Sharing some thoughts

A heartbroken lady once wrote the following letter :- “Dearest Jimmy, No words could ever express the great unhappiness I've felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you'll take me back. No one could ever, ever, take your place in my heart, so please, please, forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you! Yours forever, Marie. P.S., Congratulations on winning the lottery.” The love of God for each one of us is unbreakable, it is not dependant on what we do or fail to do, and that is the love that Jesus asks, in fact demands, his followers to show to others. Paul begins the section of the letter to the Romans that we heard (13:8-14) with the words, ‘Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law…’ In today’s society it is very unlikely that we will owe no one anything – the banks, the credit card, the mortgage, the car loan, and so on, most people today owe something to somebody. In the time Paul wrote to the R...

During Victorian week a couple of people have commented about us selling Christmas cards – well I wonder how many of you realise that there are now just 118 days until Christmas. Yes, as we stand here on this summer’s day Christmas is well on its way ! We are now 2/3 of the way through the year, and we are well into the Trinity Season, the longest season in our Church calendar. This season is one in which we traditionally seek growth – in our relationships with God and with one another, and we seek to develop a greater understanding of the gospel message for ourselves and for the world. And today’s New Testament Readings (Romans 12:9-21 & Matthew 16:21-28) show what an incredible message this is. In a world so often driven by power, money and success, we find the message of Jesus to be one that turns those things completely upside down… In Paul’s letter to the Romans he writes, ‘Let love be genuine, hate what is evil…’ A little later, ‘Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in Spirit, ser...