'Don't worry, be happy.' - Weekly Reflection 1st February 2026

 This morning in Church we were asked what worries kept most people awake at night. Apparently Premier Inn had conducted a survey and the top answer was money.  We were exploring the whole theme of worrying and its negative effects on our lives. It robs us of peace and joy, and it can affect our health in all sorts of ways.

Jesus of course warns us against worrying in the Sermon on the Mount.

‘Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns— and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Matthew 6.25-27

I remember when I was working for Church Army at a Conference & Holiday Centre in Central London.  The staff met for prayers every morning and on one morning we read this passage in the King James version which renders verse 27 as, ‘Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?’

This made us smile because one of our staff had started to visit an elderly man who lived across the Square (Eccleston Square, near Victoria, London).  She had become involved with 'Help the Aged' and been asked to visit this elderly gentleman and check to see if he was doing okay. This passage made us smile because his name was Mr Cubbitt, a descendant of Thomas Cubbit who designed and built several of the fashionable Squares around that part of London.  By her concern she had added a ‘cubit’ to her life.

And there’s the rub, when does concern tip over into worry?

Remember ‘Don't Worry, Be Happy’ Bobby McFerrin

Ain't got no place to lay your head somebody came and took your bed

Don't worry be happy

The landlord say your rent is late he may have to litigate

Don't worry

Ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha

Be happy

Look at me I'm happy

That all sounds wonderful and the song is itself is very catchy (a favourite of our eldest son’s when he was a small boy). 

I get what Jesus is saying, and I get what St Paul is saying in Philippians 4. 10-12, ‘Now I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need.’

I even get what Bobby Mc Fern is trying to say, I grew up in the era of the Hippies.

If you sense that I am floundering around here it is because I am still trying to gain an understanding on when concern becomes worrying.

Concern is good because it motivates us and moves to action.

Imagine that a prisoner is wrongfully imprisoned, or is scared because of violence, or is suffering. Surely it would be nonsense to say, don’t worry, be happy.

And perhaps that’s part of the answer. Concern yes, worry, no. Added to this a concern for others, especially if I have any kind of responsibility for someone else.  

(And here I am immediately thinking of a story Jesus told about a man going down to Jericho who was robbed and beaten up)

I intend to do some more thinking around this and for starters I found this helpful description.

Concern and worry are two emotions that are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct differences. Concern is a feeling of interest or care for someone or something, usually accompanied by a desire to help or take action. It is a more positive emotion that stems from genuine care and empathy. On the other hand, worry is a more negative and anxious emotion. It involves excessive thinking and dwelling on potential problems or negative outcomes. Worry often leads to stress and can be detrimental to one's mental well-being. While concern is rooted in compassion, worry is driven by fear and uncertainty. (For more see https://thisvsthat.io/concern-vs-worry)

Carry this definition into Jesus’ teaching and it all begins to make more sense. With this clearer definition I can monitor what I am feeling and ask that question. Is this a concern or am I worrying?  Is this about the other or about me? And there is nothing wrong with having concern about yourself, in fact, it is very important.  Remember Jesus’s summation of the law, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love your neighbour as yourself – if you don’t love and care for yourself….

The bigger question that is hard to answer is, how do you stop worrying?

Well perhaps the answer does lie in Jesus’ teaching. We need to learn to lean into Father God as a loving Father who cares and loves us and wants nothing but the best for us. When worry keeps us awake at night let us not  simply try counting sheep but rather talk to the Shepherd.

I would also add that this can find a practical expression when we are in a loving Faith Community who with mutual ‘concern’ for all members of the body seeking to ensure that everyone has all that they need. (See Acts 4.32ff)

Concern motivates - worry debilitates. 

Your 'neighbour' needs your concern, but you do not need worry!

'When I need a neighbour where you there?'

https://youtu.be/quBKGeg8_hw?si=hVu1daxv1Kf3Z1SG

 

'An inward journey' - transcript of sermon 27th January 2026

Matthew 4.12-23

“Come follow me”, Jesus said, and they did, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. Soon to be followed by James and his brother John.

Follow this line down and we get you and me who have responded to the call to follow Jesus.

In this story we are told that they left their nets, their livelihoods to follow Jesus. 

That call, to give up this, that or the other is common to this call. This is what I would name as the external demands of responding of the call to follow Jesus.

This is something we know about and have probably handled ourselves to a greater or lesser degree.

This morning however I would like to invite you to consider the call to follow Jesus in the inner journey.

A journey towards the very core of our being, down into the hidden depths of our soul.

For certain Andrew, Peter, James and John made such a journey, such a shift in their mental furniture from all that they thought they knew and understood about what it meant to be a good 1^st century Palestinian Jew.

And I’m sure that as they followed Jesus, spent time with him, saw what he did, heard how he spoke, and we can be certain we have but a fraction of his teaching to his disciples, I am sure there would have been a lot of soul searching and heart transformation going on.

This internal following of Jesus can be very scary. There are parts of our soul, parts of our life that we have flung deep down into the basement, built a wall and put up a big sign, do not disturb.

Jesus invites you and invites me to follow him down to that basement, to begin to dismantle that wall, and to face whatever monsters might be buried deep down there.

However, in making this inner journey of following Jesus we follow in the footsteps of many others. Some of whom have left us guides and maps and helpful hints and tips.

They have also left us images of a life truly surrendered to God and at peace in the world despite what might be happening in the external world.

One of those guides is ‘Teresa of Avila’ and her little but very powerful book called ‘Interior Castle.’

The Interior Castle is about our soul’s journey of transformation – if we choose to undertake it. The journey begins by responding to our inner promptings and the voice of God. In life, we can hope to ultimately dwell in the mansion where we are fully surrendered and at peace in the loving presence of God. Teresa says we can experience this peace even while we are on Earth. 

Teresa of Ávila was a prominent Spanish mystic and reformer and is celebrated for her profound contributions to Christian spirituality and her role in the Carmelite Order in the 16^th century. Hence in its original form this book can be hard going. Thankfully there are very helpful modern translations. 

And coming right up to date I can highly recommend Richard Rhor and his book, Falling Upwards, published in 2012. Richard argues that we live and develop in life lived in two halves. The first half is all about getting, gaining, acquiring, amassing. Its is a time for careers, or raising a family, for buying. And along the way we will make mistakes and get things wrong. The second half of life is the reverse; it is a journey of letting go and accepting those mistakes we made and be reconciled with them. Most important of all it is letting go of our ego, our self that demands that we are noticed, that our name is prominent. We learn to be happy, to become a significant (in the eyes of God) insignificant in the eyes of the world.

We follow Jesus’ inwards to a place of peace where we surrender all, and eventually, even our breath and life we hand over as we step into his arms of love.

And John Mark Comer, whom we know from our studies on Practicing the Way has a wonderful set of podcasts which he calls, Spiritual Cartography, that also picks up the idea of this first and then second phase of life.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7n4BfRzOmrrjnamGXrUJfG?si=s55rlsScQYmSbE8Nz49zFg&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A22EuvdRiqszngpvVwKXVh2

I might also mention the Diocesan Spirituality Group that meets once a fortnight, both in person and online, to continue this inner journey.  

Put into broad terms I suggest that the call of Jesus if it comes in the first half of life will look mainly external, it will be about doing stuff, about going places, about a lot of activity and energy.

Then, the call to follow Jesus in the second half of life will be on this inward journey, increasing in depth as we age and our physical capacities weakens.

Maybe, we can get to that place where we declare in the words of Psalm 116. 15 ‘Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.’

I heard and responded to the call of God in my mid-twenties and have been seeking to serve him across this country in various ways. Now I am approaching my mid-seventies and am still doing outward stuff, seeking to follow Jesus, but I am also laying paths inwards, and it is scary and exciting in equal measure.

This journey is what the Orthodox Church refers to as theosis, to become divine, (small d) until as we read in Ephesians 4.13, ‘until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’

Attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

And this is a journey. Alan Redpath in his book, ‘The Making of a Man of God’ (about King David) wrote, ‘The conversion of the soul is the miracle of the moment, the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.’

‘Come follow me’ is Jesus’s call each and every day and at each and every moment and at each and every stage of our life.    

Whether the call to ‘come and follow me’, is a command as David suggested on Sunday, or whether it is a call or even an invitation, the choice is ours to make whether we respond or not. We can choose to follow Jesus and find life in all its fullness, or we can reject this call and declare that we know better and we chose to be the captains of our own destiny.

 What is your choice going to be this morning?

                      https://youtu.be/o469PRLdbHU?si=BhhWEyofgcf_sUMq

 

'I am a faithful' - Weekly Reflection 25th January 2026

 Confession time, I was one of the millions who watched the final of The Traitors. I find it fascinating that there were so many people who watched the programme and that it was also part of the news, especially given all the craziness going on in the world right at this moment.

With some of the stuff we are hearing from world leaders, and one in particular, it does feel like we are being played and invited into watching some Reality TV Show. What cliff hanger can I leave you all on this week? Will it be Greenland or Cuba or maybe Iran!

I cannot speak for others, but I have been trying to analyse why I have found The Traitors so compelling.  A key aspect of the programme is about being deceitful and telling lies, and as a Christian we are told in no uncertain terms who is the father of lies.

‘You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.’  John8.44

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting lying is a good thing but we do need to keep in mind that The Traitors is a game. It’s a piece of live reactionary theatre. No one gets hurt, and in the Traitors Uncloaked, they all come together and congratulate each other and the winners. They talk about the challenges and the fun along the way. The physical challenges in the final pushed some of the participants to places they thought they could never go but they found they could with the encouragement of others.

I also like the two bookends as well. To increase the prize pot, they must complete ‘missions’ and work together. And yet when it comes to the Round Table they may be bluffing or even lying and hiding their identity.  And I found it interesting that on the occasion when Claudia put on a nice dinner for those who form the final cohort, each told their story and what they would do if they won. And to a person you could not fault their motives. Some of their stories were very moving.  

So yes, for some it will have gone over their heads, passed them by, and for some Christians, I can understand if they feel uncomfortable about some aspects of the programme.

One important lesson we can learn is to ask the question about the truth of what we are being told. And currently the verse I quoted above is writ large across the world. And this has become escalated with AI especially in social media posts.  It is so easy to press that ‘share’ button, or pass comment without having asked that first question; is this true, or is this AI generated? I am very pleased to see that the BBC have BBC Verify which is a team of specialists who seek to fact find. 

Like those gathered at a castle in Scotland we have a common mission and it isn’t to gain a pot of money.

‘All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.’  1 Cor.9.25.

Unlike those in the castle we are not to ‘play act’ which is exactly what a hypocrite is, someone playing a part, an actor.  

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.  Matthew 23.13

As we step out into the week ahead, that given the current climate, unless we have locked ourselves away in a remote castle, we will be faced with all sorts of nonsense, where people are being told lies and people are getting hurt and killed, may we heed Jesus’ words as we seek to navigate our way through life…

‘Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Listen well. I am sending you to people who will want to kill you.* You will be like sheep among wild animals. You must watch carefully, like snakes do. But you must also be good and kind like doves.’  Matthew 10.16

 * expand that thought into wanting to kill your reputation, or maybe your place in work or whereever. 

 On Saturday 24th January we gave thanks for the life of Frances de Sayles (1567-1622) who lived in turbelent times.  This is one of the many prayers he left with us, a prayer that we can sit deep into and make our own as we traverse our own turbelent times.

Be at peace. Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life; rather look to them with full hope as they arise. God, whose very own you are, will deliver you from out of them. He has kept you hitherto, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand it, God will bury you in his arms. Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you then and every day. He will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace and put aside all anxious thoughts and imagination. – Saint Francis de Sales

 Brothers and sisters let us praise God in the storm...

https://youtu.be/MgpaULjZOl8?si=2kVGWsfHnC0dNGQg               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Mind your ego' - Weekly Reflection 18th January 2026

As a small boy one of the exciting things for me to look out for as we came home on the bus from Rochdale town centre to the council estate where we lived, a couple of miles journey, was a street called Gordon Street. I am sure there are many around the country but the only other one I know about is in Swanwick, Derbyshire close to the Hayes Conference Centre.

I don’t know, but my guess is that these were named after General Gordon. General Charles George Gordon, also known as Gordon of Khartoum, was a British Army officer famed for his service in China, the Crimean War, and his defence of Khartoum.

Having your name remembered was part of the hit musical, film and TV Show, Fame with the iconic song by Irene Cara, popular in the 1980’s.

I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly (High)
I feel it coming together, People will see me and cry (Fame)

I'm gonna make it to heaven, Light up the sky like a flame (Fame)

I'm gonna live forever, Baby, remember my name
(Remember, remember, remember, remember)
(Remember, remember, remember, remember)

Back in the 60’s as I was preparing to leave school and go out to the world of work that could have been my theme song. I was going through typical adolescent angst about growing up and away from my parents, becoming my own person, and knowing that no matter where I went and what I would do, one day I would be dead and maybe, just maybe, a few folk might take notice for a little while, but then I’d slip into total obscurity. My life counting for nothing.

This, I now know, is very typical and a normal part of growing and ageing, it is a developmental stage. In part it is designed to push us away from dependency into independency, push us into our own distinctive flourishing.

It can be fraught with danger, as our ego’s develop and if we are not careful we can become the centre of our own universe. Part of the pushing out further is to help us to understand that there are others, many, many others, apart from our own kith and kin.

This first half of life, as it is called, is a time for getting, for acquiring, for establishing.

Our energy levels are at their peak during this time. Somewhere around 40 – 50 a shift begins. A new journey begins of declining energy, and what should be a declining ego and the need to grab and grasp, to name and to hold on to, a time for letting go.

(There are several good books to read on this including Richard Rhor’s, ‘Falling Upwards.’ And this concept is explored in John Mark Comer’s set of podcasts exploring ‘Spiritual Cartography.’ See especially Episode 2, https://open.spotify.com/episode/3czeL7XESgDrqb8C6zWjP0?si=ScoqeRFmTMGn67UIJfvW6Q )

Let me give you an example. I retired in 2019 after 40 years in ministry, mostly as an itinerant Church Army Evangelist working for various  dioceses in rural areas. Over those years I acquired numerous resources, books and other things. And most of them I kept when I retired. They are sitting in a plastic box and the books line my bookshelf.

In retirement I also continued to sit on the Board of Rural Missions, a small charity that works with rural Churches helping them in mission and evangelism.  We have seen some great development over the last few, but that’s another story. However, next month we are meeting residentially for 24 hours.

And only now, after six years, am I ready to take along all my resources and books and offer them to others who are now ministering in this field. I recognise they may not want some of them, but making the offer feels like a significant shift, an important step in letting go.  

The real sadness and sorrow is when people try to continue to act as in the first half of life when they are deep into the second half of life. When they must have their name everywhere, when they must have their egos massaged. When they live in pathological fear of letting go because that would remind them of their mortality. ‘Fame, I gonna live forever…’

Currently in the Church calendar we continue to explore John the Baptist. If we know one important thing about John it is the phrase, ‘he must increase, I must decrease.’ John 3.30. 

Today, we also met Andrew. His name appears three times, each saying much the same thing about the nature of his character, he was a 'bringer to Jesus type.'

"He (Andrew) first found his brother Simon and told him, 'We have found the Messiah' 

^‘Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

‘Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.

The answer to my adolescent angst began to be answered when someone introduced me to Jesus, when I was invited to come and see, to explore the claims and the teachings and the wisdom of the Scriptures. This was encapsulated in Colossians 3.3 ‘For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’

If we come to know, and know in a deep and meaningful way, that God knows us, that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives, that we are loved.  As we progress and develop into that knowledge it helps to counter our egotistical nature. That desire to be known and named and famed.

Look around and it is obvious just how dangerous an over inflated ego can become, especially when coupled with power, privilege or position.

John the Baptist and Andrew both teach us an important lesson and offer valuable wisdom. From John ‘he (Jesus) must increase, I must decrease.’ And from Andrew, ‘come and see, come and meet Jesus.’  In the grand scheme of things this may not seem very significant. However, introducing someone to Jesus can radically alter a person’s life and set them on a whole different path. A path that challenges our egos and gives a fresh meaning and purpose in our lives set within an eternal dimension.  And it might save others from the damage an over inflated ego can cause!

                                https://youtu.be/j04Bx9pKwpU?si=Z9ie489NIgqMJAHY

 

 

'Actions speaks louder than words' - Weekly Reflection 11th January 2026

I remember many years ago watching a small drama team present the story of the Prodigal Son with a slightly left field take. They set up this well known story as an episode of The Waltons, complete with harmonising the iconic theme tune. The story followed the line as were expecting except it was given a novel twist at the end. With the team harmonising and humming the theme tune we had dad and wayward son running towards each across the stage in slow motion, all set up so we expected for a big embrace.  

The son opens up his arms ready to be welcomed back into the arms of his father, and then as they get close enough the father drops his arms and slaps his son across the face. The son is shocked and said, ‘Hey, I’ve read the script. This isn’t supposed to happen! Where are the new sneakers and the coat and the best beef burger. This wasn’t what I was expecting.’ To which the father responds, ‘Yes I know, but isn’t this just what you deserve?’

The power of this plot twist and its message has remained with me forty years later!

Today at St Oswald’s we explored Jesus’ baptism and our preacher picked up on the idea of expecting the unexpected with Jesus.

All four Gospel reference Jesus’ baptism, each giving a particular aspect. John, for example, doesn’t have a record of Jesus being baptised but it is there by inference.

We were considering the story as told by Matthew. (Matthew is this year’s Gospel in the Revised Common Lectionary)

In this account you can hear the voice of John saying, ‘I’ve read the script, I know how this is supposed to work out. I am supposed to be baptized by you, not the other way around.’   

It wasn’t what he was expecting. With Jesus, we learn to expect the unexpected.

At the time of Jesus there was an ongoing debate about the Messiah and there was no clear view at all as to what a Messiah would be like, or where he would come from or what the Messiah might do. The most common expectation was not of a particular figure but of an age; the Messianic Age when peace would prevail, when Israel would be vindicated, when the nations came to Mount Zion to learn wisdom and bring tribute.

But Jesus bar Jospeh – he comes and he mixes with all the wrong sorts of people. He announces the forgiveness of sins, he reaches out to a Samaritan woman and a Syrophoenician woman, he allows the ‘unclean’ to touch him and he himself touches corpses. He heals on the Sabbath and launches a tirade against the religious leaders of the day.

Reflecting on Psalm 24.3-4 …Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.…

Yes, with their ritual washing (one aspect of baptising) they may have clean hands, but as for their hearts…..

And therein lies the challenge set before us as we move deeper in 2026.

Very sadly we have yet another great Christian writer and leader confess to marital infidelity, Philip Yancy. His books became best sellers, especially, ‘What’s So Amazing About Grace.’

His hands, his outward appearance, all appeared clean, and yet he was holding a dark secret in his heart.

I am not sitting in judgment here, just stating the fact and heeding a warning!

We can do and say all the right things. However, writ large across the Scripture is the call and the warning. Be careful that you are not simply a whitewashed sepulchre! (Matthew 23.27)

In another of Jesus’ parables he tells of a man who asked his two sons to go and work in the vineyard. One says no and then rethinks and goes. The other says yes, but then doesn't go.  Therefore, Jesus asks, ‘Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.”  (Matthew 21:28-32)

I am sure there will be lots of surprises for us in the year ahead. ‘Really? That person, that prisoner, that drug addict, that abuser - they have come to accept Jesus as their Saviour?!’

‘The conversion of the soul is the miracle of the moment; the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime’ writes Michel Quoist in his book, ‘The Christian Response.’

James in his Epistle puts it this way, ‘Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it.  If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave.  But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget. James 1.22-25

And having put ourselves and our lives into the hand of God we may find ourselves surprised by the unexpected way God guides and leads us, by the things God calls us to do. At times like that I like to ask myself a question, how does this help me to know Jesus better, or to make Jesus better known.

And with Jesus, we learn to expect the unexpected. 

                             

                            https://youtu.be/E4963QPHAIM?si=8H8JC0wxPDI7jwt4

 

On being disconbobulated! - Weekly Reflection 4th January 2026.

It’s not heard so much now but as a child you often heard the phrase "I didn't know whether I was on this Earth or Fuller's earth.”  (Fullers earth is a type of clay used in various manufacturing processes and has very absorbent properties.)

The phrase means, to use another one of my favourite words, that you have a feeling of being discombobulated, or confused. And with Christmass day falling on a Wednesday this year I am not alone in feeling confused and not knowing what day of the week it is, I have heard several people speaking of this confusion. Many will be pleased to get back to some normality and routine, though not everyone welcomes this.

However, order and routine do help us navigate through our lives, and we know the disruption chaotic lives can have on people and their families if there is no structure, no rules, no boundaries. (Something explored in the famous novel, ‘Lord of the Flies, by William Golding)

And order out of chaos is exactly what we meet when we open our Bible to the first page.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God speaks and brings order. The story continues until we find human kind being created to partner with God in continuing this process of bringing order out of chaos.

The story however takes a dark turn when God offers the humans a choice, they can either trust that God knows what is good and what is bad, what brings life and flourishing, and what will bring death, destruction and a return to chaos. The humans chose their own path of self-determination, and we might say, then all hell broke loose!

I wonder as we step into this new year what things we might put in place that could become ‘holy habits,’ something we can do that would help shape and form us more into the likeness of Christ. To help us partner with God in bringing about order out of chaos, whether that is in people’s lives, and that might mean something like CAP (Christians Against Poverty Home | CAP UK) for example, maybe helping them sort out debts, or helping prisoners who have led chaotic lives.   Or it might be something in the actual environment, something in the natural creation. (This year I have made the same New Year’s Resolution as last year, to endeavour to pick up at least one piece of litter every day)

One of the holy habits you might pick up is to engage with the Scriptures and The Bible Project are offering a great way of doing that in conjunction with YouVersion Bible App. See https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/63058

One very obvious aspect of the Scriptures, especially the Old Testament is that the life of the Israelites revolved around holy days or seasons and festivities, often linked in with the farming calendar, like most cultures of that period, it was an agrarian society.

That is one of the aspects I like about the ‘Church’s Year, the calendar of Events, Feasts and Festivities along with periods of solemnity and reflection.

Every year we make the journey following the life of Jesus from birth to death, to resurrection and then the birth of the Church, God’s people.

Of course there is always a danger that we can become enslaved by routine, and at its extreme this can be very damaging and disruptive. I have read of people who had to return home, take off their socks and then put them back on, in the right order.  

One of my ‘holy habits’ is to spend around an hour while eating lunch, saying prayers and reading Scripture. However, this occasionally gets disrupted as I must be somewhere else, or we have the grandchildren around or something. I have learned to be relaxed about this as long as I do not lose this ‘habit’ altogether.

And let me leave you with this holy habit to try.

When you take down your Christmass cards put them all in a box. (I use a carboard shoe box) On a Sunday take out one of the cards and pray for the sender. I usually place the card with the name so I can see it, and then whenever it catches my eye I offer up an arrow prayer. I will also, if prompted, contact the person and let them know I am upholding them in prayer that week. At the end of the week, I will see if the card has a nice cover, something that might be used again, maybe as part of Christmass decoration, or a gift tag. The rest is then recycled.  

I would love to know if you have set or will set anything by way of a holy habit in 2026.  We might then encourage each other, checking in to see how we are getting on.

And on creating Holy Habits I can highly recommend Andrew Robert’s book.

 

 

 

1. Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
   Till all our strivings cease;
   Take from our souls the strain and stress,
   And let our ordered lives confess
   The beauty of Thy peace.

And this is a different version of the classic hymn  'Dear Lord and Father of mankind' - I 'think' I like it....

https://youtu.be/yxEUXHWqrN8?si=7vr0ulvFUAyyjC8e

The escape into Egypt - Sermon Transcript 28th December 2025

In Junior Church one of the leaders was exploring this incident of Joseph, and Mary with baby Jesus, escaping to Egypt.

She then invited them to draw a picture or write a poem describing the story.

As she was looking at the pictures the leader said to one child, that’s very good, I can see Mary on a donkey cart with some bundles, and Jospeh walking alongside, but what is it with that big bug on top of the luggage?

The child replied, well I read the story again from the Bible as you asked us to, and I noticed it said, ‘and the Lord said to Joseph, take Mary and Jesus and flee into Egypt.

Well, that’s one story, what we might call a groan story, but this morning I want us to explore three other stories wrapped around this incident.

The Biblical story, the contextual story and the contemporary story.

Let’s start with the Biblical story.

One of the overriding motifs for Matthew is that Jesus is a Moses type figure who leads a ‘new’ Israel out of slavery, through the desert, giving them the ‘law’ and finally leads them into the promised land, albeit that has yet to be fully realised.

Draw to mind the infancy story of Moses. An enslaved people ruled over by a cruel tyrant, the King of Egypt, or as more popular known, the Pharaoh.

And what did this Pharaoh seek to do?

To kill all the male babies born to the Hebrews.

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.  

Somewhat ironically it is away from Israel to Egypt that Jesus is taken.  But as Matthew makes very clear, this is to set Jesus up as the new Moses figure.

So, he (Jospeh) got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”  (Quoting Hosea 11.1)  

That’s a little of the Biblical story and serves to remind us of the importance of building up our knowledge bank of the whole of the Scriptural narrative.

On this, as quick aside, and for your encouragement going into 2026.

Just before Christmass, the story broke of white-tailed eagles that had gone missing. They were part of a repopulation programme.

Now, do you know why the eagle is often used as a lectern, such as the one tucked away behind me.

The eagle can have a bird’s eye view, seeing the expanse below, but also has an ‘eagle eye’ for the detail, noting the smallest movement, the scuttling of a mouse for example.

This is the eagle that carries the Scriptures, the Word of God. And we are invited to approach the Scriptures as an eagle. Soaring over its pages to get the broad sweep and the overall landscape. In technical terms, the meta-narrative of God’s redemptive purposes for the cosmos.  And we are also invited to look at the detail, the meaning of a particular word for example. Looking at it in Hebrew or Greek and when and where else it is used.  And thankfully there are many tools to help us with this type of exploration.

A deeper dive into the Scriptures would be an excellent New Year’s resolution.

The Bible Project is one good place to help explore the Scriptures. Study the Story of the Bible With Free Tools | BibleProject™

Back to our stories and our second story, the contextual story.

Now I don’t know how you would portray this story, with or without any bugs.

What we read is this…

So, he (Jospeh) got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt…

Now this was very unusual. People didn’t travel alone; it was too dangerous. Think of the man going down to Jericho in one of Jesus’ parables. Think of Luke’s story of Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to Jerusalem when he was twelve. They lost him for three days because they assumed that he might be amongst others in the caravan. That was the safest and the most normal way that peopled travelled. In groups, forming a caravan.

 When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.

This is unusual, this is a flight, this is escaping from a cruel tyrant bent on your destruction.

However strange and unusual their flight might have been they were heading to a strong and very well-established Jewish community in Egypt. The Jews there had their own area and were to all intents and purposes self-governing.

And this segways into our third story, the contemporary story.

A young couple with an infant escaping for their lives in the night, going down an unsafe route but heading towards a community outside the jurisdiction of those seeking them harm, but where there is an established community of your people, your community and from your country.

And this is a contemporary story is it not?

However, I am not going to make any pronouncement from this platform as I don’t believe that is an honest use of this space and time.

However, I would invite you to reflect on these figures taken from the UNHCR web site. Figures at a glance | UNHCR

As of the end of June 2025, the most recent reporting period, 117.3 million people had been forced to flee their homes globally due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.

Among them were nearly 42.5 million refugees. In addition, there were 67.8 million people displaced within the borders of their own countries (IDPs)* and 8.42 million asylum-seekers.

There are also 4.4 million stateless people, who have been denied a nationality and lack access to basic rights such as education, health care, employment and freedom of movement.

That works out at an average of 1 in every 70 people  on  Earth have been forced to flee!

As we do this against the backdrop of the Scriptural story we have been exploring today, I would invite to consider this question.

When did refugees become migrants, to then become immigrants, to then become illegal immigrants and then to becoming a threat to our way of life?

Is it a matter of using different words or has there been a fundamental shift in our thinking and in our denoting of people.

A few weeks ago, Margaret spoke of one of her heroes, Corrie ten Boom. Her story was told in a film called ‘The Hiding Place.’   This was the story of the ten Booms hiding Jews from the Nazi’s who were seeking to destroy them.

In 1978 Corrie wrote a book called – ‘Don’t wrestle but nestle.’  Speaking about our need to always trust God in all circumstance and situations.

The song we are going to sing in a moment invites us to do just that, to nestle into the loving presence of God, to make him our hiding place whenever we are afraid.

However, just a few short days ago we celebrated the incarnation, Immanuel, God with us, in blood, flesh, skin and bone.

Let us be very aware of those around us who are living in a place of fear, however that fear may present itself and from whatever source it comes from. May we be ready in a sense to be God incarnate, Christ’s body upon earth.

I would like to imagine that when Joseph was getting ready to escape to Egypt he would have told a few others and maybe asked for their help in getting some things together for the journey.

Corrie ten Boom and her family sought to offer sanctuary and safety to those of the Jewish community being taken of to the Nazi death camps.   

Maybe, just maybe, there is a lesson for us to learn here!

'I will trust in you' - this is a great version, but some of the pictures are a tad, mmm?

https://youtu.be/ElVC6rfX3Z8?si=7xDkVb_r4QCbFPGn

To see the sermon in context visit follow this link. 

https://www.smso.org.uk/

 And I invite you to watch this short video of Sa's experience as a refugee and the help and hope she and her family found...

https://youtu.be/HhwORH_sygY?si=SdwilgOErWvGoGi8