Since we were away last week, we obviously heard different sermons to the ones heard in Goldthorpe. It’s always interesting to hear different preachers and to reflect on God’s word in an unfamiliar context. Maybe something of what we heard last week can also speak to us here at home.

At the Anglican church in Minchinhampton, the sermon (given by the Bishop of Gloucester) was from Matt 14:22-33, looking at the story where Jesus, and then Peter, walks on the water. This story reveals something of who Jesus is (“truly You are the Son of God” vs 33). It also shows us about faith – Peter is often criticised for not having much faith, and yet he did actually have the faith to walk to Jesus initially. Even a little faith is better than none! This miracle caused the disciples to worship Jesus, to pay Him homage, just as the Magi had earlier done in Matthew 2. The more we see of who Jesus is, the more our faith will be increased and the more we will worship Him.

At the Baptist church that evening, the sermon was continuing looking at the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus, this time looking at ‘I am the good shepherd’ (John 10:11-15). ‘I am’ refers back to the very name of God (first revealed to Moses in Exodus 3), showing us again something of Christ’s identity. He is a good shepherd – far more than just someone ‘nice’ or ‘obliging’, but one showing us true holiness, completeness or perfection. Shepherds in the East knew their sheep intimately and led them. Jesus, the Lamb of God Himself, was not a hired hand (see Ezekiel 34) but was one who would combine the roles of prophet, priest and king. He truly is the good shepherd: the question now is ‘are we following Him or going our own way?’

Apologies for the delay in posting this, due to my absence on holiday. Stephen preached last Sunday evening from Genesis 6:5-8, the beginning of the story of Noah.

Day be day, we walk the walk and talk the talk, doing what we do… but what is God doing? If we listen to the storm sounds below, you can hear something of God’s pain and grief. As you listen, think about how man’s sin caused God’s heart to be deeply troubled.

Free Sound Effect Songs | Free ringtones at EZ-Tracks.com

The perfect creation had reached such a low point that God contemplates wiping mankind from the face of the earth. But Noah found favour with God. God picked out one family and from that one family, mankind was saved.

We need to be focussed on God. Are we like the multitudes, waiting to be destroyed, or are we like Noah, waiting to be saved by God’s power and intervention? Is God in your life? Is He in your walk and your talk? That is what makes the real difference.

We are just back from a wonderful week in the Cotswolds, having visited so many beautiful villages, towns and cities. We even got to see Barnsley in Gloucestershire, which is very different to our own beloved Barnsley!

Church in Barnsley, Gloucestershire:



One of the highlights of the holiday was worshipping with God’s people in different churches. We stayed in a lovely small market town called Minchinhampton, which has been known to me for many, many years thanks to being until recently the UK headquarters of France Mission, a charity I support. We attended both the Anglican church there (where the Bishop of Gloucester was present to baptise one child and confirm an adult) and the Baptist Church. We also attended Evensong at Gloucester Cathedral in the week and listened to choirs rehearsing at Worcester Cathedral on our way home.

Every experience of corporate worship reminded us of both the diversity of the church and the essential unity of believers. The soaring choral singing, majestic organ music and formality of the Anglican service and the violin and the keyboard of the Baptist church and the informality of their service were reminders that it takes all kinds of people, worshipping God in all kinds of ways, to make up the church as a whole. In both these churches we had the joy and privilege of sharing in Communion, both celebrating the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. At Evensong in Gloucester Cathedral we joined in prayers, listened to Bible readings and heard the word of God sung to us. Everywhere, the Word and the Sacraments remain the same.

Anglican church in Minchinhampton:



Gloucester Cathedral:



Inside Worcester Cathedral:



“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” (1 Cor 12:12-14)

Thanks to the wonders of Wi-fi and the inability of your blogger to resist an innocent (!) challenge (“What? You won’t be blogging while you’re on holiday?”), here is the summary of Dave’s sermon on Sunday morning. I had to laugh when I read his notes: not only do I have to blog, I have to link to a video, Michael Card’s song ‘Known by the Scars’ summarising Dave’s sermon far better than I can do!

Dave preached from John 20:19-31, looking at the famous passage where Thomas wants to see the wounds on Jesus before he will believe that Jesus has really risen from the dead. We can be unduly critical of Thomas at times, calling him ‘doubting’ and often accusing him of being faithless, but God is well able to deal with our questions and there is no need to be afraid of wanting real answers to tough questions. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? This is a hugely important question.

An orphaned boy was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, perished in the flames. The boy’s cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an iron drain pipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck.

Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town’s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the lad’s eyes remained focused on the floor.

Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hand from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe.

With a leap, the boy threw his arms around the man’s neck and held on for dear life. The other men silently walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. Those scarred hands had settled the issue.

Not only is Jesus known by His scars, so are we. Sometimes we bear the scars from past wounds and these affect our current lives. The Christian faith does not deny the pain, the reality of the wounds, the existence of the scars, but our faith enables us to go on, in the name of Christ, even with our wounds, even with our scars.

If you don’t know Jesus, and like Thomas, you aren’t sure that you believe, He’ll graciously show you His scars “that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:31). The promise of eternal life is real and is available precisely because of Jesus’s scars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hnCT4yx0TM

On Thursday we went for a walk round the lovely village of Wentworth and found heaven on earth…

The sign says ‘Paradise Square’, and there’s no doubt this is a very pretty garden or that Wentworth is an idyllic village, with a lovely old church:

But, despite what the Belinda Carlisle song says, heaven is not a place on earth. The greatest sights, the most wonderful scenery, the grandeur of the mountains or the roar of the oceans all point to our amazing Creator, but He has in store for us something even more wonderful. May we be inspired by the wonders of creation to worship the Creator, but let’s also know that ‘Paradise Square’ is not ultimately situated in Wentworth!

It’s always interesting to watch a work in progress and hopefully the photos of the work on the car park has helped you to see what really goes on to make the finished product look so smooth and even.






Notice the slope to make easy access for wheelchairs:

All this work reminds me, though, that we are God’s workmanship, created to do good works in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:10) and that we too are a work in progress. As the poster reminds us, God’s not finished with us yet!

John reminds us, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3) The sanctifying and refining work of Christ in our lives isn’t yet complete, but we know that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6) You can’t see the finished product yet in our lives, unlike the car park, but the work is surely ongoing!