Eternal Echoes

Not everything is black and white

Not everything is simple, some of lifes decisions are complex and may raise controversey...Cheesehead's post makes you think again on the pro-life issue...read it with an open mind and heart!

More on dying to live

Full of promise

I am preaching in the main church this Sunday- I work in a Methodist Circuit of 10 Chapels , lots of little villages that centre on the town (if you can call it that). Putting this town into perspective, when my daughters friends drove up here from Kent for a weekend they hit Thetford Forest and thought they'd entered another land...miles of nothing....we have a Tescos and amazingly are on the mainline into London Kings Cross, therefore it is a town!!!!

Waffle aside, I feel challenged by the gospel reading for Sunday- John 12:20-33 and the talk of death and resurrection. I am challenged because as I have been preparing God has challenged me about what it means to die to self...here is why; we took this job  looking for something that would complement our work as itinerant evangelists...seeing the itinerant work as the most important. Over the last few years I have grumbled and complained about the work here finding it hard to fit into rural Methodist life, finding it hard to fit into the staff team. The church here desperately needs to produce new growth or it will die the congregations are ageing fast, apart from staff the leadership team are all in their 60's and 70's...mostly 70's!

So why I am I challenged? Because God has asked me to die to self to stop complaining and start praying, to give myself to this place...slowly I am getting to know some of the quieter people, those who want to see God do something, who are tired and stretched, and desperate to see new life, new growth...people who have hung in there when others have left. There are many loud voices who resist change...but they are growing fewer as they grow older.

So it is time to die to self and to ask God for the water of his Spirit on a small and seemingly insignificant seed, yet like all seeds it is full of promise.

I am grateful for my itinerant work which takes me around the country as I teach and help groups reach out to the New Age community, I am grateful for the freshness and inspiration it brings as others engage and add to the creativity of the project, and I am grateful because it keeps me in touch with the spirituality of the nation and I know that people are interested. But I recognise that this needs to be rooted and as I settle in I recognise that this is a good place to be rooted...I am currently training for Methodist ministry so it could mean a move soon, unless part of that dying to self means remaining in Lay work and staying put...as I said I am challenged!

I am preaching in the main church this Sunday- I work in a Methodist Circuit of 10 Chapels , lots of little villages that centre on the town (if you can call it that). Putting this town into perspective, when my daughters friends drove up here from Kent for a weekend they hit Thetford Forest and thought they'd entered another land...miles of nothing....we have a Tescos and amazingly are on the mainline into London Kings Cross, therefore it is a town!!!!

Waffle aside, I feel challenged by the gospel reading for Sunday- John 12:20-33 and the talk of death and resurrection. I am challenged because as I have been preparing God has challenged me about what it means to die to self...here is why; we took this job  looking for something that would complement our work as itinerant evangelists...seeing the itinerant work as the most important. Over the last few years I have grumbled and complained about the work here finding it hard to fit into rural Methodist life, finding it hard to fit into the staff team. The church here desperately needs to produce new growth or it will die the congregations are ageing fast, apart from staff the leadership team are all in their 60's and 70's...mostly 70's!

So why I am I challenged? Because God has asked me to die to self to stop complaining and start praying, to give myself to this place...slowly I am getting to know some of the quieter people, those who want to see God do something, who are tired and stretched, and desperate to see new life, new growth...people who have hung in there when others have left. There are many loud voices who resist change...but they are growing fewer as they grow older.

So it is time to die to self and to ask God for the water of his Spirit on a small and seemingly insignificant seed, yet like all seeds it is full of promise.

I am grateful for my itinerant work which takes me around the country as I teach and help groups reach out to the New Age community, I am grateful for the freshness and inspiration it brings as others engage and add to the creativity of the project, and I am grateful because it keeps me in touch with the spirituality of the nation and I know that people are interested. But I recognise that this needs to be rooted and as I settle in I recognise that this is a good place to be rooted...I am currently training for Methodist ministry so it could mean a move soon, unless part of that dying to self means remaining in Lay work and staying put...as I said I am challenged!

My desk...a muse???

OK Dave when did you sneak in and draw my desk

It was having a bad hair day!!!!

Parsnips!

Everyone has gone parsnip mad today...I found this on Richard Halls blog...it is by Dave Walker from We blog cartoons and to top it off Maggi Dawn has a parsnip soup recipie, because Dave Walker from We blog cartoons was looking for one....

Just to add to the madness I have just driven home from a swim to get stuck behind not one but two tractors (we live in rural Norfolk UK) carrying huge loads of parsnips up the  A10

Should we be worried  is there a plot afoot to convert the world through parsnip soup???

Being a seed

I have been working on my childrens talk for Sunday morning, the gospel reading for the day is John 12 20-33, I am focusing on vs. 20-26 for my sermon and wanted to do something meaningful for the children...I have been learning about the power of encouraging them to use their imagination and so have written a short meditation on being a seed...I hope the adults will connect with it too!

Imagine you are a special seed, one that will grow to be a tall and beautiful plant…

In order to grow and become beautiful, you must be planted…so a gardener comes and plants you into some lovely rich soil…For a long time it seems like nothing is happening, you are warm and safe in the soil....

Rain comes and it starts to feed you, you push out a little root to drink in the rain…a bit like using a straw to drink your favourite drink!

You are full now and something exciting happens…you start to grow, pushing aside your outer casing you make for the surface…slowly you break through the surface of the soil popping out just a little green shoot…

Over the next few months the sun warms you and the rain nourishes you, and the soil holds you safe…

You start to grow and grow…a bud forms

And one day, when the sun is strong and warm and you have reached   high up into the sky you turn to face the sun…the bud opens up…a beautiful sunflower full of special seeds…

Here is a secret…Gods words are like special seeds, when we talk to him, and listen to him, when we do what his words say and hear his promises, he helps us to grow into the beautiful people he has designed us to be….

 

DYING AND RISING

                                      A further thought on my last post...

We must remember that Jesus death was not the end...we must remember the the resurrection

Romans 6:8 (MsgB) 
    If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.

The church must go through seasons of dying to self  if it is to continue to produce fruit and grow.

Too often we concentrate on appearing successful and strong, and forget to become vulnerable and open...

It is time for a change...are we ready....have we heard the question that prompts a new season?

Are we ready be reborn?

Dying to live 2

                                    RevMom quotes a great comment from a discussion group last Sunday; looking at John 12 20-26 one gentleman made the following remark:

"Are we willing to let go of the status quo in order to serve God's purposes, or do we grasp it tighter, hoping that God will see things our way?"

Andrew and Philip who come to Jesus with the news that some Greeks (lots of people spoke greek!) wanted to see him. Obviously they had picked up on the buzz of excitement that surrounded Jesus...the raising of Lazarus, the triumphant entry into Jerusalem ...no wonder they wanted to see him!

Jesus response is strange, it as if the news of these foreigners wanting to see him have triggered something off...he speaks in a mystical way about dying seeds and bearing fruit, going on to speak of being lifted up and drawing all people to himself...we know now that this all referred to the crucifixion, and that Jesus was recognising the time was right, that he now had to go forward with the fulfilment of his vocation...dying that we might live.

So what does that mean for us today, the Church in the 21st century, as I see it we live in a spiritual age...an age where people are seeking spiritual paths and truths, like the Greeks they are looking for something new...

If we are to respond as Jesus responded what might that mean?

I believe that we need to embrace the need to change by being willing to die to old ways of being church, ways that are irrelevant and disconected from todays culture. We need to sacrifice our likes and wants that Gods kingdom might grow and spread.

This process may be painful and will at the outset probably look like failure...for seeds need first to be planted deep in rich soil and will not show through until the husk has split and roots been sent down...all this happens underground....

"Greeks" are all around us what signs of life might they see inorder for their curiosity to be aroused enough to come and ask to see Jesus?

Peter- a meditation

I wrote this for our young peoples group yesterday, they really connected with it so I thought I'd share it...

Meditation- Peter.

It is early morning on the lake, the sun is rising in the sky and though they’ve been fishing all night there are no fish…

Sense the disappointment, the concern of the fishermen….added to by their confusion surrounding recent events…they miss Jesus almost as if someone has taken away a part of who they are…it hurts…

A stranger appears on the shore and calls out to them to lower their nets on the other side…funny they’ve heard that before….

Recognition dawns ….it is Jesus…standing on the shore real and alive….

Peter is diving into the cold early morning water and swimming to shore…

Imagine the cold water the energy used up in the swim….the desperation to get to Jesus first…

Struggling on to shore Peter is breathless

Jesus is cooking fish…the smell of breakfast…wood smoke in the early morning so ordinary yet so surprising…

In his rush to get to shore Peter had momentarily forgotten how he had betrayed Jesus denying even that he knew him…suddenly he is filled with remorse…he feels uncomfortable in the presence of his friend…

Imagine how that feels…

Jesus wants to talk…

Do you love me? He asks

Peter has no hesitation, remembering how he knew Jesus was the Son of God the Messiah…filled with the memory of that revelation he answers Yes Lord I love you….

Feed my lambs says Jesus

But then Jesus asks again, Peter Do you love me? Hurt Peter stops and thinks, he remembers his desire to save Jesus from death, how he vowed to stick with him to fight…and remembers Jesus reply…get behind me Satan….Jesus had chosen to die and he wasn’t going to let Peter stand in his way.

Peter remembers the garden…how he fell asleep, and didn’t pray…he remembers Jesus anguish, his disappointment

Peter remembers the courtyard where Jesus was taken in chains…he remembers his words wishing with all his heart he could take them back

He remembers that awful cross, how Jesus died and how he’d still been afraid to show himself

Subdued Peter answers…. Yes Lord you know that I love you

Jesus says tend my sheep…

Peter is confused as Jesus asks again; Peter do you love me?

He remembers the elation and confusion as he heard the news Jesus is alive, how could it possibly be true…and yet he can see it is true, here is Jesus again right in front of him eating bread and fish, just as they have so many times before

Confidence comes flooding back, but not in himself in Jesus, Jesus is the Son of God, he must be…

Jesus has risen from the dead, conquered death and is alive…and standing here he is asking Peter Do you love me

This time Peters heart is full as he answers yes Lord I love you

Jesus says feed my sheep…and this time Peter understands, Jesus is asking him to share the Good News that he is alive to go to people who had heard the messages over the last three years and reveal to them the truth that Jesus truly is the Messiah, Gods Son….

Peter knows that he will never be the same again…

Imagine now that you are standing on that shore with Jesus…

How do you feel?

What is Jesus saying to you?

How are you going to answer?

Prayer discomfort and tears

Following on from previous posts on Moving furniture and Cafe Church, I hope I haven't given the impression that the transformation was easy or that everyone was comfortable. Our service on Sunday was the result of many months of Bible Study, soul searching  and prayer together; with help and encouragement the Church at Feltwell took the brave step of going for a new approach to worship.

Even this has been built on slowly starting with coffee before the service, we have gradually moved to coffee being a part of our worship, there is something sacramental about it. Not everyone was comfortable with all of the elements of Sunday and we are still feeling our way forward. But the break through as wonderful...in a way it relates more to my post on Dying to live for the old service style had to be allowed to die, and the years of faithful worship and teaching have borne fruit in a new way...

I am humbled by the willingness of the older generation to try something new and to be discomforted in order to share the good news with their community

I am also aware that we will make mistakes as we travel on and there will need to be a lot more prayer discomfort and tears together.

Top ten reasons....

Why Men should not be ordained...

A tongue in cheek list .... check it out on Maggi Dawn's blog......