Sharing some thoughts

Palm Sunday is one of the most dramatic days in the Church calendar –   today our journey through Lent takes a dramatic turn.  Through this journey we may well have taken time to consider our relationship with God – we may well have thought about things that are separating us from Him. We may well have given something up, or taken something up – but now we’re approaching the end of that particular journey.  Soon, Lent will be over for another year – and we have another big decision to make – the decision as to whether anything we may have done or not done through Lent is going to make a difference to the rest of our lives.  The first Palm Sunday was the beginning of an irreversible change – a change not just in the life of Jesus, or his disciples, but a change in the whole of history – whatever a person’s view of the Christian faith, there is no doubt that Jesus has changed the course of history…  Jesus was taking a journey which would lead to arrest, t...

I recently read about a series of mistakes in an advert in a newspaper. The advert was for a TV set for sale.  The series of advert s were :  Monday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones has one  color  TV set for sale. Telep hone 626131  after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who lives with him, cheap."  Tuesday: "We regret any embarrassment caused to Rev. Jones by a typographical error in yesterday's paper. The ad should have read: 'The Rev. A.J. Jones has one  color  TV set  for sale, cheap...Telephone 626 131 and ask for Mrs. Donnelley, who lives with him after 7 p.m.'"  Wednesday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones informs us that he has received several annoying telephone calls because of an incorrect ad in yesterday's paper. It should have read: 'The Rev. A.J. Jones has one  color  TV set  for sale, cheap. Telephone  626 131  after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who loves with him.'"  Thursday: "Please take notice tha...

A little boy went along to a prayer meeting one day with his father. It was quite an intense prayer meeting where everyone prayed very loudly. Later the little boy remarked to his father, ‘If they lived nearer to God, they wouldn’t have to shout !’ Lent is a time when we traditionally seek to get closer to God, to live a little bit nearer to him, and today in our readings (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 5:5-10 & John 12:20-33) we are reminded of some of the promises that we are given by him. We are reminded of the new covenant, the promise that Jesus has made to each one of us, a promise of new life offered in love through his death and resurrection. As we get closer to the commemoration of Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and ultimately to Easter Day, I think it’s worth just spending a short time reflecting on new life. And in the gospel reading I think we find some points on the subject. The first is the request to Philip from the Greeks, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’. It is the mo...

One of the things that really builds up the atmosphere at big rugby matches outside the ground is the smell of the hot dog vans and also the shouts of the various traders, whether they be selling scarves and hats, face painting or trying to buy or sell tickets... Though the hot dog vans and scarves and things were probably missing I think the Passover celebrations must have been a bit like this with traders crowding into Jerusalem to earn a bit of money. It was a great occasion with people going for the religious festival obviously but also for the celebration, and during the Passover even the Temple authorities saw a great opportunity to make some money. This was the scene in our gospel reading this morning (John 2:13-22). It’s one of those great human events, as Jesus stormed into the temple and found people selling animals and the money-changers all ready to help with sorting out the payment. Within the temple compound the Roman currency was considered idolatrous becaus...