Sharing some thoughts

Another from Helen I am always impressed by the work of Sunday school teachers. They not only spend time with children but they answer the most difficult questions of all about God.  One Sunday school teacher on a Sunday just like this straight after Christmas decided to continue the theme and ask the children to draw a picture concerning Christmas. She saw lots of pictures of mangers, shepherds some wise men and then a picture of an aeroplane. She was a little perplexed and so asked why a child had drawn a plane. The answer was, ‘this is a picture of the flight into Egypt.’ Obviously a child who had paid attention to the gospel reading this morning which tells of  a traumatic and dramatic escape to Egypt for Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. When I was training to be a priest I worked in the princess of  Wales  hospital as an assistant Chaplain. The lead chaplain felt that it would be good for me to go to the maternity ward in case there was something which may...

One from Helen Today is one of the biggest celebrations of the Christian Calendar.  It is the day of course when we remember that Jesus came to us. The day we remember God caring so much for us, He would step down from Heaven to bring us new life. In our readings this morning we have heard of the good news. In the reading from Isaiah we heard that a special child unlike any other had been born who was a wonderful counsellor, a prince of peace and not just that but  God !  This is incredible, God has come amongst us and remains with us we have seen His salvation, His glory. We know that this little  baby  born  in the roughest of surroundings is God !  God with us.  Any  why ?   because  He loves us. I often think that I could have been a good Children’s television presenter, as I love stories.  This morning I want to tell you a story, I want us to step back into our childhood and wonder at God and His love for us, as we...

T he author Gervaise Phinn tells the  story of a Vicar speaking one day at a school.  ‘This is a very special time of year children’, he said jovially, addressing the infants who stared up at him with open mouths. ‘Can anyone tell me what it is?’ ‘Chris tmas’, volunteered a small  boy, who began waving his hand in the air like a daffodil in a strong wind. ‘It’s Christmas.’ ‘It is indeed’ agreed the Vicar. ‘It’s Christmas, a very special time of year.’ ‘I’m gerrin a bike’, the boy told him. ‘I’m gerrin a doll that can wet ‘er nappies an’ talk’, added a girl with a round face and hair in untidy bunches. This was the signal for all the children to shout out what presents they were hoping to receive from Father Christmas. ‘I’m gerrin a remote control car’ ‘I’m gerrin a train set’ ‘ I’m gerrin a…’ ‘Children, children’, exclaimed the Vicar, raising a hand like a crossing patrol warden stopping cars. ‘Christmas is not just about presents you know. It’s really a celebr...

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. Decorations are up in Churches throughout the country, but yet in the Church calendar we are still waiting. 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 half a minute tears were streaming down his face ! Without asking, the lady went on singing for another 10 minutes, singing verses from every carol she knew, and some she didn ’ t ! At last, as the man ’ s crying got even worse she stopped.  ‘ I understand ’  she...

King James I once became annoyed with a preacher and shouted up to the pulpit, ‘Either make sense, or come down from the pulpit !’ The preacher calmly replied, ‘I will do neither’. Beginning in a new church in Advent is  not the easiest thing to do, because in many ways, the church concept of advent very often doesn’t seem to make sense in a world where so many other things are going on which seem to conflict with it ! In the church calendar we think of a time of preparation and reflection as we prepare to celebrate Christmas and we recognise the reason for Christ’s coming into the world. It can be in some ways a sombre time as we just try to clear away the things in our lives that are distracting us in our journey of faith – and yet amidst all of these serious considerations we have the carol services and parties, the Christmas songs and shopping. And so it can be for the church and for us all a rather strange time – but actually this balance of reflection in the middle o...

After a long Sunday school lesson about creation a teacher said, 'Johnny, can you tell me who made you?' After a little pause, Johnny replied, 'God made part of me.' After working so hard on her lesson the teacher was a little exasperated and asked him what he meant. He replied, 'well God made me really small, and I grew the rest myself.' Little Johnny had missed the point of the lesson that it was God who creates us and God who continues to guide us through our lives. The bible uses lots of imagery of sheep and shepherds - perhaps the most famous of all being the opening words of psalm 23, 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.' We are reminded of God's presence as the great shepherd of his sheep - the one who oversees us, who guides us, who protects, who feeds us and nurtures us - the one who is willing to offer anything for even one of his sheep because he cares so much. Each of our readings this morning have something to do with...

This week the great American evangelist Billy Graham celebrated his 95 th  birthday. On that day he released a short film entitled ‘The Cross’. It was, as he described it, probably his final public message. In the film there were two powerful personal stories told of lives that had been transformed by the good news of Jesus. It was a reminder of the power of God to transform situations of darkness and misery into acceptance, peace and even joy. It was a reminder that even out of the darkest of situations there is a firm hope built on the resurrection of Jesus, because in that resurrection from the dead we recognise that death has no power over us, that God guides on every step of a journey into eternity. On Remembrance Sunday we think about lives that have been transformed by the terrors of war – lives that have been lost or ruined, lives that have been given in the hope of achieving something better not for themselves but for all people. As we recognise the hurt caused in war...

The story of Zacchaeus that we have heard  in our gospel reading  (Luke 19:1-10) is a tremendous story. It’s one of the best known accounts in the whole of the Bible . It’s  one that’s very often used in Sunday Schools ,  and for that reason many people have known it since childhood. The basics of the story are of course  that Jesus came into Jericho one day, and Zacchaeus, a short man, climbed up into a tree to get a good view of him. Jesus saw him there, and called him down out of the tree and told him he was coming to his house for tea… From a very simple story we can actually learn so much though about the character of Jesus.  T he first is that he  probably  knew  that Zacchaeus was  not the nicest man in the town. He was a chief tax collector, and they were notoriously dishonest people at the time - many people  in the crowd that day  would have  certainly  been far more honest, but Jesus didn’t care. In Za...

Two elderly, excited women were sitting together in the front pew of church listening to a fiery preacher. When this preacher condemned the sin of stealing, these  two ladies cried out at the top  of their  voices , "AMEN, BROTHER!"   When the preacher condemned the sin of lust, they yelled again, "PREACH IT, REVEREND!"   And when the preacher condemned the sin of lying, they jumped to their feet and screamed, "RIGHT ON, BROTHER!  TELL IT LIKE IT IS...AMEN!"   But when the preacher condemned the sin of gossip, the two  went  very quiet.  One turned to the other and said, "He's quit preaching and now he's  just  meddlin g ." There is a danger for all of us at times of hearing what we want to hear – and with regard to our faith that is no different – most of us at some time or another  have  interpreted some part of the bible in the way we want it to sound rather than the way we suspect it actually does ! The great...