May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen
This morning its wonderful to welcome Andrew, his parents, God Parents and wider family circle to this church. It’s one of the many joys of ministry when a family approaches the Church and ask about Baptism.
It is a step of faith, it is a mile stone in the life of a family unit and is rightly marked by the whole family of God.
I would like to take a few moments now to pause and to ponder about what we’re doing in this service and to consider the readings from the Bible this morning
What we’re saying to God this morning and what God is saying through his word to us.
When we take part in a Baptism service we’re doing something very important
In an infant Baptism - Parents and God Parents are making promises on Behalf of the the Child these will hopefully be ratified when the Child comes for Confirmation in due course - but that’s for Andrew to decide later in life.
As a congregation we also have a responsibility to this child and to every child who has been Baptised of supporting parents and God parents. This is a promise that we in Carrigrohane Union of parishes do well - and will continue to do.
But it is a two way thing - Families here will know that teamwork is important - and if we can be of support do let us know but also there is an importance of getting involved through the years.
We’re also recalling our own Baptism and our own commitment to God - Anyone who has been baptised as an infant, its important to remember that these promises were made for us and if we ratified these at confirmation ourselves a service like this its an important reminder to us of those vows which we have made.
Which leads me beyond what we’re saying to God to what he may be saying to us through his word
Today the focus of our readings are on the human experience of the divine - In our old testament reading we heard of Moses heading up the mountain - upon which he received the ten commandments, in the Gospel reading we see Jesus similarly heading up a mountain to meet with Moses and Elijah - one of the high points of the Gospel. The Parallels are important for all sorts of reasons but this morning I would love to focus upon the importance of the encounter with God
Of taking those times to carve out time with him - to ascend the mountain.
We cannot live on mountain tops! - maybe life to some seems like living in the valley! But we can take time for ourselves to be alone with God. To do the different thing than we usually do.
Yes of course God can meet us on the road - as we go about our normal every day things but I would love to ask each of us - when was the last time we took a good period of time out for prayer, out to read the bible - maybe even to retreat - individually or as a couple, to specifically hear from God.
For some here you might say - aye that’s OK for a minister but not for me - I would argue that its vitally important for your spiritual life to hear from God your father - to do some work on your relationship with God - One of the great treasures in Celtic Christianity is the anam cara the soul friend.
In encounters with God its fascinating that Moses had Joshua with him, Jesus had Peter, James and John
Somehow we have individualised faith - but my question to us all this morning - do we have people with whom we can share our journey of faith, In Baptism we have God Parents - people that we should be having God conversations with - people who can encourage us in faith.
Could I ask for a hands up here … who of you are God Parents of someone? I would love to encourage you to encourage you in praying for your child,
But also who are you going to have walk alongside you - taking time to pray, to read to develop spiritually
When are you going to do this?
Could I suggest - Lent is a good time to start!
And lo and behold that starts this Wednesday - just 40 days of prayer … I’m not asking you to fast … but to take time out! To pray and to worship God
And to hear from God.
One of the fundamental things about faith is that we can’t give what we haven’t first received - we need to be fed in order to feed others - to use another analogy - we need to look after ourselves before looking after others - In an aeroplane the stewardess / steward would remind us that if the oxygen masks fall we’re to put on our own masks before helping others!
Taking time for our relationship with God is vitally important - it is something which is oftentimes overlooked but our inner life, our relationship with God is really important.
Let’s take another analogy - I’ve no idea what is happening under the Bonnet of my car - not a notion - when the red light flashes and goes off - sure it’ll be grand, when the sounds begin to happen they’ll go away! … maybe I should bring it into Barry in Blarney Auto centre just to check - he dips the oil … there’s no oil! Oh dear!
The Same can be said for things under the bonnet in life - sometimes there are issues …we can ignore warning lights, we can ignore strange noises but only for a while - we might need to get the deeper things looked at! - how about a spiritual check-up. There is a season for that!
We were created to be in relationship with God - a healthy two way encounter with our heavenly father - How are we doing with that? … could you take time this Lent to focus in on God, on your relationship with him and with others around about you.
Hearing what God might be saying to you - either at Church or wherever you are the rest of the week takes a bit of work. It’s solo in one sense but we also need to be open to God speaking to us through the words and actions of others. It takes discernment as well
On the back of your service sheets this morning I have added 40 questions - they are some questions which might be asked during lent - they might be questions that you’ve never been asked before - they are not questions that come up in everyday life but they are good questions to ask yourself and also to be asked prayerfully
Parents Godparents of Andrew, everyone in this church today - In our readings you have heard of some of our Bible - hero’s of faith taking time out - time to experience God - that invitation is available to us all. As we embark on Lent this year - are we taking time to engage with God.
The staff team here in the Parish have resources to help - if you’d like to take first steps on that relationship, or help you if you’ve become stuck in your relationship with him - lent is a great time to do that.
40 Days - 40 Questions
- How is my soul?
- Are there spiritual disciplines which might help me?
- How is my relationship with God?
- What am I thankful for?
- What do I need to confess to God?
- Who do I need to forgive?
- What am I responsible for?
- Where is the space in my diary for God?
- Who do I need to talk to about God?
- How is my witness?
- Who do I need to show love to today?
- .What do I need to let go of?
- Where is the sin in my life?
- Where is there hatred?
- What behaviour do I need to change?
- What vision do I have for the next phase of life?
- Are there things I need to apologise for?
- What am I joyful about?
- What Creative things do I enjoy?
- How is my Bible Reading?
- How is my Retreat Space?
- What has God been saying to me this past year?
- What areas of my life need restored?
- When last did I read a Psalm?
- How am I living up to the commitments I made in faith? (Baptism, confirmation, ordination etc)
- Who am I investing my time with?
- How am I loving the people around me?
- Who do I need to re-connect with?
- Who do I need to invest time with today?
- How is my Prayer life?
- How should I go deeper in prayer?
- Which of the questions so far has been most challenging?
- When did I last have a quiet space to listen to God?
- When did I last serve someone else?
- How can I serve God today?
- When did I last share my story of faith?
- How is my soul?
- Am I open to God’s leading today?
- How am I displaying the fruit of the Holy Spirit today?
- Thank Jesus for dying for you and for his Resurrection!
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