Sharing some thoughts

First sermon at a new series of Evening Praise services When we thought about this service and about Ministry areas in general we came up with the themes of new beginnings, hope and transformation….  Somebody questioned me about whether you could actually have a new beginning as a beginning was automatically something new, but I’m not going to worry too much about that this evening, because I think if we look at beginnings, we can go back 2000 years ago to the beginning of the church, or we can go back even further to the beginning of time, whenever that might have been.  And so tonight I’m going to go back some years, back to the creation that God made – and what a wonderful creation it is… And that reading from Genesis (from The Word on the Street) that we heard tells it perfectly, describing  ‘ first off, nothing ’ , but then God began creating and we’re given the picture of God’s Holy Spirit, ready to play.  And then there was light, and sky and wa...

Someone once said that the tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we take so long to begin it… Many people get so bogged down with existing that they forget to concentrate on the gift of really living. Perhaps its work or family commitments, worries about money or simply recognising the opportunities all around us, but so many of us fail to grasp the fullness of life which Jesus says he came to offer for all.  Today in our gospel reading (Luke 4:14-21) we hear of Jesus returning to speak in his home town, Nazareth. I have been back on a number of occasions to speak in Penarth in my home church – and there I am speaking amongst family and some people who’ve known me since I was very young, and it’s not easy.  However encouraging people may be you just get the feeling quite often that people are simply thinking – ‘Oh its nice to have you back here… lovely that you’re preaching  too and we remember when you were little… !!’  And  actually its ...

Today we are at the end of the Week of prayer for Christian Unity, and as we think about our need to celebrate and proclaim together the God of salvation and hope who came to us in Jesus, I think we’re challenged to reflect on what is really important in our faith. What is keeping us together and what is driving us apart.  For those of you who follow such things there has been coverage on the news of the recent Primates meeting in Canterbury where the leaders of the Anglican church gathered together to discuss important issues and at the end they didn’t really totally agree, but they met and they talked and only one walked away. And I think there’s a really good lesson in that because we won’t always agree on matters of our faith – but we remain united as part of the family of Jesus seeking to enjoy and share his love with all. Billy Graham once said ‘It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love.’     What a wonderful principle t...

This morning I want to think about parties. Now I really liked  parties when I was a child. I  enjoyed the party games, the jelly and ice cream, the cake, seeing my friends and the n  as I got older replacing party games for dancing. Then came the parties with a smaller group of friends at home. Teenage parties a whole new  world ! I remember going to  friends  birthday parties as a teenager and watching films that scared me, eating too much ice c ream and being sick, I enjoyed organising parties. When I planned a party everything had to be perfect. At the age of 13 I read an article about sleep overs. It sounded great having your friends to stay the night, it couldn’t be any better.  I asked my parents and they agreed to let me have a sleep over. I invited 6 friends and started the preparations. I picked the music play list, got some videos, got some make up to experiment with and of course, every teenage girls dream  -  face  mask...

A father was in church with three of his young children, including his five year old daughter. Bravely he sat in the very front row so that the children could properly witness the service.  During this  service, the minister was performing the baptism o f a baby. The five year old  was  rather  taken by this, observing that he was saying something and pouring water over the infant's head. With a quizzical look on her face, the little girl turned to her father and asked: "Daddy, w hy is he brainwashing that baby  ?" Though it may be regarded almost superstitiously by some, baptism is not an act of magic but rather a recognition of the grace, mercy and love of God who welcomes people into a real relationship with him.  The reading from Isaiah (43:1-7) is a real summary of what we mean to God. The previous chapter ends with God’s distress about the way people are behaving, and yet here God is still making promises about the future for his people…...

From Helen May I speak in the Name of God: Father, Son and Holy  Spirit. AMEN Well  Christmas  has been celebrated ,  the new year welcomed in and everything is getting back to normal. I love Christmas lights and am disappointed at the number of decorations that have been taken down – after all its not epiphany  yet !   I am not really one to seem strange to other people – I know  it’ s surprising I do it so well but …. I do like the fact that we are still celebrating Christmas in Church.  As the  new year  has begun we are still celebrating the light of Christ come into the world. We are looking forward to the year and the various things which will start back up but we do it with the hope of Christ. The light of God is in our lives and in our midst. Our gospel reading this morning reminded us of Jesus being our light – the light of the world. A light that has not always been noticed or understood.  We hear this reading...