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Pentecost

  Acts 2: 1-21 John 20: 19-23   Surprisingly, Pentecost can bring mixed emotions: ·         Some love it – it’s exciting… supernatural gifts of the Spirit are given to the church.    There is life.    There is power.    The church is not some dusty institution confined to history, carrying out meaningless rituals.    God is real.    God is here. ·         Some hate it – it can be divisive, with some Christians feeling “second-class” to the ones who show the charismatic gifts… o    Especially if these gifts are seen as building up individuals rather than building up the church. o    Especially if they are not exercised with love.   ·           Maybe some feel guilty that they have not had this experience, or jealous of those who have.    But if it becomes all about “ch...
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Whose Glory Are We Seeking?

 17th May 26 Acts 1.6-14  John 17.1-11 Since I’ve been here, we have spent time considering who we are as a church congregation, how we relate to God and what we want to do in the future.   I have encouraged everyone to ‘look forward’ rather than wistfully look back at the past, perhaps with rose-tinted glasses…  Looking forward to: •    Continuing to do what’s good. •    Considering what we might want to change. •    Asking what we could only dream of doing. But •    What are the good ideas? •    Even if something is a good idea, should we do it?   How can we be sure that this is the right time, the right place?   There is no point in trying to replicate what others do in different settings. Well, the prayer of Jesus read to us gives us some principles we can apply that can help us as we develop our thoughts: The passage read from John tells us that Jesus’ aim was to bring glory to God. For c...
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No more Orphans

  John 14 15 -21   There are just two points from this passage that I want to make. One is not being an orphan, the second is the coming of the holy spirit and   never being without the presence of   God. What rights did orphans have in the time of Jesus? Children generally had no rights, and those that were ill, unwanted or did not fit in, could be abandoned. Orphans were certainly not on the cared for list. I once heard a preacher introduce his talk with the words, “ I know nothing about what I am going to talk about.” My reaction was why speak about it then because you have no knowledge. But so often we do speak about things that we have no experience about and seem to think we are all knowledgeable. We may be, but what we don’t know is how it feels, the emotions that people go through. When I did my reader training the essay markers did not want to know what I knew of Jesus or of my faith, they only wanted to know what I knew about him and the history. ...
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