passages which appears in no less  than 3 of the gospels, something reserved for the most important of Jesus teachings, as the Gospels of  Matthew, Mark and Luke were written with different sets of people in mind. 

Our Youtube video has given us an overview of the whole parable, and there’s enough in it for a whole series of talks….perhaps we’ll do that one day. But for today I just want us to reflect on one aspect, and it’s no surprise – after our table talk – that this theme is of spiritual flourishing. It's clear from Jesus words that, unlike many of his teachings, which were addressed to both the individual and the group, the sower and the seed is directed primarily to us as individuals. It’s to do with how we individually respond to God, not how other members of our family, or our neighbours, respond.

Mr Google advises me that Harvest is referenced 80 times in the Bible, literally from Genesis to Revelation. I’ve not counted them all myself, but its not surprising, because the books of the Bible were written in a society which was rooted in agriculture and it was an easy way to convey a message. But one thing I find interesting is that the first reference, in Gen 8.22, is part of Gods promise to Noah after the Great Flood. “As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest.” And the final reference is in Rev 14.15 when, in one of his end time visions, John sees Jesus urged by the angels to “reap the harvest, because the time has come; the earth is ripe for the harvest.” Friends, we live in the time between Genesis and Revelation, before the final harvest when Jesus will return and make all things new; and therefore in every generation and every year we come both to celebrate creations goodness and reflect on our own part in Gods plan for the world.

One quick spoiler alert before we consider how we grow and flourish spiritually as God intends. From time to time I have conversations with people who say ‘Oh I’m obviously one of those people who are hard ground like the path, who will never believe.’ That’s a complete misunderstanding of the parable. Who has ever heard of a farmer who only ever sowed seed on one occasion in his/her career!!!! It’s a constantly recurring process of sowing and growing. I suspect all of us in this room, if we thought about it, could identify periods in our lives when we have been different types of spiritual soil; some of you will know my story, when even if God had sowed seed attached to a stick of dynamite it would have made no difference to my lack of interest in anything spiritual. But God kept going with me.

So, what do each of us need to flourish spiritually. Using Jesus parable, there are 3 elements …..

The Right Sower. Have you noticed nowadays how, thanks to social media, whether its via X, Instagram, Podcasts, TED talks, Youtube videos….or even adverts, everyone feels THEY know the meaning of life and the way to find true fulfilment. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we should automatically dismiss as delusional, anything that human beings say. After all, we are each made in Gods image and, however flawed we may be, we can see glimpses of Gods design and plan – for example, in the natural world. Or, as was originally said by the German astronomer Kepler that, as he was studying the universe, he was “thinking Gods thoughts after him”. It’s as we try to take on the mantle of explaining why we are here without reference to God that we get into trouble. What I’m suggesting is that as we weigh up the writings, sayings, and twitterings of Men and Influencers, we need to compare them with what GOD says as the principles to live by and understand the world. Some human musings we’ll find helpful, some wise, some wacky…..but only individual pieces of a jigsaw that God designed in the first place. So why accept a partial substitute?

The Right Seed. So what is the seed that God scatters to help us understand this world and our place in it? After all, we can’t SEE God directly. Well, in fact, God uses the same methods as our influencers and social media wizards……PRIMARILY the spoken and written word. Or, as the writer of the letter to the Hebrews says, “….in these last days God has SPOKEN to us through His son, Jesus, whom he appointed the heir of all things and through whom he also made the universe. He is the radiance of Gods glory and the exact representation of His Being…” You want to know about the meaning of your life, and the life of the world in general, look no further than the words and actions of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, who lived and died in the Middle East 2000 years ago but whose words have shaped the world like no other. Think The Prodigal Son. Think the Good Samaritan. Think the principles of the Sermon on the Mount. Think of his actions – giving a place of equal honour to women, not allowing the religious day of rest to prevent him carrying out acts of mercy and healing, allowing himself to be crucified on completely trumped up charges, but then rising from the dead to proclaim forgiveness to be available for all sins and personal access to God to be available to every human being in every generation. And His life described not once but 4 times by 4 authors. It’s all in here (the Bible), it’s on the internet, and its availability is only restricted by those human authorities who fear (correctly) that its message would fatally undermine their flawed regimes. In the extreme, think North Korea.

And now we come to the 3rd element, equally crucial for the flourishing. And this time, it’s down to you and to me.

The Right Soil. In our case, our minds, hearts and wills. Elsewhere in the Bible, one of the prophets says this – it is time to break up your fallow ground. Meaning to break open those parts of our natures which are resistant to Gods involvement. What things could they be? Apart from the one which afflicts pretty much everybody (ie I know what’s best for my life, can you just rubberstamp it please God), it’s likely to be different for each one of us, depending on our personality types, past experiences (including within Churches) etc. It could be trust issues – can I really trust God to get me through difficult times? This moment in Locking and Huttons Church life, with Larissa starting as vicar officially in 2 weeks time, is an ideal time to take a risk, bite the bullet, and ask God to show each of us if there are any blockages to our spiritual journey. If it helps, also talk it through with a trusted friend. What I DO know is that there is always more for us to experience in our walk with God, always deeper that we can go, always closer that we can come. The promise in this parable is that the effort is worth it in terms of our flourishing as Jesus followers and as human beings.

 So lets finish where we started – with Harvest in the Bible. God had some very interesting things to say about the annual harvest when he was detailing how the children of Israel were to live as a distinct and different people once they settled in the land He had promised to them. Its actually mentioned in 3 of the first 5 books of the Bible. It’s best described in Deut 24. Vses 19-22 “When you gather your crops and fail to bring in some of the corn that you have cut, do not go back for it; it is to be left for the alien, the orphans, and the widows, so that the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.” In other words, while God promises to bless our endeavours, there will always be those – even in sophisticated and wealthy societies – who will struggle. And it is for us to share our blessings with them, not just keep it all for ourselves. Why did God put down such rules? Because human beings like to keep everything for themselves, for OUR selves. Jesus never came to abolish such laws, he raised the bar. The Jesus way is to share all our blessings with others all year through, not just at Harvest. BUT Harvest is a good place to start.

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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 Sunday 8th September 2024

Reading James 2:1-13  - Favoritism Forbidden

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing right.But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Sermon on James 2:1-13

As an illustration of Pride, please use your imagination as I tell an unlikely story. It’s about an old turtle who wants to get to spend the winter in  California where it’s hot. Too far to walk or swim, he chats to two large geese. They agree to each take the end of a rope. The turtle, with his vice like jaw clamps onto the middle of the rope. They manage to take off and were almost there when some folk below looked up and said, ”What a brilliant idea, who thought of that ?” The turtle, unable to resist,  openend his mouth and said I did! Pride goes before a fall. 

Pride is just one of the areas that James could be hinting at in the section we heard this morning. He lists attitudes like favouritism , discrimination, judgmentalism and exploitation. If challenged as Christians, our immediate reaction I think would be to deny any of these tendencies, but I suggest that it might not take much scrutiny to discover that we are also tempted in some of these areas at times. Honesty makes us admit that we are at times challenged/tempted to respond in a negative way to others. I can put my hand up, and I don’t think any of us are immune from the challenge.

 James makes it crystal clear that what we are considering here is sin. So, V9 If you show favouritism, you sin and are law breakers. He explains in V8 The royal law found in Scripture ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ That covers the whole area of relationships and our attitudes and reactions to other people.

The story Jesus told of the Good Samaritan is a great example of good attitudes verses bad attitudes. The priests and Levites passed by on the other side refusing to taint themselves with the mess or simply in a hurry, as against the Samaritan who overcame his physical and cultural hang ups to help a fellow human being in distress. The Jew/Samaritan divide became a secondary issue. No judgmentalism or discrimination at work here in the face of a real human need. Is it possible for us to be absolutely sure as to our reaction ?

Some of us here, Including me, were brought up in a town (Weston) where ethnic minorities were only found in Chinese fish and chip shops, and our older relatives had been heavily influenced by Victorian attitudes to colour. Significant changes have taken place which have put us on a steep learning curve regarding race, quite apart from attitudes now towards gender issues. 

Transpose that into a good Samaritan situation and think about your reaction.

One would like to say that society as a whole is beyond negative attitudes towards race and gender issues, but recent riots have shown the opposite on both counts. For us as Christians, the ‘Royal Law’ is always to love everyone regardless of colour or sexuality . There is no place for v1 favouritism, v4 discrimination or judgmentalism and as I started with pride and I could add superiority. None of these have a place in our attitiudes.

We all remember Martin Luther King in America and the apparent end to Apartied in South Africa. Progress but problem not completely solved. God’s creation is global and at a stroke that rules out discrimination of any kind.

Jesus healed ten lepers, but it was only the foreigner who came back to thank him. On a different  issue we also know that across the world there are a number of civilisations who do not treat women as equals. I’m sure that mission societies like Tearfund  confront that if they come across it.

Even in our own society the balance between male and female has not always been on a level playing field with the balance swinging back and forth between the two. Male and female He created them, different but complimentary, both with strengths and weaknesses but united through servant hood and humility, and with love and obedience following  the example of Jesus.

Let me also raise what could be a testing area, that of social discrimination, which could include our attitudes towards others  giving rise to feelings of pride or superiority. What do I mean? V2 gives the clue. 

‘Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.V3 goes on to warn us against treating them differently. Here’s a good seat to the one, and sit on the floor to the other. How easily do we submit to feelings of superiority ? This is a challenging bit of teaching from James if we are honest. It was certainly a challenge to me in a town centre vicarage with a regular supply of needy folk at the door, and not all as needy as they appeared. Maybe our attitudes are influenced by where we live, what we own, the car we drive or the work we do ? It’s not that there is anything wrong in owning a brand new Porche , it’s whether we treat the owners differently to someone who owns a Reliant Robin. So no favouritism or discrimination as James point out.

We experienced an amusing slant on this, years ago. For a national memorial day we were invited to a street party in George Street. The tables were laid out in a long line down the middle. The mayor plus wife, Hazel and I were sat together and all the other seats were filled by children. All the adults stood around watching as we ate jelly and cakes. We felt pretty self- conscious I remember.

The story of the great feast in Heaven spells out that Heaven is for everyone, especially for the poor and lame. Attitudes in Heaven are completely opposite to what often happen here. Other examples where attitudes can be in error can include how we feel about other Christians, especially in another denomination where we might have a different take on their practices or theology. I think that James sums the whole section up in V’s 12 and 13 where he refers to mercy triumphing over judgment. James is highlighting a vital part of God’s character. Let me read as move towards a close.

V12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement.

That is exactly where God stands in relation to us and especially when we finally stand before him. If we break the royal law, remember, Love your neighbour as yourself, we are failing to exercise mercy over judgment in all the areas we have been thinking about. This is why we need to genuinely  say sorry regularly because then we will stand before God under the protection of the death of Jesus. This is key stuff relating to our faith and our personal access to Heaven.  Let me quote a hymn:-

Only by grace can we enter
Only by grace can we stand
Not by our human endeavour
But by the blood of the Lamb.

By God’s grace we have access to Heaven, only because of Jesus. Sharing at the rail this morning we will each  be rejoicing in the fact of forgiveness . I hope that is your testimony.

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Sunday 25th August 2024

 Reading Ephesians 6: v10 -20  - The Armour of God

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Sermon on Ephesians 6: v10 -20

We’ve come to the end of our series of reflections on Pauls letter to the Christian fellowship at Ephesus. It was written while he was in a Roman prison, and was chained to a soldier. Paul had no idea whether he would see the Ephesian Christians again.

So, unlike most of his letters to the churches, which dealt with how to resolve problems of wrong teaching and wrong behaviour, this letter was sent to encourage what was a well-established church, and to motivate them to go and grow further. It deals with major principles of church life, and was expected to be read in the other churches planted in nearby towns and cities to Ephesus. And as Paul was himself in prison, he sent it via one of his team, Tychicus, as mentioned in v21 of ch6.

In the earlier chapters of the letter, Paul has written about some of the mega-themes for a church that wants to truly show Jesus in its midst – particularly UNITY and MATURITY. But in ch6, he deals with probably THE mega-theme for Christians living in a non-believing society (be it Ephesus AD60 or Weston-super-Mare AD2024) and interacting with those around us. It is SOLIDARITY, standing firm, and for this we each need to be properly equipped.

So our passage today starts with the word “Finally”. In another Bible version its “One final word”. I love it. It reminds me of when a member of our family, or a close friend, is rushing out of the door, and we know we need to say something that will stick in their minds.

Paul wants to underline to them that they are in a battle against a hostile set of values and world order, and that they need to be ready to speak and live in a different way. How to convey it? He sees he’s got the perfect illustration to use literally right in front of him – the fully dressed Roman soldier to whom he's chained. His readers in Ephesus would see Roman soldiers individually and in legions on a regular basis……so naturally if you were part of the Jesus legion they would understand you would need to be equipped with Gods armour!

And in verses 13 -17 he lists the parts of armour, so well worn by Isaac a few minutes ago. I’m not going to consider most of the items in detail – we’ve discussed them already, and the Youtube video we’ve watched proves the point that a visual image can beat a hundred words. To summarise – a belt of truth, knowing Jesus words and living with integrity, holds everything together. Makes sense. Protection for our thinking. Protection for our hearts. Then the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. I like to think of them together – the shield to block the negatives that get thrown at us (you’re useless, you’re a bad Christian etc etc) and the sword to fire back the truth (we are fearfully and wonderfully made, we are loved with an everlasting love etc – lots of such statements in the Bible). The best example of the sword and shield use is when Jesus is tempted by the Devil in the Wilderness – Matthew Ch4 vses 1-11. And JESUS WINS.

That leaves us with at first glance the most uninteresting part of the “armour”. The shoes. But think about it. Even in the natural, if your footwear isn’t fit for purpose, you’re going to slip and fall, aren’t you? Same in the spiritual. In our passage, the words STAND or STAND FIRM occur 4 times. Life is not a pleasure cruise, whether you’re a person of faith or not. Roman soldiers knew that, and their boots were fitted with nails or spikes, to help them keep their balance, to STAND FIRM. What’s the equivalent for the Christian? According to Paul it’s the “gospel of peace”. If you were to ask most people today what things were missing from life on a personal, national, international and global level, I bet I know what one of their answers would be. PEACE.

So, in what ways can the Good News of Jesus – and Paul – bring peace? Can I suggest at least 4….

1.PEACE WITH GOD. Humans are designed as spiritual beings to have a connection to God, but that connection gets blocked by our flaws and failures. Jesus died and rose again to restore that connection for all who believe and trust in him.

2.PEACE WITH OURSELVES. We believe awful things about ourselves and/or have awful things said to us – you’re ugly, you’ll never amount to much, worst of all, I wish you’d never been born. Jesus corrected the lies – we are each in Gods eyes beautiful, priceless and born with unique qualities for a unique purpose.

3.PEACE WITH EACH OTHER. We all naturally get on with some people and not others, we put ourselves first, and say and do hurtful things which break up friendships and families. Jesus came to bring forgiveness, to deal with guilt and shame, and by the Holy Spirit living within us, wants to heal and restore what is broken – and even to help us love the unlovely.

4.PEACE WITH THE NATURAL WORLD. From the start, mankind was designed by God to steward and care for the natural world, not exploit it. Once we start to see everything around us from Jesus perspective, we realise that that responsibility hasn’t changed, and we don’t leave it to Climate Activists, the Green Party, and Tim Smit.

Lastly, notice that Paul talks of the “READINESS” that comes from the Gospel of peace. It’s being ready not just to stand firm but to go and share the Good News (as our video showed) and serve our community.

Sometimes, people ask me why there is no armour mentioned for the back. Perhaps it’s simply that Paul could not see the back of his soldier guard – woe betide a guard who turned his back on his prisoner!  But it may be more than that.  As we read the bible, from Noah and Abraham, through David and the Psalms up to the life of Jesus, God consistently promises that He will guide and protect His people; in other words, He will “ have their backs” .  And Jesus said that we were to be His hands and feet after He returned to heaven – read Matthew 25 vses 35-40.  In other words we were to have each other’s backs.  If you care to Google the defensive positions taken up by Roman Legionnaires, you will find that they arranged themselves so as to protect each other’s vulnerabilities.  What’s a prime way of having each others backs?

Well, immediately after describing the bodily armour of God, Paul says this “and pray in the Spirit on all occasions….. be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints”.  Do you know how the Hebridean revival started? Two elderly sisters, one aged 84 and blind, and the other aged 82 and crippled with arthritis, committed to pray together in their little cottage 2 days each week. Why? Because they had been told that no young person attended the worship service at their church. And they remained firm and kept praying.

Some 250 years ago William Cowper wrote the following words as part of a hymn – Restraining prayer, we cease to fight: prayer makes the Christians armour bright; and Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon their knees.

It’s as true now as it was then, friends.

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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 Sunday 18th August 2024

Reading Hebrews 12: v1-3 - Run with perseverance

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

A Passion for Sport

OLYMPIC sports in the Bible? Joke: Who was the first one to play tennis in the Bible? Ans: 'Joseph Served in the Court of Pharoah' - Genesis 41v46. Also 'Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord' - Gen.32, and 'Joshua’s Triumph was heard throughout the land' - Joshua6v27

There are Seven Passage about Running in the Bible but I will just focus on the  last one.

7. STAY FOCUSSED ON JESUS

In the Message version, we read: Discipline in a Long- Distance Race. 12 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus,  who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

This passage has inspired so many believers including the Olympic  athlete Eric Liddell. ‘I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast…. When I run, I feel God’s pleasure’. In the film ‘Chariots of Fire’, he is given a verse of scripture by a fellow athlete in the 400metres final, after he has refused to run in the 100metres because the heats and the final were on a Sunday. Even though the Prince of Wales (who became George V) entreated him, Eric would not budge. The scripture was a quote from 1 Samuel 2v30 ‘He who honours me, I will honour…’

The context of these verses in Hebrews 12 are the amazing ‘Cloud of Witnesses’ described in Chapter 11, the Heroes of Faith from Noah, Abraham and the patriarchs to Moses and onto Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, David, Samuel and others such as Daniel (though not named).. Like in the great arena in the Olympic Games at the end of a Marathon run, these and many other heroes of faith are cheering on the followers of Jesus who face opposition and persecution and troubles in their race of faith. Indeed, that was the context for the writer of Hebrews, who was writing to encourage the believers, possibly in Rome, from Jewish backgrounds who were tempted to give up on Jesus as Messiah and revert to the ‘safe’ & ‘legal’ religion of Judaism. This letter is sometimes described as the 5th Gospel as it has so much about the Person and Work of Christ – better than Angels, Moses and the Priests… His ongoing work as High Priest in heaven, praying for us is emphasised. And the completed and finished work of salvation ‘Once for All’… no further sacrifice needed!

When I was cycling and running in a Triathlon 3 years ago, I remember being so encouraged by those who cheered and clapped me on. Even the fellow competitors who passed me (there were many of them) also encouraged me to complete the race! So, also we are called to do the same for each other in our race of faith.

But note the three ‘Lettuces'–3 exhortations here (13* in total in the letter)

1) Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that entangles. Travel light, get rid of any bitterness, unforgiveness, besetting sins which could weigh us down or even stop us running at all. Writer includes him/herself in this charge!

2) Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Each of us has a unique race to run and life to lead and calling Hebrews 12v1-3 ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  to follow. We are not meant to try to be like someone else though we can gain inspiration and encouragement from them.

There is a race, a life, a calling that is marked out, planned and sovereignly designed by our Maker especially for us and no one else. So, be true to yourself and seek to live authentically and joyfully and keep going! The Triathlon for me was just seeking to finish the race and not be disqualified. Of the 200 who registered, 60 did not show up or were disqualified for some infringement, like going through a red light when cycling. I did not cycle or run or swim fast but I just kept going and made it in 2 hours 19 mins. The fastest 31 year old male finished in 58 minutes! But I was so glad to finish well. And that is what I hope that we ALL aim and wish to do.

Plodding along and persevering, not giving up, keep going till the end. Are you a plodder?

3) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…  Our greatest inspiration, our coach, our trainer, our partner, our forerunner, our champion, our prize, our goal is Jesus. Fix our eyes on Him. Some Paris Olympic Golds did look to Jesus!  How do we do that? The best way I have found is by reading the account of his life regularly and perhaps also watching the Jesus Video or now the Film Series ‘The Chosen’. Read the scriptures and especially the gospels regularly. In a recent Sermon from Mark 6, I noted two aspects of Jesus’ character and ministry, which we can learn from and follow, that illustrate this reading from Hebrews 12.

i) Perseverance despite opposition and even rejection by those close to us. Jesus met unbelief and rejection from his family and hometown but He kept going and did not give up. He still found time to heal a few people, but unbelief and scepticism hindered much.

ii) Training and Coaching his team. Jesus sent out the Twelve in a training mission with delegated authority. He did not expect to do it all himself and was preparing for the future, when he would no longer be with them. Jesus is the best Coach! Even better than Gareth Southgate! 2021 the Sun newspaper, Gazza was quoted as saying: ‘In Gareth we trust’, but no human coach can compare with Jesus! We are all called to ‘pass on the baton’ to the next Generation. And the passage in Hebrews 12 goes on to describe Jesus’ perseverance in the face of the hostility and opposition that led to the Cross. He had the JOY of Resurrection and future GLORY before Him. We can have the same Joy and Hope of Glory before us as His followers. There is JOY when just One lost person is found!

 Summary and Application:

1. Be Eager to Obey God in His Word. Psalm 119v32 soaked in scripture

2. Seek Divine Strength. Isaiah 40v31 Not our own strength

3. Perseverance. Galatians 5v7 Avoid deflections

4. Pressing On. Philippians 3v13,14 No looking back

5. Training and Discipline. 1 Corinthians 9v24-27 No disqualification!

6. Go for The Prize and the Crown. 2 Timothy 4v7 Finish Well.

 7. STAY FOCUSSED on JESUS. Hebrews 12v1-3

Rev Smon Holloway

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Sunday 11th August 2024

Reading Ephesians 4:1-16 -  Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”

(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Sermon on Ephesians 4:1-16     

Our Ephesians passage this morning is all about unity, as in V4 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace”. Before we dig into this important issue, I want to start with a quote from Checkov. Oh dear your thinking, who’s he ? He was a Russian playwright also writing short stories like ‘Seagull and Cherry Orchard’. Ringing any bells ? No matter, because he had quite a thought on the question of unity and wrote this “ Love ,friendship and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something’.  Repeat.  We experience that kind of unity in our society all the time. Protests about the environment, strikes for more money, pressure groups on racial issues, opposition against building schemes and Far Right now !etc. All evidence that what Checkov said is true. The old maxim ‘United we stand, divided we fall’is part of the American declaration of independence but first coined by Aesop as part of a fable. All these expressions involve people who are united but against a common enemy.

The Christian response about unity is to paint a completely different picture, because to follow Jesus and his teaching  is to see that LOVE is a far more powerful uniting factor than hatred.

The Psalmist wrote 33v1 ‘How good and pleasant it is when people live together in unity, it is like precious oil poured on the head’. Luke wrote at one ppint, that all the believers were one in heart and mind. The significant difference between the protester and the Christian ideal of unity is that the unity for the protesters is held together with usually a degree of anger and often revenge whereas Paul describes the uniting factor as v.3 ‘ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace’. In other words the glue that leads Christians to unity is the peace given by the Spirit. So Checkov’s observation was correct from a human perspective. We are more easily united when we have a common enemy. The unity we crave as Christians however, can only come as we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit.

As we look back over history, what are the signs we see of spirit led unity amongst the Christian church ? Well I have to say that it’s difficult and discouraging to be sure about many. In fact signs of disunity were in evidence right from the word go amongst the churches Paul was writing to. Which isn’t to say there weren’t positives because there were. In fact the first two chapters of this letter are full of Paul’s thanksgivings  for the Christians. But we don’t have to move too far into history to find disunity. The Council of Nicea in 382 formed our Nicene creed purely to state the basics of our faith as against the welter of other ideas and the canon of Scripture.(382)

You only today have to look at the huge variation of different denominations to see that unity is a struggle. There are attempts to help with organisations like ‘Churches together’, but in truth unity is in theory not in practice. So we have Methodists, Anglicans, Baptists, Plymouth Brethren, open Brethren, strict Baptists, Roman Catholics, free evangelical churches, black churches, Seventh Day Adventists,  and many more. Each resolutely maintain their individualism and there is very little contact, with exceptions. In an attempt at unity we come up with words like ecumenical and when a new area is being built or extended like Worle 30 years ago we discovered ‘Local Ecumenical Projects’ which then was Anglican and Methodist agreeing to share leadership on a rota basis. Both St Martins, Worle and St Marks are both now Anglican parishes. 

Locking Castle was formed on the basis of 4 denominations sharing leadership. I think that only Baptists and Anglicans are still involved. In practice it’s difficult. Another phrase comes to mind. ‘The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’.

The challenge of unity was as much an issue in New Testament times as it is for us now. We remember now that in the (19 the church didn’t speak up against slavery and it took Christians like Wilberforce and others to campaign for a united view.

Paul, in this letter is making the principal  of unity as a matter of urgency and perhaps his words can help us understand what Christian unity could be like and how it might be achieved. Yes it’s tricky and difficult which the past of the church shows. Yes we all end up with preferences and fixed attitudes which we all have , including me, but because it is such a strong Scriptural emphasis, we do need to persist in being open to some things that need to change. Paul says in v3 Make every effort. Perhaps this whole unity thing begins with us. So what is it., Well?

Is it losing all our denominational  structures and becoming one big amorphous whole ?

Is it simply worshipping in each others churches ?

Is it accepting the pope as a kind of universal head of the church?

Is it enough simply to work together on local projects?

Lets go back to Paul where in v 4 he reminds us of some central truths. 

V4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. What a fantastic statement that is.

 There is also the phrase ‘When you were called’. So our unity begins once we are individually called to take up God’s offer of forgiveness and become one with God through Baptism and receive His Spirit.

Yes,  there is a richness in our differences but the key to unity is in our attitudes to each other, to all those who take both the Bible as their handbook, and Jesus as their Saviour. There can be no compromise on that. 

Q Have you ever had that feeling on meeting someone new that they are Christians? When that happens, it doesn’t matter where they worship because you have a distinct sense of unity with them and it’s a great feeling.

Paul, towards the end of this section gives a description of how unity could work. Listen again:-

V15 ‘Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is Christ.

V16 From Him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

So Just drawing to a close, and aware that there are so many other   issues, Paul highlights that in our relationships with each other he wants to encourage us to v2 be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.

It would perhaps be a sobering exercise to know how others would mark you and me in these areas. I guess that most of us struggle to some degree, but unity and the fruits of the Spirit go together in a natural way.

Perhaps the whole challenge of unity is so hard that we are tempted to give up, but to do that would be to ignore God’s perfect plan for us. He has designed that as Christians we should live together in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace, so that the world may look at us and say “See how these Christians love one another”. 

 Rev Geoff Hobden

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 Sunday 4th August 2024

Reading 1 Kings 2:10-12 and 3:3-14  - Solomon Asks for Wisdom

Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. He had reigned forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established. 

Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for - both wealth and honour so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”

Sermon on 1 Kings 2:10-12 and 3:3-14  

Solomon has succeeded his father David on the throne of Israel. From the passage we have had read it would appear to have been a smooth succession. However as is often the case in the Old Testament, if we read around the passage we wm see that it was not without controversy and substantial political intrigue. Several commentaries have likened it to the succession of the crime lord Don Vito Corleone in the Godfather, such is the ruthlessness with which Solomon establishes his power and settles some old scores for his father. 

What springs to mind when you think of Solomon? I would imagine for many of you it would be the word wisdom. The Wisdom of Solomon is legendary. One of my daughter's favourite bible stories is the one that follows immediately on from this passage. Two women come to him, they have both had a baby, but one of the babies has died, and one of the women alleges that the other has stolen her live child and taken him to replace her own who has died. 

Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: "Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other." The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!"  But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!" Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother." 

Where did such wisdom come from? Quite clearly says the writer of 1 Kings it comes from God. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." As we all know Solomon chooses wisdom. But did that make him wise, or did it just make him wiser? 

In Proverbs 19 it says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. In his dream Solomon says; "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day." 

Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understandlnq; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 

What would you ask for? I doubt that I am the only one who has rehearsed what they might do if we were faced with a genie who would gran them three wishes. To my shame, even knowing the story of Solomon, I am not sure asking for wisdom ever seriously occurred to me! What even is wisdom? 

It's not to be confused with knowledge, we can know things, we can know lots of things but that doesn't make me wise. Henri Nouwen spent many years living in community at Les Arches with clients who were profoundly physically and mentally disabled. He described many occasions when he was comforted by a client who recognised his own distress. 

One of the best descriptions I've heard to define the difference between knowledge and wisdom is. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. 

A group of children were once asked what wisdom was, one of them presumably from a seaside town defined wisdom as wearing a hat when feeding the seagulls. Another said, when your dad is mad and says Do I look stupid? Don't answer him. 

The appointed verses contain an evaluative description of Solomon's character: "Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David; except he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places" 

Those of us who are around my age will remember Morecambe and Wise and their sketch with Andre Previn, where Eric Morecambe plays the piano, badly. Scolded by Previn for playing the wrong notes, Eric Morecambe comes back with the line. "All the right notes, not necessarily in the right order." 

That is Solomon, he hits a lot of the right notes, but there are some discordant notes. He loves the Lord, and showed it by walking according to the instructions given by his father David, but he offered sacrifice in places associated with Canaanite gods. He was compromised early on in his kingship, in his worship. When he could quite easily have worshipped in a place associated with Yahweh. He married Pharaoh's daughter, and all these things conspired to bring on the downfall of the Israelite kingdom. 

If wisdom is the first word in this passage that is of significance, the second word is except.  Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. 

Except.  I wonder how many of us have an except. Trust in the Lord in all your ways, well I'll just take care of this one myself, not sure I need God's help here, and maybe He might just advise something different.  An except that, that exists as a blind spot, of maybe even a fatal flaw that we are all too aware of. So what can we learn from Solomon? 

Acknowledge God's work in our lives. When we come to verse 6, we see that Solomon began his answer to the Lord the right way by recalling God's work: "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day." Solomon gives praise to God for the fact that he's even sitting on the throne. He knows it was not because of his might, but because of God's mercy. So when we pray, first recall God's work. Give thanks and acknowledge his greatness. 

Secondly; recognise your own weaknesses. In verses 7-8, he calls himself both a servant and a child. He is overwhelmed with the task before him, recognising his inadequacy and lack of experience: "But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number." This is often a missing ingredient in our prayers. We must own up for our own weaknesses, and remind ourselves that we are but servants of the true king, children of the Father, and we can do nothing apart from Him. After recalling God's work when you pray, surrender to Him. When you're overwhelmed, tell Him about it. Resist the temptation to try and fix it without consulting Him. I've lost count of the number of times I've tried and failed to do something practical, and Julie has said "Have you consulted the manual?" 

Thirdly ask for wisdom; Request God's Wisdom. Remember that Solomon could have asked for anything at all. Given all his options, there's one request that stands head and shoulders above everything else. What he asks for is startling in its simplicity. Notice verse 9: "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" The phrase "discerning heart" can be translated, "a hearing heart." Solomon wanted a heart that hears from the Holy One so that he would have the ability to see issues clearly and distinguish between right and wrong. In short, he wanted wisdom. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as welL" 

Solomon started well, and though we don't see in this passage his kingdom unravel as he wanders further away from God, there is a but, an except. 

The reason Solomon finished so poorly was because of his second mistake: Solomon was a minimalist. He did just enough to get by on. He stopped growing in God. Someone said of a person they knew: "When it came to living for God they would stop at nothing." When it came to the things of God he did the least he could to get by, and as time went by he did less and less - and eventually he would stop at nothing. When I was in secondary school I knew exactly what I had to do to get the grades I needed. I was not that interested in learning what they were teaching. I did the minimum amount of work in order to get by. When I got to university I was among people who were either much brighter than I was, or used to working much harder than me. Many of us are spiritual minimalists. They meet the minimum requirements and leave it to other people to achieve excellence. There is only one problem with that: after awhile, a little becomes too much. Some us may be experiencing that now. Taken a step back spiritually. Taken a little break from God. For a short time he becomes second place. But a short time turns into a long time, and second place turns into third place, and third place turns into last place, until you forget about your relationship with God. In the end, he who does the least gets lost. 

Many of us have no doubt been glued to the olympics coverage, we will have seen the importance of a good start, but even more that that the importance of finishing well. I remember one commentator's comment. "He recovered well from a less than average start, held it together in the middle period and finished strongly." 

I'll finish with a prayer taken from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. 

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!

Amen. 

John Birkett

(Lay Reader - Christ Church Weston-super-Mare) 

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Sunday 28th July 2024

Reading Ephesians 3: 14-22 - Praying for Maturity

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Sermon on Ephesians 3: 14-22

How do you see St Paul? We tend to think of St Paul as the great evangelist, someone keen to see people come to know and trust Jesus, in the way he had had his life turned around? Or maybe we read his letters and think of him as a deep-thinking theologian, someone writing dense text to explain the depth of our faith? But Paul was also the passionate pastor, anxious to see people living out their faith, giving advice to quarrelsome churches, enthusiastic to see people grow in their Christian lives. This great prayer in Ephesians sees Paul as the last of these. He had suffered to try and bring the Gospel to Ephesus, had narrowly escaped and seen his new Christians suffer for their faith. So here he prays for them that they may continue to grow in the faith.

In chapter 2 he had explained how great was God’s love for us that he sent his son to die that we might have fellowship with God. He starts Chapter 3 by explain that first ‘because of this‘ he was willing to suffer hardships that others could know Jesus. And then a second consequence – ‘because of God’s great love he prays that the Ephesians may grow stronger by the power of his Spirit. This strength and power are not outward trappings of military might or political clout, rather an inner strength of character, of trust, and of love. 

Pic 1 Advert

It is the phrase that if you are old enough you will remember launched a thousand adverts. The lager Heineken claimed it gave strength to the inner man, reaching parts that nothing else could reach. Well Paul had the same idea about two thousand years before, but for him the source of inner strength, inner lover, inner growth, the refreshment of our inner being, lay in the loving presence of God’s Holy Spirit.

He uses two pictures of what he means. He uses a picture from architecture in saying we are to be ‘Grounded’ for Established. 

Pic 2 Foundation stone

The word he uses is the word used for a building that has a firm foundation. Just as the wise man built hish house on the rock which was the word of God, so our lives are to be built on the foundation stone of the living word of God Jesus Christ. Many buildings have a symbolic foundation stone halfway up a wall commemorating the start of the building, but the real foundation is the firm lump of rock which ties all the walls together at the base of the building. Firm, immovable despite the storms that may come. The Christian life is not a guaranteed walk in the garden, we face the reality, the grounding of a world where we may face challenges from physical or social evils. When will hold us secure is if we know that God is able to sustain and support us whatever we go through. The resilience that knows that in the end the God of resurrection will triumph over all. Trials and tribulations should just just make us more sure of the foundation of our faith.

Pic 3 Roots of tree

Paul’s other picture is more dynamic. Taken from horticulture he prays they may be rooted in God’s love, We explored the great strength of an Oak Tree earlier didn’t we. The roots of any plant are crucial, but for the mighty oak the roots show just how important.

1. Absorption of water and nutrients

2. Storage of these nutrients and food

3. Anchoring the tree to the ground – roots 50% wider than branches.

4. Communicating with other trees! – with all the saints- other Christians.

Pic 4: Rooted in Love

The more we allow God’s Spirit to feed our roots the more we will grow and bear fruit.

It may not be a quick process, but it must be a continuous process. ‘God hasn’t finished with me yet’

Pic 5 Rocket.

Paul says this Love of God in us gives us the power we need. Dunamis – from which Alfred Nonel got the name for his powerful explosive. Dynamite. Able to give us lift off and aim for the stars. A boldness that means we can do more than ever we think.

Pic 6 Grand Canyon

Paul’s use of four dimensions to describe the love of Christ—breadth, length, height, and depth—suggests that his love is beyond description, that it’s multidimensional in expression. That is why he says we will need strength. Because to explore the wonder of God’s love is a mind-blowing experience. 

I was disappointed when first saw Grand Canyon. I expected to see it all but I only saw a tiny bit. It was too great for me to see all at once. I had to spend days exploring it and even more if I really wanted to see depth, length, breadth and height.

Pic 7 Heart Tree

Paul’s aim in all this is that aided by God’s dynamite of his Spirit we can grow to a maturity, to reach up towards what God longs for us to be. And we can do this with boldness – not because of ourselves but because God empowers us from the inside. God at work in us should give us a boldness that we can achieve more than ever we think, or even ask for. 

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians can just as easily be our prayer for ourselves. How are you praying for a maturity? and how are you growing up in Christ?

Rev Terry Baillie

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Sunday 21st July 2024

Reading Ephesians 2: 11-22 - Unity in Christ 

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Sermon on Ephesians 2: 11-22 

When we come to the letters to the various early churches in the New Testament, we normally find that at least part of each is devoted to addressing particular problems or errors that the church was facing. A classic case is the church at Corinth, where we have not one but 2 letters from Paul recorded.

But the letter to the church at Ephesus is different. Paul was in prison in Rome, but prior to that he had spent 3 years at Ephesus and was very close to them. He had heard that this church was going well, and he wanted to strengthen and encourage them (Ch1v15/16) – particularly as he had no certainty he would ever see them again personally.  In a similar vein he prays for them in ch3 v16/17.

So, what does he take as his primary theme…in a single word, UNITY. Unity with and in Christ; Unity with one another.

Marion and I enjoy going on cruises. A few years ago we cruised round the Mediterranean with friends, and our stop on the Western side of what we now call Turkey was – not surprisingly – Istanbul, a huge trading and administrative city, with magnificent buildings. But if we’d been sailing in the same area in what we call the 1st century AD, 30 YEARS AFTER Jesus death and resurrection, we would have been likely to head for Ephesus. That was the place to be. A major trading port, with access to the Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean, and therefore to Rome. A cultural melting pot, with many nationalities, including a significant Jewish population. A spiritual place of pilgrimage, dominated by 1 of the 7 wonders of the Ancient world, the Temple of Artemis/Diana. In modern terms, think Jerusalem or Mecca. If you were wanting to spread the Gospel in this area of the world, you’d start at Ephesus, and use it as what we’d now call a resource hub to plant out other churches in the towns and cities around.

And into this multi-cultural spiritual buzz, Paul came to preach that there were not 50 plus Gods you could equally worship, that riches and power were not the meaning of life, that the God of the Jewish people was not an elitist who had built a spiritual barrier between those who were truly pure and the unclean heathen. No, instead, the true God of Gods had come down to earth in human form to tear down the barriers of all types between people groups, religious practices and individuals……….and instead usher in a new era, where servants and masters, rabbis and city elders, temple prostitutes and trading moguls, could gather together and worship a single God, who accepts all who surrender their lives to Him and step into a new way of living. To quote Ch2 v10 “For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

And it was a message that caught on, both among Jews and non-Jews. But it was also VERY counter-cultural. For the Jews, because they believed they alone had the WHOLE truth and should separate themselves from the unclean, and for the non-Jews because the economy of Ephesus was undergirded by income generated from the Temple of Artemis. And anyway, why couldn’t you worship whoever or whatever you liked?

The simple answer is because Jesus showed the ultimate way. His Father, the Creator of all that is, who suffered the first and most absolute rejection – By mankind in the Garden - started his plan of redemption with a single family and man, Abraham, expanded it with a single tribe of people, the Jews, but all this was building to the arrival of another single man, Jesus, Gods son and the perfect fusion of the human and divine, whose sacrificial life, death and resurrection would lead to a new people of God – this people however encompassing all those in every location and age who saw the light and joined the family. Not a clique of the select few but a union of the many. 

Paul highlights 3 changes that occur when we choose to follow Jesus – 

V5. Spiritually dead to spiritually alive

V19. Strangers to fellow citizens 

V22.In Jesus you are being built TOGETHER……into a Temple (familiar words to those who lived in Ephesus) in which God lives by his Spirit.

As it was in Ephesus AD60, so it is in Locking AD2024. Before we individually turned our lives over to Jesus to follow His way, we were spiritually dead. But that is the last point when it’s all about the individual. That’s the last point when its me living in No1 Mendip Rise and Jo living across the road in No9 Meadow Drive. We change from strangers to fellow citizens. A Unity is created in Christ. Last Wednesday afternoon Marion and I went to Dans for coffee and cake and who should be there but Eric and Gill Holdaway. OH, they live in Hutton, don’t they. Yes, but so what! They are brothers and sisters in Jesus. It’s not about the Benefice, which is a man-made thing. It’s about us being fellow citizens of the Christian community and fellow-travellers on lifes journey.

In every church community there will be things on which we individually do not see eye to eye (some of these will be theological), BUT we are to be built together V20 on the foundations of the apostles and prophets (whose writings make up the majority of both Old and New Testaments) with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone…..In Him the whole building is joined together. Why have we, why have Hutton Church, why have we as a benefice, kept functioning despite not having an incumbent? Why did the church at Ephesus keep going despite Paul leaving them? Because they, and we, are built on the cornerstone of faith in Jesus, and the testimony contained in these words.

The Ephesian church continued to grow after Paul physically left them, and we here in Locking believe – and take active steps – to see the church in Locking grow into the future. But if this is to be the case, then it will need to be by prayer to see others drawn into the Christian family, to nurture those at the start of their spiritual journey, to recognise that however different we may be in terms of age, race, background etc etc we are fellow citizens in Gods family, and that we are being built TOGETHER. There is no PLAN B, and Paul knew it, and wanted to communicate it to the Ephesian Christians, and all those who would subsequently read his letter.

 However, this letter is not the last time we hear of the church at Ephesus in the Bible. If you turn to the Book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, God addresses 7 specific churches in the area visited by Paul and his team in his missionary journeys…..and the very first one is…..Ephesus. Ch2 vses 1-7. This is written some 30 years after Pauls letter – in Locking terms, the time difference between the leadership of Jack Mardon and Larissa. What has happened in Ephesus in between? To sum it up,v2 “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance…” Tick, tick, tick. But there’s a BUT. It’s v4. “You have forsaken your first love” The Ephesian Christians had spent so much time and energy serving their community, ensuring their doctrine was sound, and keeping false teachers away, that they had lost sight of WHY they were doing it all in the first place ie Their FIRST love for Jesus and their fellow men. And friends, people – irrespective of faith – can sense if there is non judgmental accepting love in a community; it’s an immensely attractive feature…….because it was what we were always designed to be part of by Father God, who has his own family circle of love – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It’s how and why CAP seeks to work in conjunction with local churches. And it’s one of the core things that is missing from society in UK2024. Sir Keir Starmer wants to see society renewed. Politics can’t do much of what’s needed. But the Christian community can. Are we up for that?

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 14th July 2024

Reading Mark 6:14-29 

King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”  But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”   “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Sermon on Mark 6:14-29 

How often have you heard or even thought of using the phrase :- LIFE JUST ISN’T FAIR  ?

It may sometimes apply to you or someone you know or hear about, and certainly it applies to some international situations we hear about with folk being driven from their homes and suffering in ways we dare not imagine. How do we as Christians deal with this ? What is our response to the question of fairness ? What is or isn’t fair and who decides anyway?

We heard two different stories this morning, one from Genesis and then, perhaps the more familiar one, about the death of John the Baptist told by Mark.. In Genesis we have the story of Jacob wanting to marry Rachel but her father Laban says it can only happen if Jacob works for him for nothing for 7 years. Jacob agrees, he was clearly very keen on Rachel. Anyway, at the end of the 7 years the bride arrives, but can’t be seen because of veils, and the ceremony proceeds. It transpires afterwards that dad Laban had substituted his older daughter Leah. That’s just not fair. Is it?

Mark tells about the death of John the Baptist. He was beheaded simply because of a stupid promise given by Herod and his pride at not wanting to back down in front of others. That was just not fair. 

Let’s concentrate on that story for a moment and begin by asking:-  What did John’s death achieve? Why didn’t God stop it happeneing?

You won’t be surprised to hear me say that I don’t have an answer to either of those questions but there is something that we need to bear in mind which is, that what other people do and how they behave affects us all. It’s unavoidable. And  that was as true both for John and for Jesus as it is for us. John had the task of Isa 40 ‘Preparing the way for the Lord’. Jesus’s task was also outlined by Isaiah in 52 and 53. As it turned out , the journey for both of them was littered with obstacles, resentments, opposition, fear, jealousy and scheming . John’s mission ended with beheading and Jesus with crucifixion.  Despite preaching good news the end result for both of them was unfair. The pathway of life for them was not smooth and trouble free, and the unavoidable fact is that neither can we expect anything different.

Living out our faith does not rule out problems and opposition. Life is never going to be smooth and trouble free for us either. Now we all know this, I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, but I suggest that it’s all too easy at times to ask ‘Why’ when things go wrong and especially when prayers aren’t answered in the way we want. With payer in mind, let me pose a question. What do you suspect that John’s disciples were doing while John was in prison ? Praying for his release ?? Result? He died.

Second question. In Acts 12, what were the disciples doing when Peter was in prison ?.  They were praying for his release. Result ?  A miraculous escape.

We will never know or begin to explain why God allowed one to escape and not the other. God moves in mysterious ways as we sang at the beginning.

When Paul was visiting Derbe and Lystra in Acts 14 we are told that the crowd stoned Paul and left him for dead. He made a miraculous recovery and returned to the city. In Acts 6 we find Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power who performed great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. He was also seized and stoned to death. No miracle this time.

Here also we will never know why God allowed one to die and one to be healed.

Thinking of another story, when Joseph with his wonderfully coloured coat was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, we can confidently say  that that was not a good moment for him. It wasn’t fair.

It follows that for each of us here today we will have our own story of how, along the way, there will have been disappointments, various experiences involving us or those we love. We may have tasted success or failure, perhaps health scares, bereavement, at times feeling it was not fair. But none of these experiences are in any way an indication of the way God sees you. They are not to be seen as rewards or punishments, they are just part of life, because just like both John and Jesus we live in a sinful world and all our experiences are just part of life. 

So where does that leave us ? Our faith in God gleaned for the Bible, teaches us to Trust Him. To trust that whatever life throws at us, God is not only aware but promises, (because He loves),  to always be there and ready to give comfort and strength. His role is not to charge in and prevent any negative or disappointing things happening. As we grow in our relationship with God, He helps us to cope, to learn and to forgive.

At one point in John the Baptist’s ministry he looked at Jesus and asked, ‘Are you the one or should I look for another?’ Maybe he also went on to ask ‘Why am I in prison?’ What advice might other folk offer us when we face a problem , disappointment or a challenge?

I’ve heard, ‘Is God trying to teach you something?’ My answer is probably not, because to say yes is to conclude that God caused it in the first place, and that cannot be true. I think that the only approach is to accept that these things do happen but that God can teach us through them if we look to Him for direction and courage.

To turn this whole question of fairness on it’s head, if we accept that God doesn’t stop and therefore allows negative things to happen, the question follows, why should God  not allow Christians to be ‘rained on’ just like everyone else. That wouldn’t be fair either. Christians do not and should not have some kind of magic bullet that allows them to escape the challenges of life. Going through them is part of our growth and at the same time and as a bonus, enhances our anticipation of what Heaven is going to be like. We have a God of love who wants the best for us. Knowing forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus gives us the promise of Heaven.

Let me draw to a close by making a final important point. That none of what I have said negates the need for prayer. Prayer is not a means of getting what we want, and so avoiding thechallenges. Prayer is a vital part of the process of God helping us to deal with life with all its ups and downs, because, and this is important, prayer changes us. In praying we learn to trust God implicitly for whatever happens.

John died, Peter escaped, Paul survived, Steven died. We cannot explain any of this, but God can be trusted with the answer.

So if in our lives we are tempted to think ‘that’s not fair’ ,remember, that’s only from our perspective and God will be alongside us if we let Him.

Our new politicians have no doubt been promising fairness, but true fairness will only be achieved in Heaven and in the meantime, if we as Christians, follow the golden rule of loving others as much as we love ourselves, we might make some progress in countering the inequalities that do exist.

Rev Geoff Hobden

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 Sunday 23rd June 2024

Reading John 14 : 1 -10 - Jesus Comforts His Disciples  (The Message version of the Bible)

“Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

 

Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

Philip said, “Master, show us the Father; then we’ll be content.”

“You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.

Sermon on John 14 : 1 -10

I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE

We’re at the end of our series of thinking about the I AM sayings of Jesus. This month we come, in a way, to the climax. I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. Words spoken by Jesus JUST to his 11 closest disciples/friends. 

Lets set the context first, because although these verses are set in our Bibles as Ch14 of Johns Gospel, actually the theme of these words – mostly spoken by Jesus – starts at Ch13. They have all come to Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover, and they have had the all-time public high of Palm Sunday, with the crowds turning out to adore Jesus. They had got their lodgings and the disciples must have been buzzing – the world was at Jesus feet! They sit down for what we know with hindsight will prove to be their Last Supper together, and Jesus already knows in his spirit (ch13 v1)”that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.”

So, it’s Jesus almost last-time-together session – the chapters that follow, up to the end of ch17, are called The Farewell Discourses  - and we know from our own lives that, if we’re going to be separated from those we love for a significant time, we invest a lot of emotion and ourselves in that last time spent together. Jesus starts by washing their feet – which throws them – particularly Peter – into confusion, as it was always supposed to be the servants who washed the feet of the more important guests, not the other way round. In the middle of the meal he announces that 1 of them will betray him, and Judas leaves the room – the other 11 not knowing where he is going. Then Jesus announces, in v33, “I will be with you only a little longer” and “Where I am going you cannot come”. It’s all too much for them, particularly Peter, who protests - and gets told that within 12 hours he will have disowned Jesus 3 times!

And then, with the Supper party turned into massive bewilderment, we come to the passage that Daniel read for us a few minutes ago. Jesus hits them with the most outrageous claim of all………….one which is incredibly counter-cultural in UK 2024. NOT ONLY does he start his statement with the Jewish words for GOD – I AM – but instead of what our present media would like a respected religious teacher to say ie there are many routes you can take to enlightenment or to engage with a supreme being (whoever you call him/her)…. Jesus instead says there is only one way – and HE IS IT!

No wonder the disciples said – to paraphrase our reading – what are you talking about? And bless him, its “doubting” Thomas who says what they are all thinking “Lord we don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know the way.” You see, they were used to Jewish law, a set of rules; surely Jesus way must comprise a set of instructions and/or directions? No. No longer would THE WAY be primarily a set of rules but a person, and our relationship to Him.

As a good Evangelical Christian, I mostly use these words in conversations with folk of other faiths or no faith when discussing the uniqueness of Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it isn’t the context in which Jesus originally said the words. HE was speaking not to non-believers but the inner circle. The words were said not for Gospel outreach but for pastoral care. Listen to the first words of Ch14. Jesus said “ Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me”. He was about to turn their whole world – and seemingly all he had taught them and shown them over the past 3 years – on its head by leaving rather than leading, by allowing himself to be killed not crowned. And as to where he was going – as he said to the repentant thief dying on the cross beside him “Today you will be with me in Paradise”.

HE IS THE WAY – He invites us to simply to hold His hand and invite Him to join us individually on lifes journey…. Together. He knows the journeys end he’s got for us…as he says in v3 “I am going to prepare a place for you in my Fathers house.”

But Thomas is not the only disciple to voice their non-understanding. In v8 Philip says this “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” And Jesus answers him with what for me are some of the most heart-wrenching words in the whole of Scripture “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” In other words, every mans search for truth and reality, ends in Jesus, the pure Son of a Heavenly Father, the one who said I AM THE TRUTH. And there’s a challenge here for each one of us folks as well. It’s this – we may have been around church, or as a disciple, a long time, but how well do we know Jesus, our Lord and Saviour? The answer is that, this side of heaven, there is always more to know, and it is always available to us as we desire it.

Which brings us to the final part, I AM THE LIFE. Jesus doesn’t leave his befuddled disciples hanging on this aspect either. His reassurance comes in v16/18. “And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth…You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans.” He knew that was what they were feeling – Jesus was leaving, we’ll be left here deserted, like orphans. Did Jesus’ talk about another Counsellor help them? They probably understood it as little as the rest of what he was saying at the time. But after Jesus had risen from the dead and when 50 days later the Holy Spirit – the same Spirit that had been within Jesus – had come to live within those first disciples, THEN they understood. Jesus might have gone physically, but within them His Spirit lived on, to enable them to live LIFE as He intended, walking in THE WAY for each one of them, and guided by HIS TRUTH.

So did Thomas and Philip finally get it? Lets reflect on Thomas. Nothing mentioned in the rest of the Bible. But when Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, reached India in 1498 to open up the first sea trade route from Europe, he was surprised to find ……Christian fellowships, who traced their history back to the arrival of Thomas in about AD52. Don’t believe the commentators who assert that Christianity in India came with the British Empire and the traders. The faith had been there almost from the start.

What about Philip? Absolutely nothing further mentioned in the Bible either. But Philip is a Greek name and he almost certainly had connections with the Greek trading community. So, naturally, as the Christian church expanded, history tells us he also travelled to spread the Gospel. Guess where? The obvious place – Greece and modern day Turkey. To help fulfil the Commission that Jesus gave – to make disciples of all nations.

 They knew that Jesus was THE WAY, the absolute TRUTH, and that they had been given the Holy Spirit to live THE LIFE. So have we. Lets do it.

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 9th June 2024

Reading : 2 Corinthians 4: 1-6  Present Weakness and Resurrection Life 

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Sermon on  2 Corinthians 4: 1-6 

I have no doubt that every one of us could instantly recall Corporal Jones’s  catch phrase when faced with a challenge.  “Don’t Panic Mr Mainwaring, Don’t Panic"

When we hear statistics about numbers of people now going to church and huge reductions, especially in the C of E after Covid, we might be tempted to use Cpl Jones’s  phrase. Along with the facts, come the predictions about the future, and it can make sombre reading.

It seems that the church in Corinth may have been having a similar challenge because Paul, in writing to them said in the reading we had a moment ago:- “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God”

The fact is that there are other forces at work and I think that we need to treat statistics and predictions with a cynical respect. Come back Cpl Jones and heed his call not to panic.  WHY ??

Because we have a much better source of advice and assurance. It comes right at the end of our reading where Paul says to Corinth, as he says to us. V16. Therefore we do not lose heart.  How does he reach that conclusion ? 

I suggest that this advice to the Corinthians, not to lose heart, must have come from Paul himself having been tempted at some point to lose heart over where this church was heading. WHY did that happen ?  

We need to remember that the founding of the church at Corinth was Paul’s baby, and it’s become clear that the church has developed some problems. They are being misled by some alternative teaching. Some, it seems were even turning against Paul himself through misunderstandings and misrepresentations, and was proving to be quite hurtful. His letter is in effect an attempt to sort things out and is a loving attempt to restore things. He needed to let off some steam and perhaps we can relate to that at times can’t we ? But he didn’t leave them and  go off in a huff or panic having been offended and hurt.

It seems to me that the way that this country is wandering away from God is frustrating and I would add is hurtful, but Scripture guides us in how to respond. After all, God didn’t reject Adam and Eve in the garden after they disobeyed, and in the same way he doesn’t reject us when we continue to let him down, offering us love and forgiveness.

At the very beginning of this chapter Paul begins:- “Since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart”. As a Benefice we have a ministry to our villages.

So, do we, sometimes lose heart? Do we feel like giving up ?  In the context in which we live here in 2024 why might we feel like losing heart? (1) Maybe our own perception of unanswered prayers. (2) There could be a persistent sin that we struggle with. (3)Maybe life is hard with lots of knocks, or (4) even a realisation that clergy are not perfect !!

Why might I lose heart ?  Lack of impact in the community , occasional offices, disappointment when some folk slip away from their faith without asking for help , an impression that some have stopped growing as Christians.

But Paul says to us all ,”Don’t lose heart”. Now this is important. In V2 Paul tells us that to lose heart is to allow temptations to creep in. V2 speaks of “secret and shameful ways “ which includes thoughts and actions. It also includes V2 “deception” i.e. reaching out to others but  deceiving people and holding back on our Christian motives. I can give a personal example. In developing the idea of Hospicecare there was strong pressure from some parts of society, to water down our Christian driving motive. We had to take the brickbats and stand firm.

The 3rd temptation from losing heart in  V.2 Paul  uses the word ‘distortion’, that’s in the context of distorting the word of God by watering it down so making it more acceptable. He says “ by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God”

This is so important and any distortion of truth is to be avoided as a temptation for us, and those over us, in our context today. If that should happen, losing heart can  become a reality for many.

Now consider ,have you ever had the experience of sharing the Christian truth with someone and then come away thinking “Why don’t they see it, it’s so obvious !”

Paul explains V4 “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers”

It is the same now. When Jesus was alive the Jews were blinded by generations of false teaching and they were unable to recognise who he was. So it is today because in our Western culture especially , the trappings and aspirations of success with, for example the idolising of people in the media is so great that there is no room for words like sin, repentance,love, eternityand thruth. They are blinded, the veil covering their eyes is solid.

It is so easy to be trapped by consumerism for those  with disposable incomes and affluence. OR for those trapped in poverty with despair and addiction.OR yet others trapped in living just for today with no hope for the future.

Paul says, and I’ll say it again “Don’t lose heart”.

In history there have been some really black times for our Christian faith not least prior to the Reformation.  Times when it was a miracle that it survived, but it did, for which we praise God.

This is now our generation and it is our privilege to follow Paul’s advice and to set forth the truth. We are those who are to V6 “Let light shine out of darkness”.

We all know that whatever the disappointments, however hard things seem to be, regardless of statistics and predictions about the future, that what we have is the truth that God has given to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

We also know V14 “the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us in His presence”

Therefore,again V16 “We do not lose heart”. How do we help encourage each other ?

We do that by meeting together to worship, to pray , to listen and to seek God’s help. However the future develops we need to hold to the truth and not lose heart.

So in a strange way Cpl Jones and Paul had the same message,

DON’T PANIC   and   DON’T LOSE HEART. God will not desert us. That’s a fact.    AMEN

Rev Geoff Hobden

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 Sunday 2nd June 2024

Reading :  Mark 2:23 - 3:6  Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Sermon on Mark 2:23 - 3:6

Today's readings from Mark describe two dramatic actions in the ministry of Jesus that both occurred on the Sabbath, and both confront the question, "What is it lawful to do on the Sabbath?"  The first action happened in a grain field.  Jesus and his disciples were walking through the field, and the disciples began to pick the heads of the grain.  The Pharisees saw it and were offended.  Is it lawful to do that on the Sabbath?  No, they said, and charged Jesus' disciples with breaking the Sabbath!

The second action occurred on the same day but at the synagogue instead of a grain field.  There was a sick man present in the congregation, and the Pharisees watched to see if Jesus would heal this man in violation of the Sabbath.  Jesus felt the critical eyes of his accusers upon him, and so Jesus gave voice to the question that was silently on the minds of all: "Is it lawful to do this on the Sabbath?"

These incidents illustrate the conflict Jesus had just taught between the traditions of Judaism and the liberty of the gospel. As He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, His disciples picked some grain to eat, which didn't violate any law of God. But according to the hair-splitting traditions of the elders, the disciples had broken the Sabbath by "reaping" and perhaps even by "threshing" (rubbing the grain in their hands to remove the husks)!

Once a week, all of us, including the Vicar, must decide what we will do on the first day of the week.  "What are you going to do this Sunday?"  That question looms for all of us as the week nears its end.  Will you go to church or find something else to do? The one thing Sunday offers in our society is many choices.  The weekends have become the ideal time for travel away from home.  Sundays make an excellent day for a mini-vacation or a family reunion.  Sunday is the perfect day to take a nice leisurely drive to nowhere in particular.  Most of the major sporting events occur on Sunday.  Many professional sports are played on Sunday afternoons. And then there's shopping!  Many major chain stores are open for shoppers' convenience on Sundays.  The restaurants are busy, and the cinemas, shops, and golf courses are full.  We might go to church if there is nothing else to do.  Every week, we are confronted with the question, "What will you do on Sunday?"

From the perspective of the Pharisees, there was nothing wrong with the actions in either of these episodes; the problem was that they were done on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees had formed an important council called the Great Synagogue about 200 years before Christ.  This synagogue took the Ten Commandments and added interpretations, not by teaching the inner spirit of them, but by adding to them other commandments.

Whereas the Ten Commandments say, "You shall do no regular work," the Great Synagogue translated that into 39 specific prohibitions, and then they added more rules to help carry out the 39 prohibitions. The Ten Commandments say, "You shall do no regular work."  The Great Synagogue says, "Reaping and threshing is work." "plucking the ears of corn is equal to reaping, and rubbing in the hands is equal to threshing."

When the disciples of Jesus plucked the ears of corn and rubbed them in their hands, they were breaking the law.  So argued the Pharisees. (G. Campbell Morgan, Commentary on Luke, p. 82-83).

Jesus defended his actions by citing the actions of David in the Old Testament.  Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for mankind, and not mankind for the Sabbath."

Of course, Christians no longer observe the Sabbath at all.  The Sabbath is the last day of the week, which is Saturday.  Christians observe the first day of the week, which is Sunday.  But we attach the same significance to Sunday that the Hebrew people attached to Saturday.

One of the most amazing transformations of Christianity was this change from observing the Sabbath day to observing Sunday.  Since Jesus' resurrection occurred on the first day of the week, the early Christians thought it only appropriate that they worship the Lord on his Resurrection Day.  In that sense, every Sunday is an Easter Sunday.

G. Campbell Morgan says, "Until Christ had come, man worked toward his Sabbath.  Since Christ he works from his Sabbath.  In the old economy, the Sabbath depended upon the work; in the new, the work grew out of the Sabbath. 

How should we observe the Christian Sabbath?  Should we mount a campaign against the stores for being open on Sunday?  Should Christians refuse to go out to eat on Sunday because our convenience causes someone else to work?  Should we refuse to participate in recreational activities on Sunday?  Should we preach against members who miss church for family activities?

Some Christians would insist that the answer to all those questions is an unqualified "Yes!"  But I think the meaning of the Sabbath principle lies more profound than this.  Jesus was fighting against just this kind of legalism in our text for today.

When we move toward strict observance for our Sunday activities, we are becoming more and more like the Pharisees with their legalistic rituals regarding the Sabbath.  We should come down on the side of grace rather than legalism.  It's tempting for a Vicar to be legalistic about your being in church on Sunday.  The church measures success by the number of people attending church.  When you are not here, we are not successful.

It is far better for our church and members to walk that happy medium between legalism and absenteeism.

An unknown author tells the story of a member of a particular church who had previously been attending services regularly but stopped going.  After a few weeks, the Vicar decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The Vicar found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his Vicor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace, and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs.

After some minutes, the Vicar took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember, and placed it alone on one side of the hearth. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination.  As the one lone ember's flame diminished, there was a momentary glow, and its fire was gone. Soon, it was cold and "dead as a doornail." Neither man had spoken since the initial greeting.  Just before the Vicar was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately, it began to glow again with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

So, what is the real meaning of the Sabbath principle?

The Sabbath is not one day given to God while we are permitted to keep the six for ourselves.  Instead, it is a peculiar sign and symbol of the most profound things in life.  The Sabbath principle reminds us that there must be a time in our week when we stop and take note of God.  It is a sin to let our lives become so rushed, so full of busyness, that we fail to take care of two vital human needs – rest and worship. As early Christians knew, the particular day of the week was insignificant.  You can rest and worship on Saturday or relax and worship on Sunday.  Some people have to work on Sundays, and their days off may be Tuesday or Saturday.  They can still accomplish the Sabbath purpose, whatever day of the week it is.  The Sabbath reminds us to take time to rest and to take time to worship.

In Bill Moyer's intriguing book on Genesis, several Biblical scholars discuss the meaning of the Sabbath.  Walter Brueggerman comments, "I like very much the statement of (one man), who says that the Sabbath is the day in which he hands his life back to God every week to remember that it is not his own.  That acknowledgement that we belong to a generous God changes how we live the other six days of our lives."  Another scholar observed, "The Sabbath is not a place, it's a structure, a cathedral in time" (Genesis, p. 14).

I want to read you a poem by Pilot Officer John G. Magee, a 19-year-old American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in England.  Officer Magee died when his Spitfire collided with another aeroplane inside a cloud in December of 1941.  Several months before his death, he composed his immortal sonnet "High Flight," a copy of which he fortunately mailed to his parents in the U.S.A.  In the poem, he describes the thrill of flying. Wouldn't it be amazing if this was how we all would feel about being in church on Sunday?

Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward, I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds–and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of
Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlight, silence. Hovering there,
I've chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind, I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the hand of God.

Do you have that kind of thrill from worshipping God on Sunday? What does Sunday mean to you?  And to your family?  

 Let us pray that everyone could feel that Sunday would be a special day, a cathedral in time, when we soared to the heavens and touched the hand of God. Amen

Peter Richardson - Reader

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Sunday 12th May 2024

Reading Luke 4:14-21 - Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Sermon on Luke 4:14-21

So in this Luke reading this morning we have Jesus back home. Back to where he had been brought up. In this early period of His ministry after his temptations on the widerness, he is maybe having a short rest with his family. We are told that he had been moving around and speaking in synagogues  in different towns and villages and was receiving good feedback.V. 15 everyone  praised him. So what changes and why when he goes with his family to the  synagogue in Nazareth ? When Instead of praise it ends with rejection ? These were local people who knew him. He was a child playing in the streets. We are led to conclude than he lived in Nazareth until the age of 30. Nothing indicates that he went anywhere else before then. Attendance at the local synagogue, being part of the congregation would have been a regular feature of his life. I think that we sometimes forget that Jesus led a normal life amongst the society of the day for quite some time. And now, here he was on the Sabbath, but instead of sitting quietly in the pews he gets up to preach. Did they expect that?  I wonder, did the local synagogue  have a board outside announcing him as the preacher for that Saturday? However, whether they expected him to preach or not, it was what he actually said  that raised eyebrows. The synagogue leaders clearly knew which passage he was going to read, as v.17 the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, but they didn’t know what he was going to say. And it was this that later caused the fireworks resulting in their rejection of him.

Initially after he had spoken v22 all spoke well of him and they were amazed at his gracious words, but things changed when the session developed into a discussion. Jesus had used the Isaiah passage about the prophesied Messiah which included the claim that the Messiah would bring, amongst other things, healing. Let me remind you of the words.

V18 The Spirit of the Lord has sent me to proclaim freedom and recovery of sight for the blind. Remember that health was a huge factor for the population and  Jesus, as always, knew what they were thinking. So in v23what does he do?  He verbalises what they are thinking. Why aren’t you, Jesus,  doing here in your home town what we have been hearing about in Capernaum.  They’ve heard about some healing miracles , why aren’t you doing that here ? His reply now becomes the real cause of their anger. Without going into detail, Jesus in his answer, quotes two Old Testament stories involving Elijah healing the widow of Zarephath and Elisha healed Naaman of leprosy stories that they would have been well aware of, but, and this is the point, stories of healings involving  two people who weren’t Jews instead of healing  many Jews were also struggling . It was this really infuriated them and led to the  violence. They couldn’t cope with the notion that God would give preferential treatment to pagans rather than the Jews who were also suffering . They were incensed:-

V29 They drove Jesus out of town, took him to the brow of a hill in order to throw him down a cliff. But Jesus simply walked away.

So the congregation changed from v22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. To v29 an attempt to kill him. It’s fair to conclude that this home congregation had heard, but not understood what Jesus had actually said . The words he read from Isaiah were a prophecy about the Messiah and he finished the reading by then declaring v 21 Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your  hearing. This was a very clear statement that He was the promised Messiah, but they didn’t seem to grasp it. Yes V22 words of appreciation and even amazement, but Jesus knew that they hadn’t grasped the reality of who he was. If they had really cottoned on, their reaction  would have been a response of wonder and  worship, even fear because here was the Messiah, God made man, promised from long ago.

Isaiah Chap 61 is worth reading. It is a  prophetic statement about the Messiah. Jesus read out the words and claimed them as his own. S0…

 v18 The Spirit of the Lord is on ME. He has anointed ME..   He has sent ME.  After reading it he stated ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing .An incredible statement !!

So it was a momentous day for that synagogue, but for all the wrong reasons. They attempted to silence the very one who had come to save them, something the authorities achieved 3 years later, or rather thought they had. This was for Jesus a foretaste of what lay ahead.

`When Jesus chose to read that particular text from Isaiah with reference to the poor who need freedom , healing and release from oppression, He is thinking more in terms of the whole world, and not only Jews. He is also thinking of 2024 because our society needs those things now. Our towns and villages  are full of people needing freedom, healing  and release from oppression. That is needed even more now as we look at our world. There is a huge volume of people who have no understanding of God, absolutely no concept of his willingness to love and forgive. The good news is that repentance is the key to being released and set free and giving hope for the future. Through Isaiah, Jesus was proclaiming the most powerful story, the global message of God’s love to all who will hear and receive His love. I hope that we are all still overawed by the simplicity yet magnificence of this Biblical truth. That we are still amazed at the eternal significance for every individual who turns to Christ.

In our everyday  human relationships, the depth of our love for each other necessarily evolves into something deeper over time.I wonder, Is your relationship with God evolving and growing as it should? Are you still grieving for those who are lost and have given up praying for them? The truth is, we may so easily become dispirited in our Western culture with such a negative response and a determination to shelve long accepted Christian standards at national level, not to mention some of our own bishops! 

If we are individually part of God’s new creation , forgiven and full of hope then we are also disciples of Jesus, ideally emulating his unstinting desire to see others come to faith.

Today, the Good News is needed more than ever. In the words that Jesus used from Isaiah, the world on our doorstep is full of those who are captives, blind and oppressed needing healing and they don’t know it. It’s a huge challenge. We may only be a small congregation in a village in rural England but we still have a part to play. We continue to have the life giving Good News of Jesus bringing God’s love, and there are many in this village who need to hear it. We continue to have God’s authoritative Word in the Bible about our need to hold fast to what it says about sin.  Let’s be positive in our prayers that God will use us in the future, and if we are serious, He will.

Pray

Rev Geoff Hobden

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 Sunday 5th May 2024

Reading John 15: v9-17 - A new Commandment

 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

Sermon on John 15: v9-17

The root of the Christian faith is not a set of propositional beliefs we have to assent to.Nor is it a way of behaviour we have to adhere to. The root of the Christian faith is a loving relationship. God loves us, and living in relationship with him we love him.

Jesus has demonstrated the love of God to his disciples and is about to do so in a dramatic finale of death and resurrection – the triumph of love. The love Jesus talks about is not the romantic love of two people, nor the friendship of two people in harmony travelling a similar path. It is the Agape love of giving unreservedly to another without any necessary reciprocation. A sacrificial love, purely for the sake of the other. 

This love is the way we are to live as God’s people. Jesus emphasises this in two ways: First - He commands us to love one another in that way.  God’s rules were never meant to restrict our experience of life but to enhance life by giving us boundaries. They were given in love. Therefore, it is not a command of religious compliance but a positive call to action. Then he says we are not to fulfilling them out of dull duty, slavishly obeying some master who owns us, but out of friendship to one who loves us. No longer slave to fear but as a member of a loving family. 

The reason for loving one another is simply so that others can see and believe the love of God as shown in Jesus. How does showing an open and giving love help? People should see in our love a love that is healing, life-giving, and transforming. And we know this from those who have been drawn by Christian love to discover the love of God. Our loving should produce fruit – in our lives and in others.

Love is healing

Love that is healing. Salve – a healing ointment and salvation have the same root. Salvation is about restoring wholeness. Loving others can be healing. Megan was brought up in a Christian home but just coasted through church, something the family did on Sunday’s.  But at 13 her best friend was murdered and her lif fell apart. How would God allow such things? Who could you trust in this world. She gave up church and a bit cynical, finding it hard to make relationships. When she went to Uni though she met a boy on her course who seemed very friendly with everyone. He leant about her friend being killed and seemed to take a special interest in her. It wasn’t a come on, he already had a girlfriend and the two of them often asked her to come with them if they were going out anywhere. He never seemed to put others down at all, and seemed to be always ready to shrug off the hurtful things that people may say or do. These two talked with her about their Christian faith and helped her process the painful past. She started going to church with them soon discovered a live faith in the God who loved her in good times and bad. Their love helped heal Megan from the past.

Love is reviving

Jack was a successful man. He loved his wife and kids, he ran a successful business and they had few financial worries. But he wasn’t satisfied. They had long dreamed of having a holiday home to get away and relax. And the previous year they had managed it. But now what? Jack was vaguely dissatisfied; he didn’t know why. What was it all about? He had the dream life so now what? It all seemed so pointless. A bit treadmill. He kept these ideas to himself, but they got darker. He contemplated suicide but couldn’t bear to put his family through the trauma. He had a neighbour nearby who always seemed happy and often sang out loud as he walked down the street, not in the secret of his own bathroom. So Jack , niggled, asked him one day @Why are you so happy?’ and the neighbour Giles asked him why he wasn’t happy, as there was so much to be thankful for.  He listened and was concerned as Jack told him how he felt. And Giles then told him about his faith.  They continued the discussion over some weeks and eventually Jack started to explore the Christian faith for himself via Jack’s church. When he became a Christian his life seemed to spark alive again. He had purpose, he felt alive again. Although when he shared his new found faith with his wife and told her what was going on she said it seemed as if he’d been captured by aliens! God’s love is life giving, refreshing the soul. 

Love is Transforming 

 Andrew was planning to get married. He was a quiet, shy chap who had met a quiet slightly shy girl. They wanted to get married at their local church and were encouraged to come and hear the Banns called. The banns were called at the start of the service at the end of the inevitable notices, so Andrew was concentrating when the notices were read and he heard how the Chaplain at the BRI was asking if people could help on a Sunday morning to wheel patients who wanted to come down to the Chapel from their ward and then wheel them back afterwards. Andrew was a member of the St John Ambulance and knew how to handle people who were ill, he also worked on the accountancy side of the hospital. He thought that was something he could do because he had nothing else on on a Sunday morning. So he volunteered after the service and started a few weeks later. He didn’t know what to do while the service was on so he stayed and listened. After about a year he had heard so much he asked the chaplain if he could take communion too. The chaplain asked if he was confirmed, to which Andrew had no clue. The Chaplain thought he was busy enough with his patients so suggested Andrew go back to the vicar who married them. Andrew did and started on a preparation course. Suddenly by week three the penny dropped and Andrew became a Christian. Before the end of the course he told the vicar that he wanted to tell others about Jesus and wondered if God was calling him to go into the ministry. The vicar thought this was a bit quick so cautioned patience to be sure. He never became a clergyman but the shy man did become a good Lay Reader and led worship and preached in front of congregations for years. His life was transformed by discovering the love of Jesus from getting involved with Christians in action helping others.

Asking – Thy Kingdom Come.

Jesus knew that his friends would never amount to doing much in their own strength, only by God’s power. So this loving one another would only work if they sought God’s help in prayer. And we are to do the same. 

Not rush headlong but to seek God’s help to love others and know how best to show that love.

Over the past few years our Archbishops have asked us to use Ascensiontide as a time of prayer and waiting on God ta ask for God to be at work. Under the banner of ‘Thy Kingdom Come we are asked to spend the ten days before Pentecost waiting on God and praying to him that His Kingdom may grow. We are to pray for our country and our community but also they urge us to pray for up to 5 friends or family members who we would like to see become Christians. If you want to know more you can go online where there is a wealth of resources to help you. If we want to love one another we start asking our heavenly father for help. 

Rev Terry Baillie

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Sunday 28th April 2024

Reading John 10: 11-21 - I am the good Shepherd

 [from The Message version] “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him.

“I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.”

 This kind of talk caused another split in the Jewish ranks. A lot of them were saying, “He’s crazy, a maniac—out of his head completely. Why bother listening to him?” But others weren’t so sure: “These aren’t the words of a crazy man. Can a ‘maniac’ open blind eyes?”

Sermon on John 10: 11-21

Did anybody watch Pilgrimage: The road through North Wales? It was on TV in the run-up to Easter. It’s a periodic series in which “celebrities” are randomly thrown together to go on a “pilgrimage” and are encouraged to have “Moments of Real Meaning”. A review of the latest Pilgrimage offering included these words. “The finest moment came when Spencer Matthews, an Old Etonian who is also the Princess of Wales brother-in-law, tried to grasp how history worked. Sitting in a peaceful Welsh church, overlooking the Conwy valley, he asked the comedian Eshaan Akhbar, who was brought up a Muslim, if Jesus Christ was in fact “made up”. “He’s a real person” Akhbar said, slowly. “I kind of thought he was fictitious” said Matthews, confused.”

That would be funny if it wasn’t so sad, coming as it did from someone close to the heart of the British monarchy, a family currently under the shadow of poor health, and in need of the reassurance of a life guide who doesn’t leave you on your own in times of trouble.

We’re on our 4th Sunday Pilgrimage through the I AM sayings of Jesus, and we’ve arrived at…. I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD (JOHN CH 10.VSES 11 – 21),

Jesus answer to a question that many people – from King to commoner - ask in one form or the other, particularly in those hours of the night when uncertainties show themselves – Is there anyone who I can trust to help guide me through this life?

John places this episode – not coincidentally – after a passage of blunt talk to the Pharisees about spiritual blindness, and from the response noted in v19/20 to His statement about being the Good Shepherd…“He is demon-possessed and raving mad”, you can guarantee that the Pharisees were still sounding off.

But can you blame them? They knew their Bibles. Psalm 23 was as popular to them as it is now……and how does it start? “The Lord is My Shepherd”. Jesus was not just claiming as His own the words for God – I AM – which were revealed to Moses, but He was using the EXACT same imagery as King David had used in the Psalms. It’s 1 plus 1 = 2. I am the Good shepherd, The Lord is my Shepherd………Hmm, you can’t get any more Good than the Lord, therefore Jesus is saying I AM THE LORD! No wonder listeners reactions were both divided and agitated. “Why listen to Him?” “ And yet How can a madman open the eyes of the blind? “

And they had seen Him restore sight to the blind!!

Either Jesus was, and is, no-one of universal importance – although perhaps with as good a story as Superman – or He was, and is, who He claimed to be……

Including to be THE GOOD SHEPHERD to all who believe in Him. When Christmas comes round, whats one of the carols we love to sing – While shepherds watched their flocks by night! And we tend to major on the thought that the angels chose to announce Jesus birth first of all to Shepherds, because shepherds were the lowest of the low, ordinary people. But the Bible doesn’t waste words – it says that these shepherds were WATCHING OVER THEIR FLOCKS. They were doing what GOOD SHEPHERDS do. And in doing so, they were invited to witness the birth of the ultimate GOOD SHEPHERD.

 Lets just bring 3 points out this morning from our passage

Firstly, Jesus love was self-sacrificial. He didn’t come just to talk the talk, he came to walk the walk. And by this time in His ministry he knew that part of that walk was to give up his own life. Have you noticed that there is an inbuilt instinct in humans to applaud such actions – especially when its parents for children, or when its for strangers? To think that someone would think our individual lives to be of such importance that He would give up His own life for us, isn’t that mind-blowing? In Jesus time, the closest illustration He could give to people was that of a Good Shepherd who loved his sheep so much that He would die to protect them. So that was the example He used.

Secondly, His love and his shepherding is for everyone. The Jewish race thought that the Messiah was coming for them alone. They were wrong, and Jesus spelt it out clearly in v16 “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also.” His mission was for everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike, every people group, every country, every generation. If it wasn’t we wouldn’t be here this morning.

Thirdly, Jesus ministry and invite to us will always be, not a set of rules, but a living relationship. “I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” Just as the sheep in a shepherds flock followed him because they knew him, so Jesus invites us into a similar relationship. How do we join the flock – which is the largest in the world? Simply by acknowledging He is who he said he was and is, and handing over the guidance of our lives from ourselves to Him. And how do we get to know Him? Similar to the sheep, by spending time with Him, in prayer, in reading or listening to the Bible, by learning to hear His voice as it whispers to us in our daily lives. Like getting to know your closest friends or your partner, it grows with time but you have to put the effort in by spending time together.

In the Churchs year, we’re in the 50 days between Jesus being raised to life on Easter Sunday and the giving of the Holy Spirit to live inside those first believers at Pentecost – the same gift of the Holy Spirit as is given to all of us when we put our hand into the hand of Jesus to journey through life together.

Stuff happens in life, and some of it is not pleasant to put it mildly. You only have to look at Jesus life. But there is a promise – we are never alone. Jesus came from Father God, he lived day by day with His Heavenly Father, and when He had finished his job on earth, He returned to His Heavenly Father. And only on one brief occasion was that link with His Father broken – on the Cross  when he gave his life for all the wrongs, large and small, committed by the human race. And in that moment he restored the link between God and Man that had been broken when Man decided he didn’t need Gods guidance and instead could do it our own way ……. 

 If that’s not being the ultimate Good Shepherd, I don’t know what is. 

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 21st April 2024

Reading Jeremiah  29: 1-14  - A Letter to the Exiles

This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This was after King Jehoiachin  and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.  I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Sermon on Jeremiah  29: 1-14  

A couple of weeks ago, I was returning From an evening game at Plymouth, it was on the whole a good journey, though by the time I got home I was beginning to have some concerns about the brightness of the main beam, and was contemplating a trip to the garage the following day. It was only as I tiptoed quietly into the house that I saw in a mirror that I'd driven all the way back in sunglasses!   As we enter prayer now before opening God's word, my prayer is that we will take our sunglasses off and see more clearly what God is asking of us. 

 May these words be your words, may they speak into our hearts. May the Holy Spirit minister to us in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. 

Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter. We are moving from resurrection through to Pentecost. I want to start by sharing two verses that have been on my mind, throughout this Easter season. 

John 3: 16, you'll all know this I'm sure:  "For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

In John 17, Jesus said these words to His disciples;  "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." 

The coming and suffering of Jesus and our reconclliaflon with God, that was made possible by His death and resurrection, was foretold throughout the Old Testament. Isaiah spoke of us as sheep who have gone astray, Jesus spoke of the Good Shepherd searching for that one lost sheep, and it is personal, for God so loved the world, not just the spinning globe, but each one of us, separately, as individuals. 

We are going to be looking at the passage from Jeremiah today, a passage that takes the form of a letter to the exiles in Babylon from Jeremiah. The sheep have been scattered, but not forgotten. 

Letter writing is becoming so much less common these days, isn't it. I am, as many of us are, I suspect, old enough to remember life before e mails and mobile phones. However did we cope?  Letters are frequently remarkable for what they don't actually say. Reading them often says a lot about the relationship between the sender and the recipient. I recently came across a letter I had sent to my parents. 

"Dear Mummy and Daddy", it began, before going on to detail the numerous travails involved in flying as unaccompanied minors with my 9 year old sister to stay with our grandparents in Switzerland. I described the journey in minute detail, down to how much we liked the hot beverages, (yes beverages, I was pretentious even then!), even down to the journey in my aunt's new car to my grandparent's house. But letters are often remarkable for what they don't say. "We stopped on the way in a bar where we had some drinks and saw some colour TV" For context this was July 1969, and while details of the journey such as the quality of the drinks are now lost in the mists of time, I remember vividly that the colour TV we saw. It was the moon landing. Didn't rate a mention! 

There is no beating about the bush with this letter, it begins; This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and settle down; Marry and have sons and daughters; Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." 

It is a letter to the Jews in exile, it comes to us through the centuries but it might well be written to us here in Locking, citizens of the kingdom of God, in the world but not of it.  We are where we are, a village in Somerset in 2024. We may remember better times, we may hanker after the days when the High Street was more vibrant, when times were more certain, when food banks were not so necessary. But we are where we are, and each of us has our own unique perspective on where we find ourselves. 

Jeremiah's letter is telling the Israelites, and us that it's not okay, but it's not the end. You may remember the song by Boney M based on Psalm 137 

By the Rivers of Babylon where we sat down . 

And the wicked carried us away in captivity, requiring of us a song, but how can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land. 

What are they to do? 

Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 

Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 

Do exactly what they would do if they were still at home in Israel, eat drink, marry have children. They are to plant gardens, and to work for their own welfare by seeking the welfare of of the place where they live. 

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.  Yes, and another thing, pray. 

Centuries before Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said:  I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Father in heaven. 

Jeremiah was exhorting the Israelites to pray for their captors, for Babylon. This call to pray represents a shift from an understanding of God, of YHWH as a territorial deity, to a recognition of God as a universal God who rules over all the earth and all the peoples of the earth. This God who is with you in Jerusalem, in Babylon and in Locking. 

This is a letter that has two distinct halves, the second part is the promise; 

I will come to you and fulfil my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

But the first part deals with the reality of the current situation. 

Victor Frankl was a psychotherapist and an Auschwitz survivor. In his book Man's Search for Meaning he wrote this: 

"The death rate in the week between Christmas, 1944, and New Year's Day 1945, increased in camp beyond all previous experience. In my opinion, the explanation for this increase didn't lie in the harder working conditions, nor the deterioration of our food supplies nor a change of wealth or new epidemics. It was simply that the majority of the prisoners had lived in the naive hope that they would be home again by Christmas. As the time drew near and there was no encouraging news, the prisoners lost courage and disappointment overcame them. This had a dangerous influence on their powers of resistance and a great number of them died." 

Frankl developed a concept he called "tragic optimism," that is, an optimism in the face of tragedy. It enforces both the idea that you can be positive and believe you will overcome all difficulties, while at the same time you are confronting the most brutal facts of your current situation. 

There is a hope, but we are where we are. We are where God, in his infinite wisdom has placed us. The paradox, we need to hold in tension is both the hope we have for the future and the reality of our current situation. We have to have both, if we focus just on the hope, we risk disappointment, if we focus purely on our current situation we risk misery. There is a saying made popular by John Lennon; 'everything will be okay in the end and if it's not okay, it's not the end.' 

And this is how to sing the Lord's song in a strange land. 

That's the reality, we are where we are, we are where God has placed us, and we are here to sing the Lord's song.  To live, to work, to pray, to seek the prosperity of the place that we live, to play our part in the work that God is doing. 

Then comes the promise, and it is a promise, and like all God's promises a one that will be kept.  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". 

43 years ago I was a medical student, very London centric, I had no idea that Locking existed, I was relatively settled in an outlook that didn't deviate far from hospital medicine and London.  May 11th 1981 my world turned upside down, I had been sent to Plymouth (I didn't know where that was either), for 3 weeks to deliver babies. I arrived at Freedom Fields Hospital around 1:25 in the afternoon. By 1:30 I had introduced myself to the midwife on duty, and my future wife. God knows the plans he has for us, sometimes we are in alignment, sometimes it's a complete bolt from the blue. 

The next verses unlock the whole passage.  "Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you," declares the Lord, ""and will bring you back from captivity. When you seek me with all your heart I will be found by you. 

I find myself guilty at times of having lots of things I'd like to do or achieve, but in the end I don't. Maybe because I don't want it enough or another shiny thing comes along and grabs my attention. I wonder if that is something that you can empathise with.  Jeremiah brooks no compromise. It's both a promise and a command; God will be found by us, when we seek him with ALL our heart.  "I will be found by you." declares the Lord "And I will bring you back from captivity." 

Letters really do say a lot about the relationship between sender and recipient, this letter is no different. This is what the Lord the Almighty says. The command and the promise, you will find me, when you seek me with all your heart. But in between the lines, not actually said, I am your God, but I am also the God of all the people you live amongst. Pray for them. Let's close in prayer: some verses from Psalm 34. 

Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God 
I hate those who cling to worthless idols; 
as for me, I trust in the Lord, I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul 
You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. 

 Amen

John Birkett
(Lay Reader - Christ Church Weston-super-Mare)

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Sunday 7th April 2024

Reading John 20: 19-31  - Jesus Appears to His Disciples

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Sermon on John 20: 19-31

Good Morning everyone. It’s so wonderful to be with you this morning. 

Prayer: Lord God. I pray that you would direct my lips as I speak and that you would prepare all our hearts to receive all you have for us this morning from your Word. Amen

Our readings this morning take us into the book of Acts to the life of the early church, formed after the Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit came. And we also have our reading from the book of John where John is reminding us listeners of WHY Jesus came and lived and died and rose again for us. 

Now, there is so much in our John reading, more than we could possibly cover in this short time together, so there a couple of points I’d like us to look at together this morning and I am going to focus my attention on v.30-31:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 

Now, just to establish the context here, many of you will be familiar with the story, but let’s make sure we’re all on the same page. A quick overview.

Jesus has been crucified, and in John’s gospel Jesus appears first to Mary Magdelene after he has risen, she and runs to tell the disciples. That evening Jesus then appears to all the disciples, except for poor Thomas, who happens not to be there. Now when then tell Thomas what has happened, he utters his well-known phrase – ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers where the nails were, and put my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

Now, a quick side note, I think it’s important to note that disbelief was not the exclusive domain of Thomas. Jogn only records Thomas’s specific disbelief but in the other 3 gospels they are all at it!! 

In Mark 16 we read this ‘when they [the disciples] heard he [Jesus] was still alive and had been seen by her they would not believe it….

Matthew tells a similar tale, stating that when they heard the news ‘some doubted’…And in the gospel of Luke, the risen Jesus stood before them and directly asked the disciples ‘why do doubts rise in your minds?’

So, its’ cleat that doubt was not the exclusive domain of Thomas by any means.  And as we layer all the different accounts up, one on top of the other, it gives us a much fuller picture of these events. And, of course, once Thomas has seen Jesus for himself, he declares ‘My Lord and My God.’  To which Jesus says to him… ‘because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed. And it’s straight after this statement that our two verses from John appear…

Now, there are three things that have bubbled up for me as I have been praying and pondering what God might want to have us think about this morning, that I want to share with you.

The first is this: it’s clear from our reading in John, that believing is key to our Christian living. Now, that may sound obvious, but I’d like to unpack that a little bit as we think about this together.

I wonder how easy we find it to believe? I’d imaging it’s very different for all of us.

Personally, for a big chunk of my adult life I had trouble believing any of these stories of Jesus were true beyond myth and cute Sunday stories from my childhood. But after a fairly long journey exploring faith, and hanging around with Christian who did believe, I came to believe it to be true for myself and gave my life to Christ.  And I’d assumed that once I believed, my level of belief would just exist, you know at a sort of full capacity, I’m all in, Jesus is amazing level. And like Thomas, I would be declaring ‘My Lord and my God’ each morning as I sat to pray. 

And whilst I have never stopped believing, I have discovered that some days I seem to have more belief than others!! But I think it’s okay – from what we read in the Bible, looking at the disciples I think we are in good company on that!  

I was at a Christian event some time ago…and a speaker shared with us that she struggled with anxiety and depression…(share this story)

v30 tells us that Jesus performed many other amazing signs, in the presence of His disciples that are not recorded here – and John is referring here to the fact that he records 7 of Jesus signs, or miracles, but across the 4 gospels there are over 40 miracles of Jesus recorded and we’re told this is still on a fraction of what Jesus did.

And it’s interesting that these same disciples who had such a hard time believing, who were filled with doubt, had personally witnessed Jesus at work, they had SEEN, with their own eyes Jesus performing miracles, and they have now SEEN Jesus in His risen form. They have SEEN and personally witnessed, it all. And NOW they believe.

And then v31 is speaking directly to all of us that have come after these events, hundreds and thousands of years later, to say to us….these things are written, these signs so that YOU may believe, like Thomas – that Jesus is the Messiah - your Lord and your God. 

The purpose of the signs was so show us that Jesus Christ is who he said he was – the Messiah. God himself. And the purpose of these signs being written down was so that we, all of us sat here, on the first Sunday after Easter in 2024, could believe!!! Because we hold in our hands, the first hand, witness account of those who did see. And yet, as Jesus tells us ‘Blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed’ – that’s us folks!!

The point of reading our Bibles is not simply to know our Bibles, or tick of our allocated reading for the day, though both of things are good, of course! The purpose of reading our Bibles is that it shows us Christ, The Messiah – that we might believe. And that in believing we have life in His name. 

And this brings me to my second point – what does it mean then to have life in His name?  

Life in Christ’s name – it’s a rather strange phrase really, isn’t it.? Interestingly, the synonym most used for the word salvation in the Bible is LIFE. So we could say ‘salvation in Christ’s name’. Or eternal life in Christ’s name. 

In believing we enter into a new life, or to use John’s phrase: life in His name. We believe, we become followers of Jesus, and we step into life in his name. An eternal life. And in the New Testament the terms these terms - life in his name, salvation, eternal life, Kingdom of God - they all speak into this life altering reality we step into when we become followers of Jesus.

Yet, I wonder what image that most frequently comes to mind when you hear words such as ‘eternal life?’ I think for many of us it can refer to our life AFTER this one. After we die. 

In Mark Twain’s the adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck says:

“The widow Douglas told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there. She said it was wicked to say what I said; she was going to live so as to go to the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever. Well, I couldn’t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it.” 

This might make us laugh, but I think reminds of an important truth. There can be a danger that this sense of living for what will come next, after we die, can rob us of the fullness of life that we already have now. 

As followers of Jesus we are already living our eternal life. Because our eternal life started the moment we believed. Our eternal life is the life lived everyday in the presence of God – whether in this physical body we have now or the one we will have for all eternity with the Father. 

Eternal life, or life in His name as our reading puts it, our salvation life, Kingdom life – these are all ways of describing our lives, lived with God, now and forever.

The Christian writer John Ortberg says heaven isn’t a destination but a way of being. That our salvation, our life in His name, isn’t about us getting into heaven, it’s about heaven getting into us! It’s about how we live in the here and now, knowing God’s intimate presence moment by moment AS WE LIVE.

And that brings me to me final and briefest point! 

We’ve looked closely at this phrase that as we believe we have life in Christ’s name… and we live that life in community with each other. 

As a community you have travelled some extremely hard and difficult times over the years and you now find yourselves currently in this new exciting season of seeking your new minister.  Our reading from Acts 4 shows us the first believers doing life together, in Christ’s name: ‘All the believers were of one heart and mind’, and echoes the same sentiment of Acts 2 where it says:

‘They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.’

That word fellowship is the Greek word Koinonia is used over 20 times in the New Testament. It can be translated fellowship or partnership or holding something in common, or in today’s language community. Being in community isn’t always easy, we all know that I’m sure, but it is how Jesus and the early church modelled how, as believers, we live out the Christian life.  

When we might be struggling to believe it’s in community that we can find rest, like the story of that speaker I shared earlier. It’s where we, like the four gospel writers, overlay, one on top of the other, all our different life experiences and ways of living with and knowing Christ, that help each other, and the community and people all around, a much richer picture of who God is. 

As we live this shared life together, we are, like the first followers of Jesus, a collective witness to who Christ is and all has done for us.

(Hold up my Bible) These things were written so that we could believe, and have life in His name, that we too might show who Christ is to others by how we live. And we do all this through the equipping of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that Jesus breathed on his disciples as he gave them his peace and commissioned them to his service, as we heard read in v17 of our John passage.

So, as we conclude I thought we could ask the Lord to do the same again for us this morning. That we use our next hymn as a time of personal reflection for us. 

 We will go straight into singing number MP67 ‘Breath on me breathe of God’, as we stand in the intimate, personal, eternal presence of Christ, and as we do I will read these words of Jesus over us. The words Jesus spoke over his first disciples that day and over us all now…“Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you. And with that He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

Donna Pilgrim
(Lay Reader - Christ Church and Emmanuel, Weston-super-Mare)

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Sunday 31st March Easter Day

Reading Mark 16:1-8  - Jesus Has Risen

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

 Sermon on Mark 16:1-8

Put yourself in place of three women going to Jesus tomb. What do you feel? Grief, despair, confusion. But there is also unflinching devotion. Devotion is :

- Courageous. The other disciples had fled. They had kept by cross, when the others were behind locked doors they openly showed their love.

- Is passionate: Oblivious to risk, cost of spices, 

- Is Impractical: No logical reason, just a desire this dead person should smell nice, without any thought as to how they would get to it.

Devotion to God beyond human explanation. But the response to our devotion has to be worked out. These women begin to respond to what they have experienced. Distrurbingly we are not told how stone was moved, who the figure was, we see what they see so that we can come to this experience through the eye witnesses. 

News from Waterloo communicated from ship to shore by telegraph lantern. But mist came down – Wellington defeated.. then could not see any more. When fog lifted whole message was sent Wellington defeated the enemy. That is the difference Easter Day makes to Good Friday.

Whilst we can argue the evidence of the resurrection, that it happened in history we also need to respond to the experience we have of Jesus being alive. How did these women respond to the confusion of events? 

1. Open to change

We all have an inner map,  a set of views that helps us make sense of the world we perceive It is made up of what we regard as facts but may be prejudices. E.g. the Germans have no sense of humour (not true although most don’t understand irony in English). 

The women have to re-evaluate their map about what is alive and what is dead. About who this Jesus is a prophet, story teller, miracle worker or something more. The facts are sealed inside us as Jesus body was sealed in tomb. Seen facts of crucifixion and burial, like stone across tomb they are immovable. But suppose they are wrong. Maybe confusing and frightening but to make sense of Easter they have to be open to change. They left trembling and bewildered. Yet God is in control and they will find that he has opened up that inner map and led them to a strange and new country. So with us the resurrection means that the old boundaries and prejudices of our world can never be taken for granted again. God can always open up new vistas. The barrier between earthly and heavenly is now always open to cross. It does not lead to a happy ever after state but to the possibility always of change, of renewal and rebirth.  

God is the God of Resurrection. It is never defeat – it is victory.

2. Something to know.

Know this that Jesus is going ahead of you. Later he would assure the disciples that it means he will always be with us travelling ahead of us to the end of the journey into eternity. 

Yes Ezekiel, these dry bones can live. Yes Hosea you can redeem your wife and family and bring them home, Yes Ezra, we can build a lasting temple to worship God but it will be a living temple made of human bodies. Yes Mary and |Martha, your brother returns to you for a while.

John Donne realising that Death is not to sleep forever, death brings us to our last awakening – into eternity.

God has changed everything and we have to re-evaluate the whole of our lives to live in the light of the resurrection.

3. Something to say

Do this go and tell. This is not a secret for a favoured few. This is the beginning of a faith that is not for the chosen but a faith that is for the benefit of non-believers. History of Christianity is in telling others. Go and tell: The women’s response is less of a going somewhere than a fleeing. and they said nothing. Perhaps that too is typical of us. The risen Lord does not give up on them, nor on us.

Conclusion

To hear the call and know the facts is not enough. The resurrection leads us into disturbing places:

• To be open to God bringing change in our perspective, in our world map.
• To know his presence with us as we go.
• To go and tell of what experience we have of a risen Lord and saviour

Rev Terry Baillie

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Sunday 24th March Palm Sunday

Reading John 12:12-19  (The Message)

The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered: 

Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!  
Yes!  Blessed is the King of Israel!

Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it:

    No fear, Daughter Zion:
    See how your king comes, riding a donkey’s colt.

The disciples didn’t notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.

 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: “It’s out of control. The world’s in a stampede after him.”

 Sermon on John 12:12-19

Palm Sunday, one of the most well-known times of our Church’s year. One of the most vivid episodes in Jesus ministry and mentioned in all 4 gospels……. Which means that, as each gospel looks at Jesus life from a slightly different perspective, this is an event of great importance. Imagine it – up to Jerusalem, the heat and the dust, the crowds, the noise, the waving of the palms, the shouts, the throwing down of the palms and cloaks in front of the man as he rides on ……”Hosanna to the Son of David”, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”. All this celebrating and, after the event, we know we haven’t even got to Easter Day.

And in a sense that’s why I often feel uncomfortable on Palm Sunday. With the benefit of history we know what comes between Palm Sunday and Easter Day – we can’t just hop from one to the other! I love to celebrate all the high points of Jesus ministry but we always think of next week – Holy Week – as a particular time to reflect, rather than break out the streamers and party poppers. We’ve read the book, and that first Palm Sunday turned out to be a false dawn of hope for the first followers of Jesus, primarily because the world – or the crowds specifically – completely misunderstood Jesus mission, ministry and kingship.

As we remember Palm Sunday, then, lets think about the 2 images which always come to my mind…firstly THE PALMS, and secondly THE DONKEY.

In Jewish history, the cloaks and the palms were signs of royal welcome. Isn’t it appropriate though that what we hand out each year are not Palm branches but Palm crosses. For the crowds here were probably some of the same people who a few days later shouted “Crucify Him!” and even “We have no King but Caesar”. Has it ever crossed your mind – how could they change so extremely over a few days? In a sense that’s also the answer – it’s precisely because we are earthly creatures that such a change was, and is, possible. Let me suggest 3 contributing factors – 

(1)The Fickleness of the Human Heart. Naturally speaking, we blow hot and cold. Look at the prime example, a SPORTS crowd! Magnified when it comes to the England team. One week they’re everybody’s darling, next week we get “what a load of rubbish”.

(2)Pressure from opinion-makers, friends and family. The chief priests and the elders persuaded them to turn against Jesus. Crowds act as a pack and can easily be influenced – going back to the SPORTS crowd, just read the news to see how the press can sway mass opinion. No man is an island. Other peoples opinions have a great influence on us – particularly those  closest to us either at home or at work.

(3)Disappointed Expectations. What did the crowd expect of Jesus? Well, there would no doubt have been many different expectations, but making life better for them as opposed to what Herod and the Romans meted out would probably have been high on most peoples list. Allowing himself within days to be arrested and handed over to Herod and the Romans must have been a crushing blow to peoples hopes. It would inevitably make them question their own belief in him. What about us? It is ever so easy for us to make our picture of Jesus the way we would like, wanting Him to answer our prayers the right way, helping our life to go the way we think best. But what if He doesn’t do it our way?

But if the crowd hadn’t understood, Jesus certainly did. By His actions – riding in on a donkey not a fine warhorse – he showed absolutely clearly the nature and foundations of his Kingship.

(1)Humility not an outward display. Would there have been the temptation for Jesus to make the sort of triumphal entry that Roman generals would? Fine horses, trumpets, razzamattaz – the sort of stuff we see in Biblical epic movies. Possibly - Satan was always trying to get Jesus to compromise his mission. But Jesus was always consistent. He had been born with domestic animals around him, so the pinnacle – in the worlds eyes – of his ministry saw him seated on a humble, slow moving, donkey. The Son of Man coming to His Fathers City, but No Pomp. No Cant. No sound bites to the Press. No appearance on Celebrity Big Brother. Riding on an animal which, like all other donkeys, would have had on its back a marking in the shape of a cross.

(2)The attitude of a Pilgrim. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” is from Psalm 118, one of the songs sung at Passover time as a blessing on all the pilgrims coming to the Temple for the festival. Jesus understood that He, and all Christians down through the ages, are in this world on a journey of pilgrimage. We enjoy the good things in this earthly life but it never completely satisfies. That satisfaction can only come through the Kingdom of God living in our hearts through the presence of the Holy Spirit, as a foretaste of the life to come in a New Heaven and a New Earth. Our greatest hymn writers have always understood this……Guide me O thou great Jehovah, PILGRIM through this barren land; He who would valiant be gainst all disaster……there’s no discouragement, shall make him once relent, his first avowed intent TO BE A PILGRIM.

(3)Following the Word of God. Why the donkey? Jesus knew the book of the prophet Zechariah (Ch9 v9). He knew the scriptures; and he knew how he fulfilled his lifes purpose. WE have both Old and New sections of the Bible...but we have to know them to live by them.

(4)A heart of worship. What did Jesus do as soon as He reached Jerusalem? Did He have a public meeting? Did He lead an assault on the Romans? No, He went to the Temple – the house of his Father God, the place of worship and prayer…. and the only assault He carried out was on the stalls of the salesmen and the loan sharks. Its no coincidence that we as His followers, draw strength from rooting our lives in worship and prayer, both on our own, and together as a fellowship. It’s the way its meant to be.

And so Palm Sunday – through Jesus actions – shows the root values of His kingdom…..humility in action, pilgrims in this world, taught by the word of God, and with hearts committed to worship and prayer.

I think that will do as our lifes aims and priorities, don’t you?

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 10th March Mothering Sunday

Readings Colossians 3:12-17

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Luke 2:33-40  

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Sermon on Colossians 3 and Luke 2:33-40  

We live in a fashion conscious world. Whether it is what we wear or what we eat. What is the new black this year? I am reliably informed that the fashion this summer in the shops will focus on rather dull colours -black, white and possibly beige and the only hint of the usual colours of spring and summer will be a vivid red accent. White lace dresses and Shorts will be in for ladies and short shorts for men. Really?

Yet it is no different with other consumables, the badge on our car, or even its size – SUV’s and their higher fuel consumption are gaining in popularity even if you choose a hybrid 

We live in a time when the fashion is if anything increasingly to espouse non Christian values. From those who govern all the way down. If our faith is to mean anything than we must demonstrate that there is a real difference to see between a Christian lifestyle and the way of the world. We cannot be the same as everyone else. Christ must change us.

Whatever we may think, we are affected by our environment and have to consciously think through what we deem important. Our Gospel this morning reminds us that Jesus had a mother who cared for him and would weep for him, that his upbringing was in a normal family home of his time. He played with other children even if none of them had a Nintendo switch. He would have seen how his parents worked and worshipped.  It is easy to see how Mary becomes somehow a representation of what we might call family values. Now in times and places the role of Mary has been overdone within the Christian Church can support the myth of mothers as a domestic goddess. But Mary’s nurture of Jesus is vital in how Jesus the man developed. And it wasn’t the way she dressed. 

Mothering Sunday arose out of a misunderstanding about Paul’s writing about how the Church mothers us spiritually loving, encouraging, guiding and training us in our faith and there moved to celebrate the role our own  human mothers cared for us. Which, of course is a good thing to celebrate anyway. Despite the failure of an earthly mother that some may have suffered, it’s good to celebrate the image of a good mother. But that image must be the standard of all who live in the Kingdom of Christ in all their ways of life..

How do we nurture the image of a community of believers who have been renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Christ? In our epistle this morning Paul talks about us rowing up in faith as being like taking off our old clothes an putting on fresh. The old clothes are dumped in the laundry bin and our new clothes show us not as a dedicated follower of fashion but as belonging to God’s new family.

1.  A different way to live: – compassion, kindness, meekness, humility, patience

Our new clothes show the values we espouse. Not the ephemerals of fashion nor the cold bottom line of profit margins.

 Instead we embrace the pain of the world in compassion; A shared passion for the brokenness of our human and our non-human neighbours. The God who sent Jesus, is a God who hears the cry of his people and knows their suffering. We need to demonstrate what compassion means in a world where violence, both legitimised and illegal violence, is used to uphold power. We place Kindness at our heart. The self aggrandisement of modernist or the self constructed ego of the post modernist is in direct antithesis with the community that seeks to value meekness. Laughable, scorned and derided meekness will get you nowhere unless you believe it is the way to inherit the earth rather than pillage it. humility was not seen as a virtue until Christ came. Only after Christ do we see people able to live in the humility that all we have is not ours but a gift from the hand of our creator. Yet there are stirrings in the eco-minded prophets that it is just this attitude which could leave the earth as an inheritance for our grandchildren.

The immediate gratification of a society that calls for you to buy now pay later has no hold over a community that has learnt patience. We are here for the long haul, for what we have is a blessing for eternity

2. Sustainable Relationships: forgiveness, love, peace, thankfulness.

We can’t make Idolise motherhood. We make mistakes as children and parents make mistakes as well. The practicalities of maintaining family and community are not easy. So we can only sustain our community by exercising forgiveness. 3 times in one sentence he uses forgive, Because we can only stay together if we forgive each other. Forgiveness rather than revenge or retribution is the reflection of the founder of the community.  When we do not behave as we should, when we are let down the path to healing, reconciliation and renewal is not by condemnation but by forgiveness. But such an attitude is only sustained where there is a deep well from which we can draw love. Paul portrays Love as the garment we wrap around us to keep all the other things together. Not so much a belt as a cloak. The rule of the family and the community is to be by the Peace of Christ.- the rule of  the victim of the empire, the cross shaped peace that requires us to sacrifice, renounce our pride for the sake of the other. 

And be thankful, in a culture of perpetual dissatisfaction. Three times in three verses. The counter-cultural way we live is to have lives that do not moan for what we perceive we lack but are thankful for what we have - forgiveness, love, peace, thankfulness

The World pays lip service today to what it knows and wistfully envies - A world of different values. We celebrate Mothering Sunday when we think about the Church that mothers us, and those who were Mothers caring for us. It is simple Christian gratitude and simple Christian care we espouse.

Today the world wants to keep  Mothers Day.  So it celebrates Mothers with an ideal we can never hope to match. It loads all the aspirations for different values onto the ideal Mother in a masterful application of Kitsch The ideal that is portrayed in the hype and the sickly sentiment. But it also wants to pay some homage to the longing for different values.

Not just mothers but all of us have a role to play in dressing our lives with the values of Christ’s Kingdom to demonstrate what it means to live differently.

Rev Terry Baillie

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Sunday 3rd March 2024

Reading John 2:13-22  - Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts, he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves, he said, "Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."

The Jews then responded to him, "What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" 

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

 They replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then, they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Sermon on John 2:13-22

Today would have been my 51st wedding anniversary; thinking about that fantastic day and all the stress and worry that went into the preparation, it occurred to me that there is a similarity to our reading from John this morning. Jesus was not preparing for a wedding but was undoubtedly preparing for His death and resurrection. He was preparing the people, particularly the disciples, who would later recall his words. 

I am sure that most of us here have at some time been involved with the preparations for a wedding or a special family gathering. So, you will know the difficulties and pitfalls of negotiating with many differing opinions and requirements. Jesus could have sorted out everything instantly as he did with the water at the wedding in Cana, the story of which comes immediately before today's reading. So, how is the situation in the temple related to a wedding or family gathering? It isn't except in the effort involved in organising a big event. What is the big event? Throughout Lent, we are preparing ourselves for this big event. It is Jesus's crucifixion, death, and resurrection. It is the Passover for the Jewish people; for us, it is the first Easter. 

This event was going to be a life-changing experience; it was going to be a world-changing experience. Jesus went up to Jerusalem near the time of the Passover. Travellers were said to go "up" to Jerusalem because of its elevation. Passover was celebrated in the early spring, commemorating the Jewish people's deliverance from Egypt when the firstborn Israelites survived, but the firstborn Egyptians did not. 

The temple was a marketplace, so He made a whip and drove them out. He overturned the money changers. He told them to stop turning my Father's house into a market!" They asked for a sign: "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." His disciples later recalled what he said after He was raised from the dead. 

When Jesus arrived at the temple, he saw that it was a marketplace. He made a whip out of cords and drove everybody from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle, overturned the money changers' tables, and scattered the coins. Wow, who is this table-turning, animal-driving, whip-carrying Jesus? Maybe Jesus was upset about the animals and the money changers in the temple.  Maybe, but there's more to this story than that. Jesus could hardly be surprised by the animals and money changers. He grew up as a faithful Jew going to the temple. He didn't show up that day and say, "Wow! There are animals and money changers in here. 

John's reference to the temple courts refers to the area surrounding the temple proper. Buying and selling took place in the court of the Gentiles. Jesus was outraged that God's temple had become a marketplace. The temple tax was to be paid in local currency, so foreigners had to have their money changed. The money changers often charged exorbitant exchange rates. The people were also required to make a sacrificial offering as well. 

Since many pilgrims came from great distances, they could not bring their animals, which meant that animal merchants had a flourishing business in the temple courtyard. The price of the sacrificial animals sold in the courtyard was much higher than elsewhere. The animals and money changers had always been there. That's how the system worked. It was business as usual for them to be there. Business as usual, meant changing Roman coins to temple coins, purchasing an animal, and offering a sacrifice. 

Jesus knew what was before Him and the change it would make to the world, and it would certainly not be business as usual. 

Zechariah 14:21 ERV At that time there will not be any merchants buying and selling things in the Temple of the Lord All-Powerful. 

John 2:16 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, "Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!" 

What is it that Jesus is so angry about? He had visited the Temple many times throughout his life and must have seen the merchants selling sacrificial animals and the money changers at work. So what was different this time?

This important feast had come to be treated as an opportunity for trade at the expense of worshippers. Every male over twenty years of age had to pay a half-shekel temple tax. The authorities had ruled that payment had to be made with the exact amount, and they charged heavily for changing shekels to half-shekels. Those with only foreign currency had to pay the equivalent of one penny for every half-shekel given as change. This was an exceedingly high charge since there were six pennies in a half-shekel, and a labourer's pay was only four pennies daily. 

The requirement that only flawless animals could be sacrificed is also being used to take advantage of worshippers. The men who inspected the animals had an agreement not to pass animals bought from anyone except the group referred to as the 'sons of Annas' (Annas was the ex-high priest and the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the current high priest). These animals cost five or six times more than animals bought elsewhere. Rather than providing a helpful service to worshippers, the authorities were exploiting the worshippers. Commercialism had overtaken them; making money and not worshipping God had become the focus of the leadership. So when Jesus found men selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money, he took strong action driven by his zeal for the house of the Lord. 

(Ps 69:9). 9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

Jesus was promptly challenged by people asking him what authority he had to act like this when the leaders, including the high priest, permitted this trade in the temple. They wanted proof of his authority in the form of a miraculous sign. So Jesus promised them a sign: 

Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.

The Jews thought he was speaking of the magnificent temple that Herod had begun to build in 19 BC. Their incredulous response,  It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, which shows that they did not understand what Jesus meant and implies that this episode occurred around AD 27.

Jesus did not bother to explain that he was speaking about his body, which the Jews would later destroy, and was predicting his resurrection. The Jews were not ready to receive him anyway. However, the disciples did not forget these words, even though they may not have known how to interpret them until after Jesus' resurrection. Then they were amazed that what he had predicted had been fulfilled, and they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. 

They saw in Jesus the fulfilment of Scripture and realised again that the death of their master was not an accident but part of an eternal plan. In the past, God had manifested his presence and glory in the Jerusalem temple. However, now it was (and is) displayed in the person of his Son. Only later did the disciples understand the significance of the event. Jesus' life was fueled by zeal for his Father's honour. 

How do we relate to this situation in our own lives?  Does your daily life consume so much time that God is moved to the sidelines? Are you letting the pressure of everyday living push God to the sidelines?

Who am I to tell anyone how to change their life to let God find more room within it? I can't, but I can tell you how I changed my own.

I am now two-thirds of the way through a year-long course in the Diocese, "Exploring Your Spiritual Journey". The most important thing I have learned so far is that it is challenging to change our everyday routines to make more room for God daily. 

Fortunately, I am retired, so I don't have to conform to someone else's timetable. But I am still tied to a timeline: Church, preparing meals for my Son when he gets home from work, life group meetings, shopping, cleaning, gardening, and many other demands. When caring for my lovely Margaret, I knew God was with me as I gave Him all my problems throughout the day. Eventually, I realised that getting up an hour earlier could allow me time to myself before she needed me. That hour allowed me to put God first, read my bible, and pray, usually without interruption, before the cares and worries of the day overtook me.

Of course, not everyone is in the same situation as I am, and since losing her, I have had more time. But the world seems to have got much busier, faster and more demanding. Everyone is in a hurry to be somewhere, to do something immediately. Next week's delivery is now tomorrow or even same-day delivery. In all that hectic pace, how do we find time for God? 

How do we find time to prevent God being erased from our lives by commercialism? I believe that the most important thing we can remember is that God is always with us, even amid our busy commercialism. We can include Him in our lives by pausing momentarily before each day's demands and giving them to God. 

This dramatic event, the "cleansing of the temple", meant that its corrupt system was under God's judgment. The city of Jerusalem and the "temple", the presence of God, were to be a light to the world. Instead, the religious leaders had turned God's house into the commercial oppression of the poor. God's forgiveness was no longer free.  Through Christ's death and resurrection, we know that God's forgiveness and grace are free. We cleanse our temple by accepting God into every situation and difficulty of our life. 

 Through my personal experience, I can heartily recommend it because it works wonders. Amen.

Peter Richardson - Reader

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Sunday 11th February 2024

Amos 8 - A Basket of Ripe Fruit

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit.  “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.

“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!

Reading Colossians 1: 15-28  - The Supremacy of the Son of God

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—  if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

Sermon on Amos 8 and Colossians 1: 15-28

If there’s one thing I don’t like seeing it’s a  bee, butterfly or moth trapped in our conservatory ! I will do my best to open doors and windows, but their level of cooperation is very frustrating. I can make the exit so obvious but they keep banging against the glass ! I’m sure you know what I mean. I usually eventually manage to release them, especially with my new machine that sucks them into a tube.

This is a simple illustration of the message of Amos the prophet to the Israelites, and picked up by Paul in his letter to the Colossians which I will explain later.

Amos is one of the really early prophets in the life of the Jewish nation and what we read is that the Lord showed Amos a basket of ripe fruit. Although it was obvious what it was,  God asked Amos ‘What do you see’ and Amos simply replied ‘a basket of ripe fruit’. You know sometimes it’s quite good to actually verbalise what we see even though it might be obvious. Remember the time when  Jesus asked the blind man, what do you want me to do for you. Again, it was obvious, but the man had to respond, ‘I want to see again’. There’s something important about putting a situation into words, however obvious it might be. It’s taking a thought and giving it more weight. You might think ‘that person needs help’ but if you actually say it, actions are more likely to follow. This has a bearing on our prayers, of putting into words our thoughts, concerns and failings.

Any basket of ripe fruit needs to be eaten soon otherwise it deteriorates very quickly. It’s time has now come to be eaten. God’s point to Amos in asking the question is in v 2 “The time is ripe for my people Israel. I will spare them no longer.” The ripe fruit is running out of time, as is God’s patience with Israel.

Amos is being given this message so that he can warn the Israelites about what the future holds if they don’t turn from their sinful ways. It’s a final call to repentance. Amos had already been given the illustration of a plumb line showing that the nation was out of line with God’s direction for them. They are being given every opportunity to escape from the things that will happen if they don’t listen to the warning. Like the bees, butterflies and moths the nation seem intent on ignoring the way out . The warnings are clear, there will be wailing and financial ruin, there will be floods and unusual weather and famine. There will be no escape. This is to be Amos’s message and the future was certainly going to yield evidence of all this happening. Remember that Amos comes well before the northern kingdoms being taken over by the Assyrian empire and later on the rest i.e. Judah also taken captive into Assyria.

Later on in the history of the Jews there comes a space  of 300 years between the Old and New testaments when God’s voice was absent from the Jewish nation. Listen to this…

v.11 The days are coming declares the Lord, when I will send a famine through the land, NOT a famine of food or water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

It happened !!  You see, prophecy is rarely instant and can spread over a long period of time

So to end that 300 year period of silence, between the testaments,  comes Jesus who will bring God’s complete answer to the challenge of human sin. We have recently celebrated his birth,and rightly so because there is nothing that is more significant than the birth of Jesus in the history of creation.I hope that you believe that?  Paul, in his letter to the Colossians is quite clear about the massive importance of Jesus, but as we know, that  as far as the Jews were concerned , Jesus was rejected. Despite the quality of his life, the truth of his words, the evidence of the miracles, Jesus was seen as a threat and had to be eliminated. Jesus reached a few to become disciples, but the vast majority refused to see the truth. It’s a bit like those bees, butterflies and moths ignoring the escape route, blindly going in the opposite direction. Isn’t that what people are doing now? Isn’t that what people have always done ?. Avoid the obvious truth, latch onto something else or simply stick your head in the sand. When it comes to spiritual issues people can’t see for looking. It’s so frustrating because as Christians, it is so obvious. Like those early disciples, including Paul, as Christians, we have each of us, found the open window and escaped to freedom.

Just imagine that you were leading a person, who had been blind from birth, into the world for the very first time with sight restored.  What would you show them first? People….themselves……sky….nature…..buildings ?

In the New Testament that is exactly what is happening as those who have seen the light of Jesus, the disciples, attempt to share it with us through their writings. They are painting pictures in words, almost too much for us to grasp, as they explain how   the life , death and resurrection of Jesus offers the gift of forgiveness now and the promise of eternity later which is the escape the escape route. The important thing is for each of us to know and be sure that we have found that open window of new life because of Jesus, and that we can then add our witness to that of the Bible to help others also find that open window.

In the Colossians passage we had this morning, it is headed in my Bible “The supremacy of Christ”. Paul, in trying to describe Jesus to help us understand how unique he was, uses words and phrases about him that do not, and have not ever applied to anyone else. Paul wants his readers to grasp the magnificence of Jesus and as a result to open our eyes to the sheer wonder of God’s offer of forgiveness and eternity.

Some years ago the Sun Alliance Ins coy rebranded themselves “More Than”. Presumably attempting to persuade us that they offer something more than all the others. In Paul’s writings both here in Colossians and elsewhere he is describing Jesus as  “More Than” anything we can imagine or know. In other words we can never plumb the depths because Jesus is More Than. What do I mean by that?  That he was there at creation. That he is the image of God. That he is the supreme being. That he is our Saviour. That he was and is the long promised Messiah.

Whatever we discover about Jesus in our lives , there will always be more. Paul in Colossians, shares his objective in putting his views down on paper . So v26 Paul says he wants to open up the mystery which has been hidden for ages, and then v27 to reveal the hope of glory in Christ, and  v28 to proclaim Jesus so that many may have confidence in eternity, and stating his own intention  v29 to work hard to share this powerful truth, which is the window of truth for everyone.

This was Paul’s life’s work. With his help and the rest of Scripture, we too can  open the window for others to find true freedom which is more than we or they deserve, but which is nevertheless offered freely through the death of Jesus.

A bee trapped in my conservatory faces certain death unless I help it escape . In the same way, each of us has the capability of opening the window for others to discover the truth about Jesus. May we pray for our willingness and the opportunity to play our part in opening that window for others.

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Sunday 4th February 2024

Reading Mark 5: 1-20 - Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”.  “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”  And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis[b] how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Sermon on Mark 5: 1-20

This season at Christ Church and Emmanuel we’ve been thinking about being ambassadors for Jesus and about being reconciled to God and to one another.  And I thought I would introduce this idea this morning.  If you were to draw a picture in your mind of what an ambassador might look like, he or she probably wouldn’t look like the man in our reading today.  

We tend to think of an ambassador a bit more like the Ferrero Rocher advert where a large pyramid of chocolates is presented on a silver plate at the ambassadors reception.  I want to suggest to you that Legion is a model ambassador for us.  A really powerful example to us.  And his life story is a picture of reconciliation, made possible through Jesus’s example and power.  

I think when we read our Bibles and hear a healing narrative, our imaginations stop at the healing.  But actually all the healings are much, much bigger than that.  The physical, psychological or supernatural healing only affects this life.  Whereas actually that reconciliation that we’re thinking about, goes beyond our earthly life to our life in the new creation, when God will complete and perfect us.  

But let’s start with the Bible passage in front of us.  I want to unpick Legion’s story a little.  The thing that stands in our way of being reconciled to God is sin.  And there are some particular sins present in this story: 

- oppression and 
- isolation.  

And I’ll explore these further later in my sermon.    

I’ve opted to continue to call the man Legion because this is how he self-identifies in the Gospel.  It seems the voices he hears, and which control his behaviour, have become part of his identity. I don’t think we can certainly know what caused Legion’s behaviour. 

What we do know for certain is that Legion experienced ostracism, stigmatisation and discrimination and Jesus was not happy about this.  What we do know is that Jesus overturned in the most spectacular way the loneliness, the isolation, the deprivation that Legion endured.  

Jesus brought Legion restoration and reconciliation.  And as a newly liberated man, Legion became an ambassador for Christ and an agent of God’s peace.  The first evangelist for the Gospel according to Mark.  

All those people healed by Jesus were considered unclean by their contemporaries. Those folk had to live outside the general living area.  They had to shout “unclean, unclean” to alert folk to their presence, and they had to wear torn clothes to identify themselves.  Their employment prospects were limited to collecting dung and handling dead bodies.  If they had physical contact with another person they’d make them unclean too, and that person would need to perform a ritual to spiritually cleanse themselves.  So family life and physical affection were prohibited for these folk.They were excluded from worship.  

We read that Legion lived among tombs and among pigs.  So he was quadropoly ritually unclean:  He was unclean through his affliction; through his contact with dead bodies, through his contact with pigs and because he was living amongst pigs he must have lived within a Gentile area, outside his religious community.  He was quadropoly unacceptable and untouchable.  

Mark’s view is that the purity laws disempowered and stigmatised those who were different in one way or another.   There were some good things about the purity laws.  But Mark seems to be saying that the purity laws caused Legion’s dehumanizing treatment that kept him outside mainstream society until Jesus reconciled Legion to his old life. As I said Legion is an outstanding ambassador for Jesus.  

The first evangelist.

Let’s take a look at how meeting Jesus changed him?  We see spiritual potential in Legion even before his healing, in spite of everything he was going through.  

Despite his isolation, Legion overcomes the pressure from the voices to flee, and was drawn to Jesus.  We see in verse 7 that Legion  astutely recognised Jesus’ power.  His first instinct was to worship Jesus and understand his divinity. Post-healing, Legion was clothed, returned and restored to his hometown, with a specific vocation of witness and preaching, (Mark 5:20) 

Legion was desperate to stay close to Jesus, begging Jesus to let him stay with him.  But instead Jesus told him to go to be a witness and advocate.  Legion was known to both Jews and Gentiles so he was particularly valuable as his transformation is witnessed by both groups. Legion’s mission field, the Decapolis, was 10 towns with a mixed Jew and Gentile population. This shows us Legion had a story to tell and a role as witness to both peoples.  You might say Legion was a forerunner to the Apostle Paul.  A home grown mission and ambassador.  

What does the story of Legion tell us about how Jesus reconciles?  

It tells us Christ’s kingdom will not be stifled by evil.  And that’s whether it’s supernatural evil, the realities of living in a fallen world, or whether it’s every day human sin.  The spiritual forces that have oppressed Legion are drowned and the ordinary human sin of hostility and exclusion are reversed.  

A lot of the sin and hurt and pain in the world comes from us getting relationships wrong.  The relationships in Legion’s life weren’t as they should have been.  Likewise I suspect there isn’t a person in this room whose relationships are perfect.  Who wouldn’t change something about a relationship.  All relationships need some healing.  Legion’s story shows us what God will do for our relationships in his Kingdom.  They’ll be fully healed and restored.  People will be judged from God’s view rather than their peer’s earthly view.  We will see one another as God sees us.  Our good and bad intentions out in the open.  Not in the shadow of our or anyone else’s sins, because all that sin will be wiped away.  Jesus’ work will be over.  God’s love, sympathy, generosity and forgiveness will reign.  We’re reconciled to what we have been, and where we’ll have a peace filled future with God.  

Jesus’s encounter with legion shows us the possibilities for reconciliation and healing in heaven.  So justice must be sought on earth, ahead of, and in faithfulness to, God’s ultimate completion.  When God’s mercy and peace will reign supreme.  Eventually God will 100% prevail over everything that oppresses his children.   The challenge to live all this out begins now.  

We tend to think of ambassadors as like the ambassador in the Ferrero Rocher advert.  But God has a much more ambitious idea of what it means to be an ambassador.  And his making the world a better place will be far more spectacular.  And Legion embodies this.  If God was able to use Legion as an ambassador, he can certainly use us too!  Ambassadors have an important role in keeping the peace.  So we are called to be people of peace now.  To bring about God’s peace in our hearts and in our relationships.  

Do you try to live out your Christian transformation as the healed Legion did?  Are you desperate to stay by Jesus side, but you obediently go out and tell the people you meet about him? You probably have the same mission as Legion:  “To go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 

We are called to be ambassadors and reconcilers among people who we regularly spend time with. And if you think you can’t be an ambassador, Legion’s witness tells us otherwise….  God was able to use Legion as an ambassador, and he can certainly use us too!

Rev Larissa Trust (Curate Christ Church in Weston-super-Mare)

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 Sunday 28th January 2024

Reading John 8:  12-20  - I am the Light of the World 

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”  "You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”  He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

Sermon on John 8: 12-20

The Beatles were almost right. Remember they sang “All you need is love”. But their love had a small ”L”. Beatles member George Harrison said on another occasion, and I paraphrase - “There are 3 great questions we all have to face. ‘Who am I?’ ‘Why am I here?’ and ‘Where am I going?’” Those can only be answered by reference to love with a big “L”, that embodied in the man known to human history as Jesus of Nazareth, but known to all Christian believers down through history as Jesus Christ, Gods Son, who claimed as his own a Jewish name for God “I AM”

In our culture where celebrity is everything, there are testimonies many times over that you can have everything material and yet not know the answers to Harrisons 3 questions. And Harrison was saying that the answers aren’t immediately obvious from the time we are born.

Jesus agreed. Regularly in the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John he is recorded as saying that there is a darkness of unknowing that every human being faces……..but that the darkness could be dispersed, if you looked and listened to Him.

And here in our reading He makes possibly the most extraordinary claim ever – I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD……..and please note that He says this in the midst of a debate with the hardcore religious people of His day, people who were steeped in the rules and regulations of worship, but had no concept of personal contact with the God who had given them the 10 Commandments and had brought them out of slavery.

They were completely in the dark, and they had in front of them the 1 person who could disperse their darkness, could answer George Harrisons questions ……. And they couldn’t see it.

In 21st century Locking we also don’t appreciate the context in which this conversation took place.  It was in the Temple at Jerusalem, but it was in a quite specific location….the place in which lit candles were present to celebrate the pillar of fire which went in front of the children of Israel to lead them from Egypt to the Promised Land. A pillar of fire which signified Gods presence, guidance, and provision of their needs like food and drink.

So why did Jesus use just that timing to publicly state I am the Light of the World? LOOK AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE “whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” And the sentence starts “When again Jesus spoke to the PEOPLE, he said”. This wasn’t a specialists seminar, it wasn’t a TED talk, it was to whoever happened to be around at the time. In other words, it was for you and for me. So in answer to George Harrisons question “Where am I going”?, Jesus says “Follow me”. Please note Jesus does NOT say “Follow me and you won’t have any problems, you won’t have pain or hurt or challenges” – those things are common to every human being in the present age – including Jesus Himself; what He does promise us are the resources of Heaven and, as the first followers found out at Pentecost, the very presence of God living within us day by day by the Holy Spirit. Exactly what Jesus offers to us in 2024.

And how does it work day by day? It’s a continuous process, like the heart pumping blood around the body. Imagine the Christian life is a triangle, with each one of us within our own one. The top of the triangle is UP, the connect between us and Jesus – we reach up to give our lives to Him and He pours down to us his Holy Spirit. The bottom left of the triangle is IN. Someone once said that Jesus loves us so much that He always takes us as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us as we are. The job of the Holy Spirit within us is to day by day change us into the people we were always created to be – more like Jesus; that means working changes in our thoughts, our words, our deeds, our relationships. SPOILER ALERT. That means He needs our ongoing co-operation……..which means His will in and for our lives outscoring our own will and preferences when necessary. Now we come to the 3rd point of the triangle, the bottom right; it is marked OUT. As we connect up, and we change within, our lives are to reach out to those around us, into our communities and our society, with the same message and the same values that Jesus has spoken to us – in other words, with light. Remember, there are 4 Gospels, which we should read in parallel with each other; it’s not a question of choose your favourite. In John 8 Jesus says “I am the Light of the World”; in Matthew 5 – in no less place than The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus also says this to the assembled crowd “YOU are the Light of the World…..let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Please note the words Jesus uses…..its not “If you feel you’re the light of the world; its not, when you’re having a good day, you’re the light of the world. It’s you and me ARE the Light of the world. FULL STOP. It’s the promised outcome of the Holy Spirit in us. Look at the natural world. The light is still there, even if Storm Isha is raging. Let’s be encouraged!

And see that Jesus spoke these words to each individual BUT in the context of a group TOGETHER. It’s one of the reasons I like the video clip of the shining light bulb. It starts with a single light bulb shining as he walks along……but it finishes with 3 bulbs walking along together. The light penetrates the darkness whether there’s 1 or multiple light bulbs, but its better together. It’s the way it was intended to be. It’s why that old gospel song “Jesus bids us shine……..you in your small corner, and I in mine” doesn’t tell the whole story.

If you read newspapers and the like, or listen to politicians, you’ll regularly hear one phrase “Broken Britain”. But what neither the journos nor the politicos have faced up to, is that for Britain to be fixed, its citizens – from king to commoner – need to rediscover the message of Jesus and respond to it. That is the sure foundation on which rebuilding can take place. That is where our prayers and our lives need to focus. Are we up for that? If you read our parish Profile, its what we’re asking of our new vicar!

 I started with the Beatles; I’ll end with them. John Lennon once said that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. He also wrote a song called Imagine; the battle hymn of all good atheists and humanists. It contains these words “Imagine there’s no heaven; its easy if you try…….no need for greed or hunger/a brotherhood of man/imagine all the people/sharing all the world”. He wrote it in 1971; 9 years later a deranged fan, hearing voices in his head, shot Lennon to death. Exclude Jesus, the Light of the World, and you have no brotherhood of man. Today 40 years after Lennons death, that is clearer than ever.

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 21st January 2024 - Epiphany 3

Revelations.19: 6-10 - The wedding of the Lamb has Come.

Mark 1: 14-20 -  The Time has Come.

The Kingdom has Come near.
So, repent and believe the good news.
Come, follow me….. and I will make you fishers of men.

Sermon on Mark 1 and Revelations 19 - On the theme 'Come'

Have you ever received a Royal Invitation?  In our last parish, Elana, an autistic young woman was invited to celebrate King Charles III coronation at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party. She had done SWYM training and helped lead accessible worship in the Village church. I did also in 1968, to collect my Gold DofE Award from Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace. However, it was just 6 weeks after I sustained a bad rugby injury and I went from my hospital bed. Stood for 2 hours waiting and then fainted immediately after receiving my award. Ambulance to Paddington Station – no tea party, no photos! But I accepted the invitation!

But we ALL have received a ROYAL Invitation and it is important that we ALL respond, accept it and enjoy the benefits of it!  Both of our readings today are about an Invitation

1. COME – Jesus’ Invitation to Change..Mark 1v14,15.

After John’s preparation and now put in prison, out of action, Jesus his cousin continues with a similar but fuller message. Jesus proclaims the good news of God  from God. We see three aspects here.

i) The time has come. Or is fulfilled. Greek word for time is KAIROS – opportune time rather than CHRONOS – linear time.

Paul writes (Gal 4v4) ‘When the time had fully come, God sent His Son…’

Yes, Jesus came to earth at just the right time to fulfil the prophecies and when the world was ready, for the gospel to spread rapidly… there was a common language = Greek; safe travel across the Roman empire – pax romana. Also, Jesus was 30 years old, the age for Jewish men to begin their work as priests (though Jesus came from Judah not Levi tribe!). John had prepared the way; Jesus was prepared by the Father, baptised by John, anointed with the Holy Spirit and ready for His unique work of salvation and ushering in of the kingdom of God.

It was the right time, in good time, timely, enough time…. Not the wrong or bad or inconvenient time or wasted, lost time…. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: Today is the day of salvation. So, ‘Now is the time…. To come to worship, give our hearts and respond to God’s offer of salvation now available through Jesus’! 

ii) The kingdom of God is near. Jesus is the King and is now among them. ‘Song: The King is among us, the Spirit draws near… Golden Graham Kendrick. 

Jesus would teach many parables about what the Kingdom of God was like; His miracles would show the power of the Kingdom, stronger than any other kingdom. But His Kingdom is both now and not yet, as we wait for the full coming of God’s kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.(Romans 14:17) (Song!)

What is the Kingdom of God?  Hans Kung ‘Creation Healed’. Wrong is put to right when Aslan comes in sight (CS Lewis). Two circles represent our Broken world and the World being Healed by Christ.  Healing Circle has Christ at the Centre, then His church as a foretaste of the kingdom, then the whole of Creation – everything…. Have a BIG vision – restoration of our broken world in every way. So pray for every sphere of life – whole life discipleship, LICC emphasis. Put Christ the King in charge! The Kingdom of God has come near as Jesus the King has come. Our Long Term Big vision can be ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ… and He shall live forever and ever’ SONG: MESSIAH!

What did Jesus do for 40 days after His resurrection? He taught his disciples about the Kingdom of God. David Pawson, Tom Wright… Five Acts 1. Creation, 2. Fall, 3. Israel, 4. Christ, 5, Heaven on Earth!  Ephesians 1v10…. When the times will have reached their fulfilment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.’

However, there is still a battle on now as there was in the time of Jesus between the powers of darkness and light, evil and good, fear and faith, despair and hope. So, Jesus’ call to all both then and now in response is:

iii) Repent and believe the good news. It is ‘time to change’.

Repentance means – change your mind, change your direction of travel, change your behaviour and attitude, change your loyalty and loves. Turn around, do a u-turn. Admit that you are wrong in what you believe, think, love, do…

Then confess it to God. Ask Him for help to change, to be different, think differently, love differently, act differently (see earlier passage from 2 Peter 1 and Galatians 5 and Philippians 4). It’s nothing less than a whole New Life and New Lifestyle…. A New Birth, born again by the Spirit. However, this is also an ongoing process as God reveals to us more and more aspects of our life that need changing – like peeling layers of an onion. It is so good to have a Spiritual MOT regularly. The early Methodists had bands of four (single sex) to share honestly and be accountable to one another.  We sometimes need to ask for help from others to be set free from bad habits, attitudes, experiences, hurts and wounds from the enemy of our souls or sometimes even from friends, family and others. (Consider the help from Christian Prayer Ministry, Harnhill Healing Centre, Wholeness through Christ etc). John preached for a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins v4 but also spoke about One who would baptise in the Spirit v8. We need the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us to new birth and new life. It is a divine work and an ongoing work also.

Believe – trust, accept, receive, faith in and towards God (see Hebrews 6v1,2 – foundations of faith, repentance, baptisms, laying of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment)

This means that we take God at His word, receive His promises. ‘What You say is what you get’. Eg: Never again list:

1. Never again will I say ‘I can’t’ because ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Phil.4v13

2. Never again will I confess fear, because ‘God has not given me a spirit of fear but of love, power and self-control’ 2 Tim.1v7

Take the positive affirmation and acceptance of God’s Truth, His Word, the good news which can replace the bad news we read all the time in our world.  Rest of the gospel will expand on this…

Good News: 

2.COME – Jesus’ Invitation to Follow. V15-20

George Verwer, founder of OM ‘Come, Live, Die’. Dietrich Bonhoeffer ‘Come to take up your cross, not cheap grace’. Jim Elliott ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose’ 1956 Martyred in Ecuador by those he and others were seeking to reach for Christ.

Note that Jesus is walking by the sea of Galilee to find his first disciples, not amongst the priests or Levites in Jerusalem. Just as the Angel of the Lord appeared to ordinary working men – shepherds out in the fields at the birth of Jesus – so now, Jesus himself chooses 4 fishermen as his first disciples. Working men, used to catching fish but now called to fish for people instead. Why did he chose them? Expectation, willing to leave all and follow him, teachable, available, loyal, not too independent (used to working with others)…. Yet they did have so much to learn.

Two sets of brothers, they left their nets and their father…

The invitation is to belong, join, learn, listen, observe, partner, walk ‘in His steps’, become like Jesus. Become a disciple….

Bonhoeffer Biography. Two key books ‘Living Together’ and ‘Disciple’. He coined the term ‘cheap grace’, where so-called followers of Jesus think that they can live as they please and then just ask God to forgive them when they mess up. He developed his thinking about grace during the time of the Third Reich in Germany, when the Lutheran state church became a heretical church called ‘German Christians’, banning anyone with Jewish blood from belonging and redefining the gospel and allegiance to the Fuhrer in Messianic terms. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others were leaders in the Confessing Church, an underground church with a secret seminary to train potential pastors and eventually Bonhoeffer joined the group who plan to assassinate Hitler. Sadly, he was arrested and after 2 years in prison was executed just 3 weeks before the end of WW2. He made the costly decision to return to Germany from a brief visit to America, where he could have stayed longer, just weeks before the outbreak of war in September 1939.

‘If anyone would follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. …. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it….What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul.’ Luke 9v23-25

Bonhoeffer lived out this calling of costly discipleship and grace. Grace is costly because it cost Jesus His life and it may cost us also. But it is FREE and cannot be earned or deserved in any way! ‘Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling…’ Augustus Toplady, Rock of Ages, Burrington Coombe 18thC.

Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John all experienced great suffering for Christ and three of them were martyred and John was exiled on Patmos ‘because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus’, but there God gave him a wonderful vision of King Jesus and a message to the suffering church – ‘God wins…. In the end!’ And so to the final Invitation from Revelation 19.

3. COME – to the Wedding of the Lamb. Rev.19v7-10

‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear… (righteous acts of the saints)….  Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ …… Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Preparation, timing, invitation, celebration, rejoicing, union….

On our wedding day 9 September 1978, a special song was sung:

‘Thou dost seek a bride all pure and holy…’ and of course this refers ultimately to the Bride of Christ – His church. Note in John’s vision that the bride’s special clothes are GIVEN to her. They are a gift of God’s grace. Never earned or deserved but bought with a price, the blood of Jesus. He then clothes us with righteousness as a pure and holy garment.

Great blessing is in story for ALL who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.  

Come to the wedding. All is now ready. Do not make any excuses. I will provide you with all that you need. Just accept my invitation and COME!

Jesus is Coming again. Revelation 22.

V7 ‘Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book….

v.12 ‘Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End….

v.17 ‘The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”. And let him who hears say “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life…..

v20 ‘He who testified to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.’

 Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank you for your invitation to Come to you with all our burdens and sin, to receive your refreshing Holy Spirit and to follow in your steps. Please forgive us where we have failed to deny ourselves and not taken up our cross daily to follow you. Help us to rededicate ourselves to follow you wholeheartedly and with great joy today. We pray ‘Your Kingdom Come’ for our world and for our own lives. We also look forward to your coming again and cry out again, ‘Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus’. And as we wait we need the help of your Holy Spirit so we call out also ‘Come, Holy Spirit…..’   (wait and pray further).

Rev Smon Holloway

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Sunday 7th January 2024 - Epiphany

Reading Matthew 2:1-12  - The Magi Visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.  “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 

 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 

Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12

This morning's Gospel reading is about magi going on a journey. Here’s a true story of a man who took an unusual journey:

Larry Walters was a 33-year-old man, who lived in the Los Angeles area, who decided he wanted to see his neighbourhood from a new perspective. He went down to the local army surplus store one morning and bought forty-five used weather balloons. That afternoon he strapped himself into a garden chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled balloons. He took along a six-pack of beer, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and a pellet  gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.

Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky -- smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport. Too frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two hours, forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon, causing long delays in flights from across the country.

The helium balloons gradually emptied and he drifted slowly back to the ground. After he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions: 

"Were you scared?"  "Yes." 
"Would you do it again?" "No." 
"Why did you do it?"  "Because," he said, "you can't just sit there."    [from Leadership, Summer 1993, pp. 35.]

Happy New Year!
It’s a leap year, which means that you have 366 days; that is 8,784 hours. Yesterday was the day known as Epiphany, which is a festival celebrating that God’s glory is revealed.  Epiphany comes from the Greek word for manifestation or appearance.  Epiphany refers to the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus, but the word ‘epiphany’ has another popular meaning: a sudden flash of understanding or insight.

In Matthew 2:1-12, God’s glory is revealed through a miraculous occurrence – the star.

There are three aspects to this passage - Magi from the East; Divine Guidance; and Devoted Worship

1. Magi from the East

Matthew 2:1-2: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

You might ask, what are they doing blundering about Jerusalem, asking questions about a new king of the Jews? Some have said, this was not a particularly wise thing to do!

Did their precious star seemingly brought them to the wrong place? Not only are they in the wrong place, but they're looking for quite the wrong kind of King. As they left Herod, the star continued to guide them

Matthew 2:9: After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

The Magi were among the first ones to recognise the significance of Jesus's birth beyond Joseph. The first ones to come and worship him.

Application:  Notice who God uses to manifest his glory. Who have you dismissed and discounted, but who may be playing a role in God’s purposes?

2. Divine Guidance

Guidance by a miraculous occurrence – the star

Matthew 2:  v2. ‘We observed his star at it’s rising’ -  v9. ‘And there ahead of them went the star’ - v10 ‘When they saw that the star had stopped..’

There have been various attempts to identify the ‘star’  as a regular astronomical phenomenon. These have generally focused on three possibilities – a planetary conjunction; a comet; a nova (a star which, owing to an explosion, appears temporarily with extraordinary brightness), but no known astronomical phenomena account for the movement of the star as described here in Matthew. 

These words can only mean that the star itself moved to guide the Magi. – to them it brought ‘great joy’

King Herod's desire was to destroy the things of God

Look at how eager the Magi were to worship Jesus, compared with the apathy of the Jewish leaders

Application: Are you open to divine guidance? Are you willing to seek out those with a prophetic gift, to confirm his guidance of you? 

3. Devoted Worship 

Matthew 2:  v10  ‘When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.’ - v11 ‘On entering the house, they saw the child… and they knelt down and paid him homage.’

The homage of these learned Gentiles is intended to indicate the fulfilment of passages such as Psalm 72 and Isaiah 60 – ‘Arise, shine for your light has come.’

‘To pay homage to’ means ‘to worship’

Martin Luther: “I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first 3 hours in prayer.”

‘they were overwhelmed with joy.’ ‘they bowed down and worshiped him.’

Devoted worship

Matthew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Gifts fit for a king - God, Frankincense and Myrrh.  Gold - suggested His royalty as King of the Jews and Lord of lords. Frankincense - they saw His divinity. Myrrh represented His humanity - and that to the fullest extent because myrrh suggests death and burial. 

Thus, the gifts came to show Jesus as King, God, and Man.

Application: New Year!
366 days and 8,784 hours from 1 January As we use our time for worship, let’s ensure that we too discover and maintain that sense of overwhelming joy. Let’s make this a year of pure adoration and worship

Summary

 I guess we all have a choice in this New Year - whether to just ‘sit in our chair’, or whether with God’s divine guidance we can soar to high places and sit in His presence, discovering and maintaining that sense of overwhelming joy.

Rev Paul Larcombe

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Sunday 17th December 2023  - 3rd Sunday in Advent

This is the 3rd ADVENT SUNDAY and in our calendar and with the lighting of candles, it marks the countdown to Christmas and the birth of Jesus. However, I feel very strongly about the importance of the meaning of Advent itself, not as a prelude to Christmas but as a vital part of our belief as Christians. We are soon to celebrate the first coming of Jesus but Advent is about rejoicing in His promise to return. Our readings reminded me of a song I remember from the past which I haven’t heard for some considerable time. Each verse ends with the words 

‘ Is what’s turning the world upside down‘ Remember it?  

And you are always making all things new
What is wrong you forgive, and the new life you give
Is what’s turning the world upside down.
The world’s only loving to it’s friends
But your way of loving never ends
Loving enemies too, and this loving with you
Is what’s turning the world upside down.
That is what our faith can do!

If we genuinely take on board the fact that Jesus is returning, and celebrate Advent for what it means, then we are aligning ourselves with a creed that wants to turn the world upside down. That is not what the world, in which we live, believes. We are part of an alternative society. To believe the Advent story  marks us out as distinctly different from everyone else. It is not the world view, it is specifically the Christian view. In summary, as Christians  we have a clear concept of past, present and future. Our past is rooted in God’s creation of ourselves and where we live. Our present is an acute awareness of our need for forgiveness from God and to follow the example of Jesus, and our future is one of anticipation because of God’s promise of eternity with him after Jesus returns.

If everyone believed this it would lierally turn the world upside down. Everything would change.

In Pauls letter v4 he writes ‘I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus’. The past is significant for every Christian because we know that it has changed us. We would be different if we hadn’t become Christians. Wouldn’t we ?  Because of that we can anticipate the promise of Jesus returning which will be even more dramatic than the past. This is what these 4 weeks of Advent are about and we shouldn’t rush past it eager to reach the birthday celebration. Why do I say that the second Advent will be dramatic? In history at the first Advent of Jesus, much of the world was either unaware or chose to ignore it with the exception of some who just wanted to stamp it out and kill him. When the second  Advent happens we are told quite clearly that absolutely everyone in the whole world will know that it’s happening. Mark reports Jesus as saying v33 ‘Be on your guard.  Be alert. You do not know when that time will come’. 

Matthew reports Jesus as saying Chap 24v 30 ‘The Son of man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory, and his angels will gather the elect (that’s Christians) from the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other’. That is the equivalent to the angels visiting the shepherds many times over and would include Hutton and Locking !!

That for me is the point at which Christians will stand up tall , looking up, with hands raised, as that scenario should hold no fear for us. We know that we are justified through the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can look forward to His return with no fear because we are confident in the promises of God. We have no reason to be proud as only the death of Jesus made it possible for us.

That is what the future holds out for us. What does the future look like for those without faith in God ? How do they face death? I must confess that I have no idea how they do. I remember a report of a discussion between a Christian and a non-believer, where the Christian ended it by offering to continue the discussion after death. Having seen quite a few people who had died in my time, I cannot believe that the spark that made them who they were and which has so blatantly disappeared, was down to a heartbeat, blood cells and brain function. Scientists will never be able to produce a person with character and personality. That is God’s work, that is Spirit, that is unique and indestructible . The humanist sees nothing beyond the grave. Reincarnation is only attractive to some faiths because it avoids the finality of death.

One of our hymns includes ‘We have a faith that is steadfast and certain, gone through the curtain and touching the throne’. This is a statement about the death of Jesus and His resurrection and it also will be true for us. At our homegroup only this week, when thinking about the death of Jesus, we were reminded about the curtain separating the Jews from the holy of holies, a curtain which was torn in two from top to bottom at the moment  Jesus died, so opening up access to God  by all of us.

The Advent truth is a massive encouragement and is, in a way a test of the strength and clarity of our faith. As Christians, having been changed by the past through coming to faith, by being confident about the future, so we can be positive about the present. Paul in that short passage in 1 Corinthians has so many positive things to say. V3 Grace and Peace to you. To live as a disciple is to have access to that grace and peace. To be peacemakers and gracious in our relationships comes from the example of Jesus in a world where it seems that to get anywhere you have to be a bit pushy or even rude. That is not what God wants for you and me. Paul also says v 5 that we are enriched in every way. That sounds pretty positive but there’s more v7 you do not lack any spiritual gifts as you wait and V8 we will be kept strong to the end. V9 gives the final and eternal truth that we need to hold onto which is that ‘God who called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is Faithful.

My uncle who died two years ago aged 94 proclaimed to us every time we visited him. God is Faithful. May that be our sure faith, and may we not rush through Advent.

 We can yet turn the world upside down if we live that out until either we die or the Lord Jesus returns. Amen

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Reading for Sunday 19th November 2023

Matthew 25:31- 40  The Sheep and the Goats

When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation.

And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?'

 Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.’

Talk on Matthew 25:31 - 40

The Bible is consistent in its teaching in that (1)The history of our world will come to a climax (2)At that point Jesus will return, not as a Christmas baby but as King of kings and Lord of Lords, and will draw a line under mankinds abuse of each other and the earth (3)There will be a dividing and accountability. But we aren’t thinking about that future event today, we’re thinking about our lives in the present, and their impact!

If you’ve been with us during the autumn, you may remember that, back in September, we thought about STAYING CONNECTED TO JESUS, as branches of a vine. Then at the start of October, we thought about the marks of a healthy church as described by Paul in Philippians, STAYING CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER. Today we’re thinking about the 3rd essential element for a group of Christians looking to be authentic followers of Jesus… STAYING CONNECTED TO THOSE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH BUILDING, in other words, OUR COMMUNITY.

In Jesus day, sheep and goats often grazed together until it was time for the sheep to be sheared. Then they would be separated. The identity of the sheep when Jesus used it in a parable setting would have been clear to the disciples listening – Jesus had already spoken about Him being the Good Shepherd who looks after his sheep and protects the flock. The disciples were the sheep. Jesus also knew that most disciples were very aware that they lived less than spotless lives. Ring any bells?

BUT HERE in our reading Jesus – in his role as King of Kings – not only welcomes the sheep-disciples but praises them for their lives of sacrificial serving and giving to those in need. The sheep-disciples are astonished – as far as they are concerned they’d done nothing special! But Jesus challenges them - and us – to change our perspective.

Firstly, our context. In the passage Jesus talks about all the nations being brought before Him – not just believers, but atheists, people of different faiths, kings and beggars. People who worship regularly in a church, those who come on high days and holidays, those who come for births, deaths and marriages, those who never set foot inside a church building. And he calls ALL of them “His sisters and brothers”. It’s what the Church of England parish system is about – being here for everyone.

Next, Jesus doesn’t speak about the help and support the sheep-disciples have given to each other. We do not belong to a “we just look after our own” club. Jesus feels there is no need to commend their help for fellow sheep-disciples – it’s assumed! As fellow Christ-ones of course they would act as Jesus would have done…. to each other…wouldn’t they?

But Finally, Jesus raises the bar – He says that giving support to ANYONE in need is the expected/natural response of a sheep-disciple, seeing a reflection of Jesus in all mankind.

But why does he describe the sheep-disciples reaction as astonishment – not “well we tried to do our bit”? Let me suggest this. The Bible speaks about those who give their lives to Jesus as being transformed little by little by the Holy Spirit into more and more likeness to Jesus in attitude and action. Part of that will result in sheep-disciples NATURALLY reaching out to those in need, whether they are “of the faith” or not. JUST AS JESUS WOULD AND DID. Just as Paul urged in Galatians Ch6 V10 ….as we have opportunity, LET US DO GOOD TO EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY TO THE FAMILY OF FAITH. As this church does……..

Think about the mission partners we support. CAP. Not just Christians working against poverty in the Christian community, but in THE community. Hoveraid – providing medical and other aid to those in need – some people walk for hours to get to a Hoveraid medical clinic. And all this in a part of the world where the Christian population is a small %. Shoebox – Christmas presents for children in 130 countries across the world whose lives are marginalised by poverty, war etc. All those groups work in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and offer the Gospel as part of their outreach, BUT their help is NOT conditional on joining a church or personal faith.

And what about us individually? What is Jesus saying to us ordinary Joes? Do we know people literally in prison? Most of us probably No – but we know that folk around us are imprisoned by many more things than a police cell. Do we know those who are hungry, poor, isolated? Ooh, close to home this one. It’s why we ran the Parish Pantry, its why we still give to Weston Foodbank and Somewhere To Go. It’s why The Lounge is still open each Tuesday afternoon.

We now live in a highly individualistic, increasingly dislocated society, where outward image and success are considered desperately important. And its all a sham, it always has been. And sooner or later all of us find ourselves in trouble… And all of us have a circle of friends, neighbours, people we bump into in the street, people who are friends of friends……

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GOATS? If you read a bit further on in Matthew 25, you find this group also address Jesus as Master, just as the sheep did. But Jesus says Who are you? Do you know what % of people in England and Wales TICKED THE WORD Christian in the last census? 46%. That’s approx 30 million people. So why haven’t we got standing room only in every church in the land…including Locking?

Well of course that’s a complex question, but 1 answer is this. As a country whose laws and moral standards were built on Christian principles for centuries, the default religious position for the average resident of the UK has always been Christian……….even if you don’t know what being a follower of Jesus actually means in practice. Now, as Christian knowledge declines, guess whose got the job of explaining what a Christian is, and encouraging goats to change to sheep? And that also means we need to have a contact circle that includes true believers and vague believers, and gatherings that are goat-friendly.

And we’re currently looking for a new vicar who will lead us on in that direction…….see how it all fits together.

 I’m going to finish with popular culture, with Evan Almighty. Who’s seen the film? The lead is a news reporter elected to the US Congress on the boast that he is going to change the world. He even prays to do so. And God, in the form of Morgan Freeman, walks with him and says this “Do you want to know how to change the world, son?” “One Act of Random Kindness at a time.” Being an A-R-K for a person in need. Terry Baillie used the same phrase in his talk here last month. I’d conclude the Lord is highlighting something for us, wouldn’t you?

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Reading for Sunday 19th November 2023

Matthew 25:14 - 30  The Parable of the Bags of Gold

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

Sermon on Matthew 25:14-30

We’ve just heard the familiar parable of 3 different men being given various amounts of gold/talents and what they did or didn’t do with it, and how that affected the master’s response when he returned. That response varied from rewards to a penalty for not doing anything with it. There is a  challenge here for us about handling what we do or don’t have. Let me ask you this question.

As we are now in the build up to Christmas, what is coming through your letter boxes ? Requests from charities. My Radio Times envelope this week included 5 respectable good charities and that is on top of others in the post plus hand delivered ones. All good causes. What do you do ? On top of that we are then encouraged to buy with the  temptation of making  huge savings on black Friday, maybe taking out more credit and working on the’ live now, pay later’ basis. This is a challenge to our priorities.

The point of this and other parables is that the master will return, which for us signifies the return of Jesus. Matthew’s gospel includes other stories in chap24 and 25 with the clear message from Jesus that he is coming back and that we need to be ready, and by the way, it doesn’t matter  whether we are still alive or not when his return happens. We have basic certainties from these stories:-

1. Jesus will return.
2. The time is unknown.
3. We need to be prepared.
4. We are all accountable to God.

Luke 12.40 says “ You must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect”.

Rev16v 12 Blessed are they who stay awake.

Matt 25v 13 “ Keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour”.

Now going back to the parable we heard earlier, you may not have been given bags of gold, well some of you might have, but the real challenge to us, is our use of the personal gifts God has given us. Those gifts will have varied hugely between every one of us. There are some very gifted people who have a huge contribution to make to society. The majority are more like us, with many of us feeling that we really aren’t sure what our gifts are. We also have the huge gift of time, so one of  the questions is how we choose to use that time and what decisions we make. Have our motives often been driven by selfish desires or have we wanted to help others? 

In the parable, the servants were given different gifts. 5 bags is a great deal, 2  is kind of average and 1 is small. That applies to us in the gifts  we have been given. The challenge in the story is the same for all 3 of them and not least for the one who only had 1. So even though we might feel that we don’t have many gifts there is still the challenge to use well, what we have been given. As Christians of course we have been given a massive gift. What would you say that gift is for you ?

What would you write down on a piece of paper ? It would need to include 3 words. Jesus…Forgiveness..Eternity.    That is the very backbone of our service this morning and our understanding of Communion.

The challenge is what we do with that gift. How do we share it? How do we live it out every day? How much do we want others to see it in our lives and to have it in their lives?

The servant in the parable who had the minimum amount claims he was afraid of the master so v25  I hid your gold in the ground. Is that the way you see God, as a God to fear that we will all be accountable to ? Or do you see a God of Love who wants nothing but good for all of us. I wonder what examples of bosses you have had in the past ? Bosses that I was accountable to when I worked for the Halifax  over 15 years have all been different. Mr Harvey, Green, Maidens, Beaumont, Cartwright. One of them could be sarcastic and had favourites of which I was not one. Which one did I work best for  ?  The ones who offered  a good relationship and who I could trust and respect. But later I had no problem changing to God as my boss. But then that had happened many years ago when I became a Christian. But God is not a boss in that sense, he is a father who loves us, a father who goes on giving us gifts, not least the Holy Spirit. And when our relationship with Him is firm He gifts us according to our abilities. That’s what v 15 says:-

To one he gave 5 talents of money, to another 2 talents and to another 1 talent, each according to his ability.

God knows best, but I think an important factor is not just our ability but also our willingness to serve, to put ourselves in a position where we need to rely on God to serve in the way he is asking us to. When that happens he will continue to give us the gifts we need. When we are personally secure in our relationship with God we can set about using the gifts he wants us to have, which especially includes Spiritual gifts.

The Biblical picture of the Christian body working together is so clear, you remember…….   I Corinthians 12v 12 the foot can’t say to the hand we aren’t part of the same body. And the ear can’t say because I’m not an eye I’m not part of the body.  Conclusion ? V 20 As it is, there are many parts but one body.

We are all part of the Christian body in the world, in the U.K and, especially in the congregation here in Locking. What is the part God wants us to play now ? Are we using the gifts He has already given us and are there other gifts he wants us to have? Is there a sense in which we have, or are, burying the talent, bag of gold we already have ? Every individual Christian’s response to this directly affects  the growth and witness of the church. We are all part of the body of Christ.

These are wonderful yet challenging truths and they stay with us for the whole of our lives and we all look forward to hearing :- 

“Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord”  

As Christians, that is what we will all hear because , in the words of the service this morning “Christ died for us”. That is what gives us the key to eternity regardless of how gifted we were or how effective we were or how influential we were. Our eternity is guaranteed but in the meantime we can help to carry that news to others as we use the gifts God has given to us. It has nothing to do with being successful and everything to do with serving in obedience with the gifts we have been given.

In the words of God to Joshua as he took over the mantle from Moses, Chp1v5  “I will be with. I will never leave you or forsake you”

Joshua chap 1 v 7 “Be strong and very courageous and be careful to obey all my laws”.

These promises also apply to us as we use our gifts for God’s glory.

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Remembrance Sunday 12th November 2023

Sermon on Love, Hate and Peace

How often do you use the word LOVE ? You might use it to describe something you enjoyed eating. “I loved that curry”. Or a certain book you have just finished reading. If you’re sporty you probably love what you do, for me it was hockey. Hopefully you will use it in a stronger sense to express feelings for close family. Mum, dad, grandparents.

What is the opposite of Love?  Hate. You might use that word from time to time as well. Some might say they hate going to school or work, whereas others might have an argument and end up hating the other person. You might also use the word about someone’s opinion about politics. You might even say you hate what somebody is wearing.

The really important thing to realise is that the effects of these two words are so completely different. The one, love being very positive and the other hate very negative. To love has the great potential for good things to happen, write a thank you note or maybe buy a small present, whereas to hate will probably lead to something bad or nasty, perhaps spread a rumour or tell lies or even worse.

Genuine love will always want the best. Hate will always want the worst. Love sees things in the best light,  hate does the opposite which is exactly what happened to Jesus. History and the Bible only tell us  that Jesus  did nothing but good things  and yet the church leaders of the day felt threatened. They hated his popularity, they even criticised him for making other people well. Their hate led to his death.

We are here today because of the effects of hate on our world. Hitler hated the Jews, Putin hates the west and in the Middle East there is a longstanding hatred between Arabs and Jews. Hate is always in there somewhere.

When Jesus talks about love, as he did in that short passage, he is offering a love way beyond when you might think about loving a cream cake. It is a substantial love, significantly deeper and stronger than most of the times that we use the word. He uses the word in asking us to love him, the end result of that is God loving us. It is a love which, if everyone in the world followed him, there would be no more wars. Wow There’s a thought. That would be perfection, but as we know none of us is perfect, including Christians, and as we know there have been wars even in Christian circles. None of that reduces the sense of what Jesus is saying. God understands that we are not perfect and that’s why we begin our services with a confession. 

But knowing that we are unable to love as Jesus asks, need not reduce our desire to achieve it. If our world wanted to genuinely avoid repeats of the many wars throughout history , following Jesus would help them to  become peacemakers not warmongers. The people we remember today were fighting for peace. Many of them gave their lives for that peace. We were up against warmongers who neither knew nor cared nothing about the kind of love Jesus was speaking about. 

Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. We can’t be peacemakers if we are quick to hate, because hate only causes suffering and sadness, as in some family relationships where a hurt has happened and has grown over the years into a deep resentment and rejection. We as individual people and families may not have a direct impact or influence on the world at large, but we can have an impact in the day to day world we live in. Those we live with, those we work with, those we celebrate with or come across in public situations. Genuine, forgiving love as Jesus points us towards, will help us to be peacemakers, and the wider world will be a better place. The starting point is a recognition that individually we have the choice  as to how we live our lives and that the teaching of Jesus about love is the only way that makes sense.

The peace that we are remembering today, and the peace we have as a result of the sacrifice of others, is a gift  to cherish and learn from, not just once a year, but every day in our decisions and relationships, becoming peacemakers in following the example of Jesus through love.  My God’s love fill our lives to His glory and our peace.

 Rev Geoff Hobden

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Reading for Sunday 29nd October 2023

Thessalonians 2: 1-16 - Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica

 You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children[a] among you.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.

Sermon on Thessalonians 2: 1-16

Do you remember the Greenham Common protests? It was at an airbase in Berkshire when nuclear cruise missiles were being allowed  to be stored there alongside an American base. It was 1981 when some Welsh women went there to protest. Numbers swelled into thousands and a Peace camp was set up and remained until 2000. They made their presence felt, as do the current Just Stop Oil protesters who are being effective, but I would draw the line at disrupting the snooker final as they did. Opposition groups can cause a huge  number of challenges , and that is exactly what was happening to this new church in Thessalonica. Paul was the founder, and in v2 he says “we dared to tell you the Gospel in spite of  strong opposition”. The opposition went as far as physically hounding Paul out of the city. Paul is writing this letter a couple of years later after Timothy had gone there on a visit and discovered that against the odds the church had survived. However, Timothy left knowing that  during the two years life had been no picnic with opposition that had been constant and organised. Paul was understandably encouraged  with the news but still had concerns. The main opposition were the Jews who were upset at the prospect of this new sect. Their intention was to squash it altogether. One of their ploys was, as in all good courtroom scenes, to try and discredit the main witness. If some doubt can be raised in the character, history or motives of the main witness, then the force or their evidence is reduced or even discounted altogether. The Jews worked hard to raise doubts about Paul, and Timothy may have been concerned that some mud might have been sticking and that even some in the church were beginning to wonder if there was some truth. This still is a frequent ploy of satan  to try to undermine the Good news of the Gospel. We may not be in the same situation as the Christians at Thess but we need to be on our guard against any attempt to undermine our total belief in the message and we also need to avoid being  carriers of some piece of news/gossip about someone/something which is a fabrication of the truth.

When Paul got this news from Timothy about the lies spread around by the Jews ,  now being received by the Christians, it would have stung him to think that they might be willing to believe it. For all his gifts, Paul was human, and it’s felt that these words in chapter two were a response to that. If you simply read through this chapter without knowing the context you might conclude that Paul is on a bit of an ego trip. Let me pick out some phrases:-

We speak as men approved by God.v4

We were gentle among you.v7

We worked night and day.v9

Among you we were holy, righteous and blameless. v10

But this is no self -congratulatory letter. It is a serious attempt to counter the rumours being put out about him by the Jews. Quite simply he is defending himself to this young church of how he and Silas had conducted themselves as they preached the Gospel.

But there is one other area that the Jewish protesters refused to accept about the Christian faith  It is  the suggestion that the  Christian  message they had and we have is uniquely   different from all the other faiths around. It is so easy for people today, as it was then, for folk who have never bothered to explore, to put all  faith groups into  the same bracket . It is an excuse, but it is convenient to take that view, and our enemy the devil, will fan those flames. It seems to me that we are increasingly witnessing  this kind of thinking in this country. The Christian ethos of our country is waning rapidly  and it is quite possible that  the Christian faith may end up as having simply a cult status, as it has been in France for some time.

In his letter Paul is at pains to draw a distinct contrast between his message and that of all of the others. V13 says

‘When you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted  it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God which is at work in you who believe,

So those who were preaching then, as we who preach now about Jesus, are quite different from the other faiths. We have a saviour who was crucified and rose again. We have a God who promises forgiveness and eternity. We cannot earn God’s love . Our Gospel is totally different from the others.

In v3 Paul points to other differences. He talks about truth, motivation and methods. He speaks about our faith as the truth, and there can only be one truth. He reminds them of his and our  motives that come from love in response to God’s love for us. He speaks about our methods of reaching out, which do not include being devious or cunning or with pressure. Those are the marks of those who do not have the truth. 

Just towards the end of this section Paul reminds this church, made up of converted Jews, that the very people who are so against them, are the very people who v15 killed the prophets and the Lord Jesus and drove himself and Silas out of the city.

If any witnesses can be discredited, rather than Paul, it is the Jews themselves whose history is damning . Paul’s conclusion v15 “They displease God and are hostile to all men in their efforts to prevent us from speaking to others so that they may be saved.”

More recent generations have never been free of those trying to discredit Jesus and the bible. It can often be subtle perhaps through the media including news, plays and films and the church has not always held to the truth of the authority of scripture which is even being tested at the present time. As Christians we are by God set a high standard for our everyday lives, attitudes and words, and if we step out of line there will always be somebody who will notice, and the gospel we proclaim will be discredited . In v12 Paul speaks of living lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and glory. Are there times when God would be disappointed by things we allow or say ? 

At the very beginning of his letter, what was it  Paul said to this congregation who were under pressure from the world around them? He said V3 “We continually remember your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

It was a tough call for them and it is the same for us. We live in a different world to them, but people are the same, and in the same way our work, our  labour and our endurance need to be produced by faith, prompted by love and inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. The message to us doesn’t change and neither does God’s promise of forgiveness and eternity.

The protests of the world will go on, but so will we with the message of God’s love open to everyone.  Amen 

 Rev Geoff Hobden

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Reading for Sunday 22nd October 2023

Thessalonians 1: 1-10 (International Children’s Bible) - The Faith of the Thessalonians

From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

To the church in Thessalonica, the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God’s grace and peace be yours.

We always remember you when we pray and thank God for all of you. When we pray to God our Father, we always thank him for the things you have done because of your faith. And we thank him for the work you have done because of your love. And we thank him that you continue to be strong because of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers, God loves you. And we know that he has chosen you to be his. We brought the Good News to you. But we did not use only words. We brought the Good News with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with sure knowledge that it is true. Also you know how we lived when we were with you. We lived that way to help you. And you became like us and like the Lord. You suffered much, but still you accepted the teaching with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit.

So you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Southern Greece. The Lord’s teaching spread from you in Macedonia and Southern Greece. And your faith in God has become known everywhere. So we do not need to say anything about your faith. People everywhere are telling about the good way you accepted us when we were there with you. They tell about how you stopped worshiping idols and changed to serving the living and true God.And you changed to wait for God’s Son to come from heaven. God raised that Son from death. He is Jesus, who saves us from God’s angry judgment that is sure to come.

Sermon on Thessalonians 1: 1-10

This morning we hear from Paul’s letter to Christians in Thessalonia.  Where do you think Thessalonica was? It is in Northern Greece, the Macedonian part.  And it’s still there. It’s now called Thessaloniki and is the second biggest City in Greece. 

In modern Thessaloniki there was a Bus Station. But when they decided to move it in 1962 they discovered the remains of the ancient Greek Forum. It was there that Paul would have talked with other orators and philosophers explaining about Jesus. The main church today has a crypt goes back to at least the fifth century and there is evidence of an older church being there. So the Church that was started by Paul and Silas has continued right up to the present day.

Paul began his ministry here by going to the local synagogue – the biggest in the region – and talking about Jesus. Both there and at the Forum he quickly built up a good number of believers both Jews and gentiles. But not everyone was happy and local Jews conscripted a gang of ruffians who attacked the believers. They couldn’t find Paul so the beat up poor Jason who had been putting Paul up.  The believers smuggled Paul away under darkness. But although Paul journeyed on he was worried what would happen to these new Christians. So sometime later he sent Timothy to find out and Timothy came back with a good report about how the church had thrived despite opposition continuing. 

So Paul sits down to write a letter of encouragement. He is full of gratitude to God. Paul begins by thanking God for all the blessings he has given to this small new church and how its survival has made Paul so glad. 

How many ways can you think of to express thanks in our everyday English?  What things does Paul mention to thank God for in our passage? Things done by faith, work done in love, continue to be strong (in hope), for their survival as a church, for the reputation they have.  In fact Paul breaks out into thanksgiving elsewhere in the letter. He remembers to Thank God for everything.

What about us us? Do we forget? We pray to God and when he answers by blessing us we’ve moved on to something else and forget to say Thank You. Do others see us as those who take things for granted? Or those who are never satisfied, or do they see us as thankful people. As an elderly man in a congregation once said – people who don’t go to church – who do they thank? 

Let us be people who remember the source of our blessings, and let’s be people who are known as Thankful.

But Paul has another word of encouragement that comes from these Thessalonians. He reminds them that when he came to them he worked hard – he was a tentmaker – and rather than expect the people to pay for his stay, ne worked to raise his own keep. Now he hears how the Thessalonians have also worked hard but are also known as helpful people. Those who have given time, money effort to help other people. Being a Christian was tough going but they showed their faith in the kindness they showed others. They were helped Paul knew by God’s Holy Spirit but the help they gave brought them great joy as well. The thing is that being kind is very difficult to argue with. People find it hard to complain about a genuine kindness that they have received. In fact their kindness was so obvious they got a reputation for it. 

Paul mentions several things to encourage them in being Kind. They are to remember that Paul helped them and they should help others because we know that God loves us and has been kind to us in giving us the grace of Christ. They are to love one another in the Church so that people see how we can love But that love is also to spread to others – even though that may be tough We are not to give up. This hard life will not last for ever and we have the hope of heaven.  

When I was younger all the discussion about the Christian Faith was all about ‘was it true or false? ‘ Did Jesus really live? Did he rise from the dead etc. But in our more modern age What is truth has been nuanced so that people will dismiss truth as relative. They do not want to spend time arguing about what is true. They want to know what works. Does our faith really mould who we are and how we behave and is that for better or for worse? Then they will take notice. Those who are surprised by our Kindness will be more willing to listen to the why. Curate helping man with problem. At end that was helpful, could I employ you as my personal Trainer? No but I can introduce you to my personal trainer and he’ll do it for love.

There is quite a bit of talk about the surprise and blessing both giver and receiver get from Random acts of Kindness, the ordinary everyday small gesture. Some places promote a Day for Random acts of Kindness. One day? We are called to live a life that shows God’s kindness all the time.

So this morning we are to be encouraged – driven on – to seek this week to be Thankful to God, and Kind to all.

 Rev Terry Baillie

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Reading for Sunday 8th October 2023

Philippians 2: 1-11  - Imitating Christ’s Humility

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothingby taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

10 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Sermon on Philippians 2: 1-11

Can I begin by putting a fairly wild thought to you? It is this, that if for some obscure reason we didn’t have the whole Bible as it is, that if that were the case then I would propose that this chapter 2 of Paul’s letter to the Philippians would have still given us enough to base our human lives on needing a relationship with our creator God through Jesus.

In the first 4 verses Paul brilliantly sets out  for us, what the marks are, of being a follower of Jesus, a disciple. He does it not by making statements but by asking questions. Questions that are intended to make us think seriously about how we live our lives as professed followers of Jesus.  Each of the 4 question start with the word ‘If ….’ Which then becomes an invitation to individually respond to a very positive suggestion. Let’s take the first one.

‘If…. you have any encouragement from being united with Christ’. That’s got to be a good thing…YES? So do we find that a real encouragement or not , being united with Christ?

The second one….’If…. any comfort from His love ’So  are we comforted by knowing Christ’s love?

Thirdly ‘If…. any fellowship with the Spirit’  Are our lives enhanced with the understanding of God’s gift of the Spirit?

Lastly….’If….. any tenderness and compassion’  Are these strong marks of our lives or are they overruled by selfishness ? 

Believe it or not that’s all in V.1, and Paul continues by making the assumption that we are all on board with positive responses to those questions , that we are encouraged by being united with Christ,  that we are comforted from His love, that our lives are enhanced by the Spirit, and that we are tender and compassionate. So Paul goes on to say V2

If that is the case ‘make my joy complete’ HOW?

By being of the same mind of myself V2
By having the same love, and
By being united in spirit and purpose.

Paul goes on to put some flesh on the bones of what all that means in V3.  There is to be no selfish ambition or conceitedness . I wonder why he puts that first ? I’ll leave that Q in the air. His next point is a vital one as he specifically pinpoints the necessity of humility in our attitudes to others, pursuing their interests rather than our own.

The overall message is one of imitating Christ Jesus, and it was of course His life that was and still is the perfect example of everything that Paul is challenging us about.

The message we get from Paul is that the desire to imitate the Lord Jesus is, for every believer, not an option but a necessity. As Christians, it needs to become part of our D.N.A. and Paul’s inspired words are highlighting to us  the examples of Jesus which need to be imitated in our lives. The questions Paul faces us with can only become a reality for us as we open ourselves daily to Jesus and His Spirit. That is the only  path to becoming imitators of Jesus in our everyday lives. And one word which jumps out at me as a bedrock of that kind of faith is HUMILITY,  because that was a constant mark of the life of Jesus.

Our humility starts with an understanding that we are not perfect and need forgiveness. That lifelong understanding of how we don’t measure up to God’s standard becomes the key to all the things raised by Paul.  That humility leads to love and unity, and living the kind of lives that can only come from the example of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Paul in V.1 links  comfort coming from our understanding of the  love of Jesus, and that comfort is simply a reflection of God’s promise firstly to forgive every time we say sorry and secondly God’s promise of eternity for all believers. We have so many hymns that spell this out to us :-

God is our strength and refuge
To God be the Glory great things he has done
O let the son of God enfold you.

God’s words of comfort to us are legion. We have every reason to be humble in the face of God’s promises. We have every reason to imitate the humility of Jesus in the way we love and deal with each other.                                                                                                                                                                                          How do we measure up to the challenge of humility? I think that maybe it’s a bigger factor than we want to accept. 

Just consider for a moment about the  motives which drive our decisions. Can we always be 100% sure that our motives are always driven by a desire to serve as against wanting to look good in the opinion of others . It’s been said that our motives are always mixed. The only one who could dispute that statement is Jesus and it is his humility that we aspire to. .Humility is not weakness. Jesus was the perfect example and had a strength that shone through him and impacted others.  His humility was a natural outworking of His love both for the world and us as individuals. Perfect love and perfect humility go together and, as the old song goes, you can’t have one without the other. As we respond individually to God’s claim on our lives and the call to imitate Christ, all of us must be ready recognise our need to say sorry for our lack of love and humility. 

As I said at the start, this passage is sufficient on its own in preparing us for God’s call our lives to imitate Jesus so it seems appropriate to repeat  the words used by Paul.V5” Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself NOTHING, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbledhimself and became obedient to death….even death on a cross!

We are called to imitate Jesus !!! This flawless, sinless character. Now, Imitating a famous person is one thing, copying a regional accent is something that most of us have a go at sometime, but imitating the perfection of human nature knowing that failure is guaranteed is something else. But, however lofty the ideal, however challenging and daunting the prospect, it remains a non-negotiable target, to imitate Christ.

In Shakespeare’s Henry 4th we are all familiar with the speech..’Once more into the breach dear friends’. But do you know how it goes on?

‘In peace there is nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility’.  Stillness and humility, these are the keys to where we begin. This rules out selfishness, mixed motives and lack of love for others and ourselves. The love and humility of Jesus is what we need to imitate His life and sacrifice. With an attitude of servant hood and  opening ourselves to God’s action on our lives, who knows what God can do. 

Out of humility God saved the world through Jesus. We might just  be amazed at what he can still do through us if we will let him.

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Reading for Sunday 1st October 2023

Philippians 2: 1-16 - Imitating Christ’s Humility

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothingby taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

10 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[c] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

Sermon on Philippians 2: 1-16

If you were with us in the Centre last Sunday, you’ll know we looked at the question “What makes a fruitful Christian?” Answer “One who Stays Connected to Jesus”, not just on Sunday morning but 24/7. I promised that today we’d look at how that works out practically, so we’ll be thinking about “What makes a healthy Church Fellowship?” We’ve switched from the individual to the group because Jesus always spoke that way – it starts with individual life changes but works out in a group setting.

Pauls letter to the Philippians is a positive, joyful one -and it’s a Thank You letter. It’s addressed to “all the saints” in Philippi, not just the leaders. They were a generous church and had sent him numerous gifts in his hour of need; if you read Acts ch16 the fellowship included the wealthy businesswoman Lydia, who was the first person to respond to Pauls preaching, and in whose house at least some of the church gatherings took place, and Paul himself actually stayed. This was not a “male leadership only” church. It was also a church which included the prison jailer – who had been converted when God had miraculously opened the prison doors while Paul was in the stocks inside. In other words it was a diverse inclusive fellowship.

Also, although Paul was the founding Father of a good number of Christian groups during his Missionary journeys, the church at Philippi was special in another way as well. He had never intended to go to the place at all! It took a special Godly vision, while he was asleep, of a Man of Macedonia asking for his help, for Paul and his team to divert to this city. Father God wanted a Christian presence in Philippi! And it is clear from the tone of this letter that the Philippians first love for the Gospel had not diminished.

Paul was not in a position to physically be with them to lead the church, so he wanted to both thank them and point them to the way forward to continue to be a healthy witness of Gods love for all in their “parish”. They would be sustained by Gods Spirit, not by human hands.

And this is where 1st Century Philippi and 21st Century Locking intersect!I don’t know about you, but when I stand in this church – both among the pews and up front here – particularly if its quiet, I can sense the faithful prayers and sung worship that have been offered here down the centuries. And in recent years we as a congregation have been blessed by the ministry of Jack Mardon, then Mike Cotterell, then Chris Turner, and latterly Anne Wilkins. And all of them would have the same words to say to us now as Paul said to the Philippians in ch2. And I believe they would emphasise 2 things in particular…..

V2 “Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”

V14 “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation”

And sandwiched between these 2 verses, like the filling that holds the 2 parts of a cake together, lie vses 5 to 11, which hold the key to any church fellowship being able to achieve the aspirations of vses 2 and 14. This is believed to have been a hymn sung by the early church and it is introduced by the following words “ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” If you and I remember anything from this mornings time together, it needs to be those words.

Lets start where Paul does, vses 1 – 5. At its best, a time of inter-regnum, a time of between vicars, can be a space for a church to reflect. Why? Because our God is always speaking to his people, and we can be sure that He will also be speaking to the person who will be appointed our next vicar. And He will be speaking in a way that ensures we are in step with each other when he/she/they arrives, and the next phase of Christian witness in the parish begins. How can we ensure we are ready? By being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind – exactly as v2 says. It doesn’t mean being clones of each other; we are each given our own individuality and perspectives BUT we are meant to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw rather  than an out-of-tune group of musicians. A period of pause, of reflection, lets us identify any areas of fellowship life where we are discordant one with another, as well as highlights where we are in harmony. And I now speak personally rather than part of the Leadership Team – if we DO identify areas where we are NOT in harmony, lets face them up NOW and deal with them, for the sake of our Gospel witness to the parish. What does Paul say should be the spurs for a fellowship to be of a single mind? Firstly, the fact of us being individually UNITED WITH JESUS when we first came to faith and entrusted our lives to Him. Secondly, the privilege of knowing his unqualified love daily as we journey through life with him. Thirdly, because the same Holy Spirit of God dwells in all believers…….and produces fruit in our lives like tenderness and compassion – reflecting the same compassion and tenderness that He has for us. And what does Paul say in v5 will be a prime hall mark of a church which is united….. we look not to our own interests but to the interests of other fellowship members and beyond – in other words to serve , or look after, one another. And that is a statement that needs no explanation!

In our passage we then have vses 6-11, which describes Jesus attitude of mind – in other words the “gold standard” – which was to be a servant.

Then follow vses 12-16, which start with the word “Therefore”. In other words, you’ve read whats come before; now you need to respond! Paul then follows with the words “my dear friends”; this is not a teacher telling off naughty children, this is the same spirit in which Jesus said to his disciples in last weeks reading John 15 “I call you friends” and the words of PROV 18.24 “There is a friend who stays closer than a brother.” This is intimacy. And he urges us and the Philippians to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”. This is another Bible phrase which is often quoted….completely out of context. It does NOT mean (1) we have to earn our salvation/Gods pleasure. We could never do that because we are not perfect human beings ; salvation comes simply and solely from our trust in what Jesus did for us on the Cross. (2) the words “with fear and trembling” do NOT mean we serve a cruel and vengeful God who is ready to zap us with a taser if we mess up; it recognises that God is holy, and for our lives to point towards Him we need to take care to live in a way that states without words that there is a different way to “the way of the world”. As Paul says in v13 “God works in you to will/desire and to act to fulfil his good purpose. Remember last week the grapes on the vine?

But Paul then says something fascinating. To be blameless Children of God, shining a light to and on our generation, he highlights 2 things for us to avoid. What would you expect those 2 things to be? If you were a modern journalist, I suppose you’d say corruption and sex scandals. But no……Paul highlights…grumbling and arguing! But think about it. There’s wisdom here. If we as a fellowship do our activities eg Community café, not out of love for our parish, but with a “I suppose we’d better do something” attitude, …….it taints the whole thing. And let me say that, if you live in a village community, sooner or later people spot the sham attitude! I love the comment on a managers annual review that I heard about once - “His team follow him, but only out of morbid curiosity.” May that never be true in our fellowship here or in our benefice as a whole! And Paul didn’t just pluck “grumbling and arguing” out of the air as theoretical problems. If you fast forward to ch4, you’ll find he calls out by name 2 senior members of the Philippian church and pleads with them to be of one mind! Theirs was not a spat over what type of coffee to serve after church.

Incidentally, I quite deliberately suggested a modern journalist might assume the 2 biggest problems to be corruption and sex scandals. Paul describes the society among which the Philippian Christians lived as warped and crooked. So what has changed over 2000years? Think MPs and Prime Ministers. Think the Police. Think the Scottish Nationalist Party. And yes, as he’s the latest in a long line of fallen celebrities, think Russell Brand. And we make substitute Gods of the NHS and National Sports Squads, only to heap criticism on them when they prove less than perfect. And just in case you haven’t noticed, it is assumed that Churches – particularly the Church of England as the “official” national Church, are just the same. It’s for us, and other Christian congregations however large or small, up and down this country, to expose that cynical assumption as the lie it is.

And it all starts with things like avoiding grumbling and arguing, and being one in mind and spirit. Or as Paul says in our reading….and I end with this. VSES 5 – 10…….

 Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 24th September 2023

John 15:1-16  - I am the Vine

Jesus said -   

“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.

“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love.

Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.

 “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.

Sermon on John 15:1-16

I love the “I Am” sayings of Jesus. There are 7 of them in all, and they deal with the fundamental questions asked by most humans. This one is the question…….Is my life of any real value?

The answer is in v16 NIV “I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last”.

The process of fruitbearing is the rest of the passage. There are lots we could think about, but today I just want to highlight 3 parts of the process……

STAY. In this passage we usually use the word “remain”. In the NIV the word is used 11 times in these 16 verses. It’s the opposite of go somewhere else/dip in and out. Have you ever thought how much our lives are based around NOT staying, even from our earliest years. Nursery. CHANGE. Pre-school. CHANGE. Primary School. CHANGE. Secondary School. CHANGE. College/Uni. CHANGE. Job. CHANGE. Flat/House CHANGE. Fashion. CHANGE. Some changes are good, some inevitable, some unnecessary. All cause a degree of disruption, of unsettling. The great thing about staying, about remaining, in an area of life, is that we get to know our surroundings, we get to know folks around us, we build relationships.

CONNECTED. The opposite of which is disconnected/isolated. It’s represented by the word “in” in our reading. In the NIV the word is used 15 times in these verses. You don’t need to be a Christian to read the words of Father God in Genesis “It is not good for man to be alone”, and to instinctively know He’s right. You need look no further than the negative impact of Covid restrictions on gathering together – be it in school, visiting care homes, meeting as families or friendship groups. Mental health issues and struggles to relate to each other normally abound as a result. Digitally, thanks to the Internet and Social Media, we are more “connected” than ever before….but at a distance. For the human being it’s not enough; it’s not deep rooted enough. A few slides ago you saw the vine we have in our back garden, all rooted in and flourishing. Here’s a few branches I chopped off a few days ago….not so flourishing.

So Jesus says STAY DON’T DRIFT OFF, BE CONNECTED DON’T BE ISOLATED………but stay where? Be connected to who/what?

Who has seen the film Groundhog Day? Bill Murray, playing the egocentric media “CELEBRITY” stuck in a cycle of endlessly reliving the same day, is in a bar with 2 of the locals and asks this question “What would YOU do if you were stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing you ever did mattered?” And his drinking buddy replies “That about sums it up for me.”

Well, our reading today gives Bill Murray’s character an answer. It’s this….

STAY CONNECTED ……TO JESUS. Am I saying that its only Christians who can live fruitful lives? Of course not. We are all born in Gods image, and designed to reflect his attributes, whether we acknowledge his existence or not. There will always be Albert Einsteins, Stephen Hawkings, David Attenboroughs etc. But Jesus says this, to little you and little me. Stay Connected to me and you will live fruitful lives…….just as grapes grow on a vines branches, simply because they are connected to the vine itself. No grape has to force itself to grow, no tomato has to force itself to grow, it’s the natural process of being part of the plant.

Just because we’ve had Anne and Chris transplanted up to Long Eaton, it doesn’t mean that we are just a load of branches lying around on the ground. Why? Because our source of nourishment, our source of growth, our source of sustenance through difficult as well as easy times, comes from God himself, living by his Holy Spirit in all those who look to follow Jesus day by day. How do we draw strength from that connection? By prayer, by getting to know the contents of this book, by keeping our minds and spirits open to Gods presence and prompting 24/7. An hour on Sunday morning isn’t what Jesus is talking about here!

And what does some of the fruit look like in daily life? We didn’t read v17….because I wanted to finish with it. It says this “This is my command; love one another”. Jesus has already hinted at it in v13, and I love The Message translation “Put your life on the line for your friends.” Why? Because Jesus did that, and more so, for us and for all humanity. Literally. 

It still makes me choke every time I read Jesus words in v15 “I have called you friends” – Him the untarnished self-sacrificing Son of God, and us the far from perfect, far from self-sacrificing men and women who stumble to be His followers and seek to show His love to a Broken Britain, desperately in need of knowing His love as 2023 draws to a close. Friends.

And I’m going to leave it there. If you want to think more about what living it out looks like day to day, individually and as part of a healthy, connected, church, join me over the road next Sunday when we’ll be looking at how the Christians in Philippi were getting on, and the wisdom Paul the church planter had for them.

 Until then, may we all remain in and draw strength from, the love and presence of Jesus.

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Sunday 17th September 2023

HARVEST TALK  2023

Silly question?????     What is Harvest all about???  VISUAL of large MOUTH.

It’s all about this . If we didn’t need to eat, we wouldn’t need a harvest in the first place. It’ s  all about us pushing food through the letterbox on our faces.

So where does the food go ??  VISUAL DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

So far so good, the system works well  UNTIL………

Something goes in that IS BAD.  CONTAMINATED !

What happens next  ? NO PICTURE HERE !!!

Probably be sick. I hate that !!!

Why does it happen ? The body decides it’s not good so gets rid of it. IT REJECTS  IT.

We have to learn how to spot this. A baby is liable to stuff all kinds of things into the mouth. Results are clear.

If you want to pick wild mushrooms or berries, need to learn which are ok.

We live in a world where lots of folk without decent food and getting sick because not enough good food. Harvest a time to remember and pray and support them if we can. HoverAid. Tear Fund are examples of practical support.

GOD also talks about a harvest of souls, that is, people learning about and trusting Jesus. We can be involved in this harvest, and this also involves our mouths , not just to eat but to speak. The truth is that what comes from our mouths as words, reflects what we have taken in.

The Bible uses one part of our body to describe where our words, love and emotions come from.  Any guesses ?

It’s THE HEART.  

How we speak to others, how we express ourselves comes from how we feel in our hearts. Which is ok, unless we don’t happen to like them very much !  What can happen is that instead of good things coming out of our mouths , that rubbish and hurtful things can come out instead.

What sort of rubbish ?

Gossip…………….Lies…………spiteful words………..being rude……….dirty jokes……………….bad language……hurtful words.

It’s a bit like eating bad food making you sick, that if you get involved in bad things , bad things will come out of your mouth. So we avoid them. Avoid the gossip and lies. Avoid reading, watching, listening to or taking part in anything that involves them. They will not do you any good, and they will prevent you from being those who carry the good news of Jesus to others. Let me quote words of Jesus from Matt 12 

“ For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks”

James wrote chap3. “Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing”

None of  us want to be rude or hurtful or spiteful using language that upsets others. DO WE ?

This is part of our daily spiritual battle. Asking God to forgive us is the way to cleaning up our hearts so that we use our mouths only for good purposes and be a part of the harvest that God wants.

This is what the Good News is. It is the message that can change hearts and change lives. Everyone needs this message because when we take into our hearts the love of God as shown in the life of Jesus, it can change us and prevent the rubbish coming out of our mouths.

Today we especially thank God for our food and those who grow it, so we also thank God for his love.

 As we share our food with those who  are hungry so we can also share the Good news of love by keeping our hearts free of the rubbish that is prevalent everywhere. The more we do that, the greater the harvest of souls.

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Reading for Sunday 10th September 2023

Romans 13:8-14  - Love Fulfills the Law

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

 11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh

Sermon on Romans 13:8-14

Are you keen to watch out for the postman ? You may not be expecting anything in particular but it’s always nice to receive a letter or card. Sometimes at home we get a wadge of stuff, most of which goes straight in the bin ….advertising/appeals. It’s easy getting to the interesting bits and I reakon that when Timothy arrived in Rome with a letter from Paul, the church there would have been quick to open and read it. Mind you the roles of papyrus would have been fairly substantial for all 16 chapters. I wonder what their reaction might have been and the letter would certainly have been a surprise. 

Paul begins his letter very positively, and no, we aren’t going to go through the whole letter this morning, and he tells them basically that there is much to rejoice about because he has heard good reports about them. There are however problems, but it’s not until chapter 16 that he pinpoints the issue that really concerns him. So just before we look at chapter 13, I just want to read one verse from chap 16 which gives the context for the whole letter. Paul writes this to them :-

I urge you brothers and sisters to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.   

From chap 1 to 16 there is some strong theological meat and for us this morning Chap 13 is no different. Paul has clearly sensed an element of complacency.V11the time has come to wake up from your slumber. V13 Let us behave decently.V14 Clothe  yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Have they lost some of their enthusiasm ? Is there a greater readiness to compromise ?

On the M5 just before the Junction to Tiverton there is a big sign  TIREDNESS KILLS!  Similarly, Paul’s letter is  a wake up warning call to these Christians in Rome and the fact is that we are not immune from the same temptations. When I get a flashing red sign on the car dashboard I know there’s a problem. Paul in this chap 13 alone is flashing up red signals about the fellowship. I will briefly highlight 4 areas.

1. He writes about the 10 commandments, about adultery, murder, stealing etc and says that they are making the same mistakes as the Jews did with them, of watering them down. He says it’s really all about V9 loving your neighbour as much as you love yourself.  Love does no harm to anyone. V10  Love is the fulfilment of the law.  If you lose the priority of  love,  it will be replaced by jealousy, pride, arrogance judgmentalism. Trivia takes over, and our personal preferences can cause division which can include choices in styles of worship. Back to basics is Love God First and then love others as much as you love yourself. It is A simple but profound basis for our Christian lives and relationships both within and outside church.

2. In v 12 Paul is reminding them (and us) that they are in danger of missing the signs of the times.

 There is always  an urgency about living out our faith.  Paul writes,  ”The night is nearly over, the day is almost here ”referring to the return of Jesus.

What is Paul hinting at here ? I would suggest that they had grown too lazy in their standards, maybe too tolerant of evil in all its guises. Maybe they had lost a sense of direction having taken their eyes off God’s promises and standards, perhaps the Gospel message had lost its edge and become blurred with the pressure from the world around.

Are we immune from that ? No we aren’t . It is equally a danger for us as individuals so we must stay faithful in reading the scriptures and worshipping together. Paul writes V12 Put on the armour of light. Can you imagine that every time we involve ourselves in things of the Lord, that God is bathing us in His light. It’s happening this morning, as we share Communion.

3. In V 13 Paul comes out with a list of things to avoid. We know it well because every time we hear it read we are thinking to ourselves, ‘that’s not me, nor that’. You know  it well,  Orgies, drunkenness, sexual matters etc. We can’t feel smug however because V14 it is part of our sinful nature and can invade out thoughts. It comes under the heading of ‘Deeds of Darkness’ in V12. That includes temptation in all its forms which might include wandering minds or going along with the crowd or compromising on decisions. Temptation can be very subtle in influencing our lives. V13 Behave decently is all part of Paul’s wake up call to them and is always going to be relevant to us as well, especially as we now embrace the future possibilities.

4. This last but essential message from Paul centres around V14 and ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ’.  How much time do we spend each morning in deciding what we are going to wear? What is it that drives our decision ? A bit of comfort depending on the weather of course. There is also the question of how others see us. We don’t want to feel out of place or uncomfortable. We want to be liked and don’t want to offend. I have always found the effect a dog collar can have to be very revealing. As a brand new curate in Exeter I was walking back from  the city and ahead I saw a group of folk all crowding around something. As I approached, the crowd simply parted allowing me to see and help the person on the floor. What does being clothed with Jesus mean ? The key word is discipleship of course, of taking Jesus with us wherever we are going. It means being a dynamic Christian rather than a passive one so that in every situation we are switched on to the law of love that Jesus lived by. It means always acting and thinking in a Christian manner, alive and wide awake to opportunities to serve others.

Can we do it ?? Certainly not. It’s beyond us in these fallible human frames. Paul often refers to his weaknesses. His one encouraging quote is to say that “I do what I don’t want to do, and I don’t do what I do want to do “. Yes it’s a battle but God knows that and as we sing sometimes ‘The battle belongs to the Lord’.

It comes down to our need to constantly ask God for help. And we do that by reading the Scripture and prayer because by doing that we are opening ourselves to His Spirit  transforming us into the likeness of Jesus. 

Clothing ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ as Paul was encouraging the Christians in Rome to do, is want God wants for each and every one of us, no exceptions. 

 The letter was opened and read carefully by those Christians in Rome. God’s love and care for each of us is exactly the same as for them. We can, all of us, Put on the armour of light and clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 Rev Geoff Hobden

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Reading for Sunday 3rd September 2023

Matthew 16: 21 - 28  - Jesus Predicts His Death

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Sermon on Matthew 16: 21 - 28

Next month on 1st October I will have been ordained for 28 years. I’ve often thought that if I had been shown a film of my life over those 28 years would I have still gone ahead.  And I think the answer would be yes, I would. It’s been a long journey – which Hutton and Locking share a big chunk of.

I was ordained because I had experienced the amazing difference that Jesus can make to your life. How he can bring change, new life, a new start and I knew it to be true – and I knew I must share that with other people. I knew that I wouldn’t have been here without him.  I didn’t want to be ordained so I could wear a dog collar or robes, that I could lead loads of meetings or be called Rev or talk about ancient buildings. No, I knew God was calling me to this ministry so that I could spend my time and energy in sharing the good news of Jesus and in enabling others to do so.  I trained at St John’s Nottingham, which has now closed. Their motto was ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.’

The one thing that I hope that I have left behind is people who have grown in their faith in Jesus Christ and also people who have made a commitment to Christ for themselves. In the reading we heard how Jesus tried to explain to his disciples what would happen – he would suffer, be killed and rise again. That is the essence of our faith. Yet it is not just something we say or believe in, but that we must accept Jesus for ourselves and have that relationship with Him. It is only through Jesus that we are saved.  Going to church, being baptised as a baby, believing in God, giving to charity, being a nice kind person and doing good things, having high morals, being a warden, in the choir, doing the flowers, cleaning the church – does not make you a Christian. Jesus says ‘For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.’ He’s not talking about us becoming martyrs but about surrendering our lives to him and in dying to self and allowing Jesus to take control. It is knowing that we are sinners and need forgiveness and a new start. That Jesus died in our place and that our place in heaven is not because we are good people but that we belong to Jesus. It is the person knowing that Christ loves them and loving Him in return and then this overflowing to loving others and being willing to suffer at times for this, If we gain everything in life but do not have Jesus then we are lost. My question to you this morning is – have you given your life to Christ? Do you know you are safe with Him – for now and all eternity. 

Second thing I want to say is that I have written a letter to both churches. 

To the churches in Hutton and Locking

I give thanks for you all.  For your faith, hard work and commitment. Before I leave you, I wish to say some things as you go into the future. Keep Jesus as your focus for everything you do. Never take your eyes off him. Know in your hearts and minds that the church is not the building but that you are the church – you are the body of Christ in this place. As two churches work as one – take down all the barriers that prevents this happening – do not be a stumbling block to unity, turn from your unwillingness to meet together for worship. For together you are greater than individual churches. Remember that church is not what we do on a Sunday but church is everyday – seek to build God’s kingdom wherever you go in the week. You are Christ’s ambassadors. Know that you are not church for your own benefit but for those who are not yet belonging. Put aside your own wants and desires and seek to make church accessible to all people, all ages, all backgrounds. Never be afraid of change or taking risks because it’s through that you will learn to trust God. 

Welcome and love your new Rector – but they do not come to do ministry and to solve all the problems – they come to enable you to minister. Pray, pray pray. Come together to pray about all things. Never underestimate the power of prayer.  Praye people into the kingdom, pray for all people but especially for families and children – for you will never grow without them. Do not think of this time as a time of waiting but expect God to be at work and to work through you enabling you to grow in love and faith for Him and each other. Always be kind – especially when you disagree and feel under stress. Offer forgiveness and say sorry and be reconciled. Stop talking about closing – you won’t. But seek to change your thinking to that of – we will grow. Encourage commitment – to worship (that’s essential), to prayer, to learning, to serving. It is time to stop being lukewarm and half – hearted.  Remember Christ gave His very life for you – may you give back to Him your all. Shine as a light in Hutton and Locking and be different. Rid yourselves of gossip, of being a cliché, of being separate. Instead, be known as a church who serves the community and where God is at work and changing lives. Go out there and make a difference. Thank you for allowing me to lead you. You will always have a place in my heart. I will pray that the Holy Spirit will fill each one of you to overflowing and that you will know the presence of Jesus with you all the way.

Bless you and keep you. 

Rev Anne Wilkins

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Reading for Sunday 23rd August 2023

Matthew 16:13-20 - Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” hen he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Sermon on Matthew - Matthew 16:13-20

Rumours, gossip, chit chat, second hand news, whispers, ‘did you hear the one about? ooh, you don’t say.... It’s easy to talk about people behind their backs, maybe making up things which are only half truths, maybe embellishing a little bit of news to make it juicier. It’s so easy to do this. But there comes a time when the truth comes out, when things come into focus and the subject in question becomes clear.

I want to ask you a question and I’d love you to think about this for a moment and call out your answers.

I’ve been coming to St Mary’s here in Hutton for about 28 years, leading and preaching for the last 13 years.  I’ve been leading and preaching for the last 9 years at St Augustine’s here in Locking.  And also been your administrator for the last 9 years.

I want to ask you the question that Jesus asked his disciples: Who am I? How would you describe me? Physical attributes, personal attributes, relational attributes, child of God? 

In the reading from Matthew this morning, Jesus asked the disciples the same question. Who do people say I am? The disciples must have had their ear to the ground; they had a pretty good idea of what people thought. Their replies though showed that people didn’t really know who Jesus was. It was a bit woolly, sort of on the right track, but not quite. ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’

Jesus is good at asking questions and getting an accurate response. He’d asked a general question - Who do people say I am? This has got the disciples thinking about Jesus’ identity and mission. Now Jesus asks a question which gets to the core of the matter. ‘But what about you?’ he asks. ‘Who do you say I am?’ I want to ask you the same question – who do you say Jesus is?  Please call out your answers.

Jesus asked the disciples. ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter was the first to answer, probably being a mouthpiece for the other disciples, so he was sharing his own and a corporate view from the others of who Jesus is.

This sounds very much like the usual impetuous Simon Peter – the first to answer, the first (and only – apart from Jesus) one to walk on water. Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ The Messiah (or Christ in Greek) was the figure that the everyday Jewish person in the street was looking forward to appearing, someone in the form of a king descending from the line of David whom God would send to restore his people to national independence and to their rightful pre-eminence as the people of God. But Jesus came to inaugurate God’s Kingdom in a completely different way, a completely different unexpected way, a way which led to the cross, with its suffering and death. In Jewish eyes, that was not what was expected. Neither did Simon Peter expect this, as a bit further on in the chapter, when Jesus is talking about his impending suffering and death, Simon Peter says that this shouldn’t happen, to which Jesus rebukes him.

Jesus’ reply to Simon Peter’s description of who Jesus is has a congratulatory feeling. Jesus says that Simon Peter is blessed. One could say that Simon Peter is fortunate or even well off for having this God given insight. It was as if he could suddenly see a spiritual truth about Jesus, that the light had dawned. Yes, says Simon Peter, you are the Messiah, the one who is going to save his people, but as we know, not from the Romans, but from their sins. 

Simon Peter has answered Jesus’ question of ‘Who do you say I am?’ by stating his familial relationship, by saying ‘You are the Son of the living God’. This emphasised Jesus’ relationship to his Father in heaven. Jesus, in the lovely way that his often does, builds on this comment and reflects on Simon Peter’s earthly relationship with his father Jonah, by calling him  Simon, son of Jonah. 

The insight that Simon Peter has made about Jesus though, was not made from a human viewpoint, as most of these views were describing Jesus as John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets, no, Simon Peter’s declaration of faith was revealed to him by Father God in heaven. Simon Peter’s declaration of who Jesus is demonstrated his ability to be a spokesman, a pioneer, a natural leader for the group of disciples and this naturally leads into Jesus’ statement of the role Simon Peter is going to take with building Jesus’ church here on earth. So by calling Simon Peter (btw Peter means ‘rock’) Jesus is saying that his church is going to be built not on Simon Peter’s character (which had questionable stability and reliability) but his function, Simon Peter’s function as a spokesman, a pioneer, a natural leader. This is shown to be true in the book of Acts, how, for example when he stands up on the day of Pentecost, preaches the gospel and about 3000 people believe that Jesus is the Lord and Messiah and are baptised. This is the Good News of Jesus, who died on the cross so that we can have forgiveness of sin, but more than that, we are brought into God’s Kingdom here and now and that death and hell will have no more power over us, so we know that when we die, believing in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, we will not pass through the gates of hell, but through the gates of heaven to eternal life with God.

So what of the keys that Jesus is pictorially giving Peter? The Rabbis, those learned people who taught in the Jewish synagogues, had legislative power to bind, or forbid and to loose or allow. In the early days of the church, there was debate as to how to allow the gentiles, those non-Jewish believers, into the Christian church. It was through the dream that Simon Peter had, recorded in Acts 10 – 11, which convinced him that it was heaven’s will to allow gentile converts into the church and then he went on and argue this case with the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, where he finishes his speech by saying ‘No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.’ In other words, all people are saved from the effects of sin and the powers of death and hell through the unmerited favour and love of God, rather than family descent as a Jew. So Simon Peter loosed or allowed on earth what he had been shown by his dream from heaven.   

Finally, Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. This was because Jesus didn’t want a political uprising, that wasn’t the sort of Kingdom he was ushering in, but it was one of love, forgiveness, a change of an individual’s heart and mind, where Jesus was Lord and saviour, ruler and King and where one’s motivation came from a desire to serve God as a response to God’s boundless love and not just to look to one’s own  life and to be only out for one’s own self interests and desires. 

So going back to the beginning, I asked you to say who you thought Jesus is.

You gave some good answers. It is one thing to acknowledge who Jesus is, but I want you to reflect on what difference that makes in your life and what difference does that make in the church. Jesus’ church. The Apostle Paul sums up well how we should live in his letter to the Romans in chapter 12, vs 1 – 2. 

I’m going to read this through three times, slowly, and it would be good to reflect on what God might be saying to you today. So I ask the Holy Spirit to come and speak to each one of us here today. The Message Bible puts it like this:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Amen

 Chris Wilkins (Lay leader)

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Reading for Sunday 13th August 2023

Romans 10: 5 - 15

Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,  for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.’’

Sermon on Romans 10: 5 - 15

The Wallace and Grommit cartoons are great fun. Do you remember the Wrong Trousers where each morning Wallace was woken with an alarm which included the bed rising and Wallace sliding through the ceiling into a pair of trousers below ? During our working lives and beyond, we can  become very  dependent on alarm clocks. Years ago we had a teasmade that made a cup of tea. But that is only the start of everything that we become dependent on in our daily lives. Any travelling needs a car to start, a bus or train to arrive. To contact others needs a ‘phone. Our dependency includes the kitchen with ovens, Kettles, and tea bags ! And at the end of the day you depend on getting into a comfortable bed.So every day we are depending on many conveniences and I haven’t even mentioned computers. These have become an integral part of 21st century lives and are responsible for so much that happens. We depend on them all the time whether we realise it or not.  You hear of folk  arriving at a large supermarket just as the computer system collapses.  No-one cn buy anything and they hand out vouchers to persuade folk to come back later.

 Perhaps like Richard Branson you dream of owning your own island ? The fact is that we are all so tied in to and dependant on so many things and  it’s all too easy for Christians to  lose sight of the importance of our dependence on God. That can make growing in our faith challenging  because we get so caught up with life and forget that  while most of our modern existence is extremely comfortable due to all the conveniences we depend on,  that in fact they are not essential. Granted it would be difficult,but cars, T.V. dishwashers, processed food etc  are not essential . It wouldn’t be easy without them and there’s nothing wrong with them of course, but when we come here on a Sunday we come to a different truth. We come to consider, from the Bible, what is really essential for our lives, not just for tomorrow but for eternity. On Sunday at least, our thoughts are diverted onto a truth upon which every single human being is totally dependent. What is this truth? That we are totally dependent on the patient love of our creator God.

So, when all the ‘phones have stopped ringing, all the computers closed down. When all the cars have run out of fuel and all supermarkets shut, there will still be God. And it’s on Him that our current and future lives depend 100%. It follows that having a relationship with him while we live down here is far more important than anything else. What does that mean in practice?

 Well we heard earlier from Paul writing to the Romans Christians that just as they, like us, are dependent on God, so also other people are dependent on Christians. How does that work ?   In his letter Paul asks the question “ How can other people hear about God without someone telling them ?”  

The wonderful fact is, we can all be that essential link in the chain of someone finding out about  the essential nature of our dependence on God. What that must mean is that for any of us to have ended up as Christians in a relationship with God, almost inevitably depended at some point on the ministry of a Christian who was willing to share their faith with you. I have a very clear cut memory of who that was for me. But however your particular journey progressed there would have been others willing to share what it meant to them.

Now moving on in my theme this morning of what we, as Christians can depend upon, there is one short verse which highlights what is utterly dependable for us . Paul writes in V 11

As the Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in Jesus will never be put to shame” this verse has two parts and gives us two clear things we can depend on as well as God. Firstly we have ‘as the Scripture says’. The truth is that the Bible is our one and only reference point to what God wants us to know. Everything we know about God, everything we believe about God comes from the Bible. 100%.Down through the centuries the Christian church in its various forms, has tried to teach and explain whilst setting up systems and structures, much of which is good and helpful. It is inevitable that the Church in all its forms  wil also contain human error and imperfection. It is not perfect, then or now. The Bible is the only source of truth about God and the role of Jesus and our need to repent.

The second thing we can depend on is the message about Jesus. He was the ‘beautiful feet’ taken from the prophesy of Isaiah 52 which spoke of the one who would come bringing good news, peace, good tidings and salvation.  These dependable truths about the Bible and Jesus, are essential for our lives both now and for ever.

Let me ask a question. Can you imagine ‘no Bible’? No Bible would mean no God and no God would mean that we don’t exist. So the Bible in a way is part of creation. It is God’s way of making his purposes clear, of setting standards, of explaining how we can know forgiveness, of promising and then sending Jesus and of promising eternity to Christians. These are the only dependable essentials that we have and in large measure they are being ignored by the world we live in, just as most of the Jews in Jesus’s day rejected him.

This is a personal challenge to us as individuals as to how seriously we involve ourselves with Scripture. A survey some years ago amongst Christians revealed that the proportion of those who read it daily is very small. So it seems that the most important thing God has given us next to Jesus is being treated so casually and, as a result  reducing our confidence as we mingle with the world.

Yes, it’s a big book. No-one pretends to know it all or understand it all, let alone read it all. Neither do we remember everything we have read which is why we need to keep going back again and again. We have the very best text to help us. As Christians, we haven’t simply chosen a worldview that appeals to us, as many do. We have the view of our creator who loves the world. When push comes to shove, we can depend on God.

To summarise :-

The challenge to us  in this passage is in V8.

“The word is in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of we are proclaiming”

And that word ‘proclaiming’ doesn’t simply mean verbal. It means proclaiming the word in our lives and attitudes and relationships and conversations. Our contact with Scripture is essential for this to happen and not just on a Sunday.

We will all of us go on enjoying and depending on the modern conveniences of our daily lives, but never losing sight of our ultimate dependence on God’s love.

Our Communion service this morning  is a statement  and reminder of God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus, and the song we will sing shortly draws our attention to the presence of Christ through His Spirit as we share.

Let’s pray

Rev Geoff Hobden

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Reading for Sunday 30th July 2023

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Sermon on Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52

Is anyone going to go to somewhere really good over the summer or perhaps you have already been?  ASK When you go to somewhere amazing or something amazing happens to you the first thing that you want to do is to tell others.  The problem is that it’s really difficult because they weren’t there.  You might show photos… and then you say ‘but that doesn’t do it justice’ or ‘it was bigger than that or more beautiful than that’.  Or you might say … it looked a bit like this or was similar to that.  You would use the things that the other person knows about to describe the place or the experience. 

The last few weeks in our readings we have had lots of stories that Jesus was telling.  Jesus had been trying to teach people about what the kingdom of heaven is like.  In other words, how God is at work in his world, how he deals with people, how his power works.  It’s not talking about when we die but about now. When Jesus came to earth it was like heaven coming to earth.  Jesus is now trying to describe it using the things that people know about in their everyday lives.  We had a man sowing seed and it falling on different sorts of ground, we’ve had a man sowing good seed and then having weeds sown.  Now we have some other stories that Jesus is telling.  The first 2 go together because they are about little things that grow into bigger things.  Jesus talks about a very small seed that grows into a huge tree.  A bit like our acorns that grow into enormous oaks.  In Palestine still today these trees grow to ten feet and in the autumn all sorts of birds come and perch there – the word used is tent – make their home there.  Jesus also talks about yeast – you only need a tiny bit to make the dough grow into a big loaf.   

So what’s Jesus saying – well he seems to be saying with God it only takes a little for something big to grow.  Today we often look down on anything small – bigger is best we say – big cars, big shops, big houses, big kitchen, big money, big countries, big companies, even big churches.  Jesus is saying small is good, but in God’s kingdom it doesn’t stay small.  Everything starts small and so we should never scorn small things. In a way this parable is prophetic. The church began with just a handful of men and women – now the Christian church is the biggest family in the world.  Both these parables show that God’s kingdom grows outwardly – like the tree.  We can see the growth in numbers and in people coming to Christ, we can see growth in service and ministry.  It also grows inwardly like the yeast – you only know the bread has had yeast in because it has risen. Christ’s kingdom, his rule is not about what we know but about it entering into our hearts, our very being, and slowly but surely changing us. You may feel that your faith is small – but that is OK – as if you feed it with prayer and worship and reading God’s word then it will automatically grow.  Adults stop growing in their bodies – but they never stop growing in faith and in their relationship with God.  Are you growing?  When did you last have a growth spurt?  What are you doing to encourage growth in your life?  The kingdom of God is what this is all about – it’s about growing things, about God changing us bit by bit, about transformation.  I love the quote about feeling small - “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”  You are never too small if you follow Jesus because you have the Holy Spirit in you – that same spirit raised Jesus from the dead.  That is amazing power.  

 The second 2 stories are also about God’s kingdom.  Jesus says it is like treasure buried in a field- a man finds it and then buries it again to keep it safe and then he goes and sells everything and buys that field with the treasure in.  Jesus also says the kingdom of God is like pearls.  Again, a man sells everything he has and buys the one of great value.  What Jesus is saying is that God’s kingdom is like treasure.  It can’t be bought but it demands our all.  You cannot buy God’s love or his peace and joy.  You can’t buy your way into heaven. With the man who found the treasure in the field he was not looking for it – he just stumbled across it. It sort of just happened out of the blue – a bit like Paul on the road to Damascus.  Later in Philippians 3: 8, 9a he wrote ‘What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ’. Paul considered all that he had as rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ and he was willing to give everything up for that. 

In the second parable of the pearl the merchant was looking for the most valuable pearl. When he found it, he sold everything he had to buy it. Many people today are really searching but they are not prepared to surrender their lives to Jesus for fear of letting things go. In our lives we spend an awful lot of time and energy working to buy things – some of things we possess we regard as treasure – do you have any treasure?  Apart from your family what is your most precious things you own.  What our treasure is tells us a lot about ourselves.  In Matthew 6 Jesus says ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’  He also tells us ‘Do not store up for your selves treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.’ What we spend our money on and how we spend our time tells us where our heart is.  If we spend all our lives accumulating things/stuff then one day we will be left with nothing.   The Christian faith is about a relationship with God and about a lifetime of loving and following Jesus.  As part of that we receive things that money can’t buy – peace in our hearts, being loved by God – knowing we belong to him, forgiveness of the wrong things in our lives, and assurance of a place in heaven.  Although we can’t write a cheque to become a Christian Jesus does ask that we give him the most precious thing we have – and that is our lives.  Following Jesus is the most important thing you will ever choose to do.  The last story is about catching all sorts of fish in a net – it’s a lot like the story of the wheat and the weeds last week.  It is saying again that when Jesus returns there will be a sorting of people – those who belong to the King and those who do not.   If we belong to Jesus then we have no need to fear. Let us all do all we can do help our faith grow – even if it is small.  And let us all know that if we have chosen to follow Jesus and to give our lives to him then we have the greatest treasure that nobody or nothing can take away – and that is something to fill us with joy.  I want to finish with a quote from a commentary I read while preparing for this – ‘Have patience, exercise faith, keep on praying and keep on working, God’s programme or plan cannot fail.’ Amen.

Rev Anne Wilkins

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Reading for Sunday 2nd July 2023

Matthew 10:  40-42 - Hospitality and Encouragement

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Sermon on Matthew 10: 20-42

Well, we’ve arrived in our Gospel readings at the final verses in Matthew 10, a chapter in which Jesus is talking simply to his 12 close followers, as he sends them out to share their message of Good News. He’s talked about them getting a very mixed reception, being arrested, being hated even by family members, that they should shake the dust off their feet and move on when households or towns don’t accept them…….but also that God will give them the right words to speak, the authority to heal sickness and that they are not to be afraid. Also, as we thought about last Sunday, they were individually highly valued by Father God, as his children and would nevder be alone.

And in these last 3 verses, Jesus – having talked about His evangelists’ actions and their opposition, comes finally to the blessing on those who react favourably to the disciples. It’s a very tender passage – Jesus refers to the 12 in v42 as “little ones”; he’s not just talking about physical children. And he talks about them this way, in the context of them – strangers – arriving in a new place and some people showing them practical kindness…what we would call hospitality.

Hospitality is another of those words which our society has distorted in recent years. You regularly hear of “The Hospitality Industry”, which refers to hotels, restaurants, even theme parks and event planning………..but I went back to the English Dictionary definition of hospitality, and do you know what it is? Simply this -  kindness in welcoming strangers or guests. And here in our verses Jesus is saying that such welcoming is welcoming not just the person but God himself. Even in such a small way as to offer a cup of water.

And this attitude, friends, is what Christians have been known for over the centuries – remember that hospitality has the same root as hospital and hospice. And its why the world points the finger when we get it wrong.

Remember, it’s the natural next step in the working out of Jesus words in John ch13. “A new commandment I give you; love one another…By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” If we love one another WITHIN THE FELLOWSHIP, we are just acting as natural children of our God, who is Himself a Trinity of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Love between us as fellow Christians is just the baseline.

We have our Lay Pastoral Assistants and our Parish Visitors, to reach those who need visiting at home……but that’s only a start. While last Sunday morning we were having our Table Talk about who makes us feel valued, Chris Sceeny said something very important “What about those who have no family or friendship group?” It’s why we started – together with the Parish Council – the Community Lounge and Parish Pantry in the Church Centre during the height of Covid ……. And why we’ve kept it going! For a cup of water in Matthew 10 read a nice cup of tea now, in 2023. It’s why we hold a monthly Community Café ……. But we try to do it on the weekend when Dans Café isn’t open. We work WITH the Community.

But there’s a further step in hospitality. How do we react when - uninvited – a stranger or a fresh family turn up in our midst? Or the stranger we bump into in the Post Office? Or the new occupiers of the house up the road? As of September, we can’t rely on the Vicar and Church Administrator to welcome them! We live in an increasingly individualised society, not helped by an often misquoted article in Womans Own in 1987 when a certain politician said “People must look after themselves first…..and then, also, look after our neighbours.” Many only heard the first half of that sentence.

Anyone else like the Father Brown series on TV? I love the one where they find Michael, a homeless man, asleep in the confession box, and house him temporarily in the Rectory, much to the horror of Fathers Browns prim and proper religious housekeeper. The Father quotes the scripture about needing to be hospitable “as some have entertained angels unawares”, only to gradually realise that Michael is indeed one such. Michael drops various hints of his identity “I have sung in the finest choir in existence,” “I was apprenticed to a master carpenter back in the day” but only with the priest do the words register. And having saved the Christmas celebrations, Michael leaves the rectory … and just disappears. How would we have reacted?

Or a true-life example from Rob Parsons, the head of Care for the Family, who as many of you know run all sorts of courses and produce all sorts of Christian resources for families. Before he founded Care for the Family, Rob was a Solicitor, living a normal family life; but something happened which, I believe, prepared him for all that God had for him to do in the future. And again it was at Christmas time……..

“We had only been married for a few years when one night just before Christmas we heard a knock on our door. When I opened it, there was a man standing in the darkness. I had not seen him for a while, but I recognised him. When Dianne and I were children he used to attend Sunday School with us. He had some learning difficulties and had spent almost all his childhood in care, but every week our faithful Sunday School superintendent would drive to the care home and pick him up. To us as youngsters he had seemed an unusual boy, but he became a weekly presence in our young lives. His name was Ronnie.

“When Ronnie left care aged 16, he didn’t do so well and as he stood there on our doorstep, now in his late 20s, he was practically sleeping rough. In his right hand he held a black plastic bag containing all his worldly possessions, and in his left hand a frozen chicken. I said ‘It’s Ronnie, isn’t it?’ He nodded. ‘Where did you get your chicken, Ronnie?’ He told me that somebody had given it to him for Christmas, but he had no way of cooking it. I invited him in and promised that we would cook his chicken for him. When I brought him into our living room, Dianne quickly said, ‘Ronnie, why don’t you stay with us tonight?’ He never left.”

Which brings us neatly to our second reading today ….. and Barnabas. Prior to this episode, he only appears once, a single sentence at the end of Acts Ch4 “ Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus who the apostles called Barnabas, sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet.” But just that sentence, taken in context, speaks volumes. Firstly, it comes at the end of the well-known passage about the early Christians being united in heart and mind, and sharing all they had. From time to time, when some were in need, others sold land or houses, and gave the proceeds to the apostles to distribute among the poor. Barnabas was fully clued into the church’s vision and values….and when the time came, he literally put his money where his mouth was. And note it wasn’t to big HIMSELF up – he gave the money to the apostles to distribute as THEY sought fit. He was a good church member, just doing his bit. But secondly, this clearly wasn’t just a one-off gesture; it spoke to his whole heart attitude. It was THE APOSTLES themselves ie the church leaders, who called him Son of Encouragement; he was KNOWN for his words and acts of encouragement.

So flip forward to our reading from Acts 9. Barnabas is still in the Jerusalem church, encouraging people, and Paul/Saul arrives, fresh from his Damascus Road experience and having avoided a plot by the Jews there to kill him. All the Christians know about this man is that he’s the No1 persecutor of Christians …….. who now suddenly claims to have had a miraculous conversion experience. In our context, it would be as if well-known militant atheists such as Richard Dawkins or Ricky Gervais suddenly turned up to a morning service. Wouldn’t your instinct be one of suspicion? Think about it, there are countries in our world today – like China and North Korea – where Government agents try to get accepted as Christians just so they can help the state police raid and arrest believers. What Saul needed was a welcomer – a show-er of hospitality to him – and that was just what he got in Barnabas; and he would have got a heap of encouragement as well.

Barnabas acted out exactly what Jesus described in our Matthew reading – he welcomed a stranger, of dubious history, as a child of God and gave him the equivalent of a cup of water by vouching for him in front of the apostles. Without that, where would the subsequent missionary activity of the early church have come from? Certainly not the way or speed it did thanks to Paul.

Simple acts of service, done for their own sake, and without the need for recognition. All Father Brown, Rob Parsons and Barnabas were doing was acting from hearts changed by the Holy Spirit. We were thinking last Sunday morning about Gods great love for us and the value he puts on us. This week we’re thinking about the other side of the coin- our response to other people because of Gods great love for us.

And here’s the thing. When that same apostle, Paul, was writing his letter to the Christians in Rome, he listed in ch12 the God-given gifts members of the church would have. So of course he lists being prophets, teachers and leaders. But in the same breath he says this - “ if his gift is serving, let him serve, if it is encouraging, let him encourage, if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously”

 We will need all these gifts in abundance as we look to serve God in this place, and in this parish, in the months to come.

Cliff Dumbell (Lay Leader)

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Reading for Sunday 24th June 2023

Matthew 10:  24-39 - Do not be afraid

“The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn  a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household."

 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."

Sermon on Matthew 10:  24-39 

Are you quivering in your boots after hearing that reading from the gospel? If not, I think you should be! But not as much as I’ve been quivering, trying to preach on it. This is Jesus challenging us, telling us about the challenges of following him whilst at the same time telling us about God’s love for all he has created.

Putting it in context, Jesus is preparing his disciples before sending them out, so that they can do everything that he is doing: preaching, healing, casting out demons, preparing the way for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Basically he’s warning them this is going to cause bother. It’s going to ruin their reputations, it’s going to make them fall out with their families, and if you read all of Matthew Ch. 10, you’ll find that Jesus had more to say which is a whole lot worse! 

But stop for a moment and think about which command is repeated most often in the bible? Not a Ten Commandment but a command. Any ideas? It’s the command we heard in v26, 28 and 31 of Matthew 10: ‘don’t be afraid.’ We can see easily enough why Jesus is saying this to his disciples, not to be afraid. After all, he’s warned them that they are going to be at risk from the authorities; that they will suffer physical and emotional violence and now that people will start calling them the sort of names that they are calling Jesus. Plenty to be afraid of but yet he says ‘Don’t be afraid’. 

They shouldn’t be afraid because what they are going out to spread is the truth, even though people can’t see it. Jesus is telling them that the time will come when everything will be uncovered and when their truth, their loyalty and faith will be recognised by all. 

But even though they shouldn’t be afraid, they must be fearful, on their guard.  There were obvious enemies who would harm them physically, but other enemies would harm their souls if allowed to. Call it sin, call it the devil, there are powers of darkness which try to overcome the people of light.

And it’s here that Jesus gives one of his most striking promises about the detailed love and care of God: God sees the little sparrow fall; he knows every hair on our heads. We do not have to fear God: indeed we can trust him with our loves, our souls, our bodies, our everything. Nothing is too great for him to; nothing is too small. God knows and cares about the details of our lives even as we face temptations and dangers and he is stronger than the strongest opponent we will ever meet. 

And some of that opposition might come close to home. In verse 34 Jesus warns: ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.’ Surely these are not the words that should come from the Prince of Peace. Jesus did come to bring peace between God and believers and peace among humankind. But the inevitable result of Christ’s coming meant conflict between those of light and dark, between those of Christ and not of Christ. Jesus is not saying that everyone who follows him has to cut themselves off from families and friends; he is saying that allegiance to him has to come first. It’s not easy: look at Peter, Judas, the disciples who ran away. But the challenge remains for us all. Jesus came to begin and establish a new way of being God’s people: look at the Sermon on the Mount again. Jesus’ challenge to the disciples, to those in that society and to us now had to be sharp. We have to live for Jesus: whatever we do for Jesus, we do for God. We have to take his message to the world in which we live.

In his commentary on this passage Tom Wright, former Bishop of Durham, writes ‘If Jesus’ people today could learn this simple but profound lesson the church might once again be able to go out with a message to challenge people’s hearts.’ If we obey Jesus’ command to not be afraid, what can we do next? We can start be asking ourselves about ourselves. If God knows us intimately, how much do we really think about his purpose for each one of us? Are we willing to go out and spread the message? What is it that each one of us is afraid of? Are we afraid to tell people that we believe in Jesus Christ, his teachings and that we try and follow him, even though we often get it wrong? Do we tell people about the joy, the comfort, the strength that our faith gives us? Do we wonder why people don’t come to church anymore when we haven’t invited anyone to come with us because we’re afraid of being rebuffed? Do we tell people that we are praying for them? Do we not want to talk to people about Jesus because we ‘re afraid that we don’t have all the answers (of course we don’t!)? Do we not challenge people when they are being unfair, judgemental, prejudiced and in our silence condone those judgements. We are living through hard times for many: we need to be spreading the love, the promises and the hope that God offers to all. We have to take the stance of looking at ourselves, other people, situations, through Jesus’ eyes, through his teaching, through his life. In Roman 6, Paul explains that God’s love and forgiveness are freely offered: it does not have to be earned and it never can be. But accepting it means stepping out of one life into another and the only way to do that is stepping into the life of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.  Jesus tells his disciples, tells us, that’s it’s not going to be easy, but we are not alone and therefore we should not be afraid. 

 Jesus gives us a lot to think about! The challenge might make us quiver in our boots, but we must walk in those boots into the world that so badly needs the good news and love of our Lord, Jesus Christ, remembering that God knows each one of us and will be with us to the end of our journeys. We must not be afraid.

Jane Barry (Reader)

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Reading for Sunday 18th June 2023

Romans 5: vs 1 - 5  - Peace and Hope

 1. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2. through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
3. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4. perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Sermon on Romans 5: 1 - 5

At the end of May 2010 I was reaching the end of my time at Christ Church and came upon this reading in Romans 5, which is the one set for this morning. It always comes a couple of weeks after both Pentecost and Trinity Sunday and continues that theme. Over the years I have met the challenge many times of both encouraging a greater understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit and at the same time unravelling the mental gymnastics of understanding how 3 can be one and one can be 3 in the Trinity. In my preparation time I suddenly had a real burst of understanding that this conundrum about the Trinity is really easy. It seemed to me that actually we have been making it all far too complicated, and that God must be tearing his hair out over the time given to it. As I read these 5 verses from Paul to the Romans I definitely had one of those ‘oh I see’ moments. So for what it’s worth, and you will be the judge of whether I succeed or not, I’m going to share that with you and then move on to another part of the passage. The reading is set out on the screen, so that you can check the verses as I refer to them.

So after that build up, my explanation about the unity between  God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is simply this. That each person of the Trinity is God’s perfect way of expressing His love for us. Let me elaborate. Our chief need as humans V1 is to have peace with God, peace having been justified by faith through  Jesus. That’s what  verse 1 says (read it). So Peace with the God who loves and created us. Peace with a father who could have walked away from a rebellious human race and washed his hands of us, but who didn’t because His love overcame His sense of justice. And that powerful love enables Him to go on giving you and me, giving everyone the opportunity to say sorry and begin to love Him in return. That is the role of his father heart and it is exactly what we need. Moving on to V2 it is only because of God’s Love as shown in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that we can have forgiveness and  see how to share that love with others. God’s love in Jesus shows us just that.  The Son lived out God’s love,  not least in His willingness to die on the cross. Could there be a greater statement of love than that ? Even those who reviled Jesus and planned to kill him were not excluded from the invitation to find peace with God. 

So love from the Father and love through the Son.

Thirdly from V.5  God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Scripture makes us aware of the potential for the power of the Spirit in our lives, which is vital, but this aspect of God pouring His love into us has got to be the number one priority, because without love, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians  chap 13, we are nothing but noisy cymbals or clanging gongs. This statement of God’s love reaching us through the Spirit is essential.

There you have the Trinity. It’s all about love, nothing less than our creator choosing to make His love as clear as He can so that we can choose to respond. So we praise God for his created and forgiving love. We praise God for the sacrificial love of Jesus. We praise God for the Spirit who wants to fill us with God’s love.

It seems to me that simply being here this morning is an expression of God’s love for us and importantly, our love for Him and each other. That love for God and each other can fill us with hope both for the immediate and long term future.

Song from Carousel  'When you walk through a storm'.

That could almost be a Christian song. Do we face a storm? Do we have hope in our hearts ? Do we walk alone ?    Answers?

Yes we do face a type of storm. V5  tells us that hope in God does not disappoint and no, we do not walk alone because God’s love is secure.

V2 We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. All very re-assuring stuff.

This is the outcome of our faith as Christians. Hope, peace with God, freedom, and most importantly, love. All this comes from what Jesus achieved on the cross.

 You may remember that Paul begins many of his letters to the churches with the words ‘Grace and peace to you’.  These are both good things, Grace and Peace. I am going to take them in reverse order.

Surely no-one would dispute that Peace is a good thing. At home, in our families, in industry, in government and between nations, but peace with God is the starting point. That is the best place to be. Unfortunately it is all too obvious that the world ignores and avoids this simple but profound truth. Paul, in his opening comments to his friends in Galatia, Ephesus, Phillipi, Colosse and the others, is reminding them and us that Peace should be the first blessing of being saved. Peace is the Shalom of God’s kingdom which is a kingdom completely at peace overseen by Jesus the Prince of Peace. On this earth He frequently arrived amongst his disciples with “Peace be with you”. Towards the end of his life he said “ My peace I give you, my peace I leave with you”. Wouldn’t we all like a lot more of that ?

As Christians, as well as having access to Peace, V2 we are standing in a state of Grace. V2 Through Jesus we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. To stand in the presence of our Holy and awesome God is not somewhere we deserve to be. It is only by the grace of God that we will be able to stand before God at the judgement. Here and now, we are distracted by the physical reality of our everyday lives, but we can nevertheless anticipate that future point of being in the presence of God for ever, of standing in His grace. The wonderful truth is that even now, as Christians we stand in that grace. It is how God sees us because we are forgiven because of Jesus.

Just a final comment about V’s 3 and 4, and our ability to rejoice. Not only can we know God’s peace and grace, we can also rejoice in aspects of human life which are not on the surface easy to cope with. God’s love and forgiveness doesn’t exclude us from the normal things of life. Paul makes a link in these two verses between suffering and hope, by way of perseverance and character . It’s a powerful and testing thought that although suffering on its own is nothing to rejoice about, when harnessed to God’s promises it can take on a new dimension because the suffering is always temporary and can include those changes in us which promote hope. And V5 hope does not disappoint, why? Because V5 God has poured out his love by the Holy Spirit.

To finish, the Holy Spirit is for all believers. God’s love to us through His Spirit is an integral gift to everyone who is justified by faith through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Trinity is a simple  representation of God’s love for each and everyone of us, for which we praise God.

Rev Geoff Hobden

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