Acts 1:1-11 ‘Jesus ascends to heaven’
John 9:1-41 ‘Jesus heals a man born blind’ – Jesus the healer
Sermon, 17th April 2016
Minister’s Letter April
April 16, 2016 By
Dear friends,
As I write this letter, I am travelling from Brussels to Paris on the Thalys. It is the first time that I have travelled this way since an attack on the Thalys was foiled last August. Yesterday, was the first time I travelled on the Metro since Brussels was attacked by terrorists on the morning of the 22nd March. Some of the stations are blacked out; there is an eeriness around Brussels Metro at the moment. I have not had the courage to revisit the departure hall at Zaventem airport. When I do I am not sure how I will feel. When I arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris, the police presence was significant.
There were a number of people in our congregation caught up in the attacks one way or another; some people escaped, others sustained minor injuries, others knew some of those who died in the Metro attack. We hear stories of people who escaped harm by, what seems like, the skin of their teeth.
Acts of terror are not a new phenomenon. When I was young people in certain parts of the UK were directly affected by the ‘troubles’ of Ireland. There remain dissident groups of republicans that cause problems. When civilians are targeted and are deliberately killed and injured it is the ultimate act of cowardice.
So what changed in Brussels on 22nd March. The word that has come to my mind time and again is ‘violated’. People no longer feel safe making their way through the city. Journeys that we once took for granted, that were part of the regular routine, are not the same. We feel afraid. We look at some people with a culture of suspicion- does that person have malicious intent? Does the diversity of our cosmopolitan city have it’s drawbacks? How effective are those who are supposed to protect us from acts of terror?
John 6:1-24 ‘A big dinner & fancy footwork’ – Jesus the healer
Sermon, 10th April 2016
John 4:1-42 ‘The Samaritan woman’
Sermon, 6th March 2016
Jeremiah 33:1-26 ‘God’s promise of restoration’
Sermon, 21st February 2016
Jeremiah 28:1-17 ‘The False Prophet Hananiah’
Sermon, 14th February 2016
Jeremiah 29:1-14 ‘A letter to the exiles’
Sermon, 7th February 2016
Minister’s Letter February 2016
February 7, 2016 By
Dear friends,
In our present age, most of us have the opportunity to become a celebrity through social media. Our messages are forever posted on Facebook and our images preserved on Instagram for all the world to see. There is a real blur now between the celebrity world and every day life.
The early days of January saw the loss of two men of great talent and genius- (true celebrities) with the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman in the same week. Rickman was versatile in his acting ability from Jamie in the bitter-sweet romance ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ to the, cold, mysterious and misunderstood Professor Severus Snape from the Harry Potter films. Bowie was a creative genius; an actor, singer, songwriter and the master of reinvention. There is no doubt that his music was appreciated by a lot of people and there is more than a touch of irony that Bowie’s final album ‘Blackstar’ was released just days before his untimely death. The opening track on the album is titled ‘Lazarus’ which eerily begins with the words ‘Look up here I’m in heaven…’
If you recall the story from the 11th chapter of John’s gospel, Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha from Bethany. He was the man who died but didn’t stay dead. After four days in the tomb, Jesus raises his friend from the dead; a precursor to the resurrection. Moments before that, in an anguished conversation with Martha, Jesus speaks the words , ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.’
Many people today still speak of Heaven. For example other pop stars including, Belinda Carlisle and Elton John, speak about Heaven in their songs, while over the years hundreds of poems have been written on the subject. Why are we so interested in the afterlife? There are several reasons:To begin with we must remember that human beings are imprinted with the divine, i.e. we are made in God’s image. In essence we were designed by God to reach out to him through worship and this is driven, in part, by our yearning something which lies beyond ourselves. We can experience those things that transcend ourselves not only through worship but we can glimpse them in the sheer beauty of creation. When we see a beautiful sunset, witness the Aurora Borealis, look up at the stars or catch sight of something the soul is stirred.
