'Follow Me' - transcript of sermon for St Anne's Brown Edge 10/04/16

St Anne’s, Brown Edge 10^th April 2016

Psalm 30 Acts 9.1-6 [7-20] Revelation 5.11-14 John 21.1-19

Pulling all of our readings together there is one phrase that stands out – FOLLOW ME.

Moreover, we have plenty of information about who the ME is.

The Psalmist ends Psalm 30 with such an exuberance you can almost see someone dancing and singing loudly…

For You have turned my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, so that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Then, from the Book of Revelation we get a glimpse into the throne room of heaven. Here, we hear the praises of the Lamb who was slain now receiving power, and wealth and wisdom and might.

We know of course that the Passover Lamb is none other than Messiah Jesus.

Who, having given himself up to death was gloriously raised to life on the third day, a sign of vindication and a seal of truth of all that he said, did and revealed of God. 

In addition, we meet two people in our readings, Peter and Saul – who in all probability, also danced and sang songs of praise to God Almighty. 

Both were good solid Jews, one who had followed Jesus and was one of the first to declare Jesus as Messiah, the Christ.

Matthew 16.16

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

However, Simon Peter appears to be a man who opens his mouth before he puts his brain into gear.

Spectacularly so, as when following this declaration, Jesus began to teach them that he was going to be a sacrificial lamb, to be tortured and killed. Peter received a stern rebuke from Jesus for saying that this must not happen.

Then we have been hearing about Peter again recently as we recalled the story of the Last Supper.

But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same.

As an aside, it is stories like this that give a sense of the authenticity to the Gospels. If you were writing a publicist piece, would you really include such bad press stories?

It has been suggested that John’s Gospel comes to a more natural conclusion with the end of chapter 20.

John offers a summary of the reason he set out to write his Gospel.

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Then we move on to an epilogue – a beautiful story that tells us about Peter’s restoration. 

We have had resurrection appearances. We have we have heard of Jesus’ appearing in various ways and too different people.  However, the question remains, now what do we do?

Peter reverts to type and sets about doing the one thing he knows well enough, fishing.

The story is masterful as Jesus appears and guides them to a great catch. Moreover, here is Peter also reverting to type, putting on some clothes and diving into the water to go and meet Jesus who has a breakfast barbeque set up and going, ready for some fresh caught fish.

Reading between the lines a little, we see Jesus asking Peter to walk with him a little away from the others.

Lovingly and with such tenderness Jesus asks Peter three times to declare his love, matching the three-fold denial. Peter is restored, redeemed, rescued and receives his commission.  Then Jesus says to him very simply, ‘Follow Me.’

Note this isn’t go – but follow me, indicating to Peter, and to all who respond to that same call, that we follow Jesus, we never take Jesus anywhere.

Then we have our other character, Saul, and this amazing story of his conversion.

Much has been made of this story that is recounted in slightly different ways three times in the Acts of the Apostles.

Indeed, the very phrase, a Damascus Road experience has passed into common parlance as a way of talking about people suddenly seeing things in a completely new way, of them experiencing some sort of conversion.

Conversion is one of those things that we often struggle with, especially in the Church of England.

In part, that is because we have a legacy of being a Church birthed into Christendom.

The mere fact of being born in a Christian country meant, axiomatically, that you were a Christian.

The evidence of this is seen in the regularly occurrence of people either going into hospital or filling in surveys, declaring themselves ‘C of E.’

However, that no longer applies, especially among the younger generation who will describe themselves in a myriad of different ways.

For some of you here this morning I would hazard a guess if asked you would say that you have grown up with the Faith, which you have imbibed by a kind of osmosis over very many years beginning when you were a child and brought to church.

Looking carefully at Saul’s conversion however, we can see and can easily imagine the journey he had made. Perhaps it began, as he was witness to the stoning of the first martyr Stephen.

Saul, whom we come to know better as Paul, had amazing credentials that he outlines in some details in Acts 22.3-4

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today. "I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,…

God had prepared him for a great work, only Saul/Paul had no idea of what this was. He thought it was being zealous for God and chasing after followers of The Way, who claimed to follow the blasphemer and false prophet, Jesus.

However, Saul’s journey reached a crisis point, which means ‘making a critical decision,’ albeit God had to knock him of his horse to get his attention. This encounter and subsequent events was to change Saul/Paul’s life and set him off in a direction that was beyond his wildest dreams.

Paul left a legacy of a great corpus of written material as he struggled to understand and help others understand the significance of the life, death, resurrection, ascension and second coming of Jesus as God’s anointed and appointed one.

Using Paul’s Magnum Opus, the Letter to the Romans, I want us to make a journey this morning. To see if we can get a better understanding of just what conversion might mean and what steps we can take towards becoming a Christian.  It is called the Roman Road to Salvation and offers a basic Gospel outline.

3:10 As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one.  

3:23 Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 

5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death spread to all because all have sinned

5:8 But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. 

6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

10:13 For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’

10: 9-10 Because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.

However, however, however, this is not merely a private matter of gaining some sort of assurance to go to heaven when we die. It is more, much more than that.

Peter’s life was turned around and took a very different direction and so did Saul’s’ and so might yours when you openly confess your belief in Jesus and his 

resurrection.

With the resurrection of Jesus, the Kingdom of God, that one day will be fully revealed, has broken into the present and it is shown by the power of God at work among his people.

If we have been truly converted and declare ourselves Christians and Followers of Jesus, then we are called to live out the life of faith and demonstrate and work towards and pray earnestly for the Kingdom of God to come upon earth. For God’s will to be done, right here and right now, as it is in heaven. Your Kingdom come, your will be done in Brown Edge as it is in heaven.

Let me leave you with an analogy that you may find helpful when considering a journey towards conversion and becoming a Christian.

Think of a journey to marriage. It begins with attraction. That moves onto a developing relationship, in old fashion parlance, courtship. This moves into an engagement. Today, this may well lead into living together at some time or other. 

Then there is the wedding and getting married.

It is at this point that what was private and provisional becomes public and permanent.

A convent relationship is entered into between two people. Life will never be the same again with joys and constraints, a giving and receiving.

I made this journey and was married Jane on the 23^rd July 1982.

I made a similar journey to Jesus. On the 1^st January 1975, I made a New Year’s resolution to become a Christian. I confessed with my lips that Jesus is Lord and believed in my heart that God raised him from the dead.

In both cases, my life was changed.

A question for you to consider this morning is - where are you in your relationship to Jesus?

If you would like to take a further step forward in your relationship with Jesus, I would be delighted to talk with you and pray with you afterwards.

If you are a Christian, then I would be equally pleased to hear of what difference this is making in your life and in the community where God has placed you.

Captain's Log April 2016

Despite having been in ministry for many years, I still find myself doing some things for the first time and I had several in March.  It was the first time I led a ‘webinar’ and with the guidance and help of Barry Osborne, all went well. This is part of a package of helpful webinars from Rural Sunrise Ministries.

http://www.ruralmissionsolutions.org.uk/

The subject was ‘Season, Cycles, Rhythms and Patterns,’ with an overall premise that we should seek to create a heartbeat for mission and not hiccoughs!

On territory that is more familiar was a talk to St Bertelins Wives Group about the Church Army and my own ministry. This has led to an invitation to other engagements including a Teddy Bears Picnic with my Caravan and Games, etc.

Another first was a presentation to the The Institute of Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators (IagSA) about the work of The Farming Community Network.  www.fcn.org.uk

This went very well and I am ready for some more opportunities to talk about this fantastic organization.

So let us keep with more ‘first’s’ and this time leading a Lent Group in Tatenhill using the ‘Pilgrim Material.’  I have known about this Course for some time but this was my first engagement with it and I am impressed by its comprehensive nature and the ongoing journey it offers. http://www.pilgrimcourse.org

My challenge to this Group (and to all Lent Groups) is – ‘why stop meeting?’  Why not continue to gather in small groups and seek to discover and discern more about God and living a life of faith in today’s complex world.

One BIG thing for me in March was my first Half Marathon since moving here in January 2015. This was the Stafford Half Marathon, which I managed to get around in 2.13. (A slightly slower pace than previous Half’s)  I was raising funds for a local hospice and part of #TeamKHH. (Katherine House Hospice) The level of support and goodwill was fantastic and stood in stark contrast to the chaos, carnage and death in Brussels two days later.

At my home church, St John’s, Littleworth, we had a Service each evening during Holy Week making the journey with Jesus to Calvary.  On Maundy Thursday, I played the part of Jesus in a simple dramatized reading of the Last Supper that included foot washing. Yet another first and an incredible experience.

Our Easter morning celebration was epic, awesome and heaven touching earth to the praise and glory of God Almighty!    

 http://www.stjohnsstafford.org

Some Diary Dates

Sunday 3^rd

Preaching & Leading Intercessions

St Matthew Derrington & St Giles Haughton

Monday 4^th – Friday 8^th

Jane and I are on a Retreat at the Sheldon Centre with the Mary & Martha Community.

Friday 8^th

Overnight in Cornwall to catch up with family, especially the grandchildren!

Sunday 10^th

Preaching at St Anne’s Brown Edge in the morning. In the evening preaching at a Healing Service at St Michael & All Angels, Penkridge.

Monday 11^th

Pre Pentecost Prayers (Archbishops Call to Prayer) – planning meeting for St John’s, Littleworth. In the evening MAP meeting for St Bartholomew, Norton-le-Moor.

Wednesday 13^th

‘Chew & Chat’ – lunch time gathering

Thursday 14^th

Planning meeting for the Shropshire County Show

Saturday 16^th

FCN Regional Training Day in Warwickshire

Sunday 17^th

Preaching at St Mary’s, Stretton

Monday 18^th – 21^st

Lichfield Diocesan Conference, Swanwick. (For all ordained and accredited lay ministers)

Sunday 24^th

Meeting of the Ecumenical Task Group seeking to find ways of developing a new ‘Faith Community’ in Brown Edge.

Tuesday 26^th

In the morning meeting with my Spiritual Companion.

Saturday 30^th

Adrian and Esther come together to be married today. 

(Adrian is the Priest at St John’s, Littleworth)

Family News…our first bit of news that I am very sad to announce is that after such a splendid wedding last September, Joe and Jen have spilt up. Joe has moved to live in Bristol. Both Joe and Jen have pursued other relationships that have compounded this sorrowful saga.  We hold the sacrament of marriage in very high regard and so we are struggling to know how to respond to this other than assure Joe and Jen we love them but not their choices. Tabitha has just returned to her host family in Crawley as she begins her summer flying. Having been with us at home since November it is going to be strange not having her around and we will miss her company.  We had her boyfriend Peter with us over Holy Week and Easter, which was a great joy as he is a Christian and joined in all the various activities and celebrations. (Even came out on a cold, wet Holy Saturday to help invite people to church and hand out Hot Cross buns) Daniel, Tracey, Kerryn and Lowenna are all doing okay in their new home and we are enjoying watching the girls grow up when we catch up with them on Skype.  Please pray for Daniel. The work of a teacher is extremely demanding on top of trying to be a supportive husband and father. Jane is getting more and more involved with St John’s. At the APCM she was elected to the PCC – and then accepted the role of PCC Secretary!

Does the resurrection change anything? (Sermon Transcript Second Sunday of Easter

St Matthew Derrington & St Giles Houghton

Acts 5.27-32 & John 20.19-end

What happened last Sunday?

What event were we considering?

Is this event historically verifiable?

Does it make any difference to the world if this event took place or not?

Does it make any difference to your world if it took place or not?

Those five questions could form the basis of five study sessions – perhaps for a home group, so we do not have the time to explore them all in depth this morning.

Pulling all those questions together we might ask, did the resurrection of Jesus actually happen and if so, what difference does that make?

Personally, I think that is the most important question that we can ask.

In 1 Corinthians 15.13-15 Paul writes…

… if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.…

In our story from Acts we read of the Apostles (we are not told how many or which ones) proclaiming Jesus as risen and the offer of new life, a different way of being in the world, a true way of being human as God first intended, reflecting glory back to God.

They have been told directly not to do this….

"We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.”The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.…

“And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Thomas in our Gospel story wanted physical proof of the resurrection of Jesus – which was granted to him.

Then for us standing where we are and considering those questions I began with, we have these encouraging words.

“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”

Believe what exactly – well the resurrection for one thing. Then something else as well, something very important to help us answer those questions with which I began.

Remember Thomas is a Jew, and as a good solid Jew, he was part of a tradition that had the Shema at its very root and core. The Shema began…

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

In this story as John has told it, is this son of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a son of the law. As he encounters the risen Jesus he declares…

“My Lord and my God.”

Some scholars argue that chapter 20 brings an end to John’s Gospel and it certainly seems to read that way when taken at face value.

It offers a summary of why John set out to write his Gospel account…

‘Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’

As such, it concludes things. Some consider chapter 21 as an epilogue that tells of the story of Peter’s restoration – itself a lovely story.

Therefore, if chapter 20 verses 30-31 do bring to end John’s Gospel let us consider just for a moment how he began.

 He began with the Prologue – those words so familiar from the Christmass story.

‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…’

John then takes us on a journey with Jesus that moves this way and that until we arrive where we are today with this story about Thomas encountering the risen Jesus.

‘…these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’

Remember Jesus’ words to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”

Therefore…

What happened last Sunday was a recalling of that first Sunday morning when Jesus rose from the dead. Again remembering that we have good Jews as the first followers of Jesus, and if the Shema was important of equal importance was the Sabbath, which was on Saturday. What happened to make them begin to make their Sabbath a Sunday and not a Saturday?

Was this an event that is historically verifiable? Well the Jewish historian Josephus makes mention of it. Of course, it depends on what you might mean exactly by historical veracity. The Gospels also seek to bear testimony to the resurrection.

Does it make any difference to the world if this event took place or not? This is the big question, perhaps one of the biggest and most important questions we could ever ask. In our Gospel story, the post resurrection Jesus presents himself as both of this world, and yet strangely of another sphere or dimension with the ability to pass through shut doors.  Yet he was certainly not a ghost or phantom, but real and fully human as God intended in the beginning and as our own goal and ultimate destiny…

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.’

If the resurrection is true then we need to take a very careful account of all that Jesus said and did…

Because as we read in Colossians2.9

‘For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,’

Does it make any difference to your world if it took place or not?

Well, only you can answer that question.

For Thomas according to tradition his belief in Jesus as both Lord and God took him off to India and the foundation of the Thomasina Church.

Not as dramatic as that but I came to affirm a belief in Jesus and became a Christian on the 1^st January 1975 at the age of 24. That led me into ministry and serving in London, Luton, Northumberland, Cornwall and Sussex and now in the West Midlands.  

In this, I have sought to be a faithful witness much in the same way as the Apostles who were brought before the Sanhedrin and the High Priest in Jerusalem.

Acts 5:32…

^“We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Witnessing that because of the resurrection of Jesus the world is a very different place.

Witnessing people who, having giving over their lives to Jesus, become free from addictions and other harmful behaviour.

Witnessing to God’s faithful provision.

Witnessing that in Jesus there is life and life in all its fullness.

So – where are you this morning in your own belief about Jesus?

Is Jesus your Lord and your God?

Because if he is your Lord and your God that will make all the difference in the world to your life and how you live it.

For if Jesus is not Lord of all, then he is not Lord at all.

However living as a disciple of Jesus is a daily discipline when we have to displace those things that seek to take his rightful place as our Lord and our God.

Galatians 2.20 puts this new life very well…

‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’

I hope you know that this morning and I hope you are seeking to live that out.

Let me suggest that as we come to take the body and the blood of Jesus we rededicate ourselves to him.

That as we receive the elements we say, ‘my Lord and my God’ – then determine to live out the reality of that confession as faithful witnesses wherever God may guide us.

That through our faithful witness, many others may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing may have life in his name.  

Ephesians 3.20-21

 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. 

I'm going to the mountain to kneel down and pray... (Transcript of Sermon St Bartholomew Norton lee Moor 07/02/16)

St Bartholomew Norton le Moor 07/02/2016

Exodus 34.29-35 2 Corinthians 3.12 - 4.2 Luke 9.28-36

It has been said that over time some people begin to look like the pets they own.

Now whether that is true or not, I do not know, although I must confess to having seen some people particular in the horse world….

What I have noticed however, is that in some photographs how much my wife and I are beginning to look alike after thirty years of being married.

The idea being of course is that we become like that which we worship, adore or someone or something we spend a lot of time with.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that when Moses had been in God’s presence something of that radiant glory would rub off onto Moses.

However, notice that Moses was not aware of this. Therefore, it is no good looking in the mirror trying to discern if you are looking holy or full of God’s presence.

That is for others to notice and hopefully not to puff us up with pride but to mention it to us to give us encouragement.

I have it said of me recently that I looked like a man of prayer and indeed in my home church in Stafford I have been drawn into a small group who plan our regular Parish Prayer Days.  

1 Thessalonians 5.11

Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Moses was to encounter God in quite a different way on top of a mountain with Jesus and Elijah.

One of those mysterious moments when the curtain of heaven is pulled back and we get a tiny glimpse of the reality of life and of God.

C.S. Lewis referred to this world as it currently stands as ‘shadow lands’ – the really real world is just beyond, yet not in some distance way up the bright blue sky, here among us but in a mostly unseen dimension.

I love the story of Elisha, Elijah’s successor, battling it out with the Syrians and particularly this part of the story we find in 2 Kings 6.

Elisha’s servant wakes up one morning to find the enemy surrounding them and is just a tad concerned – well, in modern parlance we might say he was wetting himself.

The story continues like this…

So, Elisha answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

You may say to me, as people often do, Gordon this world is so full of wickedness and people have given up attending church and believing in God, what hope do we have? We are struggling to pay our parish share let alone tell people about Jesus.

That is why we need to go the mountain – that is why we need to spend time and more time and yet more time in God’s presence.

However, please do not think I am saying you should be in this building 24/7 – for God is as much out there in the world as He is in here.

That was a mistake made by the Jews of Jesus’ day. They could not imagine God operating outside of the Temple and their sacrificial system.

St Paul writing to the Corinthians says, ‘a veil lies over their hearts whenever the old covenant is read.’

He goes on to say, ‘but whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.’

Of course it is good to remind ourselves that the first ones to ‘turn to the Lord’ where Jews, like Paul himself who had a veil removed and saw the glory of God on the road to Damascus.

A few years ago, my wife and I climbed up Mount Tide in Tenerife. We got our timing all badly wrong and by the time we reached the top, the cable cars taking people up and down had stopped operating. However, we needed to get off the mountain, we simply could not stay there, and the prospect of a six-hour walk back through the gathering darkness was not overly appealing.

If we are to spend time with God on the mountain then equally there is a time to get off the mountain and take the message out to the people.

This what Moses did, coming down from the mountain and proclaiming the Law.

If you read on a few verses from our Gospel passage, we have the story of the young epileptic boy whom the disciples could not heal. Down the mountain and into ministry.

When Paul was knocked off his donkey on the way to Damascus and had a vision of Jesus, he did not simply tuck it away as another good after dinner story.  It changed his life and turned him around 180 degrees. A veil indeed was lifted for Paul, all the Hebrew Scriptures, and the Prophets he had studied so assiduously suddenly found a completely new illumination. 

My own life was completely knocked of course when I became a Christian at the age of 24 on the 1^st January 1975. It is a story for another time save to say that within eighteen months I found myself having been squeezed out of my job, divorced for being a Christian and having to leave the family home that included our two-year-old daughter.

Let me ask you this, what is your story?

Have you been the mountain top, met with Jesus, and seen things in completely new way, the way you do when you are high up and above everything.

Like Elisha’s servant, we need to learn to see with the eyes of faith – and through the eyes of faith we can say along with Mother Julian;

‘All will be well, and all will be well and all manner of things will be well.’

Why? 

Because of another mountain Jesus climbed, and became glorified in a very different kind of way.

He climbed the hill of Golgotha taking all the ills and the evils of this world.

He climbed the hill of Golgotha and took your sin and my sin and all the wrong things we do or say.

He climbed the hill of Golgotha so that the numerous sacrifices of the old Temple system could be wonderfully fulfilled and find their completion as the pure sacrificial Lamb of God was slain.

We go to the mountain and we come down again not with the Law of Moses and the Old Covenant but with the new and living way offered by Christ.

‘I have come, said Jesus, that you may have life and life in all its fullness.’

In his book ‘The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis said, ‘why do Christians look like they are going through Lent rather than celebrating Easter?’

Well, from this coming Wednesday we will be going through Lent.  Much in the same as we sought to travel in heart and mind to Bethlehem to  celebrate the birth of the Christ child so we now  seek to journey in heart and mind as Jesus sets his face like flint towards Jerusalem.

As Jesus travels purposefully towards Jerusalem, many of his disciples begin to fall away.

Then Jesus said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9.23

How does that work out for you and for me on a daily basis?

A person going to the cross has nothing at all, not even a veil to cover their nakedness and shame.

Have we truly handed over to God everything?

Lent provides us with a good opportunity for a stock take. To give back to God anything we may have been holding on to, or even handed over at one time only to take it back later.

St Augustine said, if Jesus is not Lord of all then he is not Lord at all.’

Lord of our finances, Lord of our relationships, Lord of our work, Lord of our homes and our cars, Lord of each and everything that makes up our lives.

Again, from the passage we read from Corinthians…

‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit is there is freedom.’

Those of us who have had the veil lifted, who have seen a glimpse of God’s glory, we who have tasted and seen and know that the Lord is good and have found freedom in Christ.

Those of us who reflect the Lord’s glory and are being transformed into Jesus’ likeness, with an ever-increasing glory – we are called to be Christ’s ambassadors.

We are those who speak out and demonstrate a different way of being in the world.

We are those who as St Paul says in Romans 12.2

“Have not let the world squeeze us into its mould, but instead have allowed ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.”

We are those who have been to the mountain and caught a glimpse of the glory of Jesus and the really real world that one day will be fully revealed when as we read in the Book of Revelation, heaven will come down to earth, the two will become conjoined and God will reign for evermore.

Therefore, if we consider the world is full of darkness, sin, and wickedness then maybe it is because as one Christian songwriter put it, ‘the world is living in the dark because the Church is asleep in the light.’

Are you ready to climb that mountain?

Let us pray…

O Saviour Christ, in whose way of love lays the secret of all life,

and the hope of all people, we pray for quiet courage to match this hour.

We did not choose to be born or to live in such an age;

but let its problems challenge us, its discoveries exhilarate us,

its injustices anger us, it possibilities inspire us, and its vigour renew us.

Pour out upon us a fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit;

make us bold and courageous in sharing faith

in both word and deed for your Kingdom’s sake we ask. Amen