Reading for Sunday April 15 can include Acts 4:32-37, 1 John 1:1-2:2, John 20:19-31 & Psalm 133
We would and do expect the accounts of the Resurrection experiences to be important parts fo the scriptural story.
They, after all. speak of what is at the heart of the Christian Gospel

that Jesus who once was dead
was encountered alive by the first disciples.
The stories are not straight forward
they are of course
sailing in uncharted waters.

We could make a couple of observations from todays readings:

ACTS: what ever else we see
the early church understood that things had changed
and there was a tremendous boost of energy
when Jesus was encountered alive
POINT: if we are wanting to focus our energies
then we look not to the empty tomb
but to the presence of the risen Christ
in our midst.

1JOHN: This is about seeing things as they are
God is light, and lights dispels darkness
We also need to be up front about where
we get things wrong
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves
But that is not the end
because God who faithful will and can forgive sins
and bring us into relationship with Jesus
POINT: This changes and deepens our relationship with God
and is an invitation to live with a new freedom

JOHN 20
We should expect Jesus to bring peace
in our relationships
and in our lives
And we also need to take this seriously
the story of Thomas
reminds us
POINT: that we are not required to park our brains
or arbitrarily dismiss our doubts
but rather that
in struggling with doubt
and inviting Jesus to deal with us realistically
we can move to a deeper and profounder encounter with God.


THIS WEEK

Where is God inviting and challenging you to respond at this time?

Where do you need peace? Where do you need light? Where do you grapple with doubt?

None of this need be negative: rather it is the opportrunity to be a deeper person, more deeply committed and energised by the Holy Spirit of God

Light and salt

Readings for February 6th, 2011 are those for The 5th Sunday after Epiphany:

Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) •

Psalm 112:1-9 (10) •

1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) •

Matthew 5:13-20

When I go to visit my sister it is my job to make the coffee

(this is largely because I don't believe anyone can make coffee as well as I can!)

There was of course the unfortunate day when I mistook the salt for the sugar

and my coffee was undrinkable.

The whole point about salt is to give flavour

but to give the right sort of flavour

in the right sort of place.

And Jesus makes the same point about light;

you don't get batteries for your torch

or a new fixture for your kitchen

so that you can sit in the dark.

Taste & Light

The light that we give at baptism

is a light to bring us out of darkness

into God's marvellous light

- a light which exposes evil

- a light which shows us the way to go

- a light which help us show the way to God to others

I would suggest that this is not just a call to you and me as individuals

ut also to us as a community

So we might ask how does our parish, church, family (or wherever we identify our community)

- expose evil

- show the way to go

- help us to show the way to others

We could suggest:

that when we are confronting prejudice, when we are standing against dishonesty,

standing up for the rights of the friendless

then we are shining the light.

We should also see that we need to train ourselves in what it means to be a good Christian

Lent is coming up, and is a good time for us to get back to Christian basics

Brushing up on prayer, on spiritual discipline

practising what we preach with more verve.

AND we should always recognise that the purpose

is not just for our self edification

but so that others might be drawn to the light.

We want the light to be for others as well as for ourselves..

Not always good at that, it sometimes seem a bit hard

yet it should be our catchcry.

The Gospel for others.

Finally, to all this we add salt..

I think this suggests that all this should be tasty!

I sometimes worry that we are very British in our spiritual tastes

We like it bland with lashings of brown!

Where, we might ask, is the flavour of our community?

Can we give ourselves permission to be more adventurous?

In the words of the musical Godspell

But if that salt has lost it's flavor
It ain't got much in its favor

You can't have that fault and be the salt of the earth

.

So what can we do to spice up our faith.

Perhaps this is a challenging question

but Jesus gives it a priority which makes it important for us.

Should we be a community:

• that does hospitality well
• that prides ourself on caring for families
• that thinks music should have a high priority
• that looks to engage the community on controversial issues
• that looks for way to welcome those who the rest of the church finds difficult

These are just a few suggestions:

You gotta stay bright to be the light of the world

You gotta live right to be the light of the world

Let's give ourselves permission to be tasty and to be bright

O ye of little faith!

Readings for this Sunday, Easter 2, 19th April 2009 Acts 4:32-37, 1 John 1:1-2:2, John 20:19-31

We would and do expect the accounts of the Resurrection experiences to be important parts fo the scriptural story.
They, after all. speak of what is at the heart of the Christian Gospel



that Jesus who once was dead
was encountered alive by the first disciples.
The stories are not straight forward
they are of course
sailing in uncharted waters.

We could make a couple of observations from todays readings:

ACTS: what ever else we see
the early church understood that things had changed
and there was a tremendous boost of energy
when Jesus was encountered alive
POINT: if we are wanting to focus our energies
then we look not to the empty tomb
but to the presence of the risen Christ
in our midst.

1JOHN: This is about seeing things as they are
God is light, and lights dispels darkness
We also need to be up front about where
we get things wrong
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves
But that is not the end
because God who faithful will and can forgive sins
and bring us into relationship with Jesus
POINT: This changes and deepens our relationship with God
and is an invitation to live with a new freedom

JOHN 20
We should expect Jesus to bring peace
in our relationships
and in our lives
And we also need to take this seriously
the story of Thomas
reminds us
that we are not required to park our brains
or arbitrarily dismiss our doubts
but rather that
in struggling with doubt
and inviting Jesus to deal with us realistically
we can move to a deeper and profounder encounter with God.


THIS WEEK

• Where is God inviting and challenging you to respond at this time?


• Where do you need peace? Where do you need light? Where do you grapple with doubt?


• None of this need be negative: rather it is the opportrunity to be a deeper person, more deeply committed and energised by the Holy Spirit of God