Jesus and Self Isolation

JESUS AND SELF ISOLATION

Jesus’ promise:  ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid…

Paul’s response:  ‘So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day…

I’m sure I am not the only one who feels weighed-down by the psychological heaviness of these surreal days we are living through.

Cut-off from our usual human contacts and bombarded with media bad news, we can readily be plagued by ‘fightings within and fears without’. 

It is disconcerting, to say the least; depressing at worst. Read more..

Jesus and Social Distancing

JESUS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING    Luke 24:13-15

¹³ That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

This business of ‘social distancing’ seems odd and unnatural to us, doesn’t it?  

Is ‘social distancing’ inhuman, we wonder?  Yes, it is.  No handshakes, no hugs,

no kisses, no closeness, no-reaffirming touch on arm or shoulder.  

Is it un-Christian?  How can it not be when ours is so incarnational a Faith.

The apostle John never got over the stunning reality of it all:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—   Read more...…..

Jesus and VE Day

JESUS AND VE DAY

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. (1 John 5:4)

Did you join in celebrating the 75^th anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe) last Friday evening, May the 8^th?  We did.  We wanted to honour that wartime generation for the fortitude that helped secure our freedom.  So we strolled down our avenue to savour the mood of the modest, impromptu street parties, under red-white-and-blue bunting stretched across the road.

How much the many owe to the few - then and now.   Read more.....

Jesus and the R Factor

JESUS AND THE ‘R’ FACTOR   

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience (Romans 8:18-25 ESV).  Read more......

Jesus, Corona Virus and Clapping

 Jesus, ‘Corona’ and Clapping!

³³ Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴ For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
      Sit at my right hand,
³⁵ until I make your enemies your footstool.’

³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Pentecost Sunday has come and gone.  So did Ascension Day, a Thursday or two ago, passing ‘under our radar‘ in its annually unobtrusive way.  The Ascension of Jesus often seems the most under-rated, underfunded festival in the Church’s worship calendar.

This is strange, considering the significance of Ascension Day for us and for our world.  If Christmas celebrates Christ’s birthday, Ascension Day celebrates his Coronation, his triumphant enthronement...….read more

Jesus and the Economic Meltdown

JESUS – AND ECONOMIC MELTDOWN ~ Luke 18:18-30

By all accounts, the man who respectfully knelt before Jesus, in a seeker-friendly frame

of mind, was a prime candidate for conversion. 

He was wealthy, youthful (Matthew 19:20-22), and a ruling official, possibly in

the synagogue, more likely in local government.

He was the rich, young ruler.

What he said to Jesus tells us much about him; what Jesus said to him tells us even more about Jesus and is very challenging.

Listen to Luke’s account of the dialogue:......read more

Jesus and Changing the World

JESUS AND CHANGING THE WORLD  

‘Will there be more pandemics?’   ‘Yes’.   How do I know? 

Jesus says so.

‘Will there be more wars’?   ‘ Yes’.   How do you know?

Jesus tells us so.

¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:10-11)

Jesus pulls no punches in foretelling wars and pandemics and ‘natural’ disasters - and the last two thousand years have proved him right!

Covid and Ukraine are the latest instalment......read more

From Your Royal Correspondent

With the death of our beloved Queen, we are all now subjects of the King.

These are unsettling times.  Post-Brexit challenges, pandemic fears,

war in Europe, energy crisis, swapping Boris for Liz as PM – and now,

most disconcerting of all, the loss of our longest-serving monarch whose sheer endurance and consistent faithfulness to her role gave us a stable backdrop

to our lives for 70 years.......read more

Jesus and the Inter-National Anthem

Melody, harmony, rhythm and tone are not human inventions. 

Melodic music and harmonious singing of a shared redemption unites people as nothing else does......read more