Into Jesus' Arms

It was good to welcome Amanda Thistleton from Christchurch, Cheltenham to Highbury on Sunday, 17th February - this is what she shared with us ...

Aim:  To help us understand that faith in Jesus does not depend on our abilities or our position.

Pray: 

Gracious God, may we hear you speaking to us through your word this morning, and may your Holy Spirit equip us to serve you better. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Mark 7:24-30

²⁴ Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.  He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ²⁵ In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.    ²⁷ “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”  ²⁸ “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  ²⁹ Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”  ³⁰ She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Have you ever felt excluded, or left out, as if you don’t belong?  Did the fact that you were different from the crowd make you shy or reluctant to join in? Do you wish you were more acceptable so that people would include you?  As the story we are looking at today develops we meet someone who may have felt like that, but it begins with Jesus trying to find some space.....

Jesus decided to go north from Galilee to the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, up on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. His popularity was growing as his ministry unfolded, and more and more people were hearing about him and wanting to hear his teaching and receive healing. Herod was interested in him.  Pharisees from Jerusalem were investigating his claims and questioning him. So Jesus and his disciples withdrew in order for Jesus to teach them in peace and to avoid the opposition in Galilee.

So they travelled up to the sea side, which is about 30 miles north of Galilee in modern day Lebanon, and attempted to lie low for a few days in a friend’s house. But it was not so easy, as Jesus seemed to attract attention wherever he went, so it was not long before people realised where he was and flocked to be near him. Verse 24 says: Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.

Have you ever made chocolate mousse?  You mix melted choc and egg yolks and they congeal into a thick lump which the recipe blithely says ‘fold into the whisked egg whites’. That is much easier said than done and at first the mixture is lumpy and bits of egg white fly out even though you try to do it very gently. You wonder how this peculiar hotch potch of chocolate and egg white will ever become nice smooth chocolate mousse. But in the end it all comes together and the final smooth brown mixture is just like it should be.

The Gospel of Mark is a bit like making chocolate mousse: in the first half the disciples don’t really understand, and in the second half things fall into place. The first half contains clues as to who Jesus is, and then in the second half we learn what he came to do.

Things start to come together in chapter 8 v29 when Peter answers Jesus’ question at Caesarea Philippi:   Jesus asks “Who do you say I am?” and Peter replies “You are the Christ”, and this is mirrored by the Roman centurion’s words at the crucifixion when he says “Surely this man was the Son of God.” In this passage we are reading today, we find ourselves in the first half of Mark’s gospel narrative, when the disciples still do not really understand who Jesus is. They and many other people have asked “Who is this man?” and it is only once the disciples eyes are opened and they realise who he is, that he can then prepare them for the next stage in his ministry leading towards his death and crucifixion at Calvary.

The disciples are rather slow at discovering who Jesus is, but the woman we are about to meet seems to be a step ahead....

Verse 25: In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.  The woman was a Greek (that is a Gentile), born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

Already the situation gets more complicated for Jesus, he is trying to have some time out, and this woman, who was also a Gentile, had managed to squirm her way into the house and find him. His first response to her impassioned begging for help seems really rather rude: “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Why does Jesus respond like this? I have to confess I was shocked the first time I read this as it seems so out of character for Jesus to be so dismissive. Maybe he was testing her faith, or maybe he was making a point for the disciples to pick up. The children he is talking about are the Jews, God’s chosen people, and the dogs (in this case the word Jesus uses is a word for puppies or pet dogs rather than the wild street dogs common in that part of the world), the dogs are the Gentiles. 

If we look at Mark as a whole, one of the themes that run through the gospel is that of the Messianic secret. Several times Jesus, having worked a miracle in a person exhorts them to keep silent about what has happened. It all seems rather odd, until we look at the bigger picture.

The Jews’ expectation of the Messiah was that he would save them from Roman rule by conquering the oppressors and reigning as the victorious king. Jesus was a completely different type of Messiah and he wanted his followers to have a full understanding of his message, which includes the cross and resurrection, before they went out to tell others.

So could it be that this outsider, this Gentile woman, can help us see more clearly what kind of a Messiah Jesus is?

Let’s look at what happens next: v28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

This Gentile woman, who had broken multiple social conventions to get to this point, calls Jesus ‘Lord’, putting the disciples to shame with her faith in Jesus. Then she puts her faith into action and does something – she asks for help.  She understands her position as a gentile and knows that she can’t share the children’s food, that is that she is not a Jew, but she is not satisfied with that.  She could imagine a future when Jesus’ grace was available to all, not just Jews. In the words of one commentator: “The disciples, and perhaps Jesus himself, are not yet ready for Calvary. This foreign woman is already insisting upon Easter.”! She already had complete faith in Jesus as we have seen by what she did.   Is our faith like that?

And these words are so familiar to us aren’t they? In the Anglican communion service, we say the prayer of humble access which includes the line “we were not fit, even to eat the crumbs from under your table, but you are the same Lord, whose nature is always to have mercy.” Maybe that can be a reminder to us of the infinite grace of Jesus that is available to all who have faith in him.

V 29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. What a brilliant ending. But this short episode doesn’t just end with a happy woman and a healed daughter.

This event is not just a response to a woman’s need, but a new stage in Jesus’ ministry as the door of the kingdom of God is opened to non-Jews. The gentile mother’s persistent confidence shows that God’s love is not exclusive, but for the whole world, for you and me, for all who believe in Jesus. It was her faith in Jesus which motivated her. And her faith did not depend on her, her position or merit, race or ability, but on Jesus, and on his mercy and grace.  It was like the faith a small child has who throws herself off a high wall into her father’s arms, shouting “Daddy, catch me!”  She just knows she will be caught, and of course Daddy catches her.  We have faith in Jesus because of who he is and not who we are.

Membership of God’s family is by grace alone - it is the gift of God to all who have faith – and the gentile woman knew this, and jumped into Jesus’ arms.

Christ at the Centre and Open to All - the really big question

After last Sunday’s service, over lunch and since people have come up with all sorts of helpful suggestions and comments.   It was very interesting to get that feedback at the Deacons meeting on Thursday – and to come up with a proposition that the Deacons will bring to our Annual Church Meeting – do make a note of Thursday, 7^th March and join us as we make some important decisions that evening.

One question seems to have been asked more than any other.

And I over lunch and through the week I have given the same response to a number of people.

That’s the 64,000 dollar question!

And this is the question lots of people have been asking.

So who can we find to take up the role of ‘Ministry Leaders’.

The 64,000 dollar question indeed.

Then I had one very telling conversation.

And it prompted me to think actually that’s not the most important question to ask.  There’s another much more significant question to ask.

Let’s not focus on the ministry leaders.  Let’s not focus on the Deacons.

Instead let’s focus on what’s at the centre – Christ.  And then let’s notice something about the way we picture the church as a circle.  It’s not a continuous line.  It’s made up of shorter lines – one for each of us.  We see the church as a place to share Christian friendship, explore Christian faith and enter into Christian mission with Christ at the centre and open to all.

With dotted lines we have then at the moment identified different areas of our church life – Pastoral Care, Worship, Mission and Outreach, Children’s work,  Youth work,  Discipleship, faith and prayer and all the admin tasks that make all of those things happen.

So if that’s our church – the really important question to ask is where do I fit in?  Where am I going to focus my gifts and energy?

That, in fact is the 64,000 dollar question.  The starting point for picturing the church this way is not who can we find to be 5 deacons, who can we find to be the 5 or 6 ministry leaders … the real starting point and what this picture of being the church is really all about, is where do I see myself fitting in.  What can I commit myself to?

We’ll all be different – we will be really keen on different things, some will have a heart for children, some for youth work, some for developing worship and building up disciples, some for pastoral care, some will  be behind the scenes kind of people.  Each of us with differing gifts.

But if we are to be a place where we share Christian friendship, explore Christian faith and enter into Christian mission with Christ at the centre and open to all then each of us makes a difference, and each of us has a part to play.

Let me take one of those areas as an example.  I’ll home in on one of the areas that we have identified as a priority for the work of the church.  Mission and Outreach.  If Christ’s at the centre and we are open to all, what does that mean for me?  How can I fit in?  I’m not one to talk very much about my faith.  I have too much baggage behind me, people won’t listen to me.  All sorts of things get in the way.

All sorts of things got in the way of one person doing anything as part of Christ’s mission.

When Jesus found himself on his own by Jacob’s well near the Samaritan city of Sychar and his disciples went off for some food, a Samaritan woman came to draw water.

What you might have expected of Jesus, given his Jewish background and the fact that Jewish people and Samaritan people didn’t share things together, and given the fact that he, a man was on his own, was that he would simply keep himself to himself and not engage himself with this Samaritan woman.

4:13-16, 23-24, 34-38, 42

But Jesus is not like that.

Jesus has time for everyone, he has time for the least expected of people.

And so he simply opens up the kind of conversation anyone would have at a well.  He simply asks her to draw some water.  She is taken aback that he a man, and a Jewish man should ask such a thing of her, a Samaritan woman.

Jesus is not phased at all.  Jesus doesn’t see the label, a Samaritan woman.  He simply sees a person to get into conversation with, a person to build bridges with.

She has raised the issue of Jews and Samaritans, he finds common ground speaks of God – and suggests that if she really knew who he was she would b e the one asking him not just for the kind of water that quenches thirst for a moment, but for living water, the kind of water that gives life to the spirit as much as to the body.

The woman is intrigued – it’s a deep well, he has nothing to draw any water with.  Is he a greater person than Jacob the common ancestor of both the  Samaritan people and the Jewish people, whose well this actually was?

Then comes a wonderful statement of Jesus.

³Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ 

It’s a wonderful image.  And something touches the woman at this point.  Maybe she recognises deep down she has a need for this kind of living water.  A spiritual thirst.

It’s something she wants, she feels in need of.

But Jesus recognises that she has a deep down need.  Maybe it’s a careworn face that she has.  Jesus asks her to go for her husband.  But I have no husband comes back the instant response.  But it’s not quite the case.  Jesus knows she has had five husbands and the one she had now was not her husband.  What’s going on here?  Is this a woman who has been used and abused by men?  Something is not right in her life.  And it’s a major thing that’s been going wrong.

It’s not something she wants to be open about.  She wants to keep quiet about it.  She wants to cover it up.  But Jesus knows her as she is.  And more than that he has things to share with her as she is.

She turns the conversation to the differences between Samaritans and Jews – one worships in one place in one way, the other in another place in another way.  Jesus holds the corner for Jewish people, she for Samaritan people.  It seems at one moment as if he is going to prize them apart.  But no, he goes in the opposite direction.

²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ 

The woman has recognised in Jesus a prophet who is willing to speak God’s word to her.  But more than that she wonders out loud whether he is more than a prophet.  Could he possibly be the Messiah, the Christ, the one Samaritan and Jew had been looking for.

I am he, Jesus says, the one who is speaking to you.

One powerful thing that comes over to me in this story is that Jesus has time for the least expected of people.  At each point in this story as it unfolds he could have said he had no time for her.  She wasn’t up to the job.  But no matter the baggage she has, he is prepared to talk with her.

You get the feeling as the disciples return they would not have been willing to enlist this woman.

It’s because of the way Jesus has time for her, that the woman instinctively wants to share what she has seen.

⁸Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,can he?’ ³⁰They left the city and were on their way to him.

What does she say to the people of her home city “Come and see”  It’s the catch phrase so powerful in John’s gospel.

Come and see.

They come.

And as they come Jesus spots them approaching white robes of many people as they come towards him – it looks just like a field of white grain swaying in the wind – “look around you,” says Jesus, “the fields are ripe for harvesting.”

It is because Jesus reaches out to the woman with all her issues, it is because she is willing to say, Come and see, that something remarkable happens.

The Good News of Jesus crosses a boundary and takes root among Samaritan people.

 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. ⁴¹And many more believed because of his word. ⁴²They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’

That Jesus is the Saviour of the World comes into their hearts simply because of this very ordinary, damaged woman that Jesus is prepared to use.

Coming back to our structures.

The 64,000 dollar question is ‘so, where do I fit in?  What can I do?’

With Christ at the centre there is something for everyone to do.  No one need think they are not up to it, - there’s something we can do.  So the big question to be thinking over is, what part can I play?  Where should my passion be directed, what are the gifts I have to share, what kind of person am I?  What can I do?  Where do I fit in so that Highbury really can be a place to share Christian friendship, explore Christian faith and enter into Christian mission with Christ at the centre and open to all.

Christ at the centre and open to all

In this morning's service Richard, our Minister, and Iain, one of our Deacons shared with the congregation the thinking behind the proposed new structure we are exploring at the moment in Highbury.  We went on to have a bring and share lunch when over lunch people were able to chat through some of the issues surrounding our plans.

In the first part of the service we got the youngsters to come out with the adults who had brought them and we got the adults to stand in a circle around the Table and a Cross, with hands linked, close together so the children couldn't break into the circle.  We then got the adults to stand back and let the children into the circle.  But it was still a closed circle with those who had not come to church with any children feeling left out and excluded.  So we then opened the circle out so that it would include everyone.  We then got people to stand with gaps between each person and the next so that it was an open circle with the cross at the centre.

It was a wonderful picture of our vision for the church here at Highbury as a place to share Christian friendship, explore Christian faith and enter into Christian mission with Christ at the centre and open to all.

We then recalled the way on one occasion when the close adult followers of Jesus simply hadn't got what he was about and were arguing among themselves  about who was the greatest.  What Jesus did was to take a child and using the child got them to think of the welcome they should give to everyone ...

They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?”

 But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.

Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.”

Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them,   “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”

We then turned to Ephesians 2:17-22 and a passage surprisingly enough all about getting the structure right.  In this evening's service we shared the same readings and the same reflections to ensure everyone in the church family has had the opportunity to get a feel for our thinking and our plans.  Having shared our plans in our January Church Meeting, we have wanted to ensure that everyone is aware of the thinking behind what we are proposing.

So, with a reading from  Ephesians, here are the thoughts we shared today.

So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off

and peace to those who were near; 

for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,

but you are citizens with the saints

and also members of the household of God, 

built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 

In him the whole structure is joined together

and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 

in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.

I hadn’t expected to find the word in the Bible.  It’s not a word that particularly excites me, I have a feeling it’s the kind of word to turn lots of people off right at the start.

It’s the word ‘structure’.  What are we doing talking about ‘structures’ when we should be getting on with the work Christ has set us to do?

It’s interesting that getting the ‘structure’ right was a high priority for Paul and the churches of the New Testament.  Not that there was one blueprint that fitted all circumstances.  Different places, different church fellowships have different structures.  But within those structures some things are all-important suggests Paul.  And getting the structure right means that you can then do what you are called to do really effectively.

We’ve developed a wonderfully exciting vision for the church here at Highbury.  The words we include on our web site in Highbury News are words you can take for granted but they say it all …

Highbury is a place to enjoy Christian friendship, to explore Christian faith and to engage in Christian mission with Christ at the centre and open to all.

We ask all who feel at home in our fellowship to join us in membership on the basis of a New Testament profession of faith that is at once simple and profound.

I believe in God and Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Saviour.

We are under the authority of God in Jesus Christ as the Spirit moves among us … and so all who belong as church members can share in our church meeting not as we make decisions by seeking a majority vote, but rather it is as we seek the mind of Christ that we shape church life and set the future direction of all we do as a church.

I love that picture of the church as an open circle that is wanting to grow with Christ at the centre.

It’s great that we are welcoming committed to pastoral care and to work with children and young people; mission, prayer and our worship and teaching are all important to us as they connect us with God and God’s world.  And we have three things that we have identified as a big priority to develop:  renewal and gifts, mission and outreach and personal faith and prayer as we seek to grow and be challenged as disciples of Christ.

It’s under that first heading of renewal and gifts that we have recognised the need to think again about our structures.

In one sense mission and outreach is something for all of us to be committed to as we share God’s love in the living of our lives and in the conversations we have with others, but there will be those who have a real heart for developing the work of mission and outreach.  And that needs someone to co-ordinate and really lead us forward.  So let’s look for someone in the church family with a real heart for mission and outreach to galvanise us so that  we can be more effective as living witnesses to our faith that really do make a difference in people’s lives.

We all share in worship. Worship is not something to passively receive – but we all bring something to the worshp we share as we come with expectation and participate fully in all we do.  But there will be those who  can help from welcoming through preparation of communion to reading, leading prayers and leading worship.  Let’s find someone with a real heart for worship to help us grow in our worship together.

We all of us look out for each other, and care for each other.  It’s great to have a team of visitors headed up by our group of four who share the leadership of the visiting scheme.   At our recent visitors meeting and with the help of those leading that part of our church’s work we are thinking of re-shaping the pastoral care we can offer as a church.

Right at the heart of all we do is the work we do with children and young people – it’s great to have Carolyn as our Children’s worker – developing that work among children and young people.

We each of us need to be challenged to grow not just in our faith but as disciples of Christ – one of the key things that helps in that growth is the prayer we share together – let’s find someone to help us grow as disciples and in prayer.

And then we need to make sure it all happens – and there is a very real ministry in stewarding our finances from Roger, our Treasurer and from Sue as our Church Secretary.

So we look for people who are drawn to focus on one of those areas of church life who will serve the church in leading us forward and help each of us to play our part fully in the growth of the church.

Then we would elect a smaller group of deacons, who together with our Honorary Deacon, would help to ensure that we are going on the right lines, would be responsible for making appointments, and in the light of changes to charity law would ensure we are doing everything in a right and proper way as we are recognised as a charity.

[There you have it, as described further in Highbury News and in the colour supplement to the church magazine.  Over lunch an opportunity to talk through what we are thinking of doing, and then at the Annual Meeting in March an opportunity to decide whether this really is the way forward for the church.]

 So there you have it.  A new way of shaping the church here at Highbury, a new structure.

Which takes me back to what Paul had to say about the ‘structure’ of the church in Ephesians 2.

We look to Jesus the one who “proclaimed peace” for it is through him through Christ that we all have “access in one Spirit to the Father.” 

As we look to Christ that means that we are no longer strangers to each other or to God, but we have a real sense of belonging to the Kingdom of God as “citizens with all God’s people,  or put that another way we all belong to one Church family, as members of the household of God.

We must guard against change for change sake, or against doing anything that takes us away from our roots – instead we must be built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone, the one who holds the whole church together.

It is then in this passage that we come to what seem to me to be wonderful words that speak into our structure whatever form that takes.

In him, in Jesus Christ,  the whole structure is joined together

and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; a place where God’s presence is made real and let loose in the world.

Make no mistake about it, structures do matter.  And seeking to get our structures right really does make a difference – for when the whole structure really is joined together in Jesus then in him it is as if we are being built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.

It is our prayer that Highbury really can be a place

to share Christian friendship,
to explore Christian faith and
to enter into Christian mission
with Christ at the centre
and open to all

A Vision for our Town

Today, we welcomed the Brownies, Guides, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts linked with the church to their Parade Service.  It was a special service for us as we welcomed Colin Hay, the Mayor of Cheltenham, and celebrated our town and the vision we share for its future.  In February our charity of the month will be one of the charities supported by the Mayor in his year of office:  Severn Freewheelers.  They provide a courier service to the hospitals of Gloucestershire for emergencies.

A time of Praise

Call to Worship

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 
   Worship the Lord with gladness;
   come into his presence with singing. 

For the Lord is good;
   his steadfast love endures for ever,
   and his faithfulness to all generations.

Praise and Worship with Hy-Spirit

Psalm 148 - the Congregation

A time for Reflection

A vision to share ...

... a birthday to celebrate!

It’s great to welcome everyone to our service today … and good to give a special welcome to Colin Hay who is the Mayor of Cheltenham.  It gives us an opportunity to celebrate our town and all it means to us –

Can we think of things that are really great about Cheltenham?

People came up with all sorts of ideas in tribute to the Hospitals, the Police, Fire and Ambulance Services, to our schools, to the trees that make Cheltenham so special, to its friendliness, to its football club.

How could we make Cheltenham an even better place?

There were lots of ideas people shared - from looking after the environment, keeping the place tidy, to looking out for people with great needs, and making sure our town was a caring place.

It’s good to have a vision for your town …

Long ago, everything went wrong for the people of Israel.  People forgot what they should be doing to make their towns and cities and their capital city the kind of place it should be where people helped each other and cared for one another and did the kind of things their faith in God showed they should be doing.

Everything went wrong and horrible things happened – and the towns and cities went into ruin – and the capital city, Jerusalem, was destroyed.

But the people didn’t lose heart, they didn’t lose hope.

In the middle of everythning that had gone wrong, people still had a vision.  They had a vision for what their towns and their cities should be like.

One of those people who had such a vision was Isaiah.  He dreamed of a new heaven and a new earth – something new coming out of the ashes.

Richard 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

This is the message from the Lord God. “Pay close attention now:     I’m creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain     are things of the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy.     Look forward to what I’m creating: I’ll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,     create my people as pure delight. No more sounds of weeping in the city,     no cries of anguish; No more babies dying in the cradle,     or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime; One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—     anything less will seem like a cheat. They’ll build houses     and move in. They’ll plant fields     and eat what they grow. They’ll have satisfaction in their work.    They won’t work and have nothing come of it, For my people will be as long-lived as trees,    for they themselves are plantings blessed by God,     with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed. Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow,     lion and ox eat straw from the same trough,     but snakes—they’ll get a diet of dirt! Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill     anywhere on my Holy Mountain,” says God.

It’s a wonderful vision that sets out the base-line things we should work for – it’s a timeless vision.  One that Jesus echoed the very first time he got up to teach in the synagogue in his home town –

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
   because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me

to bring good news to the oppressed,
   to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and release to the prisoners; 
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,

What a wonderful vision for today – key things to make our town a better place

Where there are tears, pain, anguish – there needs to be comfort, support, strengthening

The youngest – children need to be cared for as they grow up

The oldest need to be cared for and looked after – and we’ve just had a 100^th birthday as well – Alice Brown joined our church 91 years ago in 1924 when we are at Winchcombe Street and she went to Sunday School and then taught in the Sunday School on Grosvenor Street.  And by 1963 she was head of Guiting Power School – and didn’t allow the school to close for one day, driving through the whole of the bad winter from Charlton Kings in her Morris Minor!  And we are remembering Hilda Read who has been a very special part of the church family here for many years – who died this week.

Homes for people

Meals for people - each week we have three or four cartons of food to take to County Community Projects' Foodshare programme.  When it was brought to our attention that Cheltenham has a significant number of people who experience absolute poverty for periods when they have no food, we decided not only to increase our support of CCP's Foodshare Programme, but also to invite our MP, Martin Horwood, to a special Church Meeting when we would question him about the need for a safety net at the moment and on into the future.  That meeting has been postponed from this Tuesday when Martin finds he has business to attend to in the House of Commons to the following Tuesday, 5th February at 7-30.

Work for people

Reconciliation where there are divisions

And care of the environment

How can we make that kind of thing happen?  What can we do?

I have a story to tell … and I need some help.  I need a dog, a cat, a duck and a little red hen.

It’s the story of the Little Red Hen and the Pizza.

The Story of the Little Red Hen and the Pizza

Everybody counts – We all need to play our part in making the world we live in a better place.

Every little thing we do makes a difference.

Youtube video clip of Noah and the Whale

Song with Hy-Spirit

It’s great to welcome Colin as Mayor – The post of Mayor is a special one here in Cheltenham.  It honours someone who has been a Town Councillor for many years and for their service to the town.  And that’s why Colin has been made Mayor. 

Colin spoke of his year of office as Mayor, of the delight he has taken in meeting so many people doing all sorts of things to make Cheltenham a better place.  It's remarkable to see just how many people do so many things throughout the town to make Cheltenham the place it is.  Colin has been a councillor since 1981 and has served on the County Council for a good number of years, being made an honorary alderman  - it was good to welcome him and to take the opportunity to thank him for his service.

He answered questions and spoke of the valued place of education in the town, the role of so many organisations.  In his year of office he has chosen three charities to support.  He explained his support for the Oakley project that he is supporting and the work it does in Colin's own ward of Whaddon, now an area of Cheltenham with one of the lowest reported crime rates.  He was also supporting the Art Gallery and Museum currently undergoing a very significant re-build and re-furbishment progrramme: Colin spoke of the significant contribution it makes as the cultural centre of a town that takes a pride in nurturing cultural events. He looked forward to a number of regeneration projects going on in the town that will give it a new lease of life.  The third of his charities is the one we will be supporting next month - Severn Freewheelers

 We support a charity each month – this month we have been supporting the Glos and Worcs 4x4 response – a timely thing to support getting nurses to and fro the hospitals of the county – especially from the Cotswolds, the Forest and other parts of our hilly countryside.  Big thank you to Darryl and everyone who meet here at Highbury.

And next month we are going to support the Severn Freewheelers – and today the Cubs and others have put some things together in the hall over coffee for us to have a to at as we raise some money for Severn Freewheelers.

Prayer and Worship with Hy-Spirit

One concern we have is for the food poverty there is in the town at the moment – we are meeting with Martin Horwood – postponed from this Tuesday to a week on Tuesday.  We want to have a conversation with him about the issues around the rise in food poverty.

Prayers for our town and Prayers of Concern

Offering and Dedication

Great is thy faithfulness

Words of Blessing

In a world of change something that doesn't change

Not everyone has in their desk drawer what some would call in the vernacular ‘knicker elastic’.

This, however, is not just any old knicker elastic.

It’s particularly precious to me and I found myself taking it out of the drawer at the turn of the year.  It’s twelfth night and the Christmas Decorations are put away for another year – we have said good bye to the old year and we have greeted the new year.

It’s a time for turning from the past and looking to the future.  In a world of constant change, it is a time to seek a constant.

And that’s where my knicker elastic means a lot to me.

32 and a half years ago we were living in Bradford.   Centre still at that time for the woollen trade in Britain and indeed the world with its wool exchange still functioning albeit not in its wonderful pseudo classical Victorian building.  With the wool exchange went the need for reliable weights and measures.  So it was that in the City centre was a set of measures in brass set into the paving of a small formal square.  Disputes would at one time have been settled and accurate measures taken.

It’s not only in trade that you need a fixed measure.

In life too there is a need for a constant.  And there are particular moments in life when that constant becomes all the more necessary.  One of those moments is at the turn of the year.

For me at that moment it was in the couple of weeks following the death of my father.  Something in my subconscious, I guess, or maybe something led me to a vaguely remembered phrase something about Jesus providing just such a measure – something that remains unchanged.  Always the same.

So, I measured out a metre in knicker elastic – and I marked off 100 centimetres.   I had made myself a tape measure to show to the children.  I got one of the smallest of the youngest children out, and then I got a middle sized youngster to the front and then I got the tallest person in the Congregation.  Quite some contrast.

But with my metre rule I could demonstrate that they were each the same height.  My metre rule wasn’t up to much.  I then produced another tape measure that couldn’t be stretched.  And with the help of that could measure the height of the three accurately.

To be of any use a tape measure must remain the same – just like those measures set in brass in the paving down in  the City Centre.

It was at the last minute going into church that I tracked down the chapter and verse for that saying.  And I found it in Hebrews 13.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

That’s the measure.

That’s the constant.

That’s the standard by which we can measure ourselves and live our lives.

That’s what Hebrews is about … and that’s what we are going to be taking a look at in Open the Book from this Thursday.

Hebrews presents us with a magisterial Christ who is one with God and at the same time Hebrews presents us with a human Christ who knows our every weakness, Hebrews presences Christ as the one who brings God down to earth and raises us into the glory of God’s presence.  It is in Hebrews that faith is defined in the most wonderful of ways as ‘the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’.  It is in Hebrews that faith finds its focus in Jesus as we run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of throne of God.

Hebrews sets out constants for us to follow as we run that race …

• Mutual love
• Hospitality to strangers
• Remembering those in prison, those who are being tortured
• Honouring marriage
• Keeping our lives free from the love of money
• Being content with what we have

And in running the race we have a source of strength from outside ourselves to keep us going … for God has said, I I will never leave you or forsake you.

So at a time of flux and change as one era in one’s life comes to an end and another begins, as one year comes to an end and another begins we can say with confidence echoing the words of Hebrews quoting Psalm 118,

The Lord is my helper

I will  not be afraid

What can anyone do to me?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

That Sunday, 27^th July 1980 I didn’t elaborate the detail in that way – I simply stuck with Jesus and the standard he gave.  All it was was a children’s address.  It was my first time back in the pulpit following my father’s death a couple of weeks before.  I was working a little on automatic pilot.

It was only over lunch in the kitchen at the back of Fieldhead, an old farmhouse complete with Aga Cooker and a water supply from a spring across the road, that Felicity commended me for my choice of reading.

She drew attention to the verse that comes between that quotation from Psalm 118 and the verse I had focused on about Jesus being the same, yesterday, today and forever.

How appropriate, she commented.

But I hadn’t chosen that verse.

When I read it it spoke volumes to me.

It’s a verse I have copied into the flyleaf of each Bible I have used since.  It’s a verse I treasure.

And it’s a verse that also speaks to us at the turn of a year.

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you.

This is not just an invitation to think of those who have gone before us.  It is a specific invitation to think of those who have taught us and spoken to us the word of God.  For me that rang wonderfully true of my father who was also a minister and under whose ministry I had of course sat until that point.

Who might you think of?  Leaders who have gone before us.

Most recently I can think of Joan Lee – she wouldn’t acknoweledge it, but she was a leader here in this church – for many years in partnership with Olga.  She spoke the word of God – promises and prayers that she drew on that were precious to her and she shared.  It took some persuading by all accounts but she did in Friendship  Group.  And in her quiet way with many people.  The importance of faith, the importance of prayer – a faith and a prayer she held on to through the devastating illness she had.

Last year saw the death at 101 of a Sunday School teacher I had at the time when the New Testament of the New English Bible was published – I still have the hard back little note book he gave us for us to do ‘our own translation’ of Luke’s Gospel – making our own commentary.  He whetted my appetite for the study of the Bible – I am glad I had been able to write at length on the occasion of his 100^th birthday and express my thanks.

In a funny way I will think of Alice Brown still with us and celebrating her 100^th birthday a week on Saturday – one of those many it is good to visit – still the head she was in her teaching days, still the wisdom to share and impart, that kind of humility that’s special – and words of wisdom that link us with days gone by of the Sunday School in Grosvenor Street – hard work of dedicated leaders and difficult times with youngsters often throwing stones at the door and at the windows.  Not the glory days we sometimes falsely imagine.

And next Sunday I’ll be visiting Eric Burton again – wonderful the way he keeps in touch with folk and good to share with him – his wonderful words of wisdom and encouragement he shared when last I visited him about experimenting and change.

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

But it is not to any people we look at the turn of the year at a time of change and flux for our constants.  It is to what they shared with us.  It is to the word of God they spoke.  It is to the faith they had.

And that message, that faith, that word finds its focus on the one who does not change.  For …

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.

Hopes and Fears for the New Year

During today's service we welcomed Steve and Carrie and shared in Oliver's baptism. 

There’s something very special sharing in the baptism of a little one who is just six months old on the first Sunday of a New Year.  There’s the freshness, the wonder, the joy of the new born right at the start of life: and there’s that sense of freshness at the start of a new year with new beginnings and new things stretching out in front of us.

The other side of the coin is that with a new born and with a new year there are hopes and fears, expectations and anxieties about what lies ahead.  What kind of a world is this little one going to grow into?  What will this year bring for us?  If we’re not careful anxieties can squeeze out the sense of wonder.

I think coming together in church on the first Sunday of a New Year when we share in a celebration of baptism, is a recognition that what is at the heart of the Christian faith has something to offer to us in our hopes and fears, in our expectations and anxieties about all that lies ahead.

Oliver is not quite old enough yet … but it won’t be long before he can begin to enjoy some of the delights of Gloucestershire.  One of the real delights at the turn of the year is to go to Slimbridge as we did a couple of years back.  At the end of our afternoon as dusk was falling we made our way to the wonderful observation room overlooking the lake at the back of the visitor centre.  It was feeding time and the person we were watching was giving a wonderful talk as they were feeding the swans.  But that’s not what I found inspirational that day.  He suggested that those who were interested in looking at the starlings could go out and have a look as they were circling in the sky.

I slipped out and saw something I had seen pictures of but never witnessed for myself.  Masses and masses, thousands, tens of thousands perhaps of starlings swirling and whirling through the sky.  It was simply a magnificent sight.

Overwhelmed by the anxieties and the fears of the world around us, it’s no bad thing to look at the wonderful world of nature and somehow those worries and fears fall into place.

One of the things that appeals to me about the Christian faith is that it is down to earth.   Jesus lived in a world that was fraught with fears and anxieties as much as hopes and expectations.  One of those favourite carols we have been singing speaks of the way the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Christ.  To counter those fears and anxieties, he urged his followers to look to that wonderful world of nature and see in it the wonder of God’s creation.

Matthew 6:25-34

 “This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? 27 Can any of you live a bit longer  by worrying about it?

28 “And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. 30 It is God who clothes the wild grass—grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have!

31 “So do not start worrying: ‘Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?’ 32 (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. 33 Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

Cecil Alexander wrote a sequence of hymns to illustrate the different aspects of the Christian faith – that sequence began with a celebration of God’s creation – it’s a hymn that’s special in Steve’s family.

Hymn:  283 All things bright and beautiful

The Christian faith then offers us a set of values that in our baptism service we acknowledge are worth handing on to the little ones as they start out on life; but they are values not just for the beginning of life, but for the whole of life, values to celebrate at the start of the year that are actually there for the whole of the year.

Jesus boiled those values down to two basic principles:  Love God and Love your Neighbour.   Recognise that there is a spiritual dimension to life, and live your life for the good of other people.  In that sermon on the mount, in the very next chapter of Matthew’s gospel he boils it down to one main principle that sums everything else up – do to others what you would have others do to you.

Jesus fills out those basic principles in teaching that addresses all sorts of issues, he lives it out as he brings healing wherever people are hurting.  His is a life of compassion and love for others, a life he maps out for us to follow.

One thing he is continually stressing is the need to care especially for those most vulnerable, those rejected by other people, your neighbour includes the ones difficult to get on with, the ones who are at the bottom of the pile.

His values turn on their head many of the values of the world.  There’s one moment when some of his closest friends are arguing among themselves who is the greatest.  It is a classic argument – it is reflected in al sorts of organisations.  You will spot them in any organisation – those who want to get to the top to have positions of power.  My observation would be that they are the ones who don’t really have what it takes.  The truly inspirational leaders who gain the respect of those in their organisation are the ones who have a commitment to service.

It’s interesting to see how Jesus counters that desire of some of his followers to be the greatest for the sake of getting into a position of power and authority.

Mark 9:33-37

33 They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?”

 But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.   Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” 36 Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them,   “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”

 But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.   Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” 36 Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them,   “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”

 But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.   Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” 36 Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them,   “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”

Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.

Then he took a child and made him stand in front of them. He put his arms round him and said to them,  “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”

From its very beginning in 1827 this church has been committed to working with children.  In a couple of weeks our oldest member will be 100 – Alice Brown recalls going to our Winchcombe Street church at the invitation of a friend and starting to teach in the Sunday School in Grosvenor Street.  There was real need among the youngsters living in those tight-knit streets around there at the time – they would often find youngsters throwing stones at the windows, difficult youngsters.  Alice went on to a life-time of teaching and a passionate concern for children and young people.

It was great to see Steve coming along to our children’s club we run jointly with St Luke’s, Transformers  and then to our Cubs on consecutive nights just before Christmas.  It’s interesting to see the priority the police give to working with youngsters – the churches of Cheltenham have been working closely with the police through Street Pastors in what’s sometimes known as the night-time economy and recently we have been working together on daytime initiatives.  I am a Governor at Pittville and belong to Aston House – so named after PC Aston who worked tirelessly among the young people particularly of Whaddon – the police now support the Aston Project which is based around giving youngsters the opportunity as it were to redeem themselves – through doing community service earning treats that can be quite exciting.  This really is getting to the heart of what society is all about: it’s an example of being prepared to put yourself last of all, put yourself as servant of all – a measure of our worth is a society is how we treat facing the greatest disadvantages, not least the children who are most vulnerable -   Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.

To see something of God in each other and in the most vulnerable is at the heart of those values that are not just for the beginning of life but for the whole of life, not just for the beginning of the year but for the whole of the year.

The great thing about that Aston Project is the way it gives youngsters an opportunity to make a new beginning, make a fresh start.

That’s where I want to finish with what is so important at the heart of the Christian Faith.   Christ maps out a wonderful set of values to follow – but then he works with those who fail to live up to those values – and is there to give them a second chance.

Take seriously the values of the Christian faith and we are only too aware that we don’t quite live up to them.  In Christ we see the forgiving love of God reaching out to us always there to give us a second chance, to enable us to begin all over again.  And with that forgiving love, there is a strength that can see us through the most difficult times of all, a strength and a power from beyond ourselves.

No matter what the fears may be for this new year – in our individual lives, maybe around health, or work or loneliness, in our family lives or around us in the community the message at the heart of our Christian faith is that we are not alone.  There is a strength to draw on.

Among the last words Jesus shared with his friends he spoke of leaving them a strength, a comforter, a presence of God – unseen yet very real.  A strength we can be aware of in prayer and in the living of our daily lives..

That to my mind is one of the most precious things the Christian faith has to offer and something that’s not just for a little one but for us all, not just for the beginning of the year but 24 / 7 throughout the whole year.