It’s
a special day for us – our 40th wedding anniversary – and thanks to
Helen for those words. And at our Church Meeting on Thursday we shared the news
that Felicity and I will be retiring next July and moving to Bridgend. It was
good to share in prayer for us and for the church family – and have that sense
of going forward together.
In
the first service we had here in Highbury I chose All things bright and
beautiful and our then Director of Music, Derek, explained why our hymn book
had missed out one of the verses – it was so out of date and no longer
relevant. It was the one that one of the verses couldn’t be sung anymore as
children no longer played in meadows. That really upset Felicity and me because
we had just moved from the Shropshire villages of Pontesbury and Minsterley
where Dave and Phil would play in the fields right by our house. We felt a bit
bad moving when they were 8 and 5 from all their friends.
I
guess you always feel bad moving on – and we will too – but that’s the great
thing about family and church family too
– that we’re always there for each other – and that’s what counts more
than anything else.
But
today I didn’t actually choose it for that reason.
In
the summer we had a great few days with Lake in a remote farmhouse in the
mountains above Bala. On the Saturday Lake was setting off with Dave and
Rebecca for Cornwall so we had to be back in good time. We could have chosen
the A5 and the motorway but it was going to be incredibly busy and in all
likelihood slow. So we took the road over the mountains to Welshpool, Craven
Arms, Ludlow and home.
And the mountains were covered in heather –
and were stunning. They really were purple headed mountains. Breathtaking views that filled you with
wonder and awe
So,
with the verse our new hymn book also misses out added in …
137
All things bright and beautiful
Prayer
and the Lord’s Prayer
All
creatures great and small
All
things bright and beautiful,
All
creatures great and small.
Andrea’s
fossil – walking the dogs
And
all the creepy crawly things in the garden … not least in my cabbage!
Picking
things in the garden – and there are insects – worms, bees, butterflies
Reading:
Matthew 18:10-14
“See
that you don't despise any of these little ones.
Their
angels in heaven, I tell you,
are
always in the presence of my Father in heaven.
“What
do you think a man does who has 100 sheep
and
one of them gets lost?
He
will leave the other 99 grazing on the hillside
and
go and look for the lost sheep.
When
he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep
than
over the 99 that did not get lost.
In
just the same way your Father in heaven
does
not want any of these little ones to be lost.
A
Hy-Spirit song
Activities
for all over 3
I
want you to think of two things – think of a really stunning building that
you’ve seen – and think of a really stunning view – the kind of building and
the kind of view that makes you say, Wow, that’s amazing!
Pause to share
with people around you
I
just want you to hold on to those two thoughts.
On
Sunday, September 23rd I was up again fairly early.
How,
you might ask, do I know that I was up early on Sunday 23rd
September. Well it was the first time I had done it … and it’s something I have
done ever since for special events I have been to and lots of holidays. It’s in
my journal.
The
first entry was Wednesday 29th August, 1973.
9-26
Depart Leicester, Arr London St Pancras at 10-55. St Pancras to Victoria,
arrived at Victoria 11-30 to find all gates to the station lockd – crowds
sitting and lounging on pavements outside station: bomb scare! Good start, but
it turned out only to be a hoax. 11-45 gates to station opened, met Paul.
Troubled
times in London then.
College
friend, Paul, and I were catching the boat train to link up with the Orient
Express that was to take us to Istanbul and down the Turkish coast to Kusadasi,
back to Izmir and over to Athens.
It
was in Athens, on Sunday, Setpember 23rd that I was up again fairly
early. We had breakfast in a really nice sandwich bar, then to St Paul’s
Anglican church for a service with a strange sermon that seemed to go round in
circles without really getting anywhere.
Reading
a journal is fascinating because you spot things that have been part of you
ever since – and I don’t mean preaching sermons that go round in circles
without really getting anywhere.
From
the service to a square for an orange – Athens has some really nice squares.
I
don’t think my journal will ever get published.
But everything really was very nice! Not least the letters I received
from Mum and Dad and from my then girlfriend – in the days before texting we
used the Post restante at the major post offices – Those really were the days.
And lovely to re-read those letters.
From
there towards the Acropolis and past to what we thought was the Areopagus,
where we read Paul’s sermon to the Athenians.
And
this is what we read.
Reading: Acts
17:22-31
Then
Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely
religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked
carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the
inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I
proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is
Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is
he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives
to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all
nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their
existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they
would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is
not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“For
we too are his offspring.”
Since
we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or
silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While
God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people
everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the
world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he
has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’
Back
to my Journal.
Reading
Paul’s sermon on the top [of the Areopagus] it was easy to imagine the
situation with the breath-taking views of mountains [all around Athens] and the
sea [glistening in the distance] and then the Parthenon [in all its splendour]
on the neighbouring hill.
God
that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven
and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands …”
This
really is something that has stayed with me.
Seeing
the incredible architecture now – in ruins. What it must have been like
then! Nothing to compare with it.
And
Paul arriving in Athens has his breath taken away by the incredible
architecture. It really is impressive.
But
then lift your eyes around and see the stunning beauty of nature – and it’s
even more amazing.
The
God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and
earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human
hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life
and breath and all things.
That
still amazes me – and draws me to the wonder of the God of creation. I am
stirred by magnificent architecture and then think how much more wonderful the
God of creation.
Paul
draws on the ancient stories that come alive in every generation from the
Hebrew Scriptures and the great poets known so well by those Athenians and
reflects on the way built into our very being as humans is that search for God,
questing after something beyond …
From
one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted
the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would
live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find
him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and
move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,
That
draws me.
I
wonder at the awesome nature of God in creation.
For
me even as there is an instinct that reaches out and searches for God – this
God of creation reaches out to us just where we are, as we are.
Paul
goes on to focus on Jesus and the story of Jesus –
For
me searching after the God of creation and meaning in life only gets me so far.
But
I want then to focus on Jesus – and all he means too.
And
then that takes me further.
Jesus
opens up a sense of God as the God of love who asks of us to adopt a lifestyle
filled with love for one another, love for our neighbours and love for God.
In
the Gospels the message Jesus preached and the message he asked us to share
begins
Repent and believe in the good news.
Repent
– a word much misunderstood. Not just say sorry for all we have done – much
stronger than that. Have a whole new way of thinking.
A
way of thinking that builds life on a commitment to love in the way God has
loved us through Christ Jesus his son.
That’s
a way of life to commit to.
Forty
years ago, 17th September was of course a Saturday.
Interestingly,
on Sunday September 18th 1977 I was up at the crack of dawn (well
nearly!) for an excellent breakfast and then out to Ashbourne and to Church.
But
maybe the journal I kept of that holiday I’ll keep for another occasion.
What
we are going to do is to sing one of our two wedding hymns. Still a hymn that’s
a favourite of ours. And it has made it
into the new hymn book we have recently acquired.
497
Almighty Father, of all things that be
1 Almighty Father of all things that be,
our life, our work, we consecrate to Thee,
whose heavens declare Thy glory from above,
whose earth below is witness to Thy love.
2 For well we know this weary soilèd earth
is yet Thine own by right of its new birth,
since that great cross upreared on Calvary
redeemed it from its fault and shame to Thee.
3 Thine still the changeful beauty of the hills,
the purple valleys flecked with silver rills,
the ocean glistening neath the golden rays;
they all are Thine, and voiceless speak Thy praise.
4 Thou dost the strength to worker's arm impart;
from Thee the skilled musician's mystic art,
the grace of poet's pen or painter's hand,
to teach the loveliness of sea and land.
5 Then grant us, Lord, in all things Thee to own,
to dwell within the shadow of Thy throne,
to speak and work, to think, and live, and move,
reflecting Thine own nature, which is love:
6 That so, by Christ redeemed from sin and shame,
and hallowed by Thy Spirit's cleansing flame,
ourselves, our work, and all our powers may be
a sacrifice acceptable to Thee.
Ernest Dugmore (1843–1925)
Prayer and worship
with Hy-Spirit
Prayers of Concern
659 Put peace into
each other’s hands
The Lord’s Supper
We
remain seated to sing as a prayer from a 16th century book of hours
one of those prayers I recall from my childhood, one I often choose to finish
communion with and one that has always
meant the world to me – a prayer for each of us. …
538
God be in my head
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at mine end, and at my departing.
Book of Hours (1514)
Words
of Blessing
“See
that you don't despise any of these little ones.
Their
angels in heaven, I tell you,
are
always in the presence of my Father in heaven.
“What
do you think a man does who has 100 sheep
and
one of them gets lost?
He
will leave the other 99 grazing on the hillside and go and look for the lost
sheep.13When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep
than over the 99 that did not get lost.14In just the same way yourFather in
heaven does not want any of these little ones to be lost.
