For this 1st Sunday in Lent we have a video presentation which you can see by clicking on the Read More tab.

Lent is a season of new growth and the time when we reflect on Our Lord’s journey towards the cross and ultimately our salvation

We hope you enjoy the presentation and it will help you to begin your journey of Lent.

Here is a link to the title song from the video – performed by the People of the Green

Thought for the Week – Sunday 14th February 2021

LOVE, such a small but actually quite complex word don’t you think? Not sure? Perhaps try this then, LOVE is ………… What did you decide should be a fitting definition?

Looking it up in the thesaurus made me realise just how many different meanings that word could actually have depending on the context in which it was used and as with all communication, there will also be a degree of individual interpretation by the person hearing it.

So, there is a degree of both care and caution to be considered when throwing that word love into a sentence to describe how we are feeling about something or someone. After all, how do you begin to measure its depth of sentiment in relation to such things as “I love chocolate brownies” or “I love my family” or “I love my partner” or “I love my God”? In what ascending order of sincerity or significance would you try to place them? That little word love has such a huge meaning to us humans that we have written poetry on it, painted it, sculptured it, written songs on it and of course dedicated a day in the year to it, Valentine’s Day. It should of course be St Valentine’s Day but in the interests of secular commercialism, who actually cares about the saint bit and why should it matter?

Take a good marketing name and then smother it with hearts and starry-eyed romantic adulations, before wrapping it up in societal pressure to participate or risk being labelled a misery or find yourself sleeping on the sofa, or both. Apologies to the romantics out there but I cannot help but feel, that for today at least, the special little word ‘love’ has been misappropriated and reduced to a superficial and fickle gesture of sincerity between two people, because of a dutiful compliance to a singular calendar date. What a misery he is I hear you cry! The truth is (apart from being old maybe) it’s because I have come to truly value the concept of love in my life and importantly in the world around me, it is in fact such a very important little word to me, that it also makes me feel a little indifferent about Valentine’s Day tokenism, such is the restorative powers that this little word can yield when given with the right heart, especially in such difficult and potentially lonely times that we currently find ourselves experiencing.

I think the Greeks had the right idea, allocate a different word for all the different types of love! In fact, they had lots of them to cover all manner of love in relationships, such as romance, family, friends, oneself and universal. Interestingly it meant that if they (the Greeks) were feeling romantic, then they would have referred to this type of love as Eros, whereas the type of love that St Valentine actually died for, was known as Agape, a selfless and universal love for God, two very different and contrasting concepts for the use of Valentine’s name.

St Valentine was a 3rd Century Roman priest who defied the emperor by marrying people before God, at the risk of death for doing so. This was not a romantic notion but done out of a dutiful, selfless love for God and for the people who were entering into the sacred sacrament of marriage. When found out, the Emperor had him beaten to death with clubs and then beheaded, for which he was martyred. So, remember if anyone asks you to be their Valentine you might want to think twice before saying yes! I think it’s important to put the St back into St Valentine’s Day, if only to do his sacrifice a far greater service, especially when used in the name of love.

Understanding the different types of love is important to our understanding of Scripture, in particular because it is a foundational element of being Christian. When you hear that word love used so many times in our everyday language and used in so many ways, the risk is that when applied to our understanding of Scripture, its meaning can become distorted or its intention eclipsed and therefore dilutes the nature of the message. The love that we use in Christian theology is the Agape love found within the text of the Gospels and in the various letters of Paul, Peter and John. It is not about the emotional sentiments of the human heart but a reference to the higher love of God through Christ and is a central element of both our Christian belief and theology. It refers to the love of Jesus Christ for humanity, the love of Christians for Christ and of course the love of Christians for others, this is Agape love.

When it comes to love, Jesus raised the bar astronomically. He teaches us to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, and walk the extra mile. To our human minds, that sounds completely outrageous–but that’s the point. If we want to love like Jesus then we have to open our hearts and our minds to a completely selfless and universal love for all, one that can be challenging, painful, often thankless and seemingly impossible at times. Now when your read the commandment “love your neighbour as you love yourself” it should mean so much more than just being nice or helpful to someone, but instead compare it with the level of sacrifice and effort that you would make for yourself, make it totally unconditional, so completely selfless and Christ like, then ask yourself can you really love your neighbour like that? That is Agape….

Danny.

Prayer

Lord you have taught us that all our actions done without love are worthless,

Send your Holy Spirit to pour into our hearts, the most excellent gift of love, which is the true bringer of peace and all other Christ like virtues.

Help us to know and live the love of Christ

Bringing light into the darkness comfort to the lonely peace to the lost. Amen

Thought for the Week – Birth to Resurrection. 7th Feb. 2021

Well here we are Advent and Christmas now just a memory. In just over a week we’ll be at the beginning of Lent leading us up to Easter.

In this short period between I’ve been thinking about these two festivals.   Both seasons are highly visible outside the church walls. Shopping centres and people’s houses festooned with decorations and lights (all of which I love by the way) some of them even reflect the true message of the season (and yes I can feel a little cynical sometimes too). At Easter, the shops are full of Easter Eggs and Easter Bunnies (and I love the chocolate too) but sadly with very few hints as to why, and they’re often there before the Christmas season has even had a chance to fade! We do have Hot Cross Buns, but I fear they’ve lost their impact now we see them practically all year round. For Christians it’s often said that Easter is far more important than Christmas, and in many ways that‘s true. But of course without the manifestation of God through the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Easter wouldn’t have happened, and without Easter the whole concept of Christmas wouldn’t have happened either. Both have their place in the hearts of Christians, and in the Church calendar.

Every day, somewhere in the church, people are reciting the creed. After the first four lines about God which David reminded us of last week we read:

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

Let me say here that the creed is a wonderful statement of faith and one we should embrace within our faith journeys provided (again as reminded last week) it doesn’t become so familiar we start to ‘rattle through it mindlessly’

So there we have it, within Christmas, Easter and the Creed we declare to the wider world that Jesus was born, He was crucified, He died and rose again. But what about the why? And what about all the bits in between? The wonderful teachings, the parables and examples of how we should live, about our relationships with each other and with God – and His salvation. Of course many of these principles do manifest themselves in the spirit and traditions of both the festivals, within churches and wider society. But is there the same evidence of Jesus outside the church the rest of the year?

I don’t want to be all negative about all this, so let’s look at some positives.

Many churches, and it must be said, other faith traditions and secular organisations too, do amazing work all year, evidenced in food banks, shelters and day centres for the homeless, helping them find employment and permanent housing, initiatives to help poorer and underdeveloped countries, the list is endless. And I’m sure Jesus is seen and felt in many of those activities. But how do we get those things to permeate everyday life in the same way Santa Claus and Easter Eggs do? One of the problems is they’re not as commercially viable to business – there’s nothing to sell and make a profit from.

But to take the positive again. Through example and pressure the works I’ve mentioned can and do find their way into some businesses, for example donations to food banks by supermarkets. Some company directors and bosses do try, in spite I’m sure of other pressures within the boardroom, to make moral, ethical and socially responsible decisions that are not profit related. But the cynical could easily say that these decisions are made by clever PR departments helping the company to look good. I suspect there is some of each.

I haven’t read a novel for some time but recently I was encouraged to read the new book by Richard Osman ‘The Thursday Murder Club’. I’ve only just started it and, despite its title, it’s a fun, sometimes sad, light hearted read about a retirement village with lots of harmless and sometimes amusing stereotyping. I won’t give away anything about the plot, but it’s set in a retirement complex which has been developed by a local businessman Ian Ventham. It’s idyllic with excellent facilities and with the comfort of the residents truly catered for – if only all retirement/care homes could be as good. But of course it comes at a price and the developer certainly makes money from the residents, but at least they’re getting some value. At one point we see Mr Ventham going into a supermarket coffee shop.

‘Is all your coffee fair trade?’

‘Yes, all fair trade,’ smiles the young woman serving.

‘Shame,’ says Ian. He doesn’t want to pay an extra fifteen pence to help someone he’ll never meet in a country he’ll never go to. ‘Cup of tea please. Almond milk. (pg. 22)

So here is someone providing wonderful facilities for the elderly, turning into someone who doesn’t give a jot! Why? Because he can’t see and doesn’t know the people concerned and they can’t see him. And rather than make him a profit they would cost him a few pennies extra on his cup of coffee!

I’m sure no one reading this is like Mr. Ventham but truthfully, how often do we consider the ethical and moral implications of, for example, our buying decisions if we can save a few bob? Are we as vocal as Jesus would have been about low wages, slave labour and such like? Are we prepared to pay a little more so that others can earn a living wage, Are we prepared to pay more tax (there’s a difficult one) so that nurses and auxiliary workers can have a decent standard of pay? Of course much of this would rely on businesses and governments husbanding and distributing the additional profits and resources properly (that’s another subject), but perhaps this is where the church and by that I mean its people need to try and become as visible and vocal as we are at Christmas. I’ve already mentioned where we can see examples and pressure from others resulting in companies starting to do the right thing, but is there more we could do with a little thought?

It may be tricky without parties, decorations, presents and chocolate…. but we could have a go?

Steve.

Heavenly Father,

Help us in our daily lives to make right decisions.

Help us to recognise and speak out against injustice

Wherever it may be.

Guide those in power and authority

To lead with justice and wisdom,

To act with compassion and fairness to all.

Help us all to follow your lead

To make a better world for all your people.

In Jesus name. Amen

Thought for the week January 31st 2021.

The astonishing things about being a Christian

To be a Christian is to be a philosopher. Strip away all the other aspects about going to church – the singing, the praise, the prayer, the scarecrows – and it comes down to this: we are seeking the answers to the big philosophical questions of our lives. Why are we here in this world? How did we get here? Where are we going? What should we be doing? Astonishingly, we ordinary people of Cooksmill Green and beyond, every week or more or less often, step into a church to wrestle with the answers to these questions and the implications of those answers. We talk to God, we praise him, we tell him we are sorry, but above all, we want to know him. And, as Pascal famously said, those who seek for God have already found him.

Tony Cant, the new Vicar of Roxwell, often (rightly) tells people off about rattling mindlessly through bits of the service, and I’m sure I’m as guilty as you are in this. Take the first lines of the Creed. In church, at this point I’m often thinking ahead to the next hymn and mentally practising it. And then…

I believe in one God,

The Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth

And of all things visible and invisible.

What tremendous words they are, and what we have asserted in saying them! • We have set ourselves apart from polytheistic religions like Hinduism and the religion of the Romans at the time of Christ. The Romans found it easier to understand the contradictions of life – if you drowned at sea it might have been because of a conflict between Neptune, who wanted to save you, and Jupiter, whom you offended at some point. Sadly for you, Jupiter pulled rank. But we have one God, and we have to think through life’s contradictions in the light of that. • God is like a father. He loves us. He is also almighty. That is what we say. And that sets up the question we all ask ourselves at some point. Why does a loving God allow bad things to happen to his servants, given that he has the power to prevent them? • God made the earth. He is a creator God. Yet he takes the long-term view: he made Man, but the process took a long time! How hard it is for us, who think in terms of days and weeks, to comprehend a God who sees and plans for millennia. Yet when we go to church, we take our everyday concerns and move them into his context of limitless time and space and beyond. Move over, Doctor Who – Christians live and move and have their being in a God who is Lord of more dimensions than our own. •

God made heaven, something we cannot see but which co-exists with what we can see. Science may eventually tell us everything about the visible world, but only through God can we come to what is eternal and unseen. •

And finally, these concepts demand from us a leap of faith and personal commitment. If we do not add – and mean – the “I believe” then we are separating ourselves from truth and reality. In four lines, then, we have the the fundamental basis of answers to many of the philosophical questions of life – and there are still another thirty lines to go! So, armed with these tremendous thoughts, what more do we need? Well, they are a starting point, not an ending. They do not answer the question of how we should live our lives in the knowledge of this truth. For that we obviously turn to the Bible. But the Bible is clear on some issues; on many modern problems it inevitably says nothing at all. Even when Biblical teaching seems unequivocal, it can turn out to be more questionable than expected. Take, for example, the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”. For pacifists, this is an absolute. Vegetarians may take this further and say that you should not kill animals; Jains would not knowingly kill any living creature. But the history of Israel as told in the Old Testament (and since) makes it clear that the nation upholds the right to fight and, if necessary kill aggressors that threaten its existence, believing that God sanctions such action. The commandment not to kill then was taken to refer to domestic law, which is how our society follows it today. We as Christians have to think things through in the light of our own sense of what God is calling us as individuals to do.

So, Christian philosophy is not set in stone, but is an evolving entity. Often, in seeking to follow the way of Christ, we are faced with a conflict between different principles. On contraception, for example, the Catholic Church’s historical position has been that conception is a “natural” – and therefore “right” – outcome of human sexual love. Others may set against this the idea that God gives us “free will” to make (some) life choices; furthermore, many will argue that children should only be brought into the world in conditions where they can grow up properly cared for, supported and loved; others again will say that taking a pill to stop conception is no less “natural” than taking one to stop a disease. Many modern questions about human relations – abortion, gay marriage, trans-gender, for example – involve us in the same kind of personal decision about which moral principle should take precedence in determining our own viewpoint. I am sure that Jesus would have relished such debate. One of the few glimpses of his childhood shows him arguing with and questioning rabbis in the Temple. His own teaching technique owed a lot to the rabbinical method beloved of Jewish thinkers, asking questions, telling stories, teasing out the heart of a moral dilemma in order to open up the path to understanding and wisdom. I believe that today, sermons in church are at their best when they do the same: we all need guidance in opening up our hearts to what God is saying to us. There is a place sometimes for simply restating simple things by and for simple minds, but most of us have known the disappointment of coming from a service having heard nothing new, nothing challenging, nothing but what Basil Fawlty referred to as his wife’s specialist Mastermind subject. So I give thanks for my fellow thought-writers, and for preachers who challenge and inspire every time. Do I name names?

I could mention Rev. Rob Cadman, who explores the mystery of God’s ways from the point of view of a Crystal Palace fan. And then there’s Rev. Mike, whose sermons are invariably Aston-ishing… Sorry, Justin – you didn’t make the final cut!

David.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

In this world of ever more complex ethical and moral dilemmas, Help us to listen for your voice.

When we face difficult choices help us to hear, through the clamour of earthly voices, your still small voice of calm guiding us in right paths.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Thought for the Week 24th January 2021

The reading I‘ve chosen is from Paul writing to the church in Galatia. (Galatians Ch:1, v11 – v24)

First Paul was called Saul and he was a keen Judaiser, but that was before he met Christ in a vision on the road to Damascus when Christ asked him why he, Saul, was persecuting him. He was blinded and led by the hand into Damascus There he received his sight back when visited by a Christian sent by God. He was then sent to the Gentiles to preach God’s word. The Christians at the time must have been very aware of Saul’s works before he met Christ, and his hatred for them, maybe he was tricking them, so it was difficult for the Church to accept him. But after three years preaching to the Gentiles, his works then proclaimed his change of direction and that he was a Christian.

But of course it is the same for all of us. We watch and we listen to people, but it is the way they talk and act that will proclaim what they are. It is the works in our lives that will proclaim our Christian Faith, finally that will show in our lives as a beauty of holiness that should be seen and grow. Someone wrote: There seems about the Church of England and other churches also to be seen for a want of antiquity, system, fullness, intelligence, order strength and unity. I hope this is not how people see our churches today.

We must look see and act in our own lives. We should show a beauty of holiness that comes from the faith we proclaim. Do we show the beauty of holiness?

Joan.

When reading these thoughts from Joan, they put me in mind of the passage in James’ letter where he talks about Faith without works (James 2:14-18), some people say that this passage goes against what Paul says about salvation coming through the cross and not through works, but for me this misrepresents James. If we are to proclaim the Gospel, as Joan points out, we surely have to match it with our action as Paul did – or at least try. Thank you Joan, for reminding us that for our faith to be truly alive we have to do all we can in deed to show God’s beauty of holiness.

Steve.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Help us to reflect in our lives the love you have for each one of us.

Lord, we are as near to you as we are to the person from whom we are most divided, we pray for those people we are furthest from.

We ask a blessing on all your people today. that we may all come together as one in your spirit, knowing you as our Father.

In the name or your Son, our saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Thought for the week: January 17th 2021 – New wine into old wine skins.

I’d like to return to a theme we’ve visited before during this Pandemic time, looking at what we are doing, in preparation for the future, and what the bible can tell us.

In the passage from the New Testament for this week (Matthew 9: 14-17), Jesus talks about not pouring New Wine into Old Wine Skins. For a long time I struggled to make any real sense of it. Now, it goes some way to helping me understand some of the apparent paradoxes and contradiction in the bible. On the one hand Jesus tells us he came to fulfil the law and the prophets, yet at the same time he’s bringing a new message. The first thing to mention, having just come through the Christmas season, is how Jesus was the manifestation of God on earth as prophesised by the likes of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Micah (It’s also worth taking a look at Luke 4 16-19 and comparing it with Isaiah 61:1-2). In His ministry Jesus reinforced and explained words of the prophets – especially those relating to mankind’s relationship with God, His creation and each other. The prophets continually confronted the people when they turned away from God, telling then how they should be behaving and telling them to turn back to God. This is encapsulated in a famous passage – one of my favourites which I often quote, and make no apology for that – It’s the Old Testament passage this week (Micah 6: 6-8), where Micah is taking the Israelites to task. Verse 8 reads: 8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Then if we look at what Jesus said when a lawyer asked Him what the most important commandment was? …. 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” All this ties in with Micah. It’s about doing the right thing and loving God. Yes, Jesus did come to fulfil the law and the prophets. He brought a new energy to God’s message and desire for His people. He went further, He became the final sacrificial lamb prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 53:7), paying the price for our wrong doing, bringing forgiveness to all who are truly sorry, Jew, gentile, male, female, black, white….. no barriers. The offer is for all. What’s all that got to do with ‘New Wine in to Old Wine skins’? Some of his closest disciple may have begun to catch on, only Jesus really knew just how seismic the changes would be for the Jewish people in the coming generations, and how it would affect the future of the whole world. Jesus was crucified in around 30 AD (give or take) by the early 70s, only 40 years later, the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, in deed Jerusalem itself was all but destroyed, just as Jesus had prophesised. Life would never be the same for the Jewish people, worship would no longer be centred round the Temple in Jerusalem instead it would be local synagogues dispersed around the world. The old ways were disappearing! A new world was emerging with Jesus taking all the best ingredients from the O.T. and seasoning them with God’s grace, forgiveness and redemptive power through Jesus on the cross at Calvary. To try and pour this ‘New Wine’- this ‘New World’ into the Old would result in both being lost. The community that sprang from Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, had to find a new way to live, to worship, to serve God. They had a new message for a new world. They couldn’t remain a sect within the old Judaism.

We are I think it’s fair to say going through a pretty Seismic period right now, and it is affecting the whole world. There are many major events happening around the world, but I think this period of world history might well be measured by the current Pandemic. When we come through it things won’t be the same, there’s likely to be a virus residue meaning continuing vaccinations in the same way we do for measles mumps rubella…. etc. all of them killers in their time, but thankfully hardly ever now. And I suspect human contact won’t be the same for a long, long time. But we will come through. When we reach that moment of feeling life is entering some sort of ‘new normality,’ will we be prepared? Will we take hold of the opportunities for a new and better way of life, with new priorities, kinder, more compassionate, more giving and less taking, more understanding and less confrontation? Will we learn from all that’s going on in the world? Yes it’s been a tough, terrible time, more so for some than others. But we have the opportunity to ‘Make a New Wine’ taking the best ingredients from the past and sprinkling them with new hope, In the way Jesus took the ingredients of God’s law and prophets to make a new covenant with His people and the world; a new wine, new expectations. I don’t think we can put our new expectations into the old way of life, we could end up losing both. We have the opportunity as individuals, communities, nations and as a world, to change for the better. This can be a defining moment for the current generation, so what will our new normality look like?……

To close, as we develop expectations for a new and better way of life – ‘A New Wine to continue the metaphor – let’s pray that we all remember the vital ingredients, the ones God would have us include? To paraphrase Micah 6:8 ‘…and what does the LORD require of us but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.

Amen.

Steve.

Heavenly Father As we look ahead to the future, Help us to look forward with new expectation, full of hope;

Hope for ourselves, hope for each other and hope for the world.

Help us do our part to bring. Light, Justice, Kindness and Compassion to the world around us.

As you have shown through Your Son, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Amen.