Candlemas – Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple Readings: Malachi 3v1-8; Psalm 24; Hebrews 2v14-end; Luke 2v22-40. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: Through the prophet Malachi, we are warned that when the Lord comes to judge us we must be as clean as refined silver so we will be an offering that is pleasing to the Lord. For God is coming to judge us and God will judge against all those who have not mended their ways with the list including: sorcerers, adulterers, liars, racists, oppressors of workers and the poor, as well as those who reject God. The psalm tells us more about God who is coming to judge us. It says that God is the King of Glory, the one who created and filled the earth with life, the one who sits on his holy hill. The one who gives blessings and just rewards to those who are saved by him. All people who no longer worship idols nor swear oaths on lies. The people who have been made pure and seek his face. But we do not have too much to fear or worry about because in Luke we hear that on the day that Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple that an old righteous and devout man named Simeon was called by God to come and meet his Lord and saviour. Then a short while later, an old widowed woman called Anna, a woman who worshipped, prayed and fasted night and day in the temple, came and also gave witness that this was the child that God’s people were waiting for. What we learn from these encounters, is that Jesus is a light of revelation for the Gentiles, the one who will redeem Jerusalem, a sign who will be opposed, the one destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel. The reason we do not need to be afraid is also explained in Hebrews because it tells us that Jesus became like one of us because he is a merciful and faithful high priest, the one working in the service of Almighty God. As a priest Jesus came to make a sacrifice for the sins of all people, the sacrifice Jesus made through his own death, a death that destroyed the power of the devil and freed us from the fear of dying. For in dying for us as our great high priest, Jesus brought full and final cleansing of the sins of the whole world. Today, all of us need to keep in mind that God is coming and when he does we will all face judgement. This means we need to mend our ways with God’s help and live our lives as taught to us through the Scriptures. But whenever we fall from grace we need to keep in mind that each and everyday of our lives we can be made clean because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Let us Pray: Almighty and ever-living God, we thank you for your beloved Son who was: presented in the Temple, who was welcomed by Simeon and Anna, and who will come again one day to bring eternal life; cleanse us and make us pure so we can prepare to be presented to and meet our Lord Jesus. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
3rd Sunday of Epiphany Readings: Nehemiah 8v1-3&5-6 &8-10; Psalm 19v1-6; 1 Corinthians 12v12-31a; Luke 4v14-21. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: In the reading about Nehemiah we hear about a Judean exile, a man of God, a man of prayer, a prophet of God who was serving King Artaxerxes in the land that he had found himself. Nehemiah was a good and capable man who listened to God’s call to return and rebuild Judah. He was a man who served the King so well that the king listened to his plea and trusted him enough to send his to be a governor to oversee the re-building works. However, all did not go smoothly for Nehemiah even though he was following God’s call and was supported by the King - because he met with resistance, hostility and plotting against him. However this did not stop him and eventually, the city was re-built and after many exiles returned, the priest Ezra encouraged them to return to the ways they had been taught. To help them understand what God expected of them, Ezra read the book of the law to them and others interpreted the meaning for them. In the reading from Luke, we hear that in Jesus’ time, the reading and explaining of God’s word continues in the synagogues. For after Jesus returned to his home town of Galilee, he went into the synagogue and taught those who were there. Then on the Sabbath day after Jesus read the scroll that set out the ministry he was sent to fulfil, Jesus declared that the scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing. For as he read it, Jesus knew he was called to: bring good news to the poor, proclaim the release of captives, give sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. In many Churches, we do something similar in our own time to what Ezra, Nehemiah, the Levites and Jesus were doing in their time. For, we listen to and hear from the word of God when we listen to readings from the Bible and we learn about their meaning when we listen to what is said by those who preach. But learning how to live as God’s people is about more that this for we need more than people to read the Bible, or people to preach, or people to lead our intercessions. For in each generation we need to raise up people who will lead the Church in following God’s mission to the world. For there are many people across the world and in our own communities who have no access to a Bible and have not read or heard the stories and messages it contains. But God has a plan and has made provision for them, for as it tells us in the Psalm, the whole of creation points us to God and God’s glory – in the heavens and the sky, the day and the night, and the sun as it runs its daily course – and these people need someone to teach them. In our time, we believe it’s the work of the Church to help people who are being called by God to hear what God has to say through the Bible and learn how to live with help from the Church. In Paul’s time, we hear that the Church is a body of people with gifts that are to be used for the benefit of all, with no part of the body being more important than any other. In Paul’s time the worldwide church was made up of: apostles, prophets, teachers, people with powers, healers, people who assist and help others, people to lead and people who spoke in tongues; all of them appointed by God. In comparison in our time, we have Bishops, Clergy and Lay workers, alongside the main body of the Church, the people who gather regularly, plus all of those who turn to the church in their time of need. I believe that Paul is saying that no-one who holds a position of appointment in the Church is greater than anyone else – yes they have a part to play, in accordance with the gifts God has given them – but they are no more important than anyone else because everyone of us is called to service in God’s work. In response to this, I believe that each one of us is being asked to consider the call that God is asking us to respond to so he can use the gifts he has given us in his service. I pray that each of us will respond to his call. Let us Pray: Lord of all time and eternity, through your son Jesus you revealed signs and miracles and renewed your people by your grace. May your word enlighten us and our weaknesses be overcome by your mighty power so we shine with the bright reflection of Jesus’ glory. May Jesus our saviour, the light of the world, be known, worshipped and obeyed to the ends of the earth. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
2nd Sunday of Epiphany Readings: Isaiah 62v1-5; Psalm 36v5-10; 1 Corinthians 12v1-11; John 2v1-11. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: Through the prophet Isaiah, God says that his chosen people will be vindicated and called by a new name. For God has a salvation plan and his people will no longer be forsaken. For God’s people will be a crown of beauty, a royal diadem, a people of God’s delight, a people joined in union with God, a people that God rejoices over. In an echo of the same message, the psalm tells us that God’s love, faithfulness, righteousness, justice and loving mercy are so vast that humanity and all creatures can find refuge under the shadow of God’s wings and be saved. For we have a God whose loving kindness is precious and that we have a God who gives us all that is needed to those who know him, including: food and drink; life and light; and the gift of righteousness. As Christians we believe that God fulfilled the promises found in Isaiah and the psalm when he sent his Son Jesus into the world to live, die and rise again for us. Like us, Jesus was born into the world, like a lot of people Jesus grew up in a human family, like some people Jesus was called into ministry. However, Jesus’ ministry was like no other ministry because his calling and mission was: to save the world from sin and death, by taking away our sins and making us right with God. In John’s gospel we hear about the early part of this ministry and Jesus' first miracle of turning water into wine, a miracle done in the presence of Jesus’ mother and disciples. In John's account, we hear that even though Jesus is the son of God and has begun already his ministry, he does not believe that his time has come and thinks he is not to intervene when the wine has run out. However, his mother Mary believes otherwise. So after she prompts Jesus and the servants, Jesus acts by giving the instruction to the servants to fill the water-jars to the brim with water and telling them to take some to the steward who is managing the feast. This culminates in the miracle that John describes as the first sign of Jesus’ glory. A miracle account that feels reassuring because even though Jesus is the Son of God he too had feelings of being unsure about his ministry and had to be prompted by his Mother.This uncertainty of Jesus prompted me to re-think the calling of God's people that is described in letter to the Corinthians. For in it we hear that God gives a variety of spiritual gifts to his people. Gifts that are to be used in a variety of services and activities for the good of all God’s people. Gifts activated by the Holy Spirit, who allots them to each person individually. Gifts like having the good sense and intelligence in coming to and making judgements. Gifts like having the know-how, experience and expertise needed to be of help in the world. Gifts of being able to deliver therapeutic, health-giving and remedial intervention to those who need them. Gifts of being able to invoke marvels, signs and wonders in the presence of others. Gifts like being shrewd, insightful and intelligent in discerning between good from evil. Gifts of being able to communicate using a heavenly language. Gifts of being able to accurately interpret and explain the meaning of what is shared to us by others in heavenly language. All sorts of gifts and all given for the benefit of the world. Today, we need to keep in mind that God has placed us in the world and gathers us together to make a helpful difference in the world for the benefit of all. This is our calling, a calling we may need to be prompted to pursue by those we know and trust. Today I pray and trust that each one of us will hear God’s call and then follow as God has called us so that we use the gifts he has given us to help each other and the world. Let us Pray: Lord of all time and eternity, who opened heaven and revealed yourself as Father at the baptism of your Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit; anoint us that we may be born again, made faithful to our calling and in so doing complete the heavenly work of our re-birth as your adopted children – for the love of Jesus who came and died so we can be saved. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
Baptism of Christ Readings: Isaiah 43v1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8v14-17; Luke 3v15-17 & 21-22. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word : The readings tell us not only about God’s plans and purposes and our call to be a people of worship but also about baptism and the laying on of hands that is part of the rite of confirmation. In Luke’s gospel, we hear what took place after John had baptised Jesus. This baptism was a baptism of repentance – the saying of sorry for human sinfulness, the turning away from lives of sin and the turning towards lives lived for God. As Christians we believe that Jesus was baptised for the sins of the whole world, past , present and yet to come. Now in our day and age, as Christians we believe in Baptism as a sign that we are cleansed from our sins and brought into a community headed by Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah. In the psalm we hear that all people are called to worship and honour the Lord who is enthroned as King forever in his temple because he is mighty and powerful, the one who gives strength and peace to his people. For as we hear through Isaiah, we have a God who makes a number of promises to us. First that all those who are his people are a people that belong to him and are called by name by him. Next that his people do not need to worry or be afraid even at the times of terror and bad things in life because God promises to be there alongside his people. Finally, God promises to gather in all of his people, the people he formed and made, a people from all over the world, a people created for God’s glory. As Christians we believe that we are called to be a people of worship and prayer because we have: a one true God who calls us to him; a one true God who can be trusted in the ups and downs of life; a one true God who gathers in all those who belong to him. In Luke’s gospel, we hear about this gathering in that is led by the Messiah that John said would baptise his people with the holy spirit - before sorting all people into one of two groups: either those who would be gathered in; or those who would be destroyed. As Christians we believe that Jesus is the Messiah because when he was baptised, the veil between earth and heaven opened, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the fluttering of that like a dove and a voice told Jesus, and those who were there, that Jesus is God’s beloved son, the one that God was well pleased with. As Christians we believe that the Holy Spirit that descended on Jesus that day is the same Holy Spirit that John said the Messiah would Baptise God’s people with. As Christians we also believe that this is the same Holy Spirit that Peter and John prayed the Samarians would receive in the reading from the Book of Acts. For as we hear, after the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God and been baptised, Peter and John were sent to them to pray for them and lay their hands upon them and their prayer was answered and fulfilled as the apostles laid their hands upon them. In our day and age, this is the same action that takes place during the Christian rite of confirmation when the Bishop prayers for each confirmation candidate, lays hands on them and asks for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. As Christians we believe that in confirmation we are affirming our baptismal promises and taking up the place that God has for us in the body of Christ, the Church, under the leadership of Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah. Today, let each one of us give thanks for God’s provision for his people through worship and prayer, as well as the sacraments of Baptism and confirmation, and pray for all who guide, lead and teach them. Let us Pray: Lord of all time and eternity, who opened heaven and revealed yourself as Father at the baptism of your Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit; anoint us that we may be born again, made faithful to our calling and in so doing complete the heavenly work of our re-birth as your adopted children – for the love of Jesus who came and died so we can be saved. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
