Sharing some thoughts

William Temple, a former Archbishop of Canterbury wrote that when Jesus was involved in his earthly ministry only people who were in his actual presence could hear him speak or see what he was doing – if you were in Galilee you couldn’t see Jesus in Jerusalem and vice  versa ! But he went on t o write that by his Ascension Jesus  was now available wherever we are – God is everywhere, and we can never be separated from him and his love for us.   Ascension Day,  which we celebrate,  marks another turning point in our Church calendar – and it is a hugely im portant day for the Church  just as it was when Jesus left his followers 2000 years ago. It marked a huge turning point because no longer would the followers of Jesus focus inwardly – meeting together, praying, sharing times of fellowship and learning directly from Jesus himself -    now they were to have an outward focus  as well  – they were to look outwards to the needs of th...

From Helen  This week the Church will remember Jesus ascending into heaven.  In our gospel reading (John 14:15-27). this morning we heard Jesus preparing the disciples for this time.  I wonder how the disciples felt. They had been with the risen Jesus and they must have got used to having Jesus around them, but maybe they were a little unsure as to what would happen next. In the reading we heard of Jesus trying to explain to them that He was going but also reassuring them that He was leaving them with the promise of something amazing ,  as He told them about the Holy Spirit.  Now, y ou all know that I can be  a little bit unusual at times. So I don’t disappoint you I am going to tell you about a  childrens ’ story c alled Badgers parting gifts.  The story is about a badger who had to leave the wood and all the animals missed Badger, they were very sad. As they thought of badge r  they thought of all the things that he had taught them. ...

Matthew Huffman was the  6 year old  son of missionaries in Brazil. One morning he began to develop a fever. As his temperature went up he began to lose his eyesight. His mother and father put him in the car to rush him to hospital. As they were driving and he was lying on his mother’s lap, he put his arm up i n the air. His mother  push ed  it down, but he pulled away and reached up again, and the  same thing happened once more and so his  mother asked him what he was doing and he replied, ‘I’m reaching for Jesus’ hand’. And with those words he closed his eyes and slipped into a coma from which he never recovered. He died 2 days later.  There isn’t really any good news from this tragic story for a heartbroken family, but the one consolation was that in his all too short life, Matthew had  learnt to reach out to Jesus in all kinds of situations  and that’s a lesson we need to keep learning .  Our three readings form the New Test...

From Helen  This week the news has been full of election talk.   It is such an important time but it is also a time when all sorts of fascinating bits of information come out.  Most are true, surely but increasingly we are hearing of fake news s tories. People hacking into  politi cians  email accounts to cause trouble and to be honest you start to get a bit confused and wonder what is actually truth. What news is  real ? I remember when we were in Llandrindod I was talking to some teenagers and said,  “ I  am going to tell you three facts now. Two are correct and one is false.” I explained that I had been kissed by a prime minister, ex changed Christmas cards and lette r with the then Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and had gone out with retired England cricketer Andrew  Flintoff .  Well, let me ask you ? Which two are  true ?  I was kissed on the cheek by Jim Callaghan when I was 4 and he came to our Church,...

Several years ago a woman awoke in the middle of the night to desperate, cries of "Help! Help!" Thinking that her husband was in distress, she shook him violently. Then, realising that he was fast asleep, she got out of bed, headed into the living room where the shouting was even louder. "Where are you?" she called out. "In the fireplace," was the reply. There, dangling in the chimney, was a burglar stuck upside down. Police and firefighters eventually freed the would-be thief, but only after dismantling the brickwork around the fireplace. What was interesting in this story was that whilst the homeowner waited for help, she turned on the living room lights and sat down to record the sight with her video camera, and apparently she got her Bible and read part of the gospel we heard this morning (John 10:1-10), Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in by another way, is a thief and "...

From Helen A man was once in a pub when he saw a dog walk in. He noticed the dog go to the bar and order a pint. He watched as the dog reached behind his collar to get money and to pay for his pint, then he watched the dog drink the pint and walk out. The man was fascinated and followed the dog who got on a bus and he followed the dog as the dog got off the bus and walked to a house. He then saw the dog knock the door and the owner came out. The man decided that he should tell the owner how amazing his dog was. The owner disagreed, the man was shocked but then the owner said. 'The dog is not great he has forgotten his keys again.'  Our gospel reading (John 10:1-10)  this morning is all about a gate a doorway. A way into something and a way of being protected. In the gospel reading we heard of a bad shepherd, of thieves and robbers who wanted to steal the sheep to make life hard for them maybe even kill them. But Jesus pointed out that He was the doorway and so a good sh...