If you have to replace something in your home, you might find it stressful. For me in the last few weeks that replacement has been a mini computer – a laptop. Friends had sung the virtues of a new model – a Chrome Book. It was demonstrated and found to be just the thing. But would I go for something completely new and unknown? Or would I stick to the model I just about understood – a laptop? When the moment to order came, of course I chose the faithful laptop. My supplier, always so kind to the non computer literate – told me not to worry about my rather conservative decision... He said `Computers are frightening. Change is frightening. Put the two together and it can be very frightening. ` I went for the laptop. It has already gone wrong. But a newer one is on order!There are so many things which cause us to be fearful. It can be fears from childhood: things like the fear of creepy crawlies or snakes. It can be fear of the dark or of heights. It can be fear of illness or fear of the unknown. We have spent two years facing the fear involved in the pandemic. Such fear has come from deep within us as we faced questions of life and death. Perhaps one of the worst things in this time has been the feeling of being out of control: that what we were facing was perhaps going to overwhelm us. We were not in control of it. Maybe we found it hard to work out what God was saying in all this. We found it hard to express what we were truly feeling – and maybe we still do.In our Gospel reading is a clear picture of a group of people who feel very fearful. Jesus has asked his disciples to go to the other side of Lake Galilee. Sailing on that lake in a small boat could be dangerous. Sudden winds created a wind tunnel and even those who knew the waters could feel under threat. Jesus is exhausted and fast asleep in the boat. He doesn`t see the boat filling with water. We are told that they were all in great danger. The mission of Jesus looks as if it will end in terrible tragedy. His disciples come to him and scream that death is coming. But Jesus` response is like a gentle ointment on a painful wound. He gives an order to the wind and the sea. There is a great calm. And he challenges them: `Where is your faith?’The disciples are amazed: `He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.’ We need, don`t we, to enlarge our picture of God. Today`s Epistle reading from Revelation helps us in the picture it gives of the One who is at the heart of heaven: `The one who sat on the throne had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. From the throne came flashings of lightnings, rumblings and peals of thunder. ` We can`t begin to understand what heaven is like. But the bible gives us glimpses, tools which lift us from earth to heaven. God is in control. We see it in the story of Creation in Genesis. It`s there in his words to Job about who God is:- `Where were you when I laid the earth`s foundation? Who marked off its dimensions? On what were its footings set or who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? ` It`s there in the testimonies that you and I can give of God`s faithfulness down the years. It`s there in the clear accounts in the Gospels of fearful man relying on the God whose love is unchanging. So Jesus gently challenges us today as he challenged the disciples: `Where is your faith? ` He uses times of darkness to enable our faith to grow. This week he calls us to be brave. To go out into the places to which he has called us and to proclaim the good news that he is in control, that he loves us and will bring us safely home. The Revd Pat Hopkins
We all prefer to hear about joys than about woes. We like affirmation rather than challenge. But like two sides of a coin, they’re inextricably linked.How much better food tastes when we’re hungry! The meal I remember enjoying the most was a sandwich late at night when I hadn’t eaten for most of the day. And a glass of water is the finest champagne to someone with a great thirst.Without woes we don’t experience joy. ‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh,’ said Jesus. We’ll enjoy laughter all the more when we know what it was like to be without it, when we couldn’t manage so much as a smile.Jesus isn’t telling us to make ourselves miserable so that one day we will be happy. He’s telling us that whatever we have to put up with in this life, it will be made up to us in heavenly joy.My brother had a hard time when he was younger, he had many woes. He lost a leg in an accident, became addicted to drugs, and had trouble with relationships. He didn’t begin to follow Jesus until he was thirty. That was when he began to experience joy. He often quotes the prophet Joel: “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten: (Joel 2:25). Now in his seventies, he’s still a committed Christian, appreciating and enjoying the spiritual fruit which we’re given.So why did Jesus have to go on to woes? Why should those who are full now be hungry later? Why shouldn’t we aim to have others speak well of us?I think it’s all about our attitudes, and what is most likely to lead us astray. If we’re only thinking about ourselves, what we eat and drink, and not considering others who are hungry, or the welfare of the animals farmed to produce our food, or the methods used which harm the soil, the water and the atmosphere, then we’ve gone astray, and we will regret it one day.If we’re feeding our vanity on the compliments and accolades of others, we’ve gone astray, and we will regret it one day.As Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, if we don’t believe that resurrection comes after death, then our faith is futile. We must see that every aspect of our lives will be under scrutiny when we stand face to face with Jesus.Christianity isn’t only about joy, it’s about real life in this world, and in how we live it. Woes are the other side of the coins we hold, sometimes face up. But when we grasp that Jesus’s head is on the other side, we know that joy will remain. Amen.Julie Rubidge, Lay Minister.
Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray. Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ‘Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover them with favour as with a shield.’ (Psalm 5:11-12)Hymn: Will you come and follow me...1 Corinthians 15:12-20Let us meet the Lord with repentance in our hearts: Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen. May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer for the day: Almighty God, who alone can bring order to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity: give your people grace so to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, among the many changes of this world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.Luke 6:17-26Please see the message from the minister. Let us kneel before God, asking for his presence to be known to all. Let us pray. We pray for St Peter’s Church and the Church throughout the world, that all people will respond to the invitation to follow Christ; We pray for our world, that the Earth and all of its creatures will thrive; We pray for our friends, families and neighbours - may we all share in the love of Christ; We pray for people who are sick or suffering, to know the Holy Spirit’s healing presence; We remember the departed, and pray for all who mourn.Let us join in the words of the Lord’s prayer, whoever and wherever we are: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hymn: Blest are the pure in heart...May God give us his comfort and his peace, his light and his joy in this world and the next. And may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and remain with us always. Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray. Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ (Isaiah 6:3)Hymn: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty...Isaiah 6:1-8‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.’ We long for the fire of God’s cleansing to touch our unclean lips, for our guilt to be removed. Let us meet the Lord with repentance in our hearts: Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Lord of the hosts of heaven, our salvation and our strength, without you we are lost: guard us from all that harms or hurts and raise us when we fall; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Luke 5:1-11Please see the message from the minister. Let us kneel before God, asking for his presence to be known to all. Let us pray. We pray for St Peter’s Church and the Church throughout the world, that all people will respond to the invitation to follow ChristWe pray for our world, that the Earth and all of its creatures will thrive; We pray for our friends, families and neighbours - may we all share in the love of Christ; We pray for people who are sick or suffering, to know the Holy Spirit’s healing presence; We remember the departed, and pray for all who mourn.Let us join in the words of the Lord’s prayer, whoever and wherever we are: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hymn: I, the Lord of sea and sky...May God give us his comfort and his peace, his light and his joy in this world and the next. And may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and remain with us always. Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
