Sunday's coming!

Luke 10: 25-37 I would be most surprised if any of us here did not know what we thought a ‘Good Samaritan’ is. We even have the organisation “The Samaritans” – set up to listen to and help people.   So we might think we know exactly what the story of Jesus – of the man mugged and ultimately helped by a Samaritan – is telling us. Jesus tells the story to answer the question “who is my neighbour?”. If this story from Jesus helps us realise that the neighbour is the one who steps in and helps – even if it is the one we least expect to help – then it is a story worth reading.   You can find some really heart-warming modern stories which echo exactly Jesus’ story of the person you least expect acting as a true loving neighbour.   I found this story. In May 2023, a   60 year old prison guard in Louisiana, Roberta Bell, heard that one of the women in the facility where she worked was about to give birth … and because they had no facilities at the prison, the b...

 Proper 9 ;  2 Kings 5:1-14 It feels like the most dangerous time for the people of the Middle East.   Israel is said to be considering a 60 day ceasefire in Gaza: but the atrocities of October 7 th 2023, carried out by Hamas, are still brutally alive in many Israeli people’s memories. Meanwhile Palestinians in Gaza may well feel that after so many hundreds of people being killed trying to get aid, as well as the recent attack on a beach-front café in Gaza, the most they can hope for is a gap in the hostilities, rather than true lasting peace. Against this back-drop, President Trump has ended US sanctions against Syria; and supported Israeli attacks against nuclear facilities in Iran.   These are dangerous times – and so it feels like a difficult time to read the Old Testament, as it documents some of the ancient battles between these warring enemies.   These are the Hebrew Scriptures, the foundational stories of Judaism: some would argue...

  Luke 8: 26-33   & then Luke 8: 34-39 Reflection 1 At first hearing this story of Jesus healing this man doesn’t feel like anything we would experience. But I still think it’s worth listening carefully to what the story means for us. Jesus is in the land “opposite Galilee” - a land of Gentiles, non-Jews, outsiders. That’s why there’s a herd of pigs, which Jewish farmers wouldn’t touch, because pigs were considered unclean. In this land which is not quite home to Jesus, he comes across an outcast, a man not in his right mind, someone we might describe as having a mental illness. The poor man hears voices,   can’t be restrained, rips his clothes off, and chooses to live among the tombs. Jesus heals him, because that is what Jesus can do for those who need his help. There was a time in my life when I needed mental healing.   Just after Ellie was born I became very detached from reality due to a condition called postpartum psychosis. It affects abo...

  Matthew 7: 7-11 & 24-17           Ephesians 2: 17-22 We are celebrating the 202 nd anniversary of the building of this chapel - What does it take to build a chapel? I can recommend typing that question into a search engine if you want to give yourself a giggle. One website solemnly describes the process of engaging an architect to help you decide the best site – and then the need to discuss “ sufficient office spaces, the children’s department, the proper sanctuary size, adequate parking, church kitchen and/or café, and needed storage areas   - just to name a few”. Or you find a man like Thomas Skeel. Thanks to the fact that the “History of the Welsh Independent Churches” by Thomas Rees & John Thomas (published in 1871) is available online I can tell you quite a lot about Thomas Skeel – and it’s worth hearing! Thomas Skeel was born in 1758, in Hayscastle, the son of farmers. He was ordained at Trefgarne in 1795 and later married M...

  John 14: 8-17      Acts 2: 1-6, 12-18 Having travelled from Easter to Ascension day we have now arrived at Pentecost. We remember and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to ignite the early church.   Pentecost is an invitation to all of us to become part of God’s kingdom here on earth – to know God more closely and to be given the strength to be the body of Christ, together.   But like so many invitations in life, it’s worth looking at it a bit more deeply, to see quite what it all means.   Let’s start with the name “Pentecost” Luke begins his account with “When the day of Pentecost had come” because this was a day that was already a Jewish festival – it already had a name, Pentecost was already a thing.   Along with the Feast of Passover & the Feast of Tabernacles, Pentecost was one of 3 major Jewish feasts, coinciding with the Spring, Summer and Autumn harvests.  During these three great Jewish festivals, ever...

  Acts 16: 16-34 ,    John 17: 20-26 I was very moved when I first saw some of those ‘cardboard testimonies’ which show the power of God to transform lives.  eg.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrx-tJz_BtM     Seeing what was written on those bits of cardboard and especially seeing the faces of the people holding them light up as they showed their testimonies made me feel that I would want all churches to be a channel of that transformative grace, through our worship and through service of the world around. How can we help people to move from brokenness to peace?   When we look at the story from Acts it seems that there are many transformations in this story – or at least changes from one state to another – from brokenness to peace. Paul has toured to every city in which he has preached, to see how they are getting on. Then Paul sees the vision of a man from Macedonia (what we would call Greece) calling for help, so he and Silas travel ...