Dear Friends,
Silence won’t be so golden if we are silent!
It wasn’t so long ago that we could complain about the ’sound of silence’ concerning the abuse and pollution of the planet, but now some people want to ’silence the voices.’
It won’t be long before the ’sound of silence’ won’t be so golden as it will be the sign that nature has disappeared from the fields and trees so as a community we need to raise our voices and make sure we are not silenced.
Dear Friends,
The world has been mugged and stripped of her clothes!
Luke 10: 25-37
What we say can heal or hurt depending on how we say it! It’s the same with what we see or how we feel! How we see can help heal or continue to hurt the world that we share!
Don’t trust the robots — they have no heart!
Reading: Ephesians 4: 1-17
I am not always worthy of the calling I have received as a minister in the United Reformed Church because with some telephone calls my patience runs thin and I admit love is totally absent from the conversation. I certainly do not sound humble or gentle and I have given up trying to make peace with the robotic voice I must communicate with.
Dear Friends,
1 Corinthians 9: 24-end
Watching a family and friends dancing in a garden in the early hours of the morning reminded me of how WE can all be part of a winning team and not have a medal round our neck!
It was, of course, an Olympic medal winning celebration and YOU can be part of a winning team, but, probably, don’t know it. You won’t have the medal round your neck, but without your support and encouragement the runners in the race and fighters in the battle won’t qualify to compete in the “games.”
Dear Friends,
THE MASKED SINGER!
I never thought I would hear myself saying it, but I do sympathise with Boris. There will be people who think he can do no wrong and for others he can do no right.
I thought he got it wrong last week when he said that he wasn’t going to self isolate, but did he get it right when he changed his mind? Politics can be so ugly, but, as christians, we don’t play that game because we commend people who listen and try to right a wrong!
Too tired to taste the honey!
As we prepare to listen to the Word of God it is an absent story that inspires my message this week. I found myself reflecting on what is not said rather than what will we read as I followed the lectionary reading for the week — with a few verses added by myself.
Dear Friends,
I am often encouraged by Church leaders who see the urgent need for change, but continue to be disappointed when it doesn’t seem to happen. I wonder, why not?
Some will argue that church leaders — whether they be ministers, vicars, pastors or some other title — are frustrated by church members who want everything to remain as it has always been. Others will point to the hypocrisy of our leaders who say one thing and do another. There are also those who will say that we’ve got what God has given us and only God can change that! Children don’t always do as their Father tells them so are we stubbornly going our own way, doing our thing rather than God’s will? Lots of questions!
Dear Friends,
I noted with sadness that 29 United Reformed Church buildings have closed in the past year and hope we will “remember them” as Jesus asks us to “remember him.” It is in the remembering that we can celebrate the joy of the ‘risen Christ’ to help us through our grief and look forward with a vision of hope.
Mark 6: 1-13
The hometown for Jesus today is the Church. That is the place where his family live — so I am amazed at our lack of faith in what he tells us.
We are his brothers and sisters in the world today, but we make him weep because we don’t understand what he tells us and how to make peace. (Luke 19: 41) His home is now global, as well as local, and Jesus can’t do the miracles among us unless we have faith in what he tells us and in what he does.
Dear Friends,
I must admit there have been many times when I have been guilty of thinking, “oh no, I don’t have to work with them, do I Lord?” The answer has been, “yes, you do,” and the experience has been one of valuable learning. That doesn’t mean the experience was enjoyable, but the learning was necessary for my ministry to grow.