Be Prepared

One of the themes for Advent is preparation. As we approach the Christmas story of the coming of God into our midst, we are invited to search our lives in the light of the return of Christ. This can be the furthest thing on our minds with all the busyness of getting ready for the Christmas celebrations.

Here are a few thoughts to help us combine the spiritual and social preparations.

1) Consider putting a scripture verse in the cards you send

2) Make a Christmas scene in the window when you put up the decorations.

3) Invite some ‘not-yet-friends’ over for Christmas drinks.

4) Find a way to give a gift to someone anonymously.

5) Visit someone you know who is lonely

6) Volunteer to do a reading or help in another way at a church service.

7) Phone a relative you would not normally be in touch with.

8) Mention a blessing of 2009 in your newsletter

The Lord is Near

A mystery in our human experience is the distance our Creator ‘feels’ from us. Perhaps the biggest case for atheism is the way in which a lot of people claim to have no awareness of God. If God has made the world, us and sustains all things, why does he seem so absent?

On one level we need to understand the corruption and fall of creation from God. Adam and Eve are reported to have hid from God and were afraid of him. Perhaps on a more profound level, God has given us a genuine space to turn to him and even feel his absence. The gift of free-will is such that no relationship with God is forced or coerced.

However, the truth is that God is never absent or distant. In Jesus, God has come near to any who call upon him. The distance is in us and not in him. If we claim to have a relationship with God then this should be a settled issue for us. The Lord is near so we can pray, worship and live well in that light. We have no more need to hide or be afraid. God loves you.

Where is Christ the King?

Pilate only has one concern as he questions Jesus - was he a threat to the Roman Empire? Would he be in trouble from Caesar if this man lived? So Pilate asks directly ?Are you a king?? Jesus? answers that his kingdom is not of this world.

Pilate must have breathed a sigh of relief - this man was not worried about this world but the world of God. And that is how many have viewed the rule of Christ ever since. Jesus is king of heaven and the after life. Believe in him, keep out of trouble and inherit eternal life. We have largely understood Jesus to have said that his kingdom is not for this world. What a total mistake.

Jesus is king of heaven and earth. His mandate and authority on earth has come from heaven and God. As king of the earth, Jesus is concerned about injustice, poverty, disease, corruption, immorality, war and death. He died for the sins of the world and lives for the life of the world. He reigns as the king of the earth, the one who is the ultimate hope of this planet. Are you on his side in this life on earth?

The end is nigh?

The message that the world as we know it will come to an end sounds alien in our ears. How the world was is how it ever shall be seems more realistic to our way of thinking.

If creation is a contentious topic in our scientific worldview, how much more is ?eschatology?? Of course both are closely related. If we have little room in our thought that God started, ordered and sustains this world, then we will have less that he will finish things. However, if we fully acknowledge God as the author and creator of this physical world, then it is logical and consistent that God is the finisher and perfector of this world.

Jesus describes the end as his own return to this world. It is surprising, sudden and yet we are to see signs of the end. Fear and foreboding are described as well as signs in the skies above. Whether we are the generation that witness this event, we certainly live in ?interesting times? and so we will do well to recall Jesus? words to us - ?stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.?

Saint Barry

Have you heard of St Barry? Patron saint of all ordinary people in the church today. Saint is used in the New Testament to mean a believer in Jesus. It is a statement of identity rather than personal sanctity. You are a saint because you are related to God through Jesus. You reflect that reality in your life to varying degrees.

There are two ways of looking at the Christian life. I am a sinner who tries to get it right. I am a saint who still gets it wrong. Life in mode one will be a constant struggle for acceptance - am i right enough? The second way is Jesus' way. We are accepted and changed from day one. We fail but go straight to Jesus who puts us on the right path again.

All Saints day celebrates that WE can be saints, pleasing to God and loved by God. Put your faith in his ability to make you his beloved child - and behave according to who you really are - a saint!

Eyes to See

At the end of John’s gospel, he notes that he could have filled libraries with all the stories of what Jesus did and said. However, he included a small selection so that we might ‘come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah...’ So when we read that Jesus healed a blind person, we are also learning about coming to faith in Jesus.

A person healed of blindness has a radical change of life. Opportunities for independence, work, mobility to name a few. Jesus also said that to see the Kingdom of God, we must be born again. We each have a blindness to the realm of God’s activity and providence in this world. We each need to have the eyes of our hearts opened so that we can live freely and fully as God intends for us.

Our inner healing takes place when we call upon Jesus. He is our healer. Ask him and he will ask of us ‘what can I do for you?’ Answer wisely and we can see again the Kingdom of God in our midst.

Saying Yes to Jesus?

Jesus asked his two most eager disciples whether they could drink his cup and bear his baptism. What did he mean? When Jesus was baptised in the river Jordan it was not for his personal need for repentance - it was more an identification with sin and sinners. This identification was total and meant that he went to the cross and to death for the penalty of that sin - your sin and my sin. This was his baptism - to bear our sin. His cup was a fulfillment of prophesy that spoke of the judgement of sin - a cup of wrath to be drained by all who lived wickedly and injustly.

Could you drink Jesus' cup and bear his baptism? The disciples thought they could and Jesus even said they could. I am sure that Jesus was NOT saying that we too bear the sins of the whole world and personally take the wrath of God against wickedness. However, He is saying that the way of righteousness will be costly and there will be persecution. The way to glory will involve indentification with suffering and tasting the gall of judgment. Jesus was offered shortcuts to glory and so will we. We have been saved because he did it the costly way. May we love others and go the same way.

Half Full View

‘Whoever is not against us is for us’ says Jesus to his disciples. The context was that a person other than the twelve disciples was going off to do his own mission for Jesus. The disciples were concerned that this unauthorised and untrained activist would bring Jesus into disrepute.

However, you can hear the jealousy and insecurity in their charges. Jesus was secure in allowing his Father to operate through anyone. Ultimately, he had his eye to the future when he was taken from the earth and any believer would be qualified through faith. The disciples were keen to protect the status that ministry offered them.

Today, all kinds of people do the work of God, many of whom we would not easily get along with. They are not against the kingdom of God, therefore they are for us. Thinking that we are the only true agents of God in this world harms our view and participation in the body of Christ. It also hampers the good news spreading and more people being liberated.

Totally missing the point

Do you ever worry that you might not be good enough to be a disciple of Jesus? This could be one of those trickster vicar questions: if I say yes then I’m a worrier; if I reply no then I’m probably admitting I think I am Superman / Wonder Woman...

After three years of living, eating, sleeping and travelling with Jesus, the twelve disciples still did not get what Jesus was all about. It must have been shocking to him. They were arguing about who would be greatest, the ones wielding the most power in the ‘kick-ass’ kingdom Jesus was about to set up.

In the face of the cross and the way their Teacher used his power in his life, how wrong could a group of students be??

Let this thought humble us for a moment: We too will most certainly have a wrong view of Jesus, his kingdom, his message and his purposes with this planet. Are we more privileged than the first disciples? The point is we are not able to be Jesus’ followers in our own wisdom. So relax. Don’t worry. Just ask Jesus to teach and empower you.

Faith that works

The majority of the Old Testament describes the actions, or works, that make for a good and God-pleasing life. The laws of Moses and injunctions of the prophets highlight the absolute priority of helping the poor and seeking justice for the powerless. The only problem was that people were incapable of living that message.

Jesus arrives and does live the message - and some. He perfectly does the works of the Father. He also gives us the same ability to please God and live right. This ability is through faith in Jesus.

St Paul emphasises the faith aspect of gaining this ability to please the Father. However, St James reminds us that faith in Jesus must be expressed in lives that do the stuff that God has called us to do all along.

So St Paul says ‘Work without faith’ always falls short.

‘Faith without works’ is dead says St James.

Only ‘Faith that works’ changes the world...

Heavenly Father

One of the most precious truths of the Christian view of God is that we can call Him 'papa' or 'daddy'. God has not changed from the Old Testament but Jesus introduces a whole new way to relate to Him.

Over and over, Jesus calls God 'abba' and attests the work that he did on earth to the Father. We believe that Jesus is the one and only true son of the heavenly father. However, Jesus has made a way for us to be adopted as the heavenly father;s children. Just as the father loves Jesus, so He loves his adopted children - after all he gave his one and only son for us.

The Father's love is not meant to be a theoretical and celebral truth but an experienced truth. The key to knowing our Father's love is through the Holy Spirit. Allow the Spirit of the Son to cry out in your heart 'abba, daddy, father'.

Swine Flu Precautions

The Diocese in consultation with local Primary Care Trusts have issued strong guidelines to help prevent the spread of the new form of flu virus.

1) There will be no chalice offered in communion and we will receive only the bread. Intinction (dipping the bread in the wine) does not significantly reduce the risk of infection for this virus.

2) We will share the Peace hand to hand as has been our practice. This is a shame but we will find new ways to mark our interaction together. Singing a simple song has been suggested.

3) There is a bin, tissues and hand gel at the back of church if they are needed.

3) We will try to introduction of a ‘Flu Buddy’ system where we have a point of contact with each other if come down with the symptoms and need help.

I understand this may seem a bit obtrusive, but if it makes our gathering more safe, especially for the more vulnerable among us, then it is for the best.

Addicted to Approval?

The life choices seen enacted in Herod are shocking. He arrests an itinerant preacher for criticizing his dubious marriage arrangements and later beheads him to please his party crowd. It is easy to think of such stories as merely extreme characters of history without considering their lessons for today.

Herod was foremost a politician who believed his own hype. Pleasing the crowd was his addiction and being rejected his greatest fear. That dynamic is alive and well in our own day. In our culture of fear of offending anyone, we go to extremes to please the crowds and demonstrate that we are totally inclusive.

Of course, some of the time that will be the right thing to do but what about those times when the crowd is against what we consider right? We need to be aware of the peril of being addicted to human approval. The radical cure given by Jesus is to become addicted instead to our heavenly Father’s approval. It is the ‘well done, good and faithful servant’ that really matters and lasts.

Give Thanks

One of the commands given us in the bible is to give thanks in every situation. Some situations are very easy to see the blessing and goodness in. However, there is a lot things that happen to us where that offering of thanks is very difficult.

There is a praise song written by Matt Redman that picks up a theme from the book of Job.

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

Today, it is our joy to give thanks for the work and ministry of Connie, for the new life and commitment in the Confirmation candidates and for the wedding couples. But let us also find ways to keep thankful when our cups are less full yet not wholly empty!

Touching or Touched

One of my favourite clubbing artists is an outfit called Faithless. As the name hints, they often drop into spiritual themes with their music, their most famous being God is a DJ. They also do a song called 'hem of his garment.' When I first heard it, I was surprised how orthodox the song was, taking the phrase directly from the gospels. However, as I listened more closely I realised there was a major shift from the original text.

In the song, the writer was waiting and wishing to be touched the divine. In the gospel, the woman with the haemorraging moved forward in order to touch the divine. Passive faith versus active faith. Could it be that Faithless are more true to their name in this song than they realise?

There are examples of people being reached by Jesus who seemed to do nothing to help. However, the majority of the gospel recipients of salvation make a definite move towards Jesus. Does our faith move us towards Jesus or are we waiting for the swish of his garment to sweep by where we are sitting?

Getting to the Other Side

Life is meant to be lived on purpose. It is so easy to drift through, taking days as they come with no plan or overall direction. You will no doubt be familiar with the saying “If you don’t know where you are going any road will do.”

Jesus did not live in this way as he always seemed to know where he was headed. In today’s gospel, we read that he wanted to cross to the other side of the lake. He announced this to the disciples, got in the boat and went to sleep. What he did not tell the disciples that it would be an adventure getting there.

Where has Jesus directed your life to be lead? Where is your ‘other side of the lake?’ What about us as churches? We need God’s destination. When the storms break and the ship seems about to sink, we need the destination. We need to know that God is on our side to get there. More than that, Jesus is in the boat - so don’t panic!

Holy Communion

One of the ‘mystery men’ of the Old Testament is Melchizedek. We encounter him in 3 brief verses of Genesis and he gets a reference in Ps 110. In the New Testament, we get a whole chapter of comment in the book of Hebrews. Who was he?

1) King of ‘Salem’ = King of Peace
2) King of Righteousness
3) King of Jerusalem
4) Blesser of Father Abraham
5) Blesser of God Most High
6) Receiver of the tithe
7) Priest of the Most High God

This man looks very like a person who lived some 2,000 years after Abraham, who is known as Prince of Peace, King of Righteousness, Blesser of all peoples who believe, High Priest and Son of God.

What’s more, he comes to Abraham with bread and wine to confer his blessing... Just who is this man of mystery?

Personal Mystery

Jesus really messed up the Jewish view of God! The standard line was God is One - no infinite varities of national and personal gods. Jesus called God 'Father' and identified himself as His 'son'. He forgave sins and called himself 'I Am'. He was born of a virgin and claimed to exist before Abraham. The Pharisees killed him because of blasphemy and he rose from the dead.

Jesus is a true mystery of divine humanity. But to make things yet more interesting, Jesus talked about another Helper - the Holy Spirit. All that Jesus did in his human life, he did in the power of the Holy Spirit for his Father. There are three players in this God equation all on the stage at the same time.

We are invited to be immersed into this reality which is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

True Vine

I think deep down, most people want their lives to flourish and be significant. The human soul is never truly satisfied with survival alone. The big question is how we live to bring about that deeper satisfaction.

Many ways are presented to us in society. Full life through wealth and consuming. Significance through education and self improvement. Flourish through living for the enjoyment of the moment. Jesus speaks to us of a true way.

When Jesus describes himself as the true vine and his believers as branches, he is showing us how to be fruitful. We bear fruit according to the extent we have a living connection with the vine. If we are attached to consumerism, self-help and pleasure, we can expect its fruit. If we are in relationship with Jesus, we can expect to become like Jesus.

The hope for the world is revealed in this truth. We need to be fruitful branches of the Son of God and withered in respect to greed, pride and lust.

Seeing a bigger picture

What do you see in the picture below?

An exploding Panda? Melting snow? We need to make sense of what we see and read especially if we don't seem to have the complete picture. Reading the Old Testament can very much be like that. A series of odd stories, poems and quirky history of an ancient people. But what does it all mean?

Jesus does an amazing thing to his followers after the resurrection: he opens their minds to see that the scriptures are all about Christ and the redeeming dance with humanity ;-)

Utterly Astounded!

How would you begin to describe your reaction if you discovered a close friend who had died is now alive? The bible uses a strong word for Mary's reaction when she found Jesus' empty tomb: 'utterly astonished, greatly amazed, deeply troubled'. These first visitors were not expecting that Jesus would really be alive, despite what he promised.

The eleven disciples were equally perplexed by this news with some believing while others doubted. But can it be any other way? Is it any less disturbing to discover that Jesus is risen from the dead today? The story sounds so impossible and astounding that if it is true then our world will be rocked. As the truth of the resurrection dawns on us, we realise that our life cannot continue unchanged.

Let the amazing, astounding, astonishing resurrection of Jesus trouble your world deeply and rejoice that life will never be the same again!

A True King

Palm Sunday celebrates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as a king. People from all over the nation were beginning to think that this prophet from Nazareth might be the one, the Messiah. What they clearly understood this to mean was Jesus was a political liberator like David and that the Jewish people were about to overthrow the Roman oppressors.

The crowd was right about Jesus being the king and Messiah but wrong about the way his kingdom was to arrive. If Jesus had given a call to arms and unleashed the host of heaven, his kingdom would be no different to the one he replaced. Instead, he rode in on a young borrowed donkey as a sign of humility and peace. As his last week unfolds, Jesus is crowned with thorns, is mockingly dressed in royal robes and finally enthroned on a cross.

The King of Kings shows us how we are to live and proclaim his kingdom in this world - in humility and service of our enemies. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Throwing your life away

The most precious thing a person possesses is their life. Health, wealth and and all other blessings are dependent on this underlying state.

Yet Jesus over and over calls people to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel. He is asking us to give God our most precious thing we own. Jesus never asks us to do what he is not willing to do himself so we have the greatest example of what happens when we heed this invitation.

The trial and cross that Jesus faced looked like the biggest waste of a promising life possible. All the miracles, teaching and leadership seemed to be handed over without a struggle.
This handing over of his life however brought the greatest blessing to the world in history. Jesus invites us to follow him in trusting our Father with our lives. Are you throwing your life away too?

Death The Gate Of Life

There is a church in Allerton Bywater that has a sombre message above its Lych Gate: Death The Gate Of Life. Imagine the joy in passing through this every Sunday... I was wondering what the writer was trying to say to the gathered as they came to church. Was it a message of holding on until our coffins' finally made that blessed journey and we are released to be with the Lord? Was it a message of sobriety to keep us from living passionately (and therefore sinfully) and always mindful of the cross we are to bear?

Yet this message does lie at the heart of the gospel. Jesus restored life for the human race through his sacrificial death on the cross. The cross indeed is THE gate of life for believers. Deeper still in the gospel truth is the death that takes place in our lives when we are baptised. "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I that live," says Paul, "but it is Christ who lives in me." (Gal 2:20)

The tragedy is that for many, the message is only optimistically applied for coffins. Christ's gate of life is a way to be entered in this life - don't count on dying just the once!

Having our minds set on God

Jesus once set an impromptu quiz entitled ‘who do you say that I am?’. Peter graduated to another level that day when he answered ‘You are the Christ - the son of the living God.’
From that moment, Jesus began a new teaching topic - how he was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem and on the third day rise again. Star pupil Peter totally disagreed with this sentiment and openly said so to Jesus.

Jesus had to put Peter right and explained to him that he would never understand the cross and suffering from a purely human perspective. He needed to see things as God sees them. The difference in views is simply that God can raise the dead.

If we have graduated with Peter in knowing who Jesus really is then our lesson is similar. To follow Jesus and participate in his life, we MUST learn to think supernaturally with regards to our own suffering and crosses. The cross was not the end for Jesus but the necessary cost saving human souls. Our divine work has a cost and we need a resurrection perspective.

Ahead of Time

There is a time and season for every event under the sun said King Solomon in Ecclesiastes.. This holds true in the big arch of the history of God’s story in creation. God restored the broken relationship with broken humans step by step with increasing revelation and purpose over the centuries and millennia.

However, there are events that seem to occur ahead of time in that big scheme. Examples would be Abraham living by faith, David in the holy of holies through the sacrifice of praise, Elijah raising the dead. These men experienced aspects of divine / human life that their peers did not and would only be ‘normal’ through the Messiah ands his sacrifice.

In Jesus’ life, three disciples glimpsed a reality ahead of time in seeing Jesus in full resurrection glory. They were told to not tell of this experience until the right time.

This encourages me to seek to live in the future glory ahead of time. People healed, communities healed, nations healed. Aspects of the Millenium reign... now...

Mark 9:2-9

Reaching High and Low

The heart of the Christian faith is that God became human. In Jesus we have a profound mystery: a person fully human and a person fully divine. We can understand the fully human part because we experience that every moment of consciousness. To live for us is to be human.

However, even here, the truth is we each fail to be fully all that humanity offers. We fail to love fully, forgive fully, rejoice fully, mourn fully. Jesus also was a unique person in that he was also the Son of God, existing before creation and perfectly in union with God, his father. This is a mystery we will always find difficult to appreciate.

In Jesus, God has bent low to earth and made himself fully known to his people. Also in Jesus, humanity has reached to God in righteousness and perfect obedience as a life well lived. We are invited into the centre of this mystery to receive God’s grace and be elevated to people fully pleasing to our Father. ‘The glory of God is a human fully alive’.

A comment which stuck

I took the Redpill but still bare the scars of the puppeteer.

There are times that I find myself doing the same routine but without the strings.

But, we are learning to dance. We are learning to play for the love the game. We are learning to run without time hacks. And one day we will be fully restored. O the beauty.

Be encouraged my friends!!! We are not the same as we were yesterday

light and darkness

Familiarity breeds contempt it is said. Unfortunately a truth which can apply to God's word. Some passages are so famous to us that we fail to appreciate their full gravity and importance. John's opening lines are such words. He unfolds for us a super-structure of meaning and undrestanding of the God and his world that acts as a foundation for many truths found in scripture.

The categories covered are the Godhead, creation, life, light, darkness, salvation, glory to name a few. The real tragedy for us occurs when we think we fully understand such passages and fail to allow God to speak through them and challenge our world views.

The world depicted through John is ordered yet impregnated with chaos. It is full of courage and hope yet not without danger and risk. The world of darkness and light needs a saviour and those who will shine with His light. Will you shine in the darkness this week?

Missionary Mindset

Can you remember what it was like to not believe in God? Can you recall a time when you did not have a clue who Jesus really was? How about the last time you did not have the faintest stirring to go to church on a Sunday and not have a trace of guilt about that?! Welcome to the majority of people in Britain today.
It is difficult to think like people different to us yet it is very necessary if we are to bring Good News to them. Current culture will not bring many people through the front doors of church. Yet we hold the answers to love, forgiveness, significance and truth. So if people will not naturally come to us, it simply means we have to go to them.
What is required is a renewed mindset. We have to become like Jesus, like the first apostles and like Paul. We need to see ourselves primarily as missionaries rather than pastors, as people going rather than waiting for arrivals. This is a hard pill for the 21st century church but it will make a difference to the world.

1 Corinthians 9, Mark 1