Sharing some thoughts

An American man decided to write a book about famous Churches throughout the world. So he bought a planeticket to Orlando , thinking that he would start working his way up the United States from South to North. On his first day he went inside a Church and noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read $10,000 per call. The man, intrigued, asked the Priest what the telephone was for, and the Priest replied that it was the hotline to God. Next the man went up to Atlanta and there in a very large Cathedral he saw another golden telephone with the same sign under it. Later he travelled to various other American cities and in each Church he saw one of these golden telephones. From the United States he travelled over to Britain . He arrived eventually in Cardiff and before visiting the Churches there he decided to take trip into the Millennium Stadium. There he was surprised to see another one of these golden telephones but the sign underneath it read ’10 pe...

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 ...

This week I did an assembly in school and talked about Christmas backwards day or even Samtsirhc day and they all thought that I’d gone quite mad – samtsirhc, for those who haven’t realised it, is actually Christmas spelt backwards. But Christmas backwards is part of what Ascension Day is about. At Christmas we celebrate Jesus being born into the world, coming amongst us, and at Ascension Day we celebrate Jesus leaving the world. It’s a very odd celebration because whilst Jesus was here he did an incredible number of good things, both in teaching and in his work and example to others, but we celebrate Ascension Day – Jesus physically leaving the world – because in that action his ministry was widened and his power revealed more clearly. On earth, Jesus was a human whose ministry was restricted to a relatively small number of people, but in heaven his power extends to all and over all. On Ascension Day we celebrate Jesus entrusting us with the power to build his kingdom, and giv...

Somebody once said that if you think you’re too small to make a difference then you have obviously never been in bed with a mosquito ! It’s a frightening but very true fact that all of us, who call ourselves Christians, have huge responsibilities, both to share our faith with others and also in the way we live out our lives. This evening in the gospel reading (Matthew 23:1-12), we heard the account of Jesus criticising the Pharisees for their behaviour. He talked of how they told people to do things, things they wouldn’t consider doing for themselves, of how they liked the titles which gave them a prominent place in society, and then he offered perhaps the most cutting line of all – ‘The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’ This is pretty severe stuff that Jesus is saying, and as I was reading these words it’s very hard not to wonder if, at times, he couldn’t be saying many of these ...

One of the best known passages in the whole of the Bible is what is known as the Great Commission – it comes at the end of Matthew’s Gospel (28:16-20), and contains the words of Jesus pleading with his disciples to go out and work to make the kingdom bigger. And this evening I just wanted to reflect for a few moments on that commission, and especially on the reason for it being called ‘Great.’ Firstly it was great in its authority – Jesus reminds his listeners that he has been given all authority in heaven and on earth… It is quite a frightening fact that so many people are living their lives today with no regard at all for the claims of Jesus – many who have heard the message have chosen to ignore it or put off any decision about it to another day. And yet in these words we are reminded that to put off Jesus is to put off the most powerful force in the whole of the universe. Secondly this commission was great in its call to mission. The disciples to whom Jesus spoke were t...

King George 6 th in what I think was one of his Christmas addresses during the Second World War, 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, about his departure from them – This week we’ve heard a lot about departures with Tony Blair announcing his decision to step down. He talked about his legacy and about the things that he had done, and failed to do in his role as Prime Minister, and he hinted at the successful state in which he had left the country for whoever will follow. But Jesus’ promise of departure was rather different – He made no great speech about what he had done, he didn’...

One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small son into bed. She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice, "Mum, will you stay with me all night?" Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can't dear. I have to sleep in Daddy's room." A long silence followed. At last it was broken by the boy’s shaky voice saying, "The big sissy!" Tonight we have heard the account of Daniel, a man who showed no fear even when he was thrown into the Lions Den (Daniel 6:6-23) – it’s a well known story that’s regularly told to children, but it is much more than just a children’s story, because the life and faith of Daniel are a great example to us all. Up to this point Daniel who was now over 80 years of age had been a great success in his life – he was one of 3 Governors over the whole kingdom, and was respected for his principles and character. He seems to have distinguish...

This week throughout Wales , Scotland and England , we have witnessed various elections at different levels of government. I found a joke actually about politics which said, Following a campaign speech, a young man rushed up to a politician and said, "Sir, I wouldn't vote for you if you were St. Peter!" The politician glared at the young man for a moment, then said: "Son, if I were St. Peter, you couldn't vote for me, because you wouldn't be in my district. Anyway this week, we have witnessed the battering of some politicians, and the crowning of some new names. And once again we have heard the many promises about a bright new future. There will be more spending on this and less waste on that and policies will be followed which make a real difference in the lives of people. And without exception these were the policies being followed by every person seeking election last Thursday. But for most of us, whoever has been elected, there will be very littl...