The Benefice of Chebsey and Norton Bridge, Ellenhall, Ranton and Seighford with Creswell
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At Pentecost we celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit amongst God’s people. It is worth recalling, however, that this is not the first time we hear of, or encounter, the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Whilst Pentecost is sometimes seen as the birth of the Church, it does not signify the birth of the Holy Spirit. The collective accounts of the Holy Spirit in the Bible remind us that above all else the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of Peace! Continue reading “Pentecost:Peace not Chaos!”
On Maundy Thursday I spoke about a Tale of 2 Gardens in relation to the Bible. They were the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane. These 2 Gardens held within them the message of human disobedience and of human obedience. These 2 Gardens continue to speak to us of the choices we make to either follow our own will or to follow God’s Will. The first Adam choosing to disobey and to follow the path of self-interest .. the second Adam , that is Jesus, choosing to obey and to follow the path of self-sacrifice. A path which lead to death and to being laid in a Tomb!
I want to take you to a 3rd Garden for Easter. It is the garden in which that Tomb had been hewn into the rock by a man from Arimathea! Continue reading “Easter Sunday 2019”
This evening I want to tell a ‘Tale of 2 Gardens’. One is found in our Old Testament and the second in the New.
The first is a mythical Garden which tells the story of how self-interest prevailed in our world. For it was a perfect Garden where a man and a woman shared life with one another and with their Creator and in which all their needs were provided for. It’s story starts like this .. Continue reading “Maundy Thursday”
Today we celebrate the start of a week when Jesus would let everybody down. The start of a week in which many people would let themselves down through denial and betrayal. The start of a week when Jesus would feel even God His Father had let Him down when He cries ‘My God why have you forsaken me’! Continue reading “Palm Sunday”
Ashes are ceremonially placed on the heads of Christians on Ash Wednesday, either by being sprinkled over their heads or more often by being marked on their foreheads as a visible cross. Words based on Genesis 3:19 are used traditionally to accompany this gesture, “Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.” (“Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shall return.”)
I wanted to take a moment to invest in the idea that we are asked to accept the ashes which will be imposed upon us to start our journey through Lent. I wonder how you feel about being imposed upon? Continue reading “A Reflection on the Imposition of Ashes”
