Sharing some thoughts

There’s a very famous sermon titled, ‘It’s Friday but Sunday’s coming’. It contrasts of course the despair and misery of what we know as Good Friday with the joy of Easter Day. Jesus, first of all seemingly defeated but then rising in a victory that would never be overshadowed.  And through Holy Week we go through the range of emotions – we have the palm waving and hosanna shouting on Palm Sunday. We reflect on the last supper Jesus had with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, on the torture and humiliation and despair of Good Friday as Jesus is brutally executed. On Holy Saturday we wait, and then on Sunday we have Easter eggs and we celebrate !  Of course we celebrate something rather more important than Easter eggs, however much we like chocolate. We celebrate new life, resurrection, hope, love winning the day and God being in control… It is the day that history changed forever…. The day when an invitation was issued to us 2000 years down the line to be part of this ...

From Helen Life is full of moments of excitement and anticipation. There are so many times when something exciting has happened that we can’t help but be excited.  Holidays, new jobs, nice meals out, seeing family and friends you haven’t seen for a while can all be moments that we look forward to. Maybe even get excited about.  I was thinking about this when I looked at the gospel for this morning. The disciples had been through the mill. They must have had such a mix of emotions and in such a short time. They had followed Jesus, they had trusted Him, He had died but then He had risen from the dead. It was all a bit confusing to say the least. The disciples had moved from apprehension to sadness to joy to confusion and as they waited to see what would happen next they must h ave felt a mixture of anticipa tion and excitement.  The disciples were waiting to see Jesus .  It isn’t easy but try and put yourselves in the  disciples  shoes for a moment. H o...

From Helen Jesus is  Alive !  Happy Easter to you all. I have to say Easter Sunday is one of my favourite Sundays of the year.  In  fact  I actually prefer Easter to Christmas.   I think this is because of the celebration of God’s love for us shown in the crucifixion and resurrection,  but more importantly  I think it is because of the build up which has focused our minds on Jesus. Throughout Lent and Holy  Week  we have taken a journey of self examination –  probably a tough journey ,  as we  have  look ed  at our relationship with God and with other people and the things that separate us from God. In the last few days we have commemorated the last supper, we have thought about Christ on the cross and we have thought about him in the tomb. Worse still perhaps ,  we have thought about the sin that put him there – not the sin of the sinless Christ, but our sin.  Today is a day of joy and exciteme...

From Helen The readings this afternoon take us from the arrest of Jesus to His crucifixion. It is an emotional rollercoaster. Emotions that are based in something so real and that is the love of God for each of us. God in Jesus had walked with the disciples, He had loved them and they loved Him. After all, they had left all that they had to follow Jesus. But when the going got tough … well things were a little different. I  want you to i magine the scene  of Jesus’ arrest.  The disciples were with Jesus as they normally were and then suddenly everything changed and came crashing down around them.  For the disciples their leader who you promised to be with was in trouble.  If you were a disciple how might you have  responded ?   It would be great to think that we wold never let Jesus down but then … Think of Peter. Now Peter had been very vocal, in his love for Jesus. Peter wouldn’t let anything stand in the way of Jesus and H...

from Helen I don’t know about you but I remember the Love is… pictures. As s child I thought they were very cute but I didn’t quite understand what they meant. The term though is still part of our normal speaking. Love is …. Putting the rubbish out, love is ….  Giving someone you love, your last  rolo . This evening I want to think about the best way ever of knowing and understanding what love is. This is the love God has for us. This week is all about love. It is about the most ridiculous thing that anyone could ever do for another person. God became like us so that He c ould come and show us how to love  and also so He would  die for us.  Tomorrow we will be thinking of this some more as we remember the crucifixion, but tonight we have the precursor. The beginning of the end. Jesus had a meal with His disciples and once again He taught about love as He sat with the m and then washed their feet. (John 13:1-17,31-35) The disciples would have alread...

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 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 –  becau se  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, torture and death – and yet he was taking a j...