Sharing some thoughts

Well, Christmas is winding down in the world. We have seen sales starting, and shops trying to sell off the last Christmas puddings. It is all coming to the end, people are getting excited about the New Year whilst knowing that normality is basically around the corner. I have some statistics about being normal. 21% of people don't make their bed daily. 5% never do. 58.4% of people have called into work sick when they weren't. 53% of women will not leave the house without makeup on. 46.5% of men say they ALWAYS put the seat down after they've used the toilet, yet women claim to ALWAYS find it up. 71.6% of people eavesdrop. 16% of people have forgotten their own wedding anniversary. 28% of people have skinny-dipped. 14% with the opposite sex. Only 4% asked the parents' approval for their bride's hand. 1 in 5 men proposed on his knees. 6% propose over the phone, [but that includes only those who were accepted over the phone, not those who were hung up on] 45% o...

A long time ago, in Communist Russia, there was a famous weather man named Rudolf. He became known as Rudolf the Red. He's always had a 100% accuracy rate for his forecasts of the Russian weather conditions. His people loved him and respected him for his faultless foresight. He was particularly good at predicting rain. One night, despite clear skies, he made the prediction on the 6:00pm news broadcast that a violent storm was approaching. It would flood the town in which he and his wife lived. He warned the people to take proper precautions and prepare for the worst. After he arrived home later that evening, his wife met him at the door and started arguing with him that his weather prediction was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. This time, she said, he had made a terrible mistake. There wasn't a cloud anywhere within 10 miles of the village. As a matter of fact, that day had been the most beautiful day that the town had ever had and it was quite obvious to everyone...

This morning I want to repeat the story you’ve just heard in the gospel reading (Luke 2:1-14), but it’s told slightly differently. This account of the birth of Jesus was written by an 8 year old girl, a member of the Sunday School here. It reads :- “Many, many years ago there was a young lady called Mary. She lived in Nazareth. Also in Nazareth there lived a man called Joseph. Mary and Joseph were going to get married. When Mary was alone a very bright light came down from the skies. It was a messenger from God. Mary covered her eyes. The Angel said, ‘do not be afraid’. Mary uncovered her eyes and saw Angel Gabriel standing before her. ‘I have come with a message from God. You have gained his trust and are going to give birth to the king of the world. You will call him Jesus.’ Then, a rule came out that every person has to go back to where they were born, so Mary and Joseph now married, travelled to Bethlehem. Mary was sitting on a small donkey, Joseph was trudging wearily alongs...

Happy Christmas !!!! One of the best known and loved of all Christmas carols is ‘O little town of Bethlehem’. It continues ‘ How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by; yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.’ It’s a wonderful romantic picture of the place where Jesus was born, and yet the reality couldn’t be further from those words. Today Bethlehem is far from peaceful. Off and on for years it has been the scene of violence. Now it is a walled city with security gates which would probably stop the shepherds, and the wise men coming in. This year a charity called the Amos Trust have sold nativity scenes made in Bethlehem with the separation wall which has been built by the Israelis included in front of the crib. It is a removable wall which can be removed when peace finally comes to Bethlehem. And that crib scene reminds us of the tragedy of so much of what peop...

This evening’s gospel reading tells us about Mary’s visit to Elizabeth prior to the birth of their children (Luke 1:39-45). Both Mary and Elizabeth were of course incredibly unlikely mothers. Mary was a young unmarried virgin, and Elizabeth was at the opposite end of the age scale ! Whilst Mary had not even got as far as thinking about having children, Elizabeth had long since given up any hope of having a child. And yet as they met up their excitement was clear – all of the potential obstacles that were in the way seemed insignificant. Both were to have a son, and their sons would be very special people with a special mission from God. Advent draws our attention particularly to these two biblical pregnancies. To Mary, an angel announces the inexplicable - she shall bear a child. To another old and barren woman, Elizabeth, cousin to that young girl, the gift of pregnancy is also given. And as the two women meet, in the womb of Elizabeth, the blessed leaps in the presence of the ...

Today we’ve reached the last Sunday in Advent – more than ever the conflict between the advent period kept in the Church calendar and the joy of Christmas is highlighted. We have probably all sung carols, put up decorations, sent and received cards and maybe even gifts. Even the decorations in the Churches are up ready, but yet in the Church calendar we are still waiting. This week I was thinking about the difficulty of living out advent in a world that’s longing for Christmas. I was talking to someone who couldn’t understand why decorations were not up in Church for the whole of advent – in fact she told me that my explanation was wrong ! But not to worry ! The distinctions between Advent and Christmas, though huge, are complicated, and there are many misunderstandings ! One night a lady went out carol singing. There was a major problem in that she had an awful voice. She knocked on the door of a house and began to sing. A man with a violin in his hand came to the door. Within hal...

Advent is a really strange time in the Christian calendar I think. It is, along with lent, the most solemn season of the year – flowers are taken out of Church, the Gloria is omitted from the service, and the colour of the season is purple – only used otherwise for lent and for funeral services. And yet, whilst we have few problems in recognising lent as a time for self sacrifice and for reflection, this always seems more difficult during advent. And it doesn’t take a genius to work out why. Outside Church everyone and everything seems to be getting ready for Christmas – decorations are up, carols are being sung, Christmas music is playing in the shops, and there are dinners and concerts and parties to attend. There is a huge contrast between advent in Church life, and the preparation for Christmas going on everywhere else. And this perhaps reminds us of the huge contrast that there is between so much of what we as Christians proclaim and celebrate and the thoughts and practices of...

One of the problems that the Church has had to live with over the years is bad theology. There are all kinds of different theological arguments about all kinds of different subjects but one of the most controversial is over the question of faith. There was a lady who had become a devout Christian – she was told and firmly believed that Faith can not just move mountains, but actually remove any mountains at all from our lives, and bits that get difficult or awkward. And she began to apply this theory in her life with some incredible results. Obstacles seemed to just disappear – she got over illnesses quickly, she got a better job, her financial position improved – she even seemed to find parking spaces more easily than other people. It was an incredible faith. But then she became ill, and the illness didn’t seem to get any better. Eventually she was diagnosed as having cancer. First she denied it, then she claimed Biblical promises that would her recover, then she became resentful a...

Today’s collect is one of the most well known of all of the collects used in the Church calendar. It’s also one of the longest lasting. It’s changed slightly over the years, but the part that most people remember best has remained unchanged, and that is the first 2 words, ‘Stir up’. Of course the words bring with it all kinds of connotations about stirring up the Christmas puddings, that’s if you don’t buy them in Tesco or Marks & Spencer’s. But those words ‘Stir up’ must surely mean so much more to us. Today is of course the last Sunday of the year in the Church Calendar. Next Sunday, Advent Sunday, is the New Year celebration in the Church, and so as we end this one Church year, and prepare for the next, I want to think for a few moments about those words ‘Stir up’. If we take our minds away from Christmas puddings and think for a moment what those words really mean, we’ll perhaps get images of things really moving, God working amongst us, and amongst our whole community. W...

Few of us will need convincing of the power of words – how many of us have not at sometime or another, (or all too regularly !), said something which we have later regretted. There’s the kind of classic line of shaking hands with a lady and congratulating her and asking when the baby’s due, only to find out of course that she’s not pregnant, but a little large ! Or there’s the story about a young man working his first day in the fruit and vegetable department of a super market. A lady came up to him and said, "I want to buy half of a head of lettuce". He tried to put her off by explaining that they only sold whole lettuce. But she persisted, and finally he said, "I’ll have to go and talk to the manager." He went to the back of the shop, not noticing that the woman was walking right behind him. When he got into the back of the shop, he said to the manager, "There’s a silly old woman out there who wants to buy half a head of lettuce. What should I tell her?...

A dying man said to a Minister, "I will not go on unless I know I'm saved, or else know it's hopeless to seek to be sure of it. I want a definite witness, something I can't be mistaken about!" The Minister replied, "Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven. Would that be enough to rest on?" "Yes, I think it would. An angel should be all right." The Minister then continued though, "But suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, 'I was that angel, transformed to deceive you.' What would you say?" The man was speechless, and the Minister then told him that God has given us something more dependable than the voice of an angel. He has given His Son, who died for our sins, and He has testified in His own Word that if we trust Him all our sins are gone. The Minister read from the First letter of John (5:13) ,"I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life…...