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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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What Thomas saw (Easter 2)

  In the first part of the service, we are hearing the Godly Play story "the Faces of Easter" you can watch a version   here  John 20: 19-31 is then the reading.  The reflection follows      Today’s gospel reading is from the gospel of John. John himself tells us he is not writing ‘everything Jesus did’, but telling us about the signs – helping us all to understand who Jesus is.   Thomas gets labelled ‘doubting’ because of this moment, in the week after Easter Sunday. He was not there when the other disciples first see the risen Jesus. But he had seen and heard so many of the signs of who Jesus way. And in then end that helped him to make sense of the fact that the risen Jesus was now standing in front of him, on this first Sunday after Easter.   We have heard the Godly Play story “Faces of Easter” reminding us of the whole of Jesus’ life:   Birth – his family. Thomas would have known Mary, Jesus’ mo...
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John 12: 20-26 - reflection for opening worship of Synod meeting of National Synod of Wales.

    Our theme running through today’s synod is Doing the little things (Gwnewch y pethau bychain).   In the part of John’s gospel we have just heard, we are approaching the end of Jesus’ earthly life. Just before this section there has been the triumphal entry into Jerusalem – which we will be remembering next Sunday – Palm Sunday. But this story is a quieter one, a smaller one, if you like.   Jesus’ disciples have a small role in the story – but a vital one.   The Greeks who have arrived for the Passover festival want to see Jesus. They go to Philip – who has a Greek name -   “Sir, we wish to see Jesus”. Philip goes and tells Andrew and then together the 2 disciples tell Jesus.   The whole area is talking about Jesus – but these Greeks have sidled up to try to get close to the great man. And Philip & Andrew help them – they use the small amount of influence they have to tell Jesus these men want to meet him. ...
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