Sharing some thoughts

On Thursday we celebrated Ascension Day, the day when Jesus physically left the earth. There are however quite a lot of Churches that celebrate Ascension Day today, the Sunday after the actual day. In a sense marking the occasion is useful on whatever day it is, but it seems to me that by moving Ascension Day to today we are missing out an important and very useful part of our Christian calendar, and that is the ability to stop, wait and reflect. As Jesus left his followers on that first Ascension Day he told them to wait until they were clothed with power from on high. They were to wait until they were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. So today, between Ascension Day and Pentecost next Sunday, is perhaps a good day for us to reflect. And there are lots of things to do with our faith and our Church that we could choose to reflect on, but today I will try and limit things to a reasonable sermon length !! And what better place could there be for us to start than with the Church and it...

  King George 6 th  in 1939 famously said, "I said to the man who stands at the Gate of the Year, 'Give me light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Step into the darkness, put your hand into the hand of God, and that will be to you better than a light, and safer than any known way.'"  Today in our gospel reading (John 14:23-29) Jesus was speaking to his disciples again, this time on the night before the crucifixion, and he was talking about his departure from them – from time to time we hear of people such as politicians standing down or football managers moving on from their jobs. There will sometimes be talk of their legacy and often thanks will come in the form of prepared and agreed statements…  But Jesus’ promise of departure was rather different – He made no great speech about what he had done, he didn’t need to, and he promised to leave behind what he called his ‘peace’, he asked his disciples not to be afraid, and he promise...

  When watching any news programme, one of the common themes seems to be politics. In different forms, whether it be local, national or international, there are all kinds of groups and people seeking to put over an opinion.  And that is a positive thing, although we may occasionally need to keep reminding ourselves of that! Politicians often get a bad press but most of them I’ve ever met are hard working and care about the people and communities they serve. Obviously there will be exceptions and we often hear more about, and from, them than we do from those who are just getting on with their roles.  And without exception, politicians will make promises and some will be good and some won’t and some will deliver on them and some won’t. Some policies may indeed be transformational…  In our readings today though, something can be identified which can, if practiced effectively, absolutely transform the whole of the world, something which transcends politics, business, wea...

The subject of weather is always a popular topic, but rather unusually today the subject of winter comes up in our gospel reading (John 10:22-30). We are told it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, a feast that happens in winter time, celebrating the rededication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 165BC.  And so it was probably cold and maybe that's why John, the gospel writer, tells us Jesus was walking in the Portico of Solomon, a covered area in the Temple. Or perhaps it's rather more likely that John was referring to the fact that the spiritual temperature seemed rather cold. This was a great feast - a feast of victory and celebration, a time to think again about God's goodness and how he provided for his people. But no... The Jews instead gathered around Jesus to quiz him. 'How long will you keep us in suspense - if you're the Messiah, tell us plainly'.  There's a story about a farmer who lived on the same farm all his life. It was a good...