I had such hopes, such dreams for this prophet from Nazareth. I had thought that he would make the world a better place for me. And last Sunday, just a few short days ago, I thought my dream was coming true. I followed him into Jerusalem. He was hailed as a king. Palm branches were waved, hosannas rung out on the breeze. I've never experienced anything quite like it.
After three years of wandering from one desert town to the next, finally his hour had arrived. Conquest, power, status, wealth were in his grasp. And I would be there - at his side - reaping the rewards of my faithful service over the last 36 months. I could almost smell the riches in my future.... continue reading
So, how is your prep going? Easter is nearly upon us and quite a few of us have a talk to give ... the kids' club session, the youth group Easter get-together, the lunch club for the retired with the pause for thought at the end or, of course, the Good Friday reflection or Easter sermon itself.
Is it going well?
Somehow life in the run up to a big church celebration can feel a little out of control. The kids are running riot. The commentary on Matthew has mysteriously disappeared. The glue for the visual aids is proving bizarrely ineffective (except when accidentally applied to one's forehead). Inspiration on how to tell the Easter story slightly differently this year is pretty non-existant. All those good intentions to get ahead with the talk prep are fully out of the window. 16 people have decided to call you with a pastoral crisis just as you were about to start typing. The washing machine has decided the kitchen floor would look so much better if it were under 2 inches of water. Your prayer life has become about as vibrant as a bunch of watercress a week past its sell-by date. And in the middle of all this, we have to find the strength to tell people the most important thing they will ever hear ...... continue reading
We all know butterflies. Some of us may be butterflies. Those people who flit from church to church on an annual, monthly or weekly basis - constantly shifting spiritual family. I'm not talking about those people who travel for work (never ideal but not necessarily a sign of spiritual ill-health!) but those who can get to the same church consistently but simply don't.
They have their reasons, of course. Some of them may be spoken: a desire to be more ecumenical, a passion for hearing different perspectives, a keenness to avoid people who have wounded them in the past. Others unspoken: a fear of commitment, a desire to avoid accountability or a deep-seated suspicion that no-one would love them if they showed their true selves week by week.... continue reading
I don't wish to make you squirm. I certainly don't want to make you feel guilty. But let me ask you a question: When was the last time you prayed for your congregation? I don't mean praying for specific individuals or events within the congregation but prayed for the congregation as a whole? If you're anything like me, it's the sort of thing that can easily fall off our prayer-lists ... or not even make it on to them in the first place. But our congregation is our family. It's full of the people who the Father has deliberately chosen - the people who God is using to make us more like Jesus. We are called to learn together, share together, encourage together and grow together. And they, without doubt, need prayer! So, why not take a moment now to pray for your congregation as a whole? You might like to use the wonderful words of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians as a basis:... continue reading
Do you want to get your church reading more? Do people pass by your bookstall (if you have one) without a second glance? Do your brothers and sisters struggle to find the time or motivation to read?
The Good Book Company is here to help…
I am a member of a church that wouldn’t consider itself a reading church. Yes we have had a bookstall for many, many years, but it isn’t in a prominent position and can be easily overlooked. Once upon a time we also did regular book reviews from the front but that too dropped off.
So how do you get a non-reading church like that to a place where books and resources are of interest? Well, this is how my church did it.... continue reading
As in Genesis, "Noah" the movie starts with judgment and ends in mercy. But while the judgment is God's, the mercy is man's, and that's the fundamental flaw with this latest Hollywood blockbuster from Paramount. But does that mean it has no merit?
"It won't be biblically faithful" I was warned. Well, no, it wasn't. But I never expected it to be. Hollywood is in the business of telling stories, not giving a faithful exegesis of Scripture. This was "art inspired by the Bible"; and the art was great. A strong plot led to unexpected jeopardy, even when we think we know how the story ends. The character development was powerful; the acting pretty good; the special effects every bit as special as expected; and the flood itself, terrifying.
The landscape was barren - caused apparently by men building "industrialised cities" - and only Noah and his family live carefully from the land, just harvesting what they need. As vegetarians, their clothes are woven (no leather) - in varying shades of brown – and yet strangely western. They wouldn't look out of place at a music festival.... continue reading
My son is nearly two—he delegated to me the task of buying his mother a Mothers’ Day card and writing a message in it. I’m coaching him to say “Thank you mummy” on Sunday (it will come out, at best, as “Thar Thaw Mummeeeee”).
But what do I hope he will say thank you for, in twenty years, as he looks back on having grown up with a Christian mother? Here’s what I’d love him to say as a 21-year-old, as he gives his mum some Mother’s Day chocolates (chocolates, not flowers, son—chocolates tend to get shared with husbands, flowers just get looked at on mantelpieces):... continue reading
Here’s a challenge for your children this Mothering Sunday. It’s not making a beautiful card with lots of glitter, or boiling the perfect egg for breakfast-in-bed, or arranging daffodils in a vase with panache.
No, the challenge is this:
Can you explain why you love your mother without using the word “me”?
Depending on how old they are, I expect they’ll find it surprisingly hard. I remember my Dad asking me the same thing when I was little. Beyond “she makes me dinner”, “she reads me bedtime stories”, and “she hugs me when I’m upset”, I was stumped. The reason I loved my Mum was because she loved me.... continue reading
I ordered some groceries online, including some unbelievably-low-cost-special-offer organic carrots, pre-cut into batons. But the unbelievably-low-cost-special-offer organic carrots were so unbelievably-low-cost-special-offer they sold out before my order was packed!
No problem - the supermarket provided a substitute at the same unbelievably-low-cost-special-offer price. I checked the list - it looked fine - so I said Yes to the driver.
Unpacking the bags was a bit puzzling - no sign of unbelievably-low-cost-special-offer replacement carrots. No orange vegetables to be seen. But there were some packets of snacks I didn't remember ordering. So I looked closer and found they were organic corn puffs aimed at babies above 7 months - carrot-flavoured. I ordered vegetables - they substituted baby food!
I'm so glad that supermarket wasn't in charge of the most important substitution ever made…
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53 v 5-6 - emphasis mine)
Moving on from a church is usually, to some degree or another, painful. And identifying a new church is often difficult too—trying to somehow balance all the factors while avoiding the opposite temptations of being, on the one hand, a consumer, and on the other, a martyr with a Messiah complex, doggedly set on a solo mission to bring revival to an ageing congregation of seven.
Having finally settled on a church, what about the next matter of settling in? After all that thinking, praying and heart-searching, you’d be forgiven for feeling exhausted at the prospect of round after round of small-talk.
I’ve fairly recently moved from Burnley to Surrey and have been both encouraged and challenged by the experience of becoming part of a new church.... continue reading
