Reflection for May 3rd from Jon EllisActs 1522 ¶ Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers.23 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorisation and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.30 The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. (NIV)REFLECTIONHow do we recognise false teaching and ideas? We know we must be careful of scammers trying to con us out of money, or even worse our identity. We now have to be sceptical of not only what we read, but actual fake videos showing people saying something which is the opposite of what they really say. But this is not new. In the early church there were people who had misinterpreted what Jesus had said. The history of the Christian Church is of factions splitting because of this. So here in the passage from Acts we hear that some have gone out without authorisation and disturbed the churches. Senior Disciples are dispatched to set them on the right path again.We need that don’t we! Each week we say the Creed so that can be sure of what we believe. I remember a wonderfully straight-talking lady at our last church who said that she couldn’t say the version of the creed that says, “We believe…” She would only say, “I believe…” because she declared that, “I know what I believe, but I don’t know what you believe!” It is a fair point, but it also misses the real point. We should all know what we all believe.I believe every word in the Bible is true, but I also believe it has to be set in context of when it was written and who it was written to. God still speaks clearly to us today through the Bible and the Holy Spirit. He also speaks to us through fellow Christians. The ones we can trust. Sadly, some people say they are Christians, but they have chosen to ignore what God is saying to them when it doesn’t suit them. When we listen to God, we can spot them. Then it is important to challenge them. The Safeguarding Courses we have been on, tell us we must expose wrong behaviour and thinking. Say something to church leaders. Recently Rev Ildikó gave a very thought-provoking sermon at St Margaret’s about different ways that sin effects our lives and the resulting separation from God. Let us thank God and pray for all our leaders who help to keep us on the straight and narrow path to holiness.COLLECT – Easter 5Risen Christ,your wounds declare your love for the worldand the wonder of your risen life:give us compassion and courageto risk ourselves for those we serve,to the glory of God the Father. Amen Common Worship: Collects and Post Communions, material from which is included here, is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000
We are taking a different look using this book.Holy Trinity Church on Sunday 17th February 3pm and following weeks on Mondays 2pmFebruary 18th & 26thMarch 4th, 11th & 18th
- Are you grieving the loss of your ‘life partner’? - Would you like some support with life.. ’after’..?Are you a widow who can offer a hand-up to others?*****Maggie’s Maidsis a drop in group for widows meeting on Tuesdays 10.00am till 11.30 at Coffee@Maggie’sSt. Margaret’s Church, Northam.. just to be there for each other from February 6th 2024
