Do not worry...

Thoughts on Genesis 1, 1 to 2, 3 and Matthew 6, 25-end

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear”

I love reading the beginning of Genesis. Whether you look at it literally or metaphorically, it tells us that God made absolutely everything, and that He saw that it was good. The world wasn't designed to give us bother, to make us suffer, to cause worry. And we often look at such a passage in the light of being thankful for all that God has done and is doing in our lives.
But here I want to take a bit of a sideways look at the second passage, based on that verse right near the end…do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Unsurprisingly for a former Mental Health nurse I want to say something about worry and anxiety.

We all worry to some extent. Playing things over in our minds is perfectly normal, and being fearful of the possible consequences of potentially dangerous things certainly has its advantages. Anxiety is a normal, healthy reaction to times of stress and worry. It causes our bodily functions to speed up, which in certain circumstances can be a good thing, for example, if we need to escape quickly from a dangerous situation or protect ourselves from a threat. It is an amazing part of how God made us.

However, it becomes a problem if it starts to interfere with our day to day living, if we experience anxiety when we do not need to engage in ‘fight or flight’ or if it leads us to make bad life choices. So it is helpful to learn how to control and minimise anxiety, and it is easily done without needing to resort to professional help or medication. Remember, as it is a normal reaction, it isn’t possible or desirable to get rid of it altogether, but it is possible to learn to manage it.

One of the things we need to explore when we worry is what it is we actually believe about what is going on. What you believe about a situation and its possible consequences plays a large part in maintaining or increasing your level of worrying. For example, someone who is nervous of lifts is likely to become very distressed if the lift stops between floors, believing that it is about to plummet to the bottom of the lift shaft, killing or maiming all occupants. Someone thinking more clearly would be aware that stopping between floors is unlikely to be caused by a problem with the cable mechanism or any of the safety devices and more likely to be related to the power supply. Inconvenient, but not dangerous. One factor we need to be aware of particularly is that of listening to ‘worry thoughts’. We all have these thoughts from time to time, but they are unhelpful and can cause things to spiral out of control. These are thoughts like “oh no, I’m going to die” or “it’s going to be a catastrophe”.

So worry has its roots in what we believe. And so does faith. Studies have shown that people of faith are much better at dealing with difficult situations than those without. That’s not to say that you don’t have a proper faith if you still find yourself anxious, but it is certainly worth exploring the connection between the two. Our faith is in the awesome God who made everything, who provides all for us, who sent his Son to spare us even the consequences of our mistakes and selfishness, who has adopted us as his own dearly beloved children, and who has good plans for each and every one of us. So even in the midst of difficulties we can be sure that God is with us and will continue to be with us.

So here’s the question, and I think it’s the same question Jesus was tackling in this part of his sermon…do you really believe that? Do you really believe in one God, the Father the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen? This is the challenge to all of us. I’m not suggesting that we go as far as the weird snake handlers in the USA or that terribly sad story of the couple who denied their children medical treatment in favour of praying for healing and two of their children have died for lack of really basic care, but can we challenge ourselves a little more each day to have more faith in God to provide. To provide solutions to our struggles, to provide people who can help us so we don’t have to struggle alone? To provide us with bags of saline solution when our babies get dehydrated?

Can we trust that God is in even the little details of our lives?
Can we believe that he has good plans for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us?

 I’m not meaning to be over simplistic here. I’m not suggesting that we celebrate when we receive that red bill or the bailiffs knock on the door or while we stand in line at the foodbank or settle down for the night in a night shelter or get bad news about our health or see someone we love in pain. These things won’t be a part of God’s plan. He loves us and wants good things for us. This stuff isn’t easy. Parents find themselves negotiating this stuff as they work out which knocks to protect their children from and which to let them deal with themselves as they grow towards adulthood. The West-Country soul singer (not concepts often juxtaposed) Joss Stone opens one of her songs with the line "I got a right to be wrong…my mistakes will make me strong". There is some truth in this given that we live in the time when the kingdom of God has yet to be seen in all fulness, but this isn't the way that God wants it to be. It isn't how the world was made right at the beginning, and it isn't how it will be. But here and now we still face adversity and difficulty. There is a line to be drawn somewhere until we get to that final day. We shouldn’t just accept suffering and struggle as being an acceptable part of life, but if we can have faith in those times then he will provide us with a way through.

We strive for a time when we see God’s kingdom values here on earth, and we know that that time is coming. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," says Jesus, and then "Do not worry about tomorrow".
"Don’t be like the rest of society," he is saying. "Don’t put your agenda before God’s agenda".
Have faith. Then you don’t need to worry And then tomorrow will look after itself.

Lord God, help us not to worry, but to have increased confidence in your love for us so that we can be at peace. Amen.

The church today must respond to God’s call and must be hospitable. Acts 16, 9-15

Acts is an important book for us – even though many of us don’t know as much about it as we tend to know about the gospels... It is an important book for us, because it confirms that the power of the spirit which transformed the disciples’ lives while Jesus was still with them, could transform their lives after his death, too. The power of the Holy Spirit has been changing people’s lives ever since... Remember, when in Acts 3 Peter discovers his ability to heal... when in Acts 9 he raises Tabitha from the dead, or in chapter 11 he is challenged by this vision that eventually sends him out not only to the Jews but to all people and show them God’s ways that lead to life?! Several churches had already been started. Homes had been opened as meeting places for those who followed the new movement. There was a church in Tabitha’s home town Joppa. Mary and Rhoda had invited people to prayer meetings at their house in Jerusalem. The first Jewish-Gentile church had been started in Antioch. With amazing care they provided material and spiritual support to the new believers who’d been scattered all over the place by the persecution of the young Christian church earlier on. Saul had become Paul. He’d stopped persecuting the Christians and started spreading the good news of Jesus himself.

And here he is, on a journey, in a foreign country, and God tells him to do something that he doesn’t understand. Something that he has no idea about how it will work out.

1. Respond to God’s call
2. Respect others as equals before God
3. Reach out in love to strangers

And he goes. That’s the first thing I want to say today. God speaks to Paul and he listens and responds.

How do we respond when God tells us to do something unusual? How much are you prepared to change in your life if God calls you to? Would you give up TV for God? Or facebook? Would you move away from your loved ones? Would you give up your job? Would you change churches? Would you go hungry? Would you go to jail? Or to the stake? It’s good to spend time thinking about this. We aren’t all called to be saints and martyrs…are we? At our baptism Fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ against sin, the world and the devil, and remain faithful to Christ to the end of your life. What are you prepared to fight for God’s sake? How will you remain faithful?

And the remaining two things I want to say today relate to this remarkable woman, Lydia. Firstly, note that Paul here treats her with respect, as an equal at a time when women had a very low status. I believe that here we are a given a clue as to how God would have us order His church, and He recognises and encourages the expression of spiritual gifts from all of his people, not just the ones who stay standing up in the smallest room or who have perceived status. In our all-age services we have just as much to learn from the children as we have to teach them.

And finally, Look at how Lydia responds to the activity of God through Paul…with hospitality.

We can read in Hebrews 13, 2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  She reaches out with love.

Hospitality to strangers, among both Jews and Gentiles in the ancient world, was considered a religious must, a God-given task, a virtue.

Jesus, as an observant Jew, Jesus embodies the virtue of hospitality, particularly in the way he shares food and table fellowship. Jesus as gracious host feeds over 5000 people on a hillside, and later explains to the crowd that he is the bread of life, living bread from heaven – all they need. He offers “living water”, and is both: host and meal. Just think of the last supper... the famous gesture of hospitality in the meal that we continue to celebrate as the foretaste of God’s most gracious hospitality...

Lydia responded with hospitality, and in the same way we are expected to be a community that remains open towards strangers.

Something that – let’s be honest – hasn’t always happened throughout the history of the Christian church.

The Greek word used in the New Testament for hospitality does not only suggest acceptance, openness and care --- it literally speaks of love --- love for the stranger. And this in a time when Christians lived in constant danger of discrimination and persecution...

Our risk in offering hospitality, a space where change can take place, is much lower than it was in Lydia’s time. But do we do it often enough: stretch our hands out, open our arms, let the stranger enter and become a friend?

An open door, a warm welcome, food and drink on the table, shelter, and a blessing... and all these to witness Jesus – nothing more and nothing less? Do we do it home? Do we do it here? What more can we do?

So three things…

1.      Respond to God’s call

2.      Respect others as equals before God

3.      Reach out in love to strangers

And look. Here we are…part of the same church that Acts is all about. We are the 29^th chapter of the book…the continuation of the story.

Faith and Politics don't mix?

The global economic downturn, double- or triple-dip it matters not to me, is bringing into focus what the various nations of the world truly value. When budgets need to be cut we find out what, or who, is important. And in Britain today a theme seems to be emerging. Soon-to-be implemented changes to housing benefit, the Welfare Benefit Up-Rating Bill, the fact that 22 of the 29 members of our present cabinet are millionaires, and the unwillingness to increase the tax-burden on the richest in this nation make it clear that we are led by a coalition government which favours the rich over the poor. I must add at this point as someone who has never voted for either of the coalition parties that this comes as no surprise to me, but as minister in the church I find myself in a challenging situation.
The Tory 'big-society' vision is becoming reality, whereby essential services for the poorest people lose their funding and the voluntary sector pick up the slack. Interestingly, this vision of society doesn't seem to include the richest in our society making any sort of contribution or sacrifice in order to become reality. It is a vison of the poorest being able to get by without disturbing the comfortable lives of the wealthy. Coventry now has one of the busiest foodbanks in the country, providing necessary support to those whom the welfare system has failed, and it is clear that they can only get busier as the poorest people in our city have their household budgets cut.
So here is my dilemma. I oppose cuts which target the poor and favour the rich. I do so because I know that God feels the same, that actually God has favourites and it certainly isn't the rich. But if all I do is support the poor then I'm unwittingly supporting the system that makes them poor. Despite having voted against them, I'm buying in to the Tory lies that we as a nation do not have to take responsibility for caring for the weakest and most vulnerable in our society and so can delegate their support out to some sandal-wearing leftie do-gooders or well-meaning god-botherers who will do the job for us. And I don't want to buy in to that lie.
Which is why I am so pleased that 43 of our Bishops have signed a letter opposing current proposals which will push more and more people in to poverty. Yes, we support the poorest in our society, but we also need to make our voices heard. We need to speak out against a market-driven economy which only values what is saleable. We need to speak out against the ever widening gap between rich and poor, between well-fed and under-nourished. And we need to use our votes wisely whenever we have the opportunity! Faith and politics don't mix? They do, and rightly so.

Epiphany

Three definitions of the word "Epiphany"
1. a Christian festival held on Jan. 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Magi
2. the appearance to man, in visible form, of a god or other supernatural being.
3. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something

We are used to thinking of the call of the church as being to reach out to the local community. Partly I guess this is because we have become used to seeing empty chairs during our services. Partly it’s because we are increasingly aware of the deep spiritual hunger of many who have not been brought up to go to church and do not see it as a viable answer to their need. We know we need to reach out. So there is almost a dream-like quality to the image of crowds and crowds of people from all nations, all walks of life actively seeking us out in order to find God and spiritual fulfilment.
It’s as much a dream now as it was in Isaiah’s day, as it was in Jesus’ day. Picture it. Wouldn’t it be amazing? Imagine this whole neighbourhood having an epiphany, a sudden manifestation of the meaning of life, and pitching up here on a Sunday morning.
How would we cope if people suddenly started flooding in?
Would we be able to help them with their search?
Would we understand their questions?
Would we know the answers to any of them?
Would we be overjoyed to see them pouring through the doors, or would they pose a threat to the way we normally do things here?
What if they don’t behave like we do?
What if they make a noise, or interrupt, or bring their emotional baggage with them?

When Simeon finally met Jesus in the temple after a lifetime of waiting he described him in Luke’s gospel as a light to lighten gentiles. We need to recognise that being a light to lighten the gentiles can actually be quite disturbing. If we do, we can start to understand something of the hesitation that the Jewish people will have had about welcoming the early Christians in the early days of the church, many of them totally ‘unsynagogued’. It becomes clearer why Peter and Paul needed to work out their disagreements. Reaching out is scary. It can feel threatening. But we can also feel the excitement of a church moving in a new direction, of a church filled with hope as well as challenge. A church that is alive, that grows, that changes, that becomes more as God wants it, that is active in the world.

Epiphany is the time we remember the Messiah being shown to the gentile world, and it is of particular significance to us here at St Anne and All Saints. The light of the world is for everyone; all groups, all nations, all cultures, all ages…not just those who we are familiar with, or approve of, or who know how to behave in our church. Since most of us here are not Jewish, that is we are gentiles, we often tend to underestimate the significance of Christ being shown to the gentile outsiders. Surely it just means to people like us?

No. The reading said “all assemble and come from afar”. We need to ask ourselves who the nations and kings drawn to the light might be in this area, who the wise men might represent today, who the outsiders are in this time and place.
To enter into the spirit of Epiphany we need to alter our perception until we understand that to God there are no outsiders, no person or group excluded from receiving his mercy.
We need to alter our mindset so as to be welcoming to those who we don’t know.
When we come to worship all of us, not just those on duty to hand out booklets, need to be actively thinking about welcome, about putting people at ease if they don’t know what our usual routine is or if they don’t seem to be behaving like we do.
What do people experience as they enter? Try imagining it is your first time here next time you come in. Really notice what you see, what you hear, what you experience. I know it’s good to see each other here as we gather as a family, but the gospel demands of us that we look beyond fellowship to inclusion.

It was God’s delight to reveal his baby son to some searching pagan foreigners in order to fulfil his plan that the good news would be for everyone, as predicted by Isaiah 600 years before his birth. Just imagine if today someone arrived here seeking God and they ended up leaving baffled because no-one took the time to show them where to sit or what to do or took an interest in their journey here or spoke to them after the service. Imagine if they left having not met Jesus in any of us here.

Each of us, not just whoever is at the front, each of us, is responsible for bringing about the appearance of God in visible form, of bringing an epiphany to those who we meet.
Who does he want us to reveal Jesus to here and now?
As we have sung about these outsiders, travelling many miles over difficult terrain in order to find the for themselves the world’s enlightenment, we would do well to bear in mind all those in our own times, in our own neighbourhood, who are spiritually awake and searching, many travelling over difficult terrain, and to ask what we can do to ensure that the lamps are lit, ready to welcome them.
What can we each do to show Christ to someone who seeks Him?
Not just here on a Sunday, but during the 167 hours a week when we aren’t here.
And then we need to resolve to do it.

Alongside

Two people are out running. One seems very fit, the other less so. The fitter one turns to the other and says "You know, I find it really helpful running with you. I run much better, I am able to go faster, you really push me in a way that I just don't when I run alone".
Less fit runner has been struggling, secretly contemplating dropping back a little and then diving into a bush to hide. The pace has been right at the very limit. The thought had occurred that this fit friend must be feeling hampered, slowed down. It has just felt all wrong until this moment.
So what's going on? Often in life we may feel like we're holding our friends, family or colleagues back in some way, particularly at times of stress or great personal difficulty. We may feel like we are a burden, and assume that they would be better off without having us around so much. Yet we may have failed to consider that even in our times of weakness and struggle we can be positively influencing those around us. It says really early on in the Bible that 'it is not good to be alone'. This principle seems to be at play here-the lone runner does not perform as well as the one with company, even though the company is apparently struggling.
Don't isolate yourself when you struggle and don't be afraid to ask for help. You just don't know how you may be helping.

Expectation

“I wish it could be Christmas every day” goes the song.
Do you? Really? Christmas is long awaited, but most people today think it’s an annual knees up and gift exchange that happens to have a quaint story attached involving angels and shepherds. As Christians we are expecting more-gospel is not quaint-it is a radical, exciting message about the God who made the whole universe coming to earth as a weak, dependent baby out of love for each of us in order to allow us to come into relationship with him.

Luke 3, 1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

The writer is very specific about exactly when and where this was happening, and then harks back to the writing of a prophet from 600 years earlier. We are invited to think about history unfolding, about hopes and expectations. So let’s think about our expectations.

What are you expecting for Christmas? Who has written a list? Our expectation of Christmas is based on and influenced by our experience of Christmas.

Christmas at my house when I was younger was always the same-presents in the morning, then church, then hours of sitting at a table drinking and playing silly games, making lots of noise and eating constantly. When my sons were young we took them to my family Christmas gathering and things had to change. My wife and I didn’t drink or join in all the games, the need for routine and nappy changes meant that we kept interrupting things, and afterwards one of my sisters said to me “Christmas was ruined”.
She had been so busy trying to recreate Christmases past that she couldn’t see the good news that was right before her eyes, new life and a possibility of even better Christmas gatherings in future.

We need to navigate our past in order to be able to bring the good news of the kingdom of God into the present. God did this with Jesus, navigating the past expressed through the covenant made with a bunch of rag-tag wanderers called Israel who were to become his chosen people to proclaim it afresh in the person of Jesus Christ, the good news of the kingdom of God for all humanity.

So just as God subverted and then surpassed the expectations of his chosen people around the time of that first Christmas, we too must be prepared to have our expectations subverted and surpassed. We need to have big dreams about what God could be doing in our lives this year. What might be possible?

I read recently of a debate about asking people “are you saved?”-The answer is simple: “I have been, I am being, I will be…” It isn’t enough for our faith to be about recreating a past event…it needs to keep being transformed, altered, developed. As we let God speak to us about the possibilities here, as we allow ourselves to imagine the kingdom of God ever more present, ever more evident in this place we need to be open to the fact that new dreams and expectations might require of us that we lay down some of our old dreams.

 In the 61st year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, while David Cameron was Prime Minister and Nick Clegg deputy Prime minister, and the MPs for the City of Coventry are Jim Cunningham and Bob Ainsworth, during the oversight of Archbishop Rowan, the word of God is coming to you.
What are you prepared to lay down from your past in order to be able to step towards your dreams?

Disconnected

Hmmm. Those of you watching a certain reality show set in an Antipodean jungle will have experienced Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid Bedfordshire, attempting to "connect" with the people of Britain by taking an unauthorised break from representing some of them and pocketing forty thousand pounds in the process. Not a great way to go about things, but it made me ponder on the nature of being a Christian. We, too, are called to connect with our neighbours by disconnecting from the world. As Christians we are called to model a different way of living which doesn't aspire to get rich by buying lottery tickets or by carrying out dodgy business dealings and that doesn't seek vengeance or power but offers instead forgiveness and service. We are called to disconnect from the mad rush of consumerist nonsense and to REALLY celebrate at Christmas. We are called to disconnect from the prevailing mood of pessimism and to invite our neighbours to join us in living within God's blessing.
So like Nadine we disconnect in order to connect. But we can't shout "I'm a celebrity..." when the going gets tough.

The way to run. Part 1: The mirror.

I've been thinking a lot lately about running. Now don't get me wrong, I've been going running, too, not just thinking about it, but it's been on my mind of late.
I remember that a few years back I used to look at people out running and wonder "where are they going?" It seemed to me to be such a fruitless exercise if it wasn't somehow combined with the rigours of the day and served a useful purpose by enabling you to get from location A to place B and feel good about yourself in the process. But to just run? To end up back where you started? I just didn't get it. Until I started to run.
Now I think I get it such an extent that I have formulated a sort of metaphorical rule of life based on running; The Way to Run.

Ok, so here is my starting point: we are integrated, holistic beings. Our so-called mind, body and soul are inextricably linked and make us who we are. So the health of our mind, body or soul will have a knock-on effect to the others. And being healthy is better than being unhealthy. So far so uncontroversial.

Now look in the mirror. Lovely. You were fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. But when God made you, what do you think he had in mind as being the best exercise that will complement your body type and your present situation? If you see large hands maybe God wants you to be a boxer. If you've also got large legs, maybe He's thinking you'd be best at swimming. I don't know what a sky-diver looks like, but I guess that could be you. If, like me, there's not a lot of spare meat on you then maybe God wants you go running.

It took me many years to work out that God didn't make me to cycle but made me to run. You see, I have the tiniest calf muscles in the universe. Why would God want me to cycle when all natural born cyclists have enormous calves? And yet I spent years cycling. I cycled daily through central London and out to the South when training to be a nurse. I cycled in Coventry (where NO-ONE cycles on the road-even the police cycle on the pavement here!) when a community nurse (think Nerys Hughes with a skinhead and a goatee beard), and I cycled when I first became a minister. And it always felt like an effort.
No, I'm sure He made me to run.

But I worried for a bit that I have a weakness in one of my knees which occasionally fares up. Might this mean I shouldn't bother? Running is bad for the knees. Maybe I should take up high impact Guinness drinking instead? I realised that the weakness in my knee serves to remind me that although I was made to run, I am not perfect. I am not the perfect runner. I am flawed and have been injured in the past, but God still knows what I am capable of. He had a plan for me when He made me.

When I look in the mirror I see a runner. One who could be in better shape, but a runner nonetheless.
What do you see when you look in the mirror? What might God have made you to do to keep your mind, body and soul in good shape?

Spiritual Warfare? A sermon on Ephesians 6, 10-20

I watched Liverpool play their opening game of the season against West Brom the other week on MOTD, both of my sons having an interest in the fortunes of the team in red. There was this moment when the central defender had the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and as he looked at it intently and drew back his leg to pass it to a team mate a forward nipped round him unseen to try and poach the ball causing the defender to kick him accidentally in the leg and so concede a penalty. His pass might have looked good on the training pitch, but clearly he was playing as if there wasn’t an opposition nearby.

One of the mistakes that it is easy to make as Christians is to forget that by becoming Christians we enter into a spiritual battle.
First thing- we are in a battle. It can be confusing – we know that through Jesus’ death and resurrection the victory has been won, so it seems strange then to say that there is still an ongoing spiritual battle happening around us. This is because we live in the now and the not yet. Let me explain.
This is a bit like the time between D-day and VE-day in the Second World War. D-day in 1944 marked the turning point in World War II. From that point on, it was clear that the Allies had won the victory. However, it was almost another year until the Germans finally acknowledged their defeat and surrendered. Or like when the statue of Saddam was toppled, yet fighting continued in small pockets for a while afterwards.
We know that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the enemy has been defeated. Jesus has claimed the victory. But until Jesus comes back to claim this victory once and for all, the enemy still attempts to cling on – and thus we are still in the midst of a spiritual battle.

Now you may not be totally comfortable talking about the devil and demons, but interestingly Jesus was, as was the writer Paul as we have just heard, but it’s also pretty clear that they didn’t spend their whole lives analysing whether or not something is a spiritual attack, so I guess we shouldn’t either. We know that the world is far from perfect and that we do not only see God’s will being done. We see illness and injustice, greed and lust. It would be a bit much to describe all of that as ‘spiritual attack’, but it is important to know there is a battle so that we understand the importance of the armour that Paul talks about. In particular we need to know that Satan’s biggest gripe is with the church, and so we must be especially careful that we play our part and don’t let him get a foot in.

Second thing-God gives as a means of defence. Note here that Paul’s language is one of defence. We don’t fight, but nor do we submit. We stand.
If you read what Paul wrote just before today’s passage, he says that the walk of the wise is characterized, in part, by the filling or control of the Holy Spirit (5:18), which, in turn is evident in our mutual submission one to another (5:21–6:9). So Paul focusses on the subject of our spiritual warfare immediately following his instructions on submission and obedience because this area is one in which Satan’s attacks can be expected. Submission is the giving up of our rights and the pursuit of our self-interest. The spiritual war is about not giving way, but standing fast. How often we tend to reverse these two. We are all too inclined to give up or to give in in matters where we should stand fast, and too eager to stand fast where we should give ground. We need to learn to stand where we are commanded to stand, and to submit where we are instructed to submit.

Remember, we aren’t the ones who fight the devil, because we are living in the light of a victory already won, but we have a part to play so in this passage, Paul uses very practical language – he does not say that by being a Christian we are automatically clothed in this armour. He says that we need to actively put it on.
To do that it can be helpful to recognise when we might be at our most susceptible to the enemy’s schemes. When we are more aware we are both more able to avoid these times, and be on our guard when we are particularly vulnerable to the enemy. For example the word STOP can be used as an acronym for: Stressed, Tired, Out of it (drink or drugs), Pained (reacting from a personal grievance or perceived injury). We need to learn to stop and think, ‘Am I in a particular vulnerable position at the moment? Am I hungry, or tired, or over-reacting because of my own issues?
Note that it was when Jesus was in the wilderness with no food that Satan tried to tempt him. I find that when I am doing something challenging or important in church that often I develop a migraine shortly afterwards, but only relatively recently did I learn, after Ali pointed it out, that I have what is called a ‘prodrome’, a bit just before, when I become emotionally distant, a bit stroppy, and sometimes a bit unaware of the specific boundaries around certain social settings. Which means I am in great danger of misunderstanding where people are coming from and so putting my foot in my mouth, or saying something hurtful. Which can threaten the success of whatever I am doing in church.

When a soldier goes into battle, he will make sure that every single part of his armour is pristine condition, certain that it will do its job. So our task today is to try to identify what part(s) of our armour are not in pristine condition:

• Do you struggle to accept the full truth of God’s promises and so need to tighten up the belt of truth? 
• Are there issues in your relationships that need to be addressed, so you need to spend time polishing the breastplate of righteousness? 
• Do you find yourself embroiled in conflict, fighting where no fight is needed, without feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace? 
• Are you plagued by doubts, unable to carry the shield of faith? 
• Perhaps you struggle to believe that you are saved, or more commonly that you are worthy to be saved, and so leave home without the helmet of salvation. 
• Or you are not confident in either your knowledge of what is written in the Bible nor in the guidance of God here with us in the present, and so leave the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, sitting in its scabbard?

Having identified this/these area(s), ask God to bring fresh revelation of this piece of armour and to clothe you afresh in it.

Last thing-claim the victory of God And then finally, when appropriately attired, claim God’s power over the enemy and pray for each other: We often totally underestimate the power that we have in Christ when we pray in the Spirit and when we call on his name. I have had quite some involvement in both deliverance and healing ministry, and have seen and experienced things that I cannot properly understand and have seen the most amazing things happen when, in faith, the name of Jesus is used. We literally have to call on the name of Jesus and open ourselves to letting God’s Spirit guide our prayers.. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Susan is given a horn with which she is to blow in desperate need and help with then come. Susan first used it when she was attacked by Maugrim the wolf as the Battle of Aslan's Camp was about to break out. Peter heard it and saved her life.
When we call on the name of Jesus, we draw on the authority of Christ over the enemy and in doing so defeat the schemes of the enemy, and given how much the church gets up his nose, we need to be praying for each other.
We need to ask for God’s protection over our fellow Christians, particularly those in our own congregation. Part of my role is to pray for you lot, as well as for the people from this district who are not here, and part of your role is to pray for me and for all who minister to you in Christ’s name. It makes a difference.
If I am to be your pastor, your shepherd, then I am called to walk out in front, so I need your prayers to keep me from being attacked or distracted, so we don’t end up failing to get where God is calling us to.
I believe that God has great plans to grow his kingdom here, which means that we will be challenged. Are we ready to go into that battle, unified like the Roman foot-soldiers used to be when they made themselves into a tortoise with their shields? Will we stand against any attempt to derail us or divide us?

So in summary, we are in a spiritual battle, and the church is especially vulnerable to attack, so we are all called to take a stand by identifying the weak spots in our armour and strengthening them before putting them on and then praying for each other. Then we can claim the good news of the victory won for us.

Things to look for in a preacher

I've been wondering about preaching lately. Paul distinguishes it from teaching. It isn't just about giving some information in an understandable way. We can read a book to get that. Preaching is so much more than that.
There has to be an encounter, with the preacher holding people's attention as a stand-up comedian or a Shakespearean actor delivering a soliloquy might do, yet it isn't just a dramatic monologue either.
 Some sermons are easily memorable, utilising acronyms and mnemonics so that they can be recalled at a later date, while others make us feel as if the preacher is speaking right into our lives in such a personal way (s)he must have been going through our waste paper bins in order to know that much about us.
But then again, the truth is, most sermons aren't actually that good. I've delivered some real stinkers in my time and so I try my hardest not to do it again, to learn from my mistakes and to grow in my ministry.
So I was interested to read this by a preacher called Mark Driscoll (he's an American, don't you know). He gave a list of 16 things he looks for in a preacher (although his bit of the church does have a 17th essential requirement, that the preacher is male, but that's where he and I disagree).

1. Tell me about Jesus. Connect it all to Jesus. If you don’t mention Jesus a lot, you need to do something other than preach. And tell me that Jesus is a person, not just an idea. Help me to not only know him but to also like him.
2. Have one big idea. Hang all your other ideas on the one big idea. Otherwise, you will lose me or bore me. 3. Get my attention in the first 30 seconds without being gimmicky. Get to work. Don’t “blah blah blah” around, chitchat, or do announcements. That will make me start checking my phone. Get my attention, and let’s get to work.
4. Bring me along theologically and emotionally. Preaching is not a commentary. Commentaries are boring for even nerds to read. Your job is to do the nerd work and bring it to life. Raise your voice, grab my affections, and bring the living Word.
5. Make me like you, trust you, and respect you so that I can't dismiss you. If you want me to follow you, you have to get me to that point.
6. Avoid Christian jargon and explain your terms. The average person has no idea what fellowship means, or even God for that matter. So, tell us what you’re talking about and don’t assume we have your vocabulary.
 7. Don't have points as much as a direction and destination. Take me somewhere. Take me to a place of conviction, compassion, conversion, etc.
8. Don't show me how smart you are, because it makes me feel dumb. I assume you’re smart since you’re standing up talking and we’re all sitting down listening. If you quote words in some language I don’t know, or quote dead guys to show you’re a genius, that makes me feel dumb, which doesn’t serve me well. Don’t come off like that kid in school that the rest of us wanted to give a wedgie to every time they raised their hand.
9. Invite lost people to salvation. Some people in the seats aren’t Christians. So, tell them how to become one. Talk about sin, Jesus, and repentance. At some point in every sermon just do that. If you do, people will bring lost friends. Don’t be a coward.
10. Whether it feels like a wedding or a funeral, be emotionally engaging and compelling. Some sermons are a funeral—convicting, deep, hard hitting, and life shattering. Other sermons are a wedding—exciting, compelling, encouraging, and motivating. Pick an emotional path. Have an emotional trajectory to the sermon, not just a theological point. If you pass the audition and get to preach publicly, have the entire service flow emotionally. If we do wedding songs after a funeral sermon, I’m emotionally confused. Likewise, if we’re singing melancholy hymns after a big motivational sermon, I’m also emotionally confused. So, you and the guy in skinny jeans with the guitar have got to get this figured out together.
11. Look like someone who has it together from clothes to haircut to overall presentation. You don’t need to be a model, but you should look presentable. If you have bed-head, your fly open, keep losing your place in your notes, your shoe is untied, your mic battery dies, and you say, “Um,” a lot because you’re unprepared, I may feel sorry for you but I’m not following you because you don’t seem to have a clue where you are going.
12. Tell the truth and don't be a coward. Look me in the eye and don't flinch. Don’t apologize for what God’s Word says—just say it. Say it like you mean it. Say it like it’s true. Sure, I may despise you, but at least I’ll know what God said. Get over your fear of man and assume that I may just hate you.
13. If you get lost or mess up, make a joke about yourself and keep me interested. I know at some point you’re going to mess up. The Bible is perfect, you aren’t. If I can laugh at you while laughing with you, I’ll trust you.
14. Don’t just preach repentance but also practice it. Don’t talk about everyone else’s sin and never your own. Don’t tell me all the victories you’ve had or that your sin was a long time ago. Jesus is the hero, not you. I don’t trust smug, religious folks who preach how great they are and how I can become like them. It’s smarmy.
15. Answer some objections. You know how most of us are going to push back, question, disagree, or wiggle off the conviction hook. So, anticipate those objections and answer some. Brawl with me a bit, show me you can go a few rounds, get me in a corner, and work me over until I give in and obey God. But, you have to work at it.
16. "It" is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in you and through you. I’m looking to see if you have it. I can’t explain it, but I know it when I see it.

Prayer? Matthew 6, 5-8

Prayer is a funny thing. Have you wondered what it is and why people do it? Does something become a prayer if we add “Amen” to the end? Or if someone says “let’s pray” at the beginning? Or we all shut our eyes and put our hands together?
It may surprise you to know that about ¾ of people who would not describe themselves as religious admit to praying most weeks. Remember the “Pray 4 Muamba” phenomenon?

When Ali and I got married it was an important step in our road to coming back into a relationship with Christ. Being one of those thoroughly modern couples, we were happy with our level of commitment to each other without any need for a legal certificate or anything. But our hearts began to stir within us, and we reached a stage where we both wanted to get married…in church. Although neither of us would call ourselves Christian, we felt it important to make our vows in the name of the One who made the universe, rather than just sign a bit of paper. So we were married, inviting God into our relationship.
And things began to change.
Not long afterwards I had a really busy day doing all sorts of things around the area. I got home early evening with our sons, and as I made them their tea I realised that I had lost my wedding ring. I realised that I would need to retrace my steps, but as Ali was working a late shift, I could not even begin that process until she got home at 10pm. It was a long and frustrating wait, but as she came home I gave her her supper and said “I’m off out to look for my ring”. It was dark. I had a small torch. It was late. I started looking under the bonnet of our car and in the gutters all the way up the road. No joy. I then went round to a friend’s who I had helped with his car earlier. Again, I looked under the bonnet, in every nook and cranny, in the gutters, up the road etc. We got his neighbours to move their cars. It was after midnight now. Finally I drove over to the park where I had taken the boys earlier to play on the swings. I felt really dejected. It was a massive park. We had played all round it. My torch battery was almost extinct, giving a candle-like glow. It was raining and pitch dark.
I began to pray. I said “Lord God, we have trusted in You and sealed our relationship in your name. That ring is a symbol of your involvement in our lives. If I find that ring, I will know that you are real and I will be your servant from now on”
I walked over to the play area and as I got there the clouds parted just for an instant and the moon shone through. I looked at my feet and saw a silvery glint. I bent down, and there, trodden down below ground level and barely visible in any conditions, was my ring.
It may have been a coincidence, but since becoming a Christian I‘ve found it amazing how many coincidences happen when we pray.

So is praying just something we do when we’re in a spot of bother? It’s more than that. It’s the most important thing we can do. It is how we can develop a relationship with our father in heaven. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus talked about prayer. Notice that Jesus doesn’t start this sentence “if you pray…” His assumption is that anyone who wants to know more of God will pray. “When you pray…” he starts. Jesus knows that to be a disciple we absolutely have to pray. It isn’t an option.
So this passage is not encouraging us to pray, it is telling us how to do it, and he said that it’s something we should do without showing off. We don’t have to worry about whether we are good at it or not, or about what other people might think. I have met so many people who admit to not praying much because they don’t know what to say that would sound good. It’s not about what other people hear and see. It is about us and god, and it is something to do with our relationship with God. Jesus goes on to teach us us what we now call the lord’s prayer which we will look at next week, and it begins “our father…”, pointing towards our family relationship with God.
Why bother praying? Surely God knows what we think and want and need, so there’s no need to ask, right? But prayer is about building our relationship with God. Its not much of a relationship if we don’t communicate. We pray because it keeps us in relationship with God. Think about all the important relationships in your life. The way that we strengthen our relationships is that we communicate, perhaps by getting together, or by speaking or writing or touching. If we stop communicating then our relationships will be weakened, and if we stop altogether then the relationship is broken (at least until we get in touch once more). So we pray because it deepens our relationship with God.
Another reason to pray is simply that it does change things. When people pray, things happen. Jesus said “ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you”. When people pray things happen. We need to remember that God is outside of time and space, and so hears all prayers simultaneously. It’s not like we convince him to change his mind, it is that his will becomes more obvious here on earth as we pray.

One of the main objections to praying often comes from people who say that they prayed for something and it didn’t happen. When my mate Mark became ill and died a few years back it was despite hundreds of people asking for God to heal him. Was God just not listening?
There are all sorts of reasons why we may think a prayer has not been heard. One may be that our hearts are not right with God, we are holding on to stuff, or we are just asking for stuff to meet our own desires. James 4,3 when you ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. It’s important that we spend time working on our relationship with God, through prayer, study and other Christians, in order to be better able to discern his will for us and the world. I want a Porsche, but I know that it isn’t God’s will that I have one, so I don’t pray for one.
Also, sometimes God doesn’t seem to answer our prayers because what we have asked for isn’t good for us. We may pray to be successful in a job interview, but actually be better suited to something else and in need of a shove in that direction. God may seem to be ignoring our prayers when actually he is saying “no” or perhaps “wait”. He doesn’t always say yes. I do not understand why my friend died. I’m gutted. It makes no sense. He was on fire for Jesus, had a lovely wife and three young kids, training to be a minister. I know that I am faced with the choice of just stopping believing, or believing that God is just nasty. Or I can say “I’m going to go on believing in spite of the fact that I don’t understand, in spite of my pain and confusion. I will trust you Lord” I doubt if I will ever understand-in this life at least. We can never fully know God’s will, but we can hope that we’ll understand when we get to meet him face to face.

 Last point, when and where do we pray? Should we do it in the morning or at night? Must we be in church? Actually, we can pray anytime, any place. We can pray all day. We are maintaining a relationship with God, so should make time for it whenever we can. I used to ride a motorbike, and used to spend two hours a day on it. As I rode I used to say the Jesus prayer over and over. When I got places I often found that I needed to find a pen and paper as ideas had come to me that needed recording, even though I’d been doing the talking. Jesus also warns us here against public shows of looking holy. There’s no need to involve others, or even to let them know what you’re doing. Praying on your own is great. It’s between you and God, so just go and do it somewhere quiet if you can. Bible notes can help, like "daily bread" or "everyday with Jesus". And there are also many examples in the bible of people praying together. It feels a bit weird doing it out loud with other people. I remember first time I did it. I’d not long finished an Alpha course and went with a friend to a meeting of local church leaders who were discussing how to make church more accessible. I didn’t know this, and actually we were sort of gatecrashing, but they let us in and we listened. I felt moved to pray out loud, and prayed that my friend and I could be a blessing to the church and the community. We left that meeting as co-leaders of a house group for young adults. We were also the only members, but within a year we had eighteen members, an 800% growth rate. Prayer is at the heart of Christianity, because it is about a relationship with God. That’s why it’s the most important activity of our lives.

Living like today is your last day on earth. Ephesians 5, 15-20

A man had a check up at the doctor, and when he went to get his results the doctor said, “I have bad news and worse news. Which would you like first?”.
“I’ll have the bad news first, I guess” the man replied.
“Well, the bad news is that your tests confirm that you only have 24 hours to live”
“What? This is terrible…etc. What could be worse than that?"
“I meant to tell you yesterday, but I forgot”.

Last week Ali’s dad was rushed into hospital struggling to catch his breath, feeling terrible. Heart problem quickly diagnosed and pacemaker fitted. This week I read in paper about a super-fit 40-something out jogging, collapsed and died of natural causes.

 The fact of the matter is that we often make assumptions about how long we have to live, but we may not have long at all. Ali’s dad reflected the other day that he is going to live every day like it is his last. I wonder what that might mean to you, living every day like it is your last. It would certainly concentrate the mind on what is and what isn’t important. Often this turn of phrase is used to describe care-free, fun-filled living, partying and behaving irresponsibly. Is that what you would mean?
Paul is exhorting his hearers to really examine their value systems and to be careful, effectively living each day as if it is their last, focussing on what is most important, making the most of their time “as the days are evil”. If we don’t do it we are in danger of falling into sin, of missing the mark, of becoming disconnected from God.

One of our sons used to sleep walk; we sometimes found him wandering around the house in a somewhat confused state, and he had no recollection in the morning.
The other used to sleep-talk, uttering stuff that had no apparent meaning.

As Christians we are liable to sleep-walking in our faith, unaware of what is actually going on around us and unaware of what we are doing. Many, many Christians have fallen into this trap, identifying themselves as Christians, joining churches, developing ministry areas, and yet not spending any time nurturing their faith or growing in their relationship with God and so over time find that their lifestyles do not reflect what they profess to believe. Many Christians are disconnected from God. Is that how you would want to spend your final day on earth?

The other trap that we can fall into is that of sleep-talking; by not really being aware of what we want to say and who it is we want to say it to we manage to make the gospel completely unintelligible. Many churches do this, too, speaking a language that only they can understand (like “salvation”, redemption” “sin”, “repentance”), using a medium that suits them but not necessarily their hearers (like traditional Sunday services or songs that fail to connect with the present generation). God calls us to live in His love and also to share that love, drawing others into that same relationship with Him. Would you want to spend your final day having nothing intelligible to say to those around you?

So what do we do? It’s simple. Don’t give in to the stuff around us that feels good, that makes us comfortable and yet bears no fruit. Don’t spend your life drunk, he says, meaning it both literally as this is an abuse of the body and mind God gave you, and figuratively as this severely limits how much you can focus on God. If we fill ourselves with wine or with anything else, how much room can there be for God?
“Be filled with the Spirit” he says, singing spiritual songs and making melody in your hearts, giving thanks to God at all times. Paul knows how easy it is the become distracted by the world and to take things for granted, to turn what is a good news story into something that weighs us and those around us down. He knows that church members can get caught up in the minutiae to the extent that they lose contact with God. Church members can feel let-down that they are not being provided for in the way that they used to be or in the way that they feel entitled to. And the solution? Be filled with the spirit, singing songs in your hearts and giving thanks.
Paul is using a pro-active, positive approach here. This is something we make happen rather than something that happens to us. We are to pray every day to be filled with the Spirit, that the fruit of the spirit will be evident to all. As Christians we must strive to have our last day on earth, and every day between then and now, described in terms of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Then we know we were Spirit filled. And our songs to God should come from our hearts. It’s not about singing what we know or what we are comfortable with, or even what we like. It is about offering to God everything we feel in song, and to do so in the context of gratitude for all he has done and is doing for us. So my prayer for us all is that we live this day as if it is our last, to the glory of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Maturity and Unity

This the sermon I gave at the 9am Communion Service on 5th August on Ephesians 4, 1-16.

Big idea: To be truly united in Christ we all need to become mature in our faith
SHOW holiness, KNOW yourself, GROW others.

1: SHOW holiness: Our call is to live ‘worthy lives’-fruit of spirit-humble, gentle, patient, seeking after unity at all times.
“Make every effort”. It’s not easy to treat each other well within the church. We know the ideal, that we all cosy up nicely and agree with each other, but the truth is that for many people it is more accurate to say that church would be much better if only the other people who went were nicer or behaved better. But listen to what Paul commands here-he urges us to live a life worthy of the call we have received. He knew then as he wrote to the church in Ephesus what is just as true now, that the best way to measure any community, any grouping, is to look at how they are towards each other. How we treat each other within the church is crucial to our mission and ministry, because if we don’t display holiness in our internal dealings then we have not earned any right to proclaim the gospel into anyone else’s life. So Paul exhorts us to make every effort. It is true that we will have differences, but how we work through them is crucial. We need to keep checking as we engage with each other, asking ourselves not “am I in the right?” but “am I being gentle, humble etc?”

2: KNOW yourself: We are given different roles within the body-5 fold ministry-to build up the church.
Many people are called into leadership in the church-many more than necessarily get formally recognised within the current structures of the c of e. And they are called to do it differently, using different gifts. One of the things anyone called to leadership needs to be able to do is to recognise and draw upon the spiritual gifts given to them by God in order to be able to properly develop their ministry. What is your primary focus? Apostolic ministry, that is going to where the gospel isn’t in order to share it? I know that this is a significant part of my calling, which is why I will always be somewhat frustrated as a vicar. My heart is with the 4 or 5 thousand people in this district who aren’t here today. Or is it to be prophetic, speaking God’s word into situations around us? I know this isn’t really me, but I do recognise this pattern very strongly in Alison with her mental health work. Or to be an evangelist, bringing people into God’s kingdom? Again, I’d love to say that this is me, but actually I rarely close the deal. I’m more of a planter and waterer than a reaper. Or perhaps a pastor, a shepherd, one who looks after the flock. Traditionally this has been the role of the vicar and it is a responsibility I take seriously, but although I have gifts in this area as shown in my nursing career I know it isn’t my primary strength and I rely on others to help me. Or finally is your focus on teaching, on communicating the truths of the gospel to those within the church? About myself I would say that this is my second main area of ministry. You might not agree. But what about yourself? How do you order what you do for others? And how do you deal with others who do it differently? Well, Paul tells us here that the reason we do it is to build others up. So one important way we work out what our focus is is that we look for where we see fruit from our actions. We look for feedback. And when we see others doing something different we look for the same, for people being built up. That’s what I had tested as I went through discernment. None of it can be about us. Ministry isn’t cool. It isn’t an accolade. It isn’t something to boast in. It doesn’t give us power or worth, it doesn’t earn us a place in heaven. It is a responsibility, a burden, an effort, but one that we undertake in response to our call to live in the freedom of Christ.

3: GROW others: Aim is to become mature in faith, no longer infants. Then we are truly united.
And we do it all in order to keep the church alive. Living things grow, and growth requires change. Our main responsibility in leadership is to ensure that the church is always changing, always growing in love, always moving towards the heart of Christ so that we can speak the truth about God. To stay alive the church needs to help every member to move from infancy to maturity, helping them to find what their gifts may be. We need to encourage new apostles who will go where the church isn’t, new prophets, new evangelists, new pastors and new teachers so that we can remain united in purpose.

What is Worship? Part 4-Worshipping when it's difficult

Ok, not one of Rev Clive's Random Musings at all, but one of Alison's...

Faster, Higher, Stronger: the sacrifice of worship in the dark times..

Psalm 130 from The Message
2 Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help! Listen hard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy.
3-4 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshipped.
5-6 I pray to God—my life a prayer— and wait for what he'll say and do. My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.
7-8 O Israel, wait and watch for God— with God's arrival comes love, with God's arrival comes generous redemption. No doubt about it—he'll redeem Israel, buy back Israel from captivity to sin.

Today we're ending our look at worship, so I'm going to start with a brief recap before we look at psalm 130 and what God has to say to us about worship in spite of our circumstances..
Clive shared with us.. we need to worship in spirit and truth. It doesn't matter where or how we do it, but we need to do it with integrity and in tune with the spirit of God, and what he is telling us today, here and now.
He also talked about why we do what we do in church, praising god, the apostle's teaching, sharing with each other and breaking bread.
Then he talked about whole life worship being about Christ like living, preferring each others needs to our own, living in community and mutual respect.
I love the psalms, they've got me through some horrible times, and I love that God has given them to us as a template for how to respond in worship during those times.
Who is tuning in to the Olympics? I've been reflecting on what it means to be an Olympian, to be capable of such immense achievements. Part of what is essential is sacrifice; getting up early, working incredibly hard all day, missing out on the things of normal life in order to reach a goal. And as I've heard the athletes talk, there's been a common theme; sacrifice, pain, disappointment, but through it all holding on, keeping the faith, knowing it's worth it. They are made to function in this way, to use their bodies to reach incredible heights.
And we are all made, Olympian or not, to worship God. Faster, higher, stronger is the Olympic motto, and it's a great motto for our worship lives too.It's our primary calling and function.
But how do we really worship God when everything else that anchors us is stripped away? How do we make the sacrifice, maintain the discipline, keep our hearts right? How do we go faster, higher, stronger? We are called to worship God, whatever our feelings or circumstances.

To help us out with thinking about this, I'll be highlighting three things. They are..

1. Worship is not about me, and how hard things are for me. 
2. Worship is a discipline, and a choice. 
3. I will worship God wherever and however I am. 

1. Part of what Clive's response to the call of God to ordained ministry has meant for me and our children is that we have been to lots of different churches. We are very experienced in varying styles of worship, and we know a lot about church politics, and the things that people get fired up about. And therefore I have learnt a lot about worshipping God in new places, when I'm feeling like an outsider, like God isn't with me as I've moved yet again. But I have to worship him, to do it with my new brothers and sisters, whatever the cost. I'm made to do it. It isn't about me. Hear what the psalmist says.. If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshipped. These were really hard times as he wrote, as he cried out to God. It wasn't the comfortable life that we are used to, it puts our struggles into perspective. Worship is not about me, and how hard things are for me. None of us deserve God's love, but he gives it to us anyway, and we are made to worship him. 
2. When we first moved to Coventry, it was a very difficult time. My dad was very unwell, Clive's best friend was dying, and then died, Clive was then very unwell and hospitalised. The children and I were alone in a new place. I was angry with God, very angry. I didn't want to worship God, my life had been disrupted in a major way. It wasn't a small thing, just being in a new church with new people. People were dead and dying, and I was scared and alone. So what should we do in these situations? Should we give up on God if we feel like he's given up on us? Hear what the psalmist says.. I pray to God—my life a prayer— and wait for what he'll say and do. My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning. For the psalmist there was nothing else to do but wait, pray..'my life a prayer'..And that's what I did. Prayed, worshipped, waited and watched. Worship is a choice and a discipline. We hang on in there and wait on the lord. And he comes. My dad was healed miraculously. Clive came home. I chose to worship God in a new and dark place. And I learnt who my brothers and sisters in Christ in our new church were, as they recognised the sacrifice we had made to be with them, to respond to God's call, and they supported me. Worship is a discipline and a choice. Through making that choice we reach new heights in our relationship with God and with each other. Higher and stronger. 
3. So what of us, here today? My newest friends in Christ, what if we are in that dark and desperate place today, watching and waiting? Hear what the psalmist says.. O Israel, wait and watch for God— with God's arrival comes love, with God's arrival comes generous redemption. No doubt about it—he'll redeem Israel, buy back Israel from captivity to sin. There is hope, even when we can't see it, and we can't trust it. But the psalmist knows. God's love will reach us, whatever our current circumstances and whatever the outcome. I will worship God wherever and however I am. If our worship is about God, not us, if we are disciplined, and make the choice, if we worship whatever the cost, we will win the medals! And if you are finding that impossible to hear, if life is so dark you can't remember what the light looks like, I'd love to pray for you. Or if you know you've lost your discipline, or have become bogged down in stuff that doesn't matter, I'd love to pray for you. 

So why don't we stand together, as God's broken but redeemed people, and let's pray.. The psalmist says.. If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshipped. Let's ask God to place on our hearts those things that he wants to change, to make new, those things that we need to ask forgiveness for... Thank you that you are the God of forgiveness, and we are made to worship you. Thank you for the fresh start you give us all today.. And Jesus, I ask in your precious name that you would lift up those who are broken today, that you would shine your love and renewal into their lives. Thank you so much that as we wait and watch for you, as we worship you, you come to breath new life by your spirit. Thank you Jesus. Amen.

What is Worship? Part 3- reflections on Philippians 2, 1-11

A few years ago I went to visit some friends of mine who went to a large church on the edge of a busy city. The place was packed with funky families and enthusiastic worshippers who all seemed to know each other and had things to do and places to go during the service. The music was great, the sermon entertaining, informative, profound, challenging and short, and the coffee was fantastic. It made me feel a bit dissatisfied with the church I was attending, great as it was, over towards Rugby. I spoke to my vicar about it and we had a chat about what made for a ‘perfect church’. He caused me to reflect that for me perhaps my dissatisfaction arose from my view that the perfect church would be a place where people think like me, worship like me and share my religious views, a place where we are always in harmony as we journey together, a place where I can do what I like. Is that what church is about, he asked me.


We’ve looked at worship being about God, not us, and how it is a 24/7 thing. Also looked at some of what we do here on Sunday mornings in relation to the early church. Today we’re going to think a bit about what it mean for us and those we know that we are people who worship God, and maybe we can reflect on what it means to us to be a part of this church. Our reading today said something very important about what it means to be a Christian, about how we are to behave and to act towards others-we should value others and do things for them, copying the way that Jesus values us and has done the most amazing thing for us-taking all our mistakes and bad behaviour so that we can be best friends with the God who made the universe. It says we should be ‘like-minded’, trying to be as Jesus-like as we can. It is a great encouragement to work to make the church all it can be. Indeed the passage actually tells us how to have a perfect church…it tells us that it is about each of us and how we think and act. We need a new attitude, one that comprises of a heart that is open and receptive to God.

Sunday Club rules-"have fun", "listen carefully", "be kind" etc. are the rules that the children themselves agreed would make the group the very best for all of them, and these rules say something about how the children downstairs are to value and respect each other and do things for someone other than themselves. Actually, those rules aren’t just for downstairs-kids, they are for when you get upstairs too. And when you get home, and when you’re at school etc . They give guidance on how to not just think about yourself. They help you to be more like Jesus.

And actually, they aren’t rules just for the children, either. We grown-ups can take guidance from them, too. They provide a good template for how we are to behave when we’re in church, valuing others above ourselves and looking not to our own interests but to the interests of others. It’s a real challenge. Who are these ‘others’, these ones with interests different from our own? Is it the rest of the congregation? The children? Or is it bigger than that? Could it be the guests we have with us today as we celebrate these wonderful baptisms? Could it be even bigger than that-could it be everyone in this neighbourhood who isn’t here? What a challenge that is, to try to put their needs before our own, particularly when we come to church on Sunday. How might that change how we behave when we are here? What might people think of us if we all always put them before ourselves, finding out what they need and trying to serve them?

But by doing so we imitate Christ, and look what the outcome of his humility was-every knee bowed, every tongue confessing, everyone accepting that Jesus is Lord and worshipping him. If we can act gently and for the good of others in all that we do, whether at church, in Sunday Club, wherever we are, we are imitating Jesus, and by doing so we are helping our family, our friends, our church family, our class mates, our work mates, our neighbours to discover something of the love of Christ. And then perhaps it will rub off on their family, friends, class mates, work mates etc. and we will see more of the love of God throughout this neighbourhood. And if that goes well maybe we’ll see more of the love of God throughout this City, throughout the Midlands, throughout Britain until every knee will bow and every tongue confess, until everyone knows that Jesus is Lord and that God loves them.

What is Worship Part 2: Thoughts on Acts 2

We are exploring the subject of worship for a few weeks and today we are looking at the Elements, the ingredients of Worship. If you were starting a new church from scratch and could ignore the last 2000 years of church history, what would you do, what ingredients would you think were important for church worship? What kind of church would it be? What would it be known for in the community? What would you do when you met together, and why? Why is it we do what we do here?

There are certain elements of worship that were there right from the beginning.

Apostles teaching, Fellowship, Breaking bread, Prayers, Sharing possessions in common

And note that they added daily to their number.

The elements described in the first century are in our worship too. Throughout church history this is what the church has done when it’s met together - in one way or another. And today we have even added to our number as we have welcomed Shianne into our midst.

Different churches and denominations today have different ways of expressing these same elements – you may be familiar with some but they are all there to enable worship, to enable us to express what God is worth to us and to help others to do the same.

Let’s have a look for a few minutes in a bit more detail at these elements and how we express them here. If you want to know even more about how the C of E arrived at the precise formulas that it uses feel free to ask me:

Praise of God

What we sing is what we think of God, and how we sing it is how we feel about God. –something about choruses liberating churches from confines of hymns. Music has always changed as the people of God have expressed their praise of God in the method of their age. Even what we call old hymns like Amazing Grace are only 250 years old, and so was brand new when it was first sung. You may have seen the film. What do we want to say now-need to keep revising our canon.

The apostles teaching

Why do we still need sermons after 2000 years of preaching? Surely it’s all been said? As your vicar I have been commissioned and licensed by The Bishop to, on his behalf, proclaim the gospel afresh to this generation, and indeed when Nic was given permission to celebrate Communion I marked it by asking him to make that same declaration in front of you all. Mick will have said the same when he was licensed as a lay reader. The same gospel, but proclaimed afresh. Not proclaimed like it was when we were young, or when we first went to church, but proclaimed afresh in a way that enables us, here and now, to engage with both the truth of God and the reality of the world around us. That’s why we still need sermons, to enable the Spirit of God to speak directly to us and to move us from the pews to the people, from the safety of our church building to the broken and hurting community in which we are set, from this place of beauty and warmth to the harshness of a world where people’s bodies and resources are being exploited daily within yards of where we are sat right now.

It’s not just the sermon where we might have ‘the apostles teaching’.

Studying and discussing the Bible together every other Monday is a wonderful way to explore our faith and grow as worshipping Christians, and actually when we meet for the prayer meeting every Tuesday evening we’ve been looking at what the Bible says about prayer. Bishop’s certificate, on-line courses (foundations21), books and guides, Alpha Course. The word ‘disciple’ means ‘student’ or ‘learner’. Ask yourself what nourishes you, what feeds your understanding and knowledge of God and the Bible. If we’re not learning and growing then it means that we aren’t disciples and so we might get a nasty surprise when we try to enter the kingdom of God!

Fellowship

The idea behind having the Peace just before the Eucharistic Prayer is so that if we are out of sorts with anyone, we can put things right. We talk about having ‘fellowship’ afterwards over coffee and that can be an opportunity to share something of our concerns with each other in the ups and downs of life. It doesn’t have to be all serious – there can be lots of fun in fellowship too.

There are other ways, too, though. Spending time in each others homes, helping each other with jobs or chores or sharing skills, coming together to plan something, maybe having a working party to look after this building instead of leaving it all to the wardens and deputy warden.

The Collection

Not just so that we can pay for a vicar and keep a church building over our heads! In fact here are some tough figures for you. You may not know this, but the cost of having a vicar, including training and curacy and housing etc., is roughly £50K per year. (I don’t get that much, I’m paid just over 20K. And we pay roughly £7K towards the cost of having me here.

Now I’m not suggesting that we hurriedly find another £43K to put in the plate (though if anyone has it spare I won’t say no), but we do need to think carefully about how we share our resources with others. Scripture encourages us to give a realistic proportion of what we have and earn in order to share with others - both here in our community and all over the world. The collection is part of our worship – giving back to God in gratitude so that we may share in his provision for others. And actually our meeting together is made possible because of the collections taken in other parts of the diocese. Wouldn’t it be great if one day we could offer something back, or in some way we could share our resources more widely? Feedback from Foodbank meeting.

The Breaking of Bread

This can be done formally or informally, and we need to be clear which it is we are engaging in.

We formally do this by celebrating Communion as we are about to. And when we do so we do so reverently and respecting the 2000 years of tradition that is represented when we do it. When I am leading us in Communion-most important thing I am doing and nothing should detract from it as the centre piece of our worship. That’s why, although I love to do it, I won’t play the guitar when it is a communion service.

The early Christians mostly met in people’s homes to break bread – there weren’t church buildings for a long time. Have you ever thought that offering hospitality and sharing a meal together is a way of worshipping God in an informal way?

The Prayers

Praising the Lord, confessing our sins and failures, interceding for the world – is worship. Whether silent or out loud – if it’s from the heart, it is worship.

Whether sung or spoken, in prose or poetry – if it’s from the heart, it’s worship.

Whether we read formal prayers or pray spontaneously – if it’s from the heart, it is worship.

When the Sunday Club come back they’ll probably lead us in a prayer. It might not be how you would pray. You might not hear it clearly. But know that it is worship, offered to God.

Conclusion

Worship is an affair of the heart.

When the Holy Spirit came upon the people of the first church they went from being frightened and downcast to getting together and laying the foundations to how we worship together. And the church grew rapidly and people’s lives were changed. When we worship together we would do well to reflect upon how each part of the service helps not just us but other’s too to have their lives transformed by God.