Pilgrim

Sermon from today's service 08/09/2013 at GMC Message  08/09/13 Holy Father, let this message be all that you want to say and none that I want to say.  Lay your Holy Spirit on this place, open our hearts and minds to your Good News, and stay with us as we go into our own  mission fields, wherever they may be.  Amen At first reading, the verse from Mark can be awkward, to say the least.  Let’s face it, Jesus just sounds so rude.  There is no getting around it.  Here is a person who has been telling the temple authorities that they are too exclusive, they have too many rules on cleanliness and as a result they are excluding people from society.  Jesus has been saying those on the outside, the tax collectors and sinners are welcome to the Lords table.  And then this.  Jesus is telling a woman that she is no better than the dogs.  It is so cringeworthy and embarrassing it just has to be true.  What Gospel writer in their rig...

Since my last entry, I have managed to successfully rewrite one of the exegeses required for section B (the second of 4 sections A,B,C,D which make up the entirety of Faith and Worship).  I am now almost ready to submit Section C at the end of this month.  Today I gave an assessed service at my home Church,  Gillingham Methodist Church, which was received very positively.  The comments afterwards were very encouraging, and I am grateful for both assessors for their constructive critique afterwards.  The worship group again sparkled, the sermon was clear and succinct.  The prayers were relevant.  It seemed clear to me that the Holy Spirit was present, especially with the contribution of the congregation and their mood after the service.  One person came to me after, and said he had come to Church this morning fearful for the state of the world, and was leaving re-assured.  Praise God.

Today saw a new experience for me.  I shared a service with our minister who is leaving next week.  She led the worship as I had done for her a few weeks ago and also oversaw the infant baptism and confirmation of members of a family in the congregation.  I preached on Ephesians 1:3-14.  It turned out to be interesting experience writing this message, as I re wrote it yesterday after having my wife proof read it for me.  She was absolutely correct - it needed a re-write.  I think it went well.  I received some positive feedback after the service.  I will attach it to this blog so that anyone who visits can judge for themselves. On the business of re-writes, I am currently re writing my exegesis for the Faith and Worship.  It seems my writing is sometimes too academic. I have however progressed through the assignments reasonably well to date, and am on course to complete the course next Spring which is in plenty of time. Message: (I coul...

I led worship today at GMC, themed on Bill Hybels "Whispers from God" book.  The prayers were a combination of those sourced from "500 Prayers", and one I composed myself.  As usual at GMC I had the pleasure to work with a very skilled worship group, who are not only musically talented but are also extremely gracious.  The songs chosen concentrated on the theme of praising God as the lord and almighty king of creation, then moving on to reflect on the importance of relying on Christ alone for our strength, and remembering that Jesus came into the world as light within the darkness, with the aim of freeing humankind from the rule of darkness so that we too could become sons of light Praise to the one true God, for he is always and eternally Good. Amen

Preaching today at Strood Methodist Church.  The service went well overall and I received some positive and helpful feedback. Below is the Sermon followed by the intercessory prayers I created for the day. Message 03/06/12 The book of Samuel describes a situation of political change in ancient Israel.  The descendants of Aaron who had inherited the priestly roles had inherited positions of power and influence.  Eli’s sons, we are told, let this sense of power corrupt them and they became arrogant, bullying the poor and abusing women in the temple.  Against this behaviour, we are given the figure of Samuel, who looks after Eli and carries out his service to the temple with humility and deference. Samuel hears God’s voice in the middle of the night, but does not recognise it, and thinks that Eli is calling out for assistance.  With bitter irony, it falls to Eli himself, whose family is to be stripped of their position and power, to help Samuel realise...

All Journeys entail Risk! http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7774178383725748202#editor/target=post;postID=5768561744049694598

I  have just got back from two very stimulating days at the leadership conference at Royal Albert Hall hosted by HTB. The two days highlighted such a rich diversity within the church today, such that we really do represent a rainbow church, wearing a coat of many colours with the connecting stream of reliance on Jesus. the days contained high quality presentations such as the new Anglican Archbiship of Canterbury Justin Welby who spoke of the importance of Grace, of the naturalness of Church Growth but that work is hard, though God will always provide. Bill Hybels from Willow Creek Church - spoke of how to encourage change/growth, of the importance of the here to there model (conc on the here and illustrate how untenable here is), the straight line model to determine how team members are coping and who needs help, and the challenge line - showing the importance of being overchallenged. Patrick Lencioni spoke of Cultural leadership and the relationship between Truth and Grac...