Waiting that is almost over

As I write this it is Christmas Eve. Tommorrow will be Christmas Day 2011. The first Christmas saw a group of people waiting for someone to come and liberate them from the things that opressed them. In this case it was the Romans. The Hebrew Nation had long been under their control, and they longed for a warrior to liberate them. The promised Messiah who would lead them. They got a fragile baby, vulnerable like us. He was God as man. He would lead people away from the things that held them back from being with God the father. He loved, cared, showed compassion, and challenged authority but never lifted a finger. He loves us still today. Even though he went on trial for petty reasons and suffered a horrible death God the father raised him to new life. He wants each of us to enter into his world as he entered into ours.

Going Home!

I was once drifted away from Church. It was a hard time and personal issues made it difficult to see what Church was and what God was saying to me. However I realised that no matter you are St James' church accepts you as you are and allows you to grow and flourish as people. So why not follow me Back to Church this Sunday 25th September 2011 at 10.30am at St James URC, Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill?

Making An Entrance

If you were an important man or woman what sort of entrance would you make?


If you were God what sort of entrance would you make?


Would the answer to either of these questions be riding into town on a donkey?

Well that's what Jesus did on Palm Sunday. He certainly had people celebrating and some somewhat perplexed by the manner of his entrance for a man who claimed to the Son of God this seemed unorthodox. Perhaps because God is bigger than all of us he does need to be flash with his entrance. Jesus was a humble person, a person who lived the best sort of life a human can do. God as man.

Next week we celebrate Easter and remember Christ and his trials. We celebrate his rising over death, and reflect on what it means to be new people.

Mothers Day

What is mothering Sunday? Well it was a time when children in service used to be reunited with their mothers (and fathers) and with their mother church. Today it is a time when we celebrate mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, step-mothers, mothers-in-law and those who mother to us generally. We celebrate the times they look after us, especially when we are young. When they feed us, clothe us, clean up our room and keep a close eye on our safety and well being.

The bible has many stories of mothers. Hannah who had Samuel, Naomi who lost her children only to find a loyal daughter-in-law in Ruth, Eve, who is the first mother in the bible and Mary who gave birth to Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian faith.. We get a hint that even in his ministry Mary was keeping an eye on him.

When I was born, not only did I have a mother but two grandmothers and a great-grandmother too. I celebrate with other people today as I no longer have any of these people physically here but I hold onto the Christian hope that I will one day see them in the Resurrection life. Since losing my mother this has been of great comfort to me. This hope is founded on Jesus Christ who died but rose again to new life for all and he offers each one of us this too.