Sharing some thoughts

A man trying to understand the nature of God asked him: “God, how long is a million years to you?” God answered, “ A million years is like a minute .” Then the man asked, “God, how much is a million pounds to you?” And God replied, “ A million pounds is like a penny .” Finally the man asked, “God, could you give me a penny?” And God said, “ In a minute! ” Many of us sometimes try and take an easy route if we can – whether it be in driving a car or going around a supermarket or taking a walk. And many of us try and find an easy way of having a relationship with God, convincing ourselves that we’re at least doing our best to be nice people… Our readings this morning have something to say about something that we all enjoy but something that we don’t always value as much as perhaps we should – that is ‘freedom’… In the Old Testament reading from Isaiah (65:1-9) we have this incredible picture of God trying to play a spiritual game of hide and seek whilst recognising that he’s...

Sermon from the Archbishop of Wales at the service commemorating the 60th anniversary of the reconsecration of St Mary’s Church, Swansea - June 2nd 2019 Readings : Ezekiel 36: 24-28,  Psalm 97,  Acts 16:16-34,  John 17: 20-26  Fashions develop from time to time and if you’re old fashioned like me some of those fashions will drive you to distraction. One of those increasingly found is beginning a sentence with the word ‘so’. I shout at the television and it does little good except to make me feel better. So (!) the last verse of the gradual hymn began with ‘So’. ‘So shall God’s will on earth be done’ and the words took us back to a number of places but it’s perhaps convenient or coincidental that it follows a reading from the Acts of the Apostles because the rest of that hymn describes actions from the Acts of the Apostles all about the courage and the faith and the bravery and strength of the early church and it’s in following that strength, bravery a...

From Helen Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday, the day when we think of the majesty and glory of God as we think of the fact that God created us, God became one of us and God walks with us now as the Holy Spirit.  Today is the day that most preachers fear because today we are celebrating God. That bit sounds easy what isn’t so easy is how we describe God. There is a story of a child who was drawing a picture. His teacher asked him what he was drawing and he replied, “God.” The teacher said,” no one knows what God looks like.” The little boy replied, “well they will when I finish my picture.” It is so hard to describe God, we all know what God means to us, we all know what God has done for us but as soon as we try to describe God then it gets confusing. After all we say God is one but in three or God is three in one.  Confused ? I certainly am, God is almighty and I think that this means that we can’t describe Him exactly. For someone who is upset they want to de...

Last week we celebrated the 60 th anniversary of the re-consecration of this church and this week we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, sometimes known as the birthday of the church. It was the day that the disciples were given the gift of the Holy Spirit and with that, the inspiration, the courage and the wisdom to go out and help God build his church…  And our reading this morning from the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-21) helps to remind us of the power of that event 2000 years ago, but also of the power and relevance of it today. There, in that room, the disciples had gathered waiting for the Holy Spirit to come as Jesus had told them to do – and when the Spirit came it was with the power of a violent wind and with what are described as divided tongues, as of fire…  The disciples immediately found themselves able to speak in different languages and this was, and is, I think a hugely symbolic moment. It emphasised that these people, from one small part of the world, w...