Welcome to our services
today and a special welcome to any who are worshipping with us for the first
time.
It’s amazing how soon it
gets dark in the evening once the clocks go back! It’s not inappropriate that
it is at this time of the year that our thoughts turn to remembrance. All
hallows’ eve on 31st October is followed by All Saints’ Day on 1st November and
followed hard on its heels on the nearest Sunday to 11th November by
Remembrance Sunday. And yet, it can be very difficult actually to think and
talk about dying, death and what’s beyond. That’s what we are going to do in
today’s services.
It’s not possible to approach such a theme without having a
very specific context. Each of us will have our own thoughts as we remember loved
ones and as we reflect on ourselves. And each of us will be different. But we
do have a shared framework that helps us not only in our thinking but in the
help and support we can give each other. We are going to set our reflections on
the theme of dying, death and what’s beyond in the context of the Easter story
of resurrection victory.
After the morning service at around 12-15 you are
invited to join us for a very simple soup and bread lunch in the Café space
when we are going to have the opportunity to chat through the things we’ll be
sharing in our morning service.
We live-streamed this morning's service and one of our young people sat with one of our older members in a Care Home in Cheltenham so that she could share in our worship.
We live-streamed this morning's service and one of our young people sat with one of our older members in a Care Home in Cheltenham so that she could share in our worship.
Call
to Worship
419
Thine be the glory
Prayer
and the Lord’s Prayer
Open
the Book at Easter
Reading:
John 20:29-31
Jesus
said to Thomas,
‘Have
you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’
Now
Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written
in this book.
But
these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God,
and
that through believing you may have life in his name.
Hy-Spirit
Song - See What a Morning
Activities
for all over 3
Remember,
remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder,
treason and plot.
We
did our fireworks party on Friday night.
On
Hallowe’en the streets between here and Prestbury seemed to be teeming with
small bands of children in all manner of ghoulish costumes while in here we had
a wonderful Messy Church with all the games you associate and the fun of being
here in the dark – but we were celebrating the light of life.
Next
Sunday we’ll mark Remembrance Sunday.
Maybe
it’s appropriate with the arrival of the dark evenings that this is the season
of remembrance.
But
one day in this time of the year we have in one sense missed out. It’s the day
Hallow e’en is the eve of. If 31st October is All Hallows Eve, the 1st
November is All Saints Day.
The
darkness gives way to a celebration of the light of life – maybe actually we
didn’t so much miss it out as roll it all into one with our Messy Church
Starlight party celebrating the Light of Life.
Miss
out All Saints Day – or that Celebration of the Light of Life and it is so easy
at this time of year to be overwhelmed by the darkness, the sadness, the darker
side of remembrance.
But
actually our Christian faith gives us a framework not just for the living of
life to the full, loving God, loving our neighbour … it also gives us a
framework for dying, death and what’s beyond.
They
are so often taboo subjects not to be spoken of. But they are subjects it’s
good to talk about … especially if you have such a framework!
Dying
It
was great a couple of weeks ago having Felicity’s sister, Angela, with us –
when her husband Jan collapsed at the local Sports Centre in Market Harborough
he didn’t regain consciousness and died a number of years later. In his care
and in his administering the family affairs Angela had a nightmare. She has
been passionate ever since about people making sure they have written a will and done both kinds of Lasting Power of Attorney.
We can now all of us make arrangements for what
should happen when we are approaching our dying day. There are two types of
Lasting Power of Attorney – one for property and financial affairs and one for
health and welfare. Easy enough to fill in online – or seek advice from Age UK
or a solicitor they prompt you to talk about the future with those closest to
you. I do not believe in euthanasia but it concerns me that modern medicine is
able to prolong life in a way that is neither natural nor helpful. And so I
have spelled out, very briefly, my desire to allow nature to take its course
and to have treatment to alleviate pain and distress even if that results in a
shortening of my life. It’s good to make plans ahead – but with that framework
we have I think we have more to offer as well.
It’s
one of the great privileges I have to be able to share with people in those
times as well – and it’s something I believe we have to share. Our faith does
not enable us to escape what lies ahead but our faith offers us a presence and
a strength through all that lies ahead.
To
my mind, the 23rd Psalm says it all –
The
LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he
leadeth me beside the still waters.
He
restoreth my soul:
he
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I
will fear no evil:
for
thou art with me;
thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou
preparest a table before me
in
the presence of mine enemies:
thou
anointest my head with oil;
my
cup runneth over.
Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me
all
the days of my life:
and
I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
It’s
like a journey – I can accompany someone so far on that journey … but there
comes a point when I can go no further – but at that point there is a presence
– you are not alone
Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I
will fear no evil:
for
thou art with me;
thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me.
That's not just a theory. It's not just a kind of philosophical idea. For me it is rooted in the reality of the presence of the risen Lord Jesus with me. I
couple the words of the 23rd Psalm with the words Jesus shared with his closest friends shortly before he himself died in John 14.
Do
not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe
in God, believe also in me.
In
my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places.
If
it were not so, would I have told you
that I go to
prepare a place for you?
And
if I go and prepare a place for you,
I
will come again and will take you to myself,
so
that where I am, there you may be also.
Death
But
what of death?
What
kind of poem are you drawn to at a funeral – they range from the anger of Dylan
Thomas at the death of his father
Do
not go gentle into that good night.
Rage,
rage against the dying of the light.
…
to the other extreme
Death
is nothing at all …
On
a tiny handful of occasions I have seen the value of that last one ... but I
have to confess I find those words hard.
Death
is something. It’s something massive. A while back they used to say there was a
grieving process you went through – I’m more drawn to the notion that there is
a massive hotch potch of emotions around death and bereavement to work through
and no easy path to follow. Loss, bereavement matters. If Jesus wept at the
close loss of his friend Lazarus we should not be surprised if all sorts of
tears come to us as well. Anger, denial, numbness, a kind of bargaining – if
only I had been there or done that it wouldn’t have happened – guilt – sadness.
And I have to acknowledge it gets the better of me – I’ve found I’ve had to
turn to Cruse Bereavement Care, to Winston’s Wish, th charity for bereaved children, that we will be supporting at
Christmas in its work with children who are bereaved, to SANDS the stillbirth and neonatal deathcharity, to SOBS for survivors of bereavement by suicide. They each provide
help that’s so valuable.
But
our framework gives us something else to turn to.
What's Beyond
If Jesus wept with Mary who
at the loss of her brother didn’t want to talk, he shared something else with
Martha:
‘I
am the resurrection and the life.
Those
who believe in me, even though they die, will live,
and
everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11)
I
don’t believe in life just going on. I don’t think in terms of a soul or a
spirit let loose. I look to Jesus…
Jesus
really was crucified, dead and buried. But on the third day he rose again from
the dead. I want to say with Paul,
thanks
be to God,
who
gives us the victory
through
our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15)
Two
pictures I have found helpful. One is the seed – left on the shelf it remains a
seed – buried in the soil a plant comes to life that is so much more wonderful
than the seed.
So
it is with the resurrection of the dead.
What
is sown is perishable,
what is raised is imperishable.
It
is sown in dishonour,
it is raised in glory.
It
is sown in weakness,
it is raised in power.
It
is sown a physical body,
it is raised a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15)
And
the other picture is of sleep. - a poem I’ve always been drawn to is John Donne
– I love his defiance - Death, be not proud!
One
short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And
death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die!
HTC 169 I know my
Redeemer lives
Through
the valley
We shared a very moving conversation with Janet ( Click to this link to the conversation with Janet and move the slider bar forward to 1 hour 12') who grew up going to church, came back to church when her youngsters were little and then came to make a faith commitment as an adult and no longer as a child that meant the world to her. Over a couple of years she found herself working out her faith and what it meant to her.
From the age of 12 she had had a kidney condition from which she had recovered. Having spent a long time in hospital she was drawn to work in hospitals and became a physiotherapist.
About twenty-five years ago her condition deterioriated to the point at which she knew that she was in the final stages of renal failure and therefore very near death. She found it was the fact that she had worked through what her faith meant to her that stood her in good stead.
At those moments when she found it hard to pray for herself she found it a great source of strength to know that the church family and many more were praying for her.
Seventeen years ago she was called to hospital in Bristol and had a day undergoing tests to see if the donor from whom she was to receive a kidney transplant was 'compatible' with her. All was well ... and she had a kidney transplant.
Janet shared with us how indebted she was to that person who had donated their kidneys, to their family who had given permission for them to be used knowing that in their sadness someone else would have a new lease of life, and to the medical people who made it all possible.
Janet has had a new lease of life, continued to work as a Physiotherapist and continues to this day to be very involved in church. It was moving to hear her describe how her faith had stood her in good stead.
Janet urged us all to sign up to the Donor Register, suggesting that if we would be prepared to receive a transplant at some point in the future we should also be prepared to give. You can sign up for organ donation by clicking on this link.
At
our sunrise service this Easter on Cleeve Hill looking over to the Malverns we
began with this song …
Song:
In the secret, in the quiet place
Prayers
of Concern – led by Hy-Tide
436
Christ triumphant
Words
of Blessing
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