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Pentecost - receiving the gift of the Spirit

Acts 2: 1-18 I wonder whether anybody got up today thinking “hooray! It’s Pentecost today – I can’t wait!”. Or maybe – especially for those who might be asked to read in church - there were thoughts of “oh no, it’s Pentecost, with all those funny place-names”. Dare I say it, for some of us while we stand a chance of remembering it’s Sunday, and we know we’ve been talking about the stories of Jesus’ resurrection for quite some time since Easter, we might not have arrived here this morning expecting anything in particular. Whatever mood we’ve arrived in here today, we’ll find someone we can relate to in the story of Pentecost. The followers of Jesus are gathered together in Jerusalem. They are there because about 10 days before they had seen the risen, resurrected Jesus on a mountaintop near Jerusalem. He had told them “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be ba...
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Easter 7: "it is well...?"

Acts 1: 6-14      John 17: 1-11     This has been one of those difficult weeks in the life of the pastorate, with the death of one of our Elders.   Three weeks ago she was told that the hospital was going to stop treating her cancer with chemotherapy. She was devastated to be told she would have months, rather than years, to live – in fact it was not even one month.  What do we do in shocking times like this? Where is God when we feel so bereft? Can reading our Bible really help us to face the reality of death? I’m going to begin this sermon with a story you might already know- the story behind the writing of the hymn “it is well with my soul”, by Horatio Gates Spafford . Spafford was born in New York, on 20th October 1828, but he, and his wife Anna lived in Chicago. They were active in their church, and their home was always open to visitors. They counted the world-famous evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, among their fr...
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Easter 6 & Christian Aid week - Hope.

   1 Peter 3: 13- 17   You might think that it is hard to find hope these days. I won’t list all the terrible stories in the media or in our own lives… but some days it just feels like there is nothing but bad news.   So I was heartened to read that   Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as saying: “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it—always.”   And we have heard just now that Peter, in his letter, hits the nail on the head when he says “Do not fear and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord and always be ready …to give an account for the hope that is in you”. Our faith in Jesus Christ gives us hope – even when the world and our lives seem to be in a complete mess.   Because Jesus rose from death; he was brought back...
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Living stones..what??

   1 Peter 2:2-10,  John 14:1-14   “Come to him, a living stone,, and like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house.”.   I’ve spent quite a lot of this week wondering about what a   ‘living stone’ really is.   What it is not You might have come across a house plant called ‘living stone’ or lithops: it looks like a couple of smooth, greenish pebbles nestled together and just sits there for the most part, but if you’re lucky it will suddenly produce a flower, like a yellow or white daisy, from between the stone-like plant parts. Is that what the writer of the letter is imagining? If we are living stones,   are we meant to be people of long periods of inactivity followed by a short burst of life? I don’t think so. I think Peter’s letter is written to help us to think about a life of faith, a life of following Jesus, that is both sure and firm but also involving growth and change.   Letter to...
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Guided by God - Good Shepherd Sunday

            This is Wolfsdale Chapel's anniversary   our readings will be  Psalm 23 (sung version); John 10:1-10; Godly Play story of The Beatitudes   On this anniversary Sunday it is good to remember God’s guidance through the years and give thanks that the same God is with us to guide us today. How do we find God’s guidance for us in the years to come?   We have heard in John’s gospel how Jesus tells his followers that he is like a good shepherd. Of course, he’s drawing on a very familiar Psalm, Psalm 23 where God, the Lord, is my shepherd.   This may be the Psalm we know best, probably because is our Christian faith it is impossible not to associate the car of God the Shepherd with the care of Jesus our Lord. Even without that connection, in its original Hebrew Bible context, it is a lovely picture of God’s care. God is the shepherd who cares for us, his sheep. He gives us a place...
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The road to Emmaus - ‘Faithfully following Jesus’.

            Luke 24: 13- 35   At the Bible exploration group on Tuesday, we were looking at the journey those two disciples make, on the evening of the first Easter Sunday.  (using the Trussell Trust "Walking Humbly" Bible study booklet)   We thought about -         how they were feeling -        how Jesus joins them -        the importance of them inviting Jesus in -        and the moment of revelation of who Jesus is. We also wondered what it might mean for us.   How the two were feeling The two people are grief-stricken, puzzled, desperately questioning all that has happened. It is Easter Sunday, but they have not yet grasped the Easter message that Christ truly is risen. And so they begin their journey home, grieving and puzzling and constantly stumbling over their own lack o...
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