Sharing some thoughts

  Today is the last Sunday in the church year. Next week, Advent Sunday, marks the start of the new Christian year as we begin to reflect specifically on our readiness to meet Jesus, whether that is in the celebration of his birth at Christmas, or at his promised second coming.   This is the Sunday that has been designated as Christ the King Sunday, a day to reflect on our relationship with God and to ask the question of whether Christ really is the King of our lives.  In our readings today we’re drawn into this reflection... The reading from Jeremiah (23:1-6) talks about a common biblical topic - shepherds. Shepherds were caring and attentive. They were willing to risk everything to guide and protect the sheep in their care so it’s not surprising that this was used so commonly as an indication of how God cares for his people.  But in this reading from Jeremiah, things have started to go wrong - these shepherds weren’t caring for the sheep in their care. In fact, quite the oppo

  ‘I have set before you life and death, therefore choose life’. This text based on a passage from Deuteronomy (30:15-20) appears on a stained glass window I was told about this week in a small Monmouthshire church. It obviously speaks of the wonderful invitational nature of God, but it could also be interpreted as being somewhat confrontational in terms of its challenge perhaps.   I’m certainly going with invitational in terms of us making a decision whether or not to accept the invitation to enjoy a relationship with God, a relationship he maintains with us in spite of our reluctance or even hostility. Tullian Tchividjian wrote, ‘What keeps me connected to God is not that I hold tightly on to him, it’s that he holds tightly on to me even when I let go.’ But back to the window and to the link with Remembrance Sunday. The window is entitled the Risen Light of Christ and of course shows the risen Jesus. It’s a reasonably traditional portrait but what makes this window different is th

2022 has been another traumatic year - the recovery from COVID has been happening, but much more slowly than hoped, the Ukrainian war has caused misery not just in Ukraine but with countless issues elsewhere as well. Added to those things we have had chaos in government in Westminster, and a cost of living crisis which is having a real effect on everyone…   And for the Church in Wales, things have also been pretty tough - again, the return to any sort of normality from COVID has been slow - whilst there are different pictures coming from different places, overall there is a thought that attendances in our churches are still about 30% down on pre-COVID attendances….  And as a diocese we have recently launched a new vision and from the vision we have drawn up an expectation of growth. That expectation has to happen if we are to prevent the Church in Wales disappearing but more importantly that expectation is based on the reality of trusting in God for our future, and on the reality o