Click here for Nick's video messageRm 8 v 26-end - Encouragement of the Spirit + predestination = nothing can separate us from God.Strength in the Spirit, god has no bad plans, we cannot be parted from GodMt 13 v 31-33,44-52 - The Mustard seed + hidden Treasure + a costly pearl and the drag netSize is unimportant, the costly pearl, Dragnet is about the final judgement, nb there is treasure in the old and the newThis picture is my starter for today. Sadly we live ina world that lives by rude, critical andargumentative inputs to our lives.While I will defend the freedom of the media etc -the alternative is state or other control.And the church has not always been entirelyinnocent. IE the inquisition and even in our ownCofE history there are all too many stories ofinappropriate church control of what we believeand how to behave. When I was first ordained Iwas not allowed to marry anyone who had beendivorced and I remember the first funeral I took thegrieving widow told me how she had married for asecond time and that subsequently she was notallowed to receive communion or join the MothersUnion. She had left the church and from that day until arranging her husband’s funeral had notbeen near the church All this and many more bits of church history have kept me thinking abouthow much of what we have inherited is or ever was right? OK you may be asking should I be anordained person daring to ask such questions - my answer is that we need to be critical friends. Nohuman organisation is perfect and al organisations need critical friends. But there is a differencebetween being a critical friend and being simply argumentative.Jesus in these stories is telling a series of stories about the importance of small is good and canhave an influence way beyond = catalyst, a critical friend, for the farmer Jesus uses the image of aparticularly small seed, for the housewife, it is the power of yeast, the smallest by quantity in a loafof bread, for the businessman, a pearl small but very valuable is more important than all the rest ofhis wealth. And then we get the dragnet which for me parallels last weeks sermon about the wheatand the tares And how the bad will be dealt with at the end of time - it not up to us to do thejudgement.In summary you could say that Jesus is saying that we should get on and enjoy life - don’t let therude etc get you downSt Paul in his letter to the Romans in todays readings is picking up on this. God’s plans areconsistently Good - cannot be otherwise and the Holy Spirit will strengthen our resolve, will give usresilience and consequently nothing else can separate us from the love of God.Put all this together reminds me of a ‘campaign’ by a Baptist minster who was v active in the ‘80sabout developing the Ministry of Encouragement - a ministry that all of us can exercise regardlessof whether we are ordained, licensed, baptised or plain ordinary Mr and Mrs Blogs. Jesus wasalways trying to encourage people, He could be a critical friend to the Chief Priests etc and at thesame time help the most vulnerable like the ten lepers. Even when let down (denied) by His closestteam member (Peter) there is no blame only loving reinstatement.For me, Jesus was not “rude and argumentative” He wanted them whoever to grow into a newfulness of life - He could still be a critical friend but always ENCOURAGING.
Click here for Nick's video messageRm 8 v 12-25Life law flesh or spirit & creation needs setting free from slavery to freedom in the spiritMt 13 v 24-30,36-43Tares in amongst the wheat + explanationIn the name of. . .it’s good to be back trying to understandwhat God is saying to us in the present very different times!A question Is your glass half full or half emptyeither way it is in just the same state! It is just a matter of ourperception.So lets ask Jesus what He has to say about Covid 19?First Creation is perfect but we need to read the makersmanual (the Bible) - and if you choose to play with fire keepan extinguisher handy! I don’t think He (God) would say don’tplay with fire after all, it is vital to keep warm in the cold etc.And in the context of Covld-19 - what ever it is and whereverit came from, is not the the right question - since life is aboutlearning all about creation and remembering that when Godlooked at it on completion He said its blooming marvellous(Gen 1 v31).So where does the story of the wheat and the tares come inin this context? It gets me to read Ch 2 of Genesis again, ithas much to say about the devil rotting up the relationshipbetween men and women and creation.In this story told by Jesus, it is an enemy that is causing the problems of life and that ripping upthe weeds might do even more harm to the wheat! The weeds planted by the enemy will be dealtwith at the harvest time (= the end of time). The problem is that the weeds can take the veryvaluable water that the wheat needs and in the Middle East, water is a most valuable commodity.Water is essential for life.Second We cannot escape life in a world without weeds. These could be seen as being theequivalent of the misuse of our free will. We have the choice of listening to and following the devil(Gen 2) The good news is that in learning to resist the blandishments of the devil we will bestrengthened. Metals are strengthened by heat treatment! It may not always be comfortable beingstrengthened but what athlete ever won a race without very demanding training - to quote myfriends in the Royal Marines - No gain with out pain and I can only say from personal experience Ihave learnt much more from my mistakes than from my success’s.Elsewhere in Romans 5 v3&4Paul says suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and characterproduces hope. This does not mean that God arranges disasters but that with God the devil iskicked into second place and we will develop resilience.All this is a way to look at the current crisis. The tragedy is that so many have been hurt by livescut prematurely short or left with damaged lungs, and even where death has not been the endresult, many many more lives have been turned up side down, redundancies, lost income,education interrupted - the list is endless. The devil doesn’t care. God does care He is love andlove cares:and in the longer sweep of history God wins; ‘cos God’s active ongoing creation cannotbe stopped.But I want to close reflecting on a picture. We have had time to stop, time to reflect on what wewant: many have found that working from home some or all of the time is not just possible butbetter - no more crowded or worse cancelled public transport, just think of the time spentcommuting that can be turned to better use. Yes we can stop and smell the roses, instead ofelbowing our way on to a crowded bus and not worrying about fighting our way home at the end ofthe day.
Click here for Astrid's video messageMatthew 13:1-9;18-23 (Isaiah 55:10-13)The Parable of the SowerI am not a gardener. I love gardens, but I tend to take the more relaxed approach: minimal work for maximal enjoyment. It’s false, of course, and I do like it better when I put more of an effort in. And even I have appreciated the wonderful opportunities for growing new plants, as we have been blessed with the weather this spring and early summer – bearing in mind, though, that it has not been so for many who simply haven’t got a garden, or the time to look after a single plant. We have been finding ourselves in a very strange time, and even in the easing of restrictions we can see our world has changed. From bustling cities, congested roads, car parks and group gatherings, we have been moved to another place: that of solitude, empty community spaces, and different ways of communication. This in itself is not a new thing. From the beginning of the Christian era, many have aimed to leave behind the pollution, busyness and noisiness of closely inhabited spaces like cities, to be closer to God, and to renew their appreciation of the Gospel in the stillness and solitude of the wilderness. In fact, many have seen going back to nature as going back to God. This is also what the parables do.A parable, we are told, is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Or a story about something familiar, with a hidden meaning. Many of the parables Jesus told are based on the regular rhythms and everyday events of rural life of the day. The way in which seeds grow, the signs of changing weather, bird and animal behaviour – all are turned into starting points for Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God. But, of course, only if interpreted correctly. These stories need to be seen in a certain way. The Hebrew root of the word ‘parable’ can have a sense of something mysterious or hidden, and that needs to be explained. Jesus’ teaching in parables is in the context of what people knew in their world: the illustrations and analogies related to their everyday lives in a natural way. To recognize the power of the parables, we must try to enter that world. And that takes me to somebody you will have heard of: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).Although most will know him as a painter, not many know that as a young man Van Gogh had a passionate interest in Christian theology. His work and travel took him abroad, first as an apprentice at a firm of Parisian art dealers, then as a teacher at a boys’ school in Ramsgate, and eventually he set out to become a preacher. However, as others confirmed, that was not entirely successful. He found that he was not able to put into words the passion for his subject. And in the end, it was not words, but images, that proved to be his chosen means of communication. Via Amsterdam and Belgium, and some time in Paris, he left behind the urban life and settled in the south of France, where he witnessed the change from a very cold winter into spring, and the great annual transformation of creation. Some of his greatest works date from this period, and at least four of Van Gogh’s paintings bear the title ‘The Sower’.‘A sower went out to sow’. The implication of Jesus’ little story seems clear: there’s nothing wrong with the Gospel message – rather, people respond to it in different ways. On some it has no effect; others respond gladly but lose interest. Only in some cases does it truly take root. Its impact on people seems to depend on whether they provide the right soil in which it may grow. And when the Gospel really takes root, it grows and bears fruit. The parable of the sower provides us with a framework for making sense of how the preaching of the Gospel has a different result on people. It also gives us a challenge, of critiquing ourselves as to the kind of soil we are providing for the seed of the Gospel. Part of the agenda of Christian discipleship is to review our priorities and commitments, to see if we have allowed something else to displace God from his proper place in our lives. I have a tub with a nice outdoor plant, but it keeps being ‘threatened’ by a thistle, which grows amazingly fast, if I don’t stop it. I have tried several times to get rid of it; each time, some of its roots seemed to stay in the soil, so I have to take drastic measures to ensure it goes for good. Martin Luther once offered a helpful way of checking whether we have allowed ‘weeds’ to grow: ‘Whatever your heart depends upon, and wherever your heart is fixed – that is actually your god.’ Where do our security and affection really lie and what or whom do we really trust?Let anyone with ears to hear listen! Let us pray:Lord, help our seed of faith to grow. May we provide good soil in which it may grow; slowly, yet surely. And may we bear fruit, that others may know of the joy and peace of your kingdom. Amen.
