Sharing some thoughts

Did you know that it was not until 1850 that the world population reached the one billion mark? By 1930 we reached two billion, and it took only thirty more years for the world's population to reach three billion. Now, less than 50 years later, we have arrived at 6.7 billion. Until the year 1800 the top speed was twenty miles an hour as people travelled on horseback. With the arrival of the railway train, almost overnight we jumped to 100 miles per hour. By 1952 the first passenger jet could travel 500 miles an hour. By 1979 Concorde cruised at more than 1,200 miles an hour. But even back in 1961 the astronauts were orbiting the earth at 16,000 miles per hour. Change over the past couple of hundred years has been more rapid that at any period in history, but no change has ever been as significant as the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the growth of the early Church. The readings from the Acts of the apostles (1:15-17,21-26) and the 1st letter of John (5:9-13) are ...

Much of our life involves journeying, heading somewhere – it may be in a planned direction, it may just be aimlessly wandering – last week, as most of you know, we were on holiday and one of the great things about holidays is that you really can just wander aimlessly – there doesn’t need to be much of a plan – and there’s no real pressure of time. However it does help if you want to get to a particular place if you have a direction. A couple of years ago we went to Venice and one day Helen decided that it would be fun to just walk and see what happened. Following Helen’s directional ideas was never a wise move ! The main part of Venice seemed to get further and further away and then we realised that we were in fact lost. We had stumbled into a part of Venice that was fairly unknown and it was only through talking to two American men that we had any idea how to get back. In Paris, and I promise this is not a talk on cities of the world, the best way to get around is the Metro (undergr...

A favourite song if mine is by a group called Rainbow. Now there are 2 things I should point out before continuing – the first is that Helen can’t stand the song and that I’m only allowed to listen to it with headphones on, and the 2nd is that, before you go looking for the song under the Christian music section, Rainbow are not generally known for their theological insights. However this one song, or at least parts of it, change that – it’s called ‘I surrender’ and it contains a wonderful line which can remind us of our relationship with God – ‘Though I tried to make it on my own, that’s not the way it’s supposed to be – I surrender !’ And as we think about the readings this evening (Genesis 7:1-5, Acts 7:54-8:1 & Luke 18:24-30) thereis very much a theme of surrender. In Genesis there is the surrender of Noah to God’s will. Told to build an ark which of us wouldn’t think that’s ridiculous ? Which of us wouldn’t worry about what family and friends and neighbours might say ? Which o...

I’m not very good at imagining things, but this morning I want you to try and imagine a group of friends – for some years this group have relied on one man for so many things. He is the one that they turn to when they have a problem. He is the one they approach to discuss spiritual issues, the one who has so often calmed the storms in their lives, he is the one who has encouraged them to welcome strangers into the group, the one who has looked kindly on the supposed outcasts, the one who has always refused to judge or condemn. He is the one who, when preparing to leave, talked to one of his friends, and suggested they could be a new leader for the group – when that person says that they’re not worthy, he says he has confidence in them, and tells them to just be themselves… But now this incredible man has gone, and the friends are left to fend for themselves and you begin to wonder what the residents of Ramsay Street will be like without Harold Bishop ! For those of you who haven’t got ...