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SUMMARY:Saturday 22th June\, Salinas Church 11:30am Holy Eucharist for the
  birth of John the Baptist
DTSTART:20240622T103000Z
DTEND:20240622T113000Z
DTSTAMP:20260619T182557Z
UID:10880492024-06-22 10:30:00+00:00achurchnearyou
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:Today we are remembering the birth of John the Baptist\, one o
 f very few saints commemorated for their birth rather than their death. Wh
 at he is chiefly known for is going out into the desert and calling on peo
 ple to repent\, to change their lives\, to turn around\, and do something 
 different. \n\nBut what we also know is that\, one day\, John has an unexp
 ected visitor. A young man called Jesus. And the moment John saw him\, he 
 knew he was special: he realised that he was the real deal. This was no ol
 d Pharisee peddling obedience to lengthy rules & statutes. No\, there was 
 something about this stranger\, something bigger\, something more purposiv
 e. Not because he wore special clothes or because he talked in a special w
 ay\, or tried to push a lot of religious ideas. But because he oozed chang
 e\, he oozed dynamism\, freshness\, he brought a new energy\, a threat to 
 the old order. And John says\, as he points to Jesus: “He must increase\
 , but I must decrease”.\n\nJohn the Baptist´s day is particularly celeb
 rated here in Spain & the Spanish-speaking world. Typically large numbers 
 of people gather on the beaches of the Costa del Sol. They light bonfires\
 , they write down their wishes\, or ‘juras’\, on bits of paper\, and t
 hrow them into the bonfire. And then at midnight they rush into the sea to
  bathe. \n\nIt’s a tradition that has its roots in biblical imagery. Wat
 er symbolises cleansing\, healing. In the same way that it did for those t
 hat John the Baptist baptised in the river Jordan. Water restores us. It w
 ashes away the muck\, it ushers in change. And fire symbolises God´s pres
 ence. As we heard at Pentecost\, tongues of fire symbolised God’s Holy S
 pirit among the disciples. So every year on our beaches\, people are reena
 cting a profound biblical message – that when you come face to face with
  God\, there is healing\, cleansing\, there’s change. \n\nAnd what about
  the ‘juras’\, the wishes\, regrets or pledges that people write down 
 and throw into the fire? These are not biblical\, but rather our human res
 ponse: they symbolise that deep desire within each human heart\, for liber
 ation from the past and hope for the future.\n\nLife with God is about cha
 nge. John the Baptist´s message was simply this: that God is coming and y
 ou've got to get in there and clean up your life\, if you're ever going to
  meet him. But\, as we saw in Jesus\, God came anyway\, not with a sort of
  ‘sin-o-meter’ to test how sinful people were - but he came and loved 
 & accepted people as they were\, he came as a complete person\, to stand a
 longside them… as a fellow human being.\n\nThe picture of John the Bapti
 st above is part of a painting by artist Jen Norton. For more information\
 , see https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jen-norton
LOCATION:Salinas Anglican Congregation
URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/8488/service-and-events/events/1
 088049/
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