Dear Friends,During Advent the Sunday's carry us through the history of the people of God reminding us of those whose faith in God's promises pointed towards the full revelation of God's self in Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas.This second week is a time to remember the prophets - those who came so close to God, and God came so close to them that they could tell those around them what God needed them to know. In our readings this weekend we hear some of the message of Isaiah - with his vision of all people being drawn in to the knowledge of God's love.It is a vision that is perhaps particularly important to remember in a week in which the census data may cause anxiety for some, as it records a drop in the number of those in our nation who describe themselves as Christian. This reveals a shift from the picture many have of living somewhere in which Christianity has been the dominant religion for hundreds of years. As we look much further back into the history of the people of God, back through our Gospel and into the Hebrew Scriptures it is worth remembering that many of the voices we hear in their pages felt they were speaking as a minority - helping those around them to see the faithful love of God, their creator and liberator at work in the world around them. This remains the calling of the people of God, our calling as prophets of today. We don't need to be in the majority to trust in God's love for us and for all those around us. We don't need to be in the majority to share the love God has for us with those around us through both words and deeds. We don't need to be in the majority to pray that the earth may be filled with the knowledge of the love of God, as the waters cover the sea.May we be inspired by the faith of those who have gone before us to be bold in sharing the hope that Jesus offers as the gift at the heart of the Christmas so many are preparing to celebrate.God blessSamantha
Dear Friends,This weekend we come to the end of the Church year with the feast of Christ the King. This feast is a reminder that the journey that we walk with Jesus each year, from anticipating his birth at Advent, celebrating the incarnation at Christmas, watching his ministry unfold and find its fulfillment in his death and resurrection, and then recognising the presence of his Spirit in our lives as inner guidance in living according to his teaching, that journey ends in the triumph of God's love revealed in Christ over all things. This is a sovereignty that is not domination of oppression but service and freedom - it takes the yearly journey with Jesus year by year for us to grow into a full understanding of how God's power reigns in love.This is a good time to reflect back on where you have glimpsed that love in our life through the last year, to give thanks for those times and to ask for God's grace to enter Advent with anticipation of seeing that love at work ever more clearly in the year to come.I will be taking the middle of the coming week (21st-26th) as some Annual Leave in preparation for our journey to Christmas through Advent. I'll attach the list of special services in December with this letter.God blessSamantha
Dear friends,This Remembrance Sunday much of my sermon has been inspired by one of the prayers from the children's Act of Remembrance on Friday. It takes the symbol of the poppy and links particular areas for prayer with the petals and the colour and the poppy's centre. Whilst the simple red poppy remains the main visual way of remembering those who have lost life in conflict through these days in November - it has inspired crafted versions, gilded versions, wrist bands and more ways to display a poppy in homes, on cars, in the street. We see purple poppies worn to mark the loss of animals' lives in the service of our defence, and the white poppy cries out for a peace that will end the destruction of war forever.The first poppies recalled the red poppies of Flanders and were the simple act of Remembrance of the whole generation of young men lost in one war - so shocking it must be the war to end all wars. The emergence of a symbolic field of wildflowers, as the years have passed and war continues to be a presence in the world, reminds us that the simple act of remembering has widened to draw in those lost in other conflicts and those who mourn for them, those who have returned from wars fought in our name with mind or body injured in the fight, those who continue to put their lives at risk in so many ways to protect and care for us, those who seek to find or preserve peace.This year we "remember" while once more there is war being waged on our own continent and in the towns and cities where services are being held at cenotaphs, there are Ukrainian refugees living far from home and fearing for their loved ones.To honour those who gave and give their todays for our tomorrow, let us pray for the hearts of all who take up violence to further their cause to be turned to peace, for all who lead the nations to be guided by a search for co-operation and the common good and for the peace that passes all understanding to keep our own hearts in the knowledge of the love of God and inspire us to share that love by all that we are and all that we do.God blessSamantha
