May 4th
Every Sunday in Church we have what we call a Creative Worship Slot. It is a time when we look at the reading for the day or the theme for the day in a creative way; it’s not a sermon but it seeks to explain bits of the Bible in a way that is more visual. Sometimes we use stories or drama, sometimes we have pictures or videos and sometimes we use crafts, science or even puppets!
This is because not everyone’s minds work the same way; some people learn and understand by reading and listening whereas others find visual aids more memorable. Think of the times when you have heard a vicar start her sermon with a joke or amusing story - you remember the story even if you can’t remember the message!
This is one of the reasons that Jesus did a lot of his teaching by using parables. A parable is basically a story which illustrates a truth or a moral principle. Many people in Jesus’ day didn’t read and relied on the teachers of the law to read the scriptures to them but Jesus went a step further, he used stories which his listeners could relate to - a lost sheep, finding treasure, weeds growing in your crops and so on.
Over the next few weeks we are going to be looking at some of Jesus’ parables on a Sunday morning, so do join us in Church at 11am; we can guarantee a warm welcome, some creativity and some great story telling!
May 12th
Two small boys were watching their grandmother walking up and down reading her prayer book. One boy asked, “What is she doing?” The other boy replied, “She’s preparing for her finals!”
What would you do if you were told you had to prepare yourself for something but you had no idea what that thing was? If you are sitting exams or waiting for a job interview, you know the things you must do to prepare. If you have 12 people coming for dinner next week you have a fair idea of all you need to be doing. But if you don’t know what is coming or when, it can be an anxious wait. It is said that Londoners during the 2nd world war were threatened with bombings on average once every 36 hours for more than 5 years; this type of anxious waiting produced trauma, there was no way of preparing yourself. If the future expectation however, is one of hope and excitement, the waiting time can be joyous! The quality of expectation is drawn from experience in the past.
The disciples were told by Jesus, as he was about to leave them and return to Heaven, that they must wait for the Holy Spirit to come. Can you imagine how they felt: What was this Holy Spirit? Was this going to be a good thing or a scary thing? When and how was this Spirit coming? and how long must they wait? But drawing from their past experiences with Jesus, they did what he had always taught them to do - they prayed.
This week the Church observes the 9 days of waiting in between Ascension Day and Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit). We are unsure of what the future holds in these uncertain times but we do know from our past faith experience that God is faithful, loving and kind and he wants to look after us. So we are praying during these 9 days especially, because this is the best way we know of preparing ourselves and our loved ones for whatever life brings.
May 19th
Do you know what Richard Wagner, Bertrand Russell, Ho Chi Minh, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Laurence Olivier and Plato have in common? They all celebrate a birthday this coming week, or at least they would be celebrating if they were still living! But we still mark the birth dates of famous (or infamous) people don’t we, because their lives form part of our history. We also remember our loved ones’ birthdays even if they are long dead - my Granny would have been 129 today! I want to remember her birthday because without her I wouldn’t be here and so that date has meaning for me.
This Sunday, Christians around the world celebrate another important birthday - it is Pentecost, the birth of the Church! It is the day in our history when the Holy Spirit burst into the world with great power and 3000 people became believers in Jesus Christ on that one day! The Christian Church has been multiplying ever since and the world family of believers now stands at around 2.6 billion! So unlike our list of famous souls (or even my granny), the Church is still very much alive and thriving despite being nearly 2000 years old!
That is definitely worth celebrating, so if you like a party, do join us this Sunday at 11 o’clock in Church when we will be marking this very important day in our history with a bit of a party! Fun for all ages with music and refreshments from 10:30am.