Clergy Blogs
Thursday 23rd January
Dear All,
Reading: But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from wilful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
May these words of my mouth
and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19: 12-24
Reflection: For the past 300 or so years, artists have used often words like ‘inspiration’ and ‘spiritual’ to explain experiences of art, of creativity. If we are all made in the image of the creator God, which we are - despite how some of us feel, we are therefore by nature creative, and so there is a logic which says that art-making, much creativity, might be an expression of a longing for God. The writer of Psalm 19 is very aware that we can only do this with God’s help
So, what is it like to practise art/creativity in God’s presence? “The words of our mouths, the meditation of our hearts”, is often used as the prayer at the beginning of a sermon - and maybe we can add the making of our hands - as we allow all that we are and all that we create to be transformed by Jesus.
What does this look like? Maybe it’s about honesty, about sin and a readiness to accept God’s forgiveness… maybe it entails an ever-deepening understanding of how God’s purposes need to shape our lives, art and all aspects of our creativity. Maybe it also includes a deepening understanding of how our creativity can go astray. If prayer is keeping company with God - and clearly not the special preserve of the arts, although art surely needs prayer, then it’s in prayer, in its many forms, that inclinations are given shape and made fruitful, and creating is opened up to God’s gifts.
How do we, all of us, do this, whether artist, creative, anyone of us, seek to allow God shape our work? Slowly, we could allow prayer to infuse our creativity… So, “May the words of our mouths, the creativity of our hands and minds, and our hearts’ meditations” become pleasing in our Redeemer’s sight” now and always! Amen.*
*inspired by an essay by Dr John Dennison
Worship through music: Meakness and Majesty written (1986) and sung (2005) by Graham Kendrick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJc-zpp-3Pk
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 16th January
Dear All,
Reading: Then Moses said to the Israelites, ‘See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills – to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.’ Exodus 35:30–33
Reflection: We continue our reflection on art, the artist and our creator God.
The challenge of the life of an artist is that they can be seen as an individual genius standing against convention and tradition, radical and responsible to no one. But are they really?
The creativity of art-making is a laudable expression of praise to God and isn’t this good for the world? So, how can we better understand art-making?
If we want to think about what makes a faithful artist Bezalel, son of Uri, the artist is a great example. He was tasked with making Israel’s sanctuary and tabernacle - a gifted person, alive to the beauty of the world and predisposed to join in. However, Bezalel isn’t an isolated genius just out for self-expression. His work was very specific, yet highlights some general features of all art-creation.
Art creation involves attentiveness, a delight and curiosity in creation.. Experienced artists are typically gifted with distinct insight, an intuitive grasp of the possibilities for meaning and beauty and an understand their place in the creative order - giving voice to the creator.
Bezalel does not conceive of himself as a mini-god, free from all constraints to express himself as he wishes; he is not some lonely genius intent on making a name for himself. Rather, an artist whose hard work and skill are permeated with the knowledge of God: God who gives each of us life and to whom the artist responds. The passage from Exodus exemplifies art that brings the life of a community before God while also reflecting back God's glory – like a mirror reflecting light.*
Worship through music: How lovely is Your dwelling place/ Better is one day in your courts written (1995) and sung (2021) by Matt Redman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuLzFcgYyoU
Worship through art: Holman The Tabernacle of the Wilderness
Bezalel, Standing In The Shadow Of God… “Bezalel's wise-heartedness was his ability to merge the practical with the contemplative.” Rabbi Avi Weinstein
God bless,
Jane 🙏
01794-502035
*Adapted from an article by Dr John Dennison author of Letter to An Artist, a reflection on the nature of art-making and its place in God’s purposes.
Thursday 9th January
Dear All,
Reading: The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4
Reflection: Human beings have always made art. It’s not just something we once we’ve sorted life out: we make art in the tough times as well as in the good times. When we make useful things, we often also make them beautiful. In all its various modes – visual, musical, literary, embodied, and sculptural – art is a human impulse, one that profoundly impacts our common life. Art sits at the heart of the creator God.
The world is full of colour and sound, light and form. It is excessively beautiful – and it draws delight out of us like “nectar from a flower”. We are captured by interesting cloud formations, a blackbird’s evening song, the light on the trees. The world is beautiful, eloquent with meaning. This delight gives us a clue about art’s place in the big picture.
Artists often want to respond to the world’s beauty by joining in… our delight in the world comes as a respond to its source, an expression of awe, gratitude and praise of the Artist behind all this beauty. Psalm 19 does exactly this… the world isn’t random but is a creation: the work of the glorious Creator.
And what part does art play in our lives? Psalm 19 is itself a poem – a beautiful, work of art. The Bible tells us we are made in God’s image, stewards of God’s creation, uniquely placed to wonder and represent creation to God as a free response of love, able to give a voice to creation’s praise… art-making, in whatever shape or form. Alert to the beauty of the world, creatives are observant, noticing the world’s beauty, they naturally respond in praise but also – as the rest of the Book of Psalms shows – in lament.
Art is one distinct way that we creatively express life to God and before God.*
Worship through music: Creation Sings the Father's Song written/composed (2008) Keith & Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend, led here (2014) by Keith & Kristyn Getty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xc9sWYKvs4
God bless,
Jane 🙏
01794-502035
*Adapted from an article by Dr John Dennison author of Letter to An Artist, a reflection on the nature of art-making and its place in God’s purposes.
Thursday 2nd January
Dear All,
Happy New Year!
Each New Year our Methodist sisters and brothers pray this Covenant prayer as they commit themselves to God for the year ahead. Maybe some of us would like to pray this prayer too:
A covenant with God
I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you,
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.'
Reading: In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Luke 2: 1-12
Reflection: Is Christmas all over? (I would argue that it isn’t!) How are you feeling?
I love almost everything about Christmas – the sights, the sounds, the smells, and the nostalgia it brings. On reflection, perhaps the joy of my childhood Christmases wasn’t so much the gifts or the celebration – it was about feeling known, safe and cared for. Those moments of togetherness, wrapped in love, aren’t merely happy memories, they point us back to something deeper: a yearning for identity, belonging, and wholeness.
This yearning is woven into the fabric of the Christmas story. Luke’s Gospel recounts the remarkable circumstances of Jesus’ birth. Born to a teenage mother and a father who wasn’t biologically his own, Jesus was placed in a feeding trough because the guest room (kataluma - an inn, lodging place) was full.
The first to greet him weren’t society’s elite but shepherds and Magi (astrologers/astronomers)… marginal figures, outsiders. And yet, this child – born into humble, even precarious circumstances – is the one who brings ultimate security and fulfils their deepest longings.
Sometimes nostalgia is dismissed as a distraction from the true meaning of Christmas, however, the psychiatrist Prof Glynn Harrison encourages us to see how it can actually help us discover it. Nostalgia, derived from the Greek words nostos (return) and algos (pain), is a feeling of wistful longing for a past time or place – a sense of belonging and peace that is yearned for but absent.
Jesus’ humble birth speaks to the pain and brokenness of our human condition (the world is not as it should be), but it also shows us the way to wholeness. The worship of the shepherds and Magi mirrors the homecoming we are offered in Christ. This child, the Saviour, the Messiah, the Lord reconciles us to God and to one another. As the angels announced, this is ‘good news of great joy for all the people’ (Luke 2:10).
So, as we reflect back on this Christmas, and those that have gone before, maybe we should let nostalgia do its work, guiding us not away from, but into the heart of the Christmas – to the Saviour who brings peace, love, and the promise of true belonging.
So as this new year begins shall we resolve to be bearers of this good news for all people, where God has placed us?
Worship through music: Good News from Christmas Album The Gift (1988) by Graham Kendrick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-W4WJGnQoY
Wishing you all a Happy New Year,
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 19th December
Dear All,
Bible Readings:
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about…’
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart…
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:15–20
Reflection: Beyond the turkey, Christmas tree, family gathering, presents, and the impossible to-do list to make it all happen – when we focus specifically on Jesus coming down to earth – I wonder how many of us, especially this week when I’ve had the privilege of attending school nativities… find that we picture the birth of Jesus as school a Nativity scenes, which is both good… and bad!
Nativity plays all tend to have something in common. As well as the beautiful unpredictability of children, they can be quite static.
All the characters arrive: Mary, Joseph, the baby of course, shepherds, Magi, angels, and often a number of creatively added extras – octopus/ door?!!. Everyone focuses their attention on the newborn king, who came down to earth. But most often, each character simply positions themselves somewhere in the scene and stays there – sitting or standing and looking towards Jesus. In other words, each child, having arrived on stage, has completed their task and we hope they’ll stay standing or sitting as motionless as possible.
But of course, none of the biblical people actually stayed around the manger! They all moved on – and their everyday lives had been changed by their encounter with Jesus.
It’s easy to miss how few words are devoted to the shepherds’ actual encounter with Jesus. Luke’s emphasis is more focused on their action either side. In fact, the words we do have (‘when they had seen him’) are used to convey the shepherds moving on.
Luke focuses much more on the absolute resolve to investigate the angels’ news. Our English translations don’t really do justice to the shepherds’ urgency – they make investigation a priority. And having done so, they return to their everyday lives as changed people. They pass on the angels’ news and others are amazed.
There’s a similar truth for Mary. The description of Mary treasuring and pondering the events in her heart implies a process going far beyond the birth narrative. We ‘treasure’ things for later. So, we shouldn’t confuse Mary’s contemplation with being temporary or static.
As significant as the Nativity is, no one remains there, and nor should we.
Every person in the Nativity moves on, living their everyday lives yet amazingly changed by their encounter – I pray that the same will be true of us this Christmas.
Worship through music: Mary Did You Know? sung (2020) by the One Voice Children's Choirhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1H1-scfD1s
(The One Voice Children's vision is a world where children lead out in creating a kind and understanding community for all through genuine, purposeful, and heart-felt communication. The youth around us are the leaders of tomorrow and One Voice Children invites the world to start listening to their voices today.)
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 12th December
Dear All,
Bible Readings: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Luke 2:8–12
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. Luke 2:15–16
Reflection: The angel’s invitation to the shepherds out on the hillside is one of the unlikely invitations we read about in the gospel accounts. Others include the unlikely invitation of a teenage girl to be the mother of the Saviour of the world and the unlikely invitation to a group of Magi to come and worship the newborn King. But perhaps the most unlikely invitation of all was to this group of shepherds.
Shepherds in Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth had very low social standing, even though originally the Israelites were a people of shepherds, shepherds were generally despised in everyday life – on the assumption that it would be stolen property. it was forbidden to buy wool, milk, or a goat from a shepherd! They were not trusted. Shepherds had no civil rights - they weren’t eligible for judicial offices or even admitted as witnesses in court. Shepherds were a class of despised people, one of the groups officially labelled as ‘sinners’. They couldn’t join with others worshipping God in the temple – they were not invited.
Up to this point, the usual place for God’s glory was in the temple. But on this night on the hillside outside Bethlehem, everything changed, and people discovered that God’s not restricted by the walls of a building. The shepherds were not only invited to come and witness the birth of Jesus but were also commissioned to share this good news. Their priorities, outlook and purpose were transformed… they told everyone about the unlikely invitation they had received and accepted.
One of the key purposes of Luke’s Gospel is to shine a light on those who were included in God’s kingdom – which included the despised and the Gentiles. (Here’s a video reflection which helps to show this.)
There is encouragement and challenge for each one of us in the shepherds’ story. The encouragement is that God can step right into our everyday places: that we are all invited. The challenge is to accept that invitation with priority and urgency, speaking and acting in a way that invites others to worship God.**
Worship through music: While Shepherd's watched their flocks by night sung (2011) King's College Cambridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wevr3Vt37Ec
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 5th December
Dear All,
Bible Readings: But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.' Matthew1:20–21
Reflection: The rescue mission of Jesus is hidden in plain sight. It’s there both obviously and subtly in his name.
Everyone around at the time knew Jesus’ name meant ‘God saves’ or ‘The Lord is salvation’. So, where’s the subtlety in something as unsubtle as calling the Saviour of the world ‘God saves’?
Among his contemporaries, the name Jesus was actually pretty common, much as it is in the Spanish-speaking world today. So, as well as a special name describing God’s rescue, ‘Jesus’ was, in fact, a very down-to-earth name. There are other Jesuses in the New Testament, including Jesus called Justus (Colossians 4:11) and Jesus Barabbas (Matthew 27:16). The name was so common that Jesus is often referred to as ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ to distinguish him from others.
So I wonder – what did the name ‘Jesus’ mean for all the others who carried it?
I suspect it described a general truth about God, rather than making a specific statement about the mission of the one given that name. Like the names ‘Grace’ and ‘Joy’ today: a child called Grace, doesn’t mean they’ll be the source of grace for everyone – it’s a beautiful name which happens to celebrate a truth about God
Jesus of Nazareth is the only Jesus who’d truly live up to his name!
God’s people knew that a rescue was desperately needed, and they thought they knew what it should look like, including the military removal of Roman rule across their land. They weren’t expecting it to look like the down-to-earth birth of this Jesus to this young couple from Nazareth.
But the most expected answer is so often not the most needed answer.
This Advent, it is amazing to reflect that God has totally fulfilled his rescue promises in Jesus, and still does today in unexpected ways. (Here’s a video reflection story which helps to illustrate this.)
However, even when we ask for God’s help, it’s easy write our own script as to how exactly God’s rescue should play out! The unexpected rescue at Christmas reminds us to lay aside our preferences and timing. In our everyday situations, when concerns and challenges come, we are invited to seek and join God’s story – not to write our own.
(Based on a reflection by Ken Benjamin Director of Church Relationships, LICC)
Worship through music: Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me both written by Michael Farren, Rich Thompson & Jonny Robinson, here recorded live at St Paul's Castle Hill by City Alight in 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwc2d1Xt8gM
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 28th November
Dear All,
Bible Readings: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1–5
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Reflection: This week following Christ the Kings we are reflecting on Jesus as King.
John’s Gospel opens with no mention of a birth, no Mary and Joseph, no shepherds or Magi, and not a donkey in sight! John begins with a cosmic view of this ‘newborn king’ as the Word that has become flesh. We are introduced to the King of the cosmos – and yet, John announces a king like no other.
This down-to-earth king becomes one of us – ‘the Word became flesh’. Usually, kings live in palaces and wear crowns made of gold and jewels. The crown that King Charles III wore at his coronation is worth £400 million pounds. Jesus, the unusual king, will wear a crown made of thorns that wasn’t worth anything, but cost him everything.
Paul tells us in Philippians 2:7, ‘He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.’
This unusual king is a humble king. Today, we often admire humility, but this wasn’t necessarily the case in Jesus’ day, which makes this all the more unusual - in the ancient world humility was not considered a virtue. What was prized was honour – having your qualities recognised, your status elevated, and your name praised in the public square. To boast about your achievements was not just culturally acceptable, it was expected in the Graeco-Roman world.
This all changes, flipping upside-down, with the unusual king who submitted himself to the most humiliating punishment the Romans could create – crucifixion. In the darkness, he was the true light of the world.
And John tells us that this unusual king ‘made his dwelling among us’. I love Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase in The Message which captures this verse perfectly: ‘The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood.’
This unusual king subjected himself to the distresses and disasters of our everyday lives – he chose to live in the same world as us and experience the same daily demands and pressures of life in our villages.
The Jews had hoped for a powerful king in an impressive temple, invincible to invading powers. But God became human and pitched his tent among them.
And us? We’re called to live out the life of this King in our everyday lives – where we live, work, worship. To live among the lonely and the lost and be like Jesus – to shine as a light in their darkness.
I wonder what might Jesus’ example of humility look like if there is a place where we feel powerless?
Worship through music: Meekness And Majesty (This is Your God) written (1986) by Graham Kendrick in 1986 as the theme song for the annual UK Christian Conference Spring Harvest - This Is Your God. Guitar and vocals Graham Kendrick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtt52JEW_
God bless,
Jane 🙏
01794 502035
*
Thursday 21st November
Dear All,
Bible Reading: Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10
Reflection: Last Saturday’s service of welcome for Bishop Rhiannon was really joyful – not least because Rhiannon herself exudes joy! So refreshing and uplifting, especially now.
And this is a story about JOY! Zacchaeus just wanted to see Jesus – even just a glimpse. Despite being a chief tax collector, he humbled himself, climbing a tree like an eager child. From this new vantage up in the tree, he was open to whatever might unfold. What a beautiful sense of urgency: Jesus tells Zacchaeus to ‘hurry’. Jesus leaves no time to waste… we too are all called to get involved, roll up our sleeves and share the Good News. Like Zacchaeus, Jesus calls each of us by name, inviting himself into our lives. But the desire to climb that tree, must come from us. What ‘tree’ could we climb today to see Jesus more clearly?+
Worship through music: The Joy of the Lord written (2015) by Rend Collective, recorded (2017) at Soul Survivor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqg4pby9CPA
+based on thoughts by Father Patrick van der Vorst
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 14th November
Dear All,
Bible Reading: Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14: 22-33
Worship through art: Jesus was walking on the lake by (1883) Yongsung Kim,
Reflection: Isn’t this story of Jesus walking on water amazing… it captures our imagination at every age and stage… imagine being a child learning to swim – incredible, captivating… someone actually walked on top of the water… that’s truly mind-blowing!
This painting of Jesus walking on water by Korean Christian artist Yongsung Kim is painted from a high perspective, Jesus' walking is seen from the vantage point of God looking down from above. Jesus looks small upon the vastness of the marbled-effect waters. Soon he would outstretch His hand to save Peter.
Peter, as so often, our representative in the Gospel story. He impulsively gets out of the boat, wanting to get close to his friend Jesus. It was an act of love. But he sank. Just like the rest of us, he relied too much on himself and lost sight of where he was going. Jesus then reached out his hand. A human hand. Hands like ours, to reach out to others.
Jesus reaching out his hand to us when hope seems to have ebbed away, sunk beyond retrieval… may we share the hope of Jesus’ hand by reaching out to others this week.
Worship through music: Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)Words and Music (2012) by Matt Crocker, Joel Houston & Salomon Ligthelm, sung here by Hillsong United. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 7th November
Dear All,
Bible Reading: Psalm 15
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
3 whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbour,
and casts no slur on others;
4 who despises a vile person
but honours those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
5 who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.
Reflection: I am probably not alone to waking up Wednesday morning to news that I hoped would not happen, this coupled with Remembrance Sunday only three days ahead, is it not peace in our world, that continues at the forefront of our hearts, minds and prayers?
Dr Sean Rowe, the new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States, yesterday urged: “Today, tomorrow, and in the days ahead, we Christians have a responsibility to be agents of peace and reconciliation in our communities, both online communities and geographic communities. We can remember that no matter what political season God has called us as Church to seek and serve Christ in all persons.”
On Wednesday morning in the Church Times leading climate campaigners expressed shock and concern at Mr Trump’s re-election. The former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres reminded us that the result could be a “major blow to global climate action”.
Much to reflect on and pray for… but in it all let’s choose Hope…
Worship through music: Battle Belongs written and sung by (2020) Phil Wickham
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiPNieLnt0s&list=PLcHqC9YNzSaB621igMmxfeMUvroQqYr3L&index=29
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 31st October
Dear All,
Bible Reading: All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon.
His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy:
I will open my mouth and tell stories;
I will bring out into the open, things hidden since the world’s first day.
Matthew 13:34-35 (The Message)
Reflection: Throughout the Bible, particularly the gospels, we encounter people journeying and telling stories about God and faith: the two disciples and Jesus recounting recent events as they walk along the road to Emmaus; Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch as they travel together and share experiences about God. Jesus himself was one of history's best storytellers, using parables to illustrate his message - even telling the woman at the well her own life story back to her!
Telling and hearing personal stories is a natural and yet powerful way to engage people with the love of God, and a starting point for sharing the greatest story of all - the story of Jesus's death and resurrection and how this truth can change our lives forever.
Archbishop Justin’s visit to our Diocese was all about stories, both Jesus’ stories and our God stories, stories of God at work… and I think as we reflect on last Sunday, we’d all be bold enough to say that the Bike Show will, no has already, become part of the story we tell about God at work. God at work through so many, in the atmosphere, the weather, the conversations… May God continue to be at work with all that were there.
Worship through music: 7eventh Time Down God Is On The Move
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwTgTYKkP3c
Photos - telling the story:
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 24th October
Dear All,
Bible Reading: James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’
‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked.
They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.’
‘You don’t know what you are asking,’ Jesus said. ‘Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?’
‘We can,’ they answered.
Jesus said to them, ‘You will drink the cup I drink and be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.’
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ Mark 10:35-45
Reflection: On Sunday we were thinking about humility, with the challenge that instead of being wrapped up in ourselves and our own concerns, to do some soul-searching and reflect on what ‘being a servant’ and even ‘laying down our lives for others’, might look like for each of us.
When Lieutenant-General James Thomas Brudenell, the Earl of Cardigan, returned home victorious from the Crimean war, having commanded the charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava, everywhere he went he was hailed as a hero. Evidently an arrogant man at the best of times, he so lost all sense of personal perspective and humility that he actually wrote to Queen Victoria to say that he thought he should be made a Knight of the Garter!! All this acclaim had clearly totally gone to his head because appointments to the Order of the Garter are completely at the Sovereign's discretion!
What did Lord Cardigan think he was doing?! It was a James and John moment! While Jesus dealt with the brothers with compassion – Queen Victoria, also probably doing the best thing in the circumstance, just blatantly ignored his request…
Thanks to Sarah S-D for that brilliant story that brings the story of James and John to life in a new way!
Worship through music: ~ Ancient of Days (2017) by CityAlight recorded 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJUtAw21qAM
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 17th October
Dear All,
Bible Reading: This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord. Isaiah 2:1-5
Reflection: Today we are thinking about this passage as if though a call, a pilgrimage, to the place of God’s eternal peace and the end of all war.
I wonder what stood out for you – for me the words that startled me again today were, “neither shall they learn war anymore.” God, the God who has been crucified, holds the authority to judge between nations and end all wars.
In 1959, Soviet artist Evgeniy Vuchetich gifted his stunning sculpture to the United Nations with this prophetic image: a powerful warrior, wielding a mallet, reshaping his sword into a ploughshare. The sculpture is doubly prophetic by both the nature of the country that gifted it to the United Nations and the way it calls out for the startling, astounding peace that we can only understand through the presence of the God who is peace.
Let’s Pray: Holy Spirit, show me how to shape my swords and weapons into tools of peace. God of justice, you see the wars of our world. You weep with the widows, you are tender to the orphans, you stand with the men and women who fight for their countries, and you know the intense complexity of the battlefield.
(We name places of ongoing tension and conflict that are on our hearts and minds, in our world today.)
Lord, will you carry the deep peace of your love to a place in the world torn apart by war?
Worship through music: In 1922, Helen Lemmel wrote a song inspired by the life of Algerian missionary, Lilias Trotter. Her song, inspired by one woman’s ‘yes’, has become the prayer for many – maybe we could pray this today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ka7bVQmbnk (recorded Hillsong 2021)
God bless,
Jane 🙏
