Reflection: Sunday 12th September and for the week ahead:Scripture :If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. (James 3.2-6)Reflection : It has been horrendous, these last months, to see the devastating fires that have raged in many parts of the world. Once they take hold it is almost impossible to control them.James compares the tongue to a starter of fires. One unkind remark, one unfounded accusation, one malicious rumour, can start a wildfire of gossip, often untrue or deliberately aken out of context. As it spreads it takes on a life of its own, accepted as ‘true’ because so many people believe it.As Jesus said, ‘The mouth speaks what the heart is full of”. It all starts in the heart. And so we pray: ‘Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name’. Revd Rosemary
Reflection: Sunday 12th September and for the week ahead:Scripture :If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. (James 3.2-6)Reflection : It has been horrendous, these last months, to see the devastating fires that have raged in many parts of the world. Once they take hold it is almost impossible to control them.James compares the tongue to a starter of fires. One unkind remark, one unfounded accusation, one malicious rumour, can start a wildfire of gossip, often untrue or deliberately aken out of context. As it spreads it takes on a life of its own, accepted as ‘true’ because so many people believe it.As Jesus said, ‘The mouth speaks what the heart is full of”. It all starts in the heart. And so we pray: ‘Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name’. Revd Rosemary
Services Sunday 12th September8am Holy Communion at St George's led by Revd David Commander10am Holy Communion at St Nicholas led by Revd Rosemary Kobus van Wengen & Revd David Commander
Reflection: Sunday 5th September and for the week ahead:Scripture :‘My brothers, what use is it for a man to have faith and to have no deeds to show for it? Are you going to claim that his faith can save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear, and not enough to eat, and one of you says to them ‘Go in peace! Keep warm and eat well!’ and yet does nothing to provide for his physical needs, what use is that?’ (James 2.14-16)Reflection : The theme of caring for the needy is one that runs right through the Bible. In the Law and the Prophets, the Psalms and Writings of the Hebrew Scriptures, and throughout the New Testament, we are constantly reminded that loving God and loving our ‘neighbour’ are two sides of one coin.James points out how easy it is to say kind words that cost us nothing, while claiming to have ‘faith’. Genuine faith is seen not in polite platitudes or words of sympathy , but in action, in working to understand the need and to address it.Faith without works, says James elsewhere, is dead.We cannot pretend not to know of anybody in need, whether near or far away, whom we can help.So what are we, as people of faith, to do about it? Revd Rosemary
