Mustard Seed Mission

This morning ... I was reading through the CMS UK resource for Lent and the whole issue of "Mustard Seed" came up ... the small things which we do which can have unforeseen kingdom consequences.

This is a facinating area which has really been on my heart this week ... for a few reasons ... take a read at the reflection below ...

Mark 4:30–32

Reflection

“Do you know what’s in a bottle of washing-up liquid?” asks Caroline Gilmour-White, a SAMS partner.  

“At a training day in an urban church in Asuncion, Paraguay, we saw the following ingredients being added:

• Water
• Caustic soda
• Sulphuric acid
• Trietanaloamina - an ingredient that softens and/or lubricates the skin
• Scent
• Colouring

“The government programme DEAG, a bit like the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, uses every opportunity to share their trained knowledge to improve people’s lives or economic situations. We had sewing in the morning and detergent making in the afternoon. The day was a hit with everybody. Our prayer is that lots of people take initiative and start mixing, bottling and selling. Everyone uses detergent and the supermarket quality is often not as good as homemade. People can boost their incomes very easily by selling door to door.”

Reflect on how God can use even small things to bring transformation to people and societies. Where have you seen God at work in the small things?

Prayer
Lord, great things grow from small beginnings.
Trees from tiny seeds. New quality of life from a small business venture.
Faith in Christ from a word shared or kindness performed.
The Kingdom of God from shoots of faith
Lord, please - give us vision and give us faith.
Amen

RF - For me this is crucial ... whilst we in Blarney are not called to make and sell washing up liquid ... the small things we do for the Kingdom do not go un-noticed... This monring I drove up to the church gates and out of the corner of my eye ... I saw a card sitting on a seat at the church gate, covered in plastic and addressed to "whoever finds it" ... I have no idea who put it there ... but I opened it and found inside a letter reminding me that I am special and some other encouraging words. After resealing it and leaving it there its great.

I wonder who put it there? it doesn't matter ...  but it is my prayer that whoever else sits and reads it will be encouraged in whatever they face today.

Small things ... we have no idea what effects they will have in the greater scheme of things.

What small things will you do today ... to help, to encourage

Mission, me and Lent

Over the course of the past few weeks, I have been thinking a lot about the topic of Mission for a variety of reasons ... It is a topic which I have thought about quite a bit from college days.

This morning I woke up, and over breakfast was browsing around various websites ... and came across Church Mission Society - UK website and found this resource which is great!



 The resource itself is very simple and easy to use ... straight forward and cuts to the core of what mission is all about and why we should be about the things of God in this our generation and in our culture.

As people of God we are called to communicate in a way which resonates with our society ...
what does that look like ... well.. it will be different for different people but from this resource there are many challenges ... I particularly like this resource and practical outworkings of the challenges it poses.

Take for example today ... which by my reckoning is Day 8

The reading which they pose is ...

Luke 4:16-24

16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
¹⁸ ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ ²²All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ ²³He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’ ²⁴And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.

“Can someone from Kibera [the vast informal settlement outside Nairobi] be ordained in the Anglican Church?” I posed this question to a class of students from an ecumenical university who were studying at our Centre for Urban Mission, based in Kibera. It wasn’t a very original question. Forty years ago, our vicar in Bermondsey had asked something similar about dockers in London’s East End. Thousands of years ago, Nathanael asked regarding Jesus: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “No”! my class replied. Whether the students were being pessimistic about Kibera residents or the Anglican church, I’m not sure. Either way, they were proved wrong. On 26 October the Archbishop ordained three Centre for Urban Mission graduates. Lillian had lived in Kibera virtually all her life until she had to flee the post-election violence a year ago. Her classmates, Zadock and Barrack, helped her get out of Kibera with the few belongings she could carry. Seeing all three of them ordained was a wonderful affirmation of the gifts, calling and experiences that people from Kibera and other “slums” can bring to the rest of the church. I don’t know whether they were the first people from Kibera to be ordained, but three in one day – that must be a first! (Anita and Colin Smith, mission partners in Nairobi)

• Where do you see mission flourishing in your local context? 
• Is God stirring up a new call to mission in surprising people or places you know?
• Is God stirring up a surprising new call to mission within your own life?
• How might God be stirring up the CMS mission community (RF- or our parish community?) for action – and what might your part in that look like?

This is a huge challenge ... are we looking for the surprising people ... are we looking our for opportunities in our local community... finding the points of contact in Blarney, in Carrigrohane, in Belfast, in Banbridge ... wherever we are ... in misison in its fullest sense. 

The invitation here is to accompany us in this journey through lent and take to heart some of the lessons from the world church and apply them to what we are doing in the church in this our wee corner of the globe! 

Listening to Jesus … … In times of Temptation

A Sermon preached in The Church of The Resurrection – Blarney on Sunday 17^th February 2012 – Luke 4 reading – Jesus’ Tempation.

This is the Second of in a series – Listening to Jesus …

… In times of Temptation

Life can be hard! (For many this is a complete understatement … depending upon the situation you find yourself in today!)

The wilderness is a difficult place to be … for each of us it is a place we do not choose to be but sometimes find ourselves

A couple of years ago … I led a trip out to the Holy Land … It was a trip which T and K R from this union were on as well. I had the privilege of celebrating Holy Communion in the Judean wilderness …Somewhere between Jerusalem and Jericho …  Nothing there except rock. A barren desolate place. Sun beating down and no shade whatsoever to be found.

It was probably the most poignant communion service I have ever conducted because of the scenery, the hostile nature of the terrain. The Gospel reading was read that we had this morning.

And there was a real sense of having to rely on God in that place … In the heat we needed the sustenance of our water bottles … and when it came to food … we only had with us the bread of communion.

Over these weeks of Lent we are reading the readings laid down by the church … but are also keeping an ear to our theme …listening to Jesus … this morning is in the Midst of temptation.

Our reading this morning follows on from Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan River and he is driven into the desert for 40 days … this has all the echoes of 40 years the Israelites spent in the wilderness following their exodus from Egypt. It also reminds us that Jesus was tempted as we are … in his own way…and we see how he faces his struggles … struggles which we face will undoubtedly be different to his but none the less real for us.

As we think of temptations … we know Jesus faced 3 temptations

… the first was breaking his fast, turn these stones into bread … He could … it would only be a minor thing you may think …but actually he knew it was something he shouldn't be doing and replies with the words of scripture

… Then there was the worship … bow down and worship me … this seems to be a more serious one where … could you imagine what would happen if  Jesus got down and worshiped the devil the whole story would have been very different… The importance of worship … what we give our worth to is so vitally important Jesus knew this … its fundamental in terms of the commandments

… Then we have Jesus deciding not to be a super man character … not to jump of the temple … the only signs which Jesus did had meaning beyond themselves … showing his power over nature, over sickness, over death … he wasn’t show off / show man but rather he was into kningdom building

Jesus’ Temptation in the wilderness seems a whole world away from the lush green, wet weather here in blarney … 2000 years after the events  

However …  if we look at these temptations … we see that actually the same fundamental things are still around … As Ecclesiastes reminds us “There is nothing new under the sun”

Whether they be  small things … which we think won’t count in the great scheme of things

… things of our worship –OK we might not be tempted to  bow down to golden calves or the devil but we could possibly be putting other things before God…  And this can be lots of different things … what we spend an enormous amount of time doing …

… the bigger stuff which glorifies us rather than God … then maybe we shouldn't be  actually doing those things .

Temptations are those things which we are constantly being prompted to do which if acted upon have the potential to destroy the our life, our relationships, our security and our minds but also the smaller temptations might seem to be insignificant in themselves but lead to more things if we keep going down that road and .

Once you pop you can’t stop … somehow this seems pretty true  (Pringles Ad) / Jaffa Cakes

In our world today there are many, many temptations around us.  The things I find tempting will be different from yours and vice versa … all will be different from each other but the heart of the matter is the same… They are things which have the potential to destroy.  

Overcoming temptation …

I am no expert in this … and certainly I have been preaching as much to myself as I’ve been preparing this sermon.

I do think it comes back to Self Discipline … Of the old faithful ways of the Spiritual Disciplines

Knowing Scripture … Knowing the promises / words of God

For parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles … anyone who has influence on young minds here … this is something which is key for you guys … of trying somehow to help kids and young people know key verses so when temptations in you kids lives come they have somewhere to turn for truth

This is one of the reasons that next Sunday we are giving out to parents … new books which have been produced of ideas for parents to take time out with their kids and help them to get into the Bible

For all of us … having a knowledge of God’s word the resources of memory verses and committing scripture to memory for those times of struggle

Knowing God … Taking time  … Coming before God at all times during the day … Knowing Whose we are …. And who we are … Before the wilderness experience … Jesus heard God’s voice … This is my son …

Community of faith

Not many of us will face temptation in a physical wilderness with no-one else around … even  though we might feel it is so.

The church community is called to be there for each other, to hold each other accountable … to ask the questions … How are you … really?

The Wilderness times are not nice … but none of us need to go through things alone.  As a community here It is my hope and prayer that we are a people who are able to chat to each other, to support each other.

Not one of us has this all sorted … all of us do find ourselves at various times in situations which are scary, which worry us, which have the potential to destroy good things … but also each of us also have the potential to encourage and to build each other up in the Lord.

In listening to Jesus… and his word this morning

… know that he has gone through temptation … in the words of

Hebrews 4:15 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

… Know that temptation is able to be overcome -1 Cor 10:13

No temptation has seized you except what is common to all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

… Know that temptation is not sin

So often we beat ourselves up when we think of those thoughts about what we could do …its when those things are acted upon then there are issues … temptation is common to all … find someone to chat to, pray, read the Bible, find ways of diverting yourself from giving into temptation. Things can be overcome.

Lent is traditionally a time of self examination … as you look inwards today … in what areas do you need to be careful …what temptations are you tempted by and how are you going to overcome that temptation?

O let me feel Thee near me! The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me, around me and within;
But Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin.

All of us have to keep our ears tuned to what God is saying to us… Which is great in theory  … it is my prayer that we may know this in practice.

Folks this lent, if there are things which need sorted … please do find people to chat to you, to encourage you. 

119 out of 119 ... Not too hot! (understatement!)

In a comprehensive survey Vital Signs survey which was carried out surveyed things which matter to the Irish population as a whole

According to an Irish Times report

The report graded 12 areas which most affect people’s quality of life, and asked respondents to rank their priorities in each area...

Of the 119 priority options presented to respondents, eight of the top 10 items listed related to education and learning. The quality of the education system; literacy levels; universities and third-level education; and early childhood education topped the priority rankings in that order....

Perhaps the most surprising finding was the ranking of religion and spirituality, which respondents placed last of all 119 priority options, despite the country’s once strong Catholic identity.

Ireland achieved an overall grade of C+ when people’s satisfaction ratings with life were collated. A comparable study for people living in Toronto also scored a C+, with Vancouver scoring B.
The area that people were most satisfied with was arts and culture, rating this B+, with respondents citing the welter of concerts and festivals on offer each year and access to heritage sites.

Religion and Spirituality as last on the list ... That is worrying, it is disappointing but is it to be expected? Perhaps, but it has also got to be a wake up call for the church (in all its forms and denominations) to be engaging with the culture around. To speak directly to those who are critical of faith / church / religion and engage in the public square.

After all - the tiredness, the despair, the disengagement which many feel with organised church is probably the result of our collective failure as church to communicate what we should be communicating ... good news ... purpose ... life giving messages... relationship.

What can be done? - surely the church needs to waken up ... at local, national and international level - we need to figure out what the needs of our local community are, to communicate effectively to anyone who will give us a hearing ... to do that we need to build relationships, to earn respect, to do the things which we do well ... excellently ... we need to be proactive in that engagement ... we might need to do different things as clearly what we are doing generally speaking is not working in Ireland!

Surely our faith in God should be high up those things which we see as important? ... How do we do that? Yes its the million dollar question! but we do need to do something if not the Irish Church at large is in a much worse state than we thought.

I do think we as church at large needs to communicate what we are about, engage with community and pray, pray hard for our outreach, our mission, our vision as Christians and perhaps even dare to pray for the Holy Spirit to revive these dry bones. 

All comments welcome.

Prayer Blog #5 - Not rocket Science!

What does a Church of Ireland Minister do?

This is a topic I have been asked to speak about at a local school over the next couple of weeks ... It's a good question ... and I'm sure lot's of people would have their own answers to it.  So I thought I'd blog a wee bit of it ...

Some may jokingly say ... uck sure you only work one day a week ... let's laugh that one off immediately! ;-)  .. haha ... and move on. :-)

Some may genuinely wonder ... not knowing at all ... apart from a sunday morning what clergy do when we're not at the front of church.

Well ... over the past 3 1/2 years + 3 years in Minister School! I have reflected on some of the tasks at length - Firstly it is a lifelong commitment, The vows which I took shape the task which I am currently doing.

So those are the theory: In reality over the course of the past few years, since arriving in Belfast and now Blarney I have been thinking about this question and would say that the role of Deacon, Priest, Presbyter, Minister ... whatever you wish to call what I do comes down in my opinion to 2 main things

• Communicating Good News 
• Providing Pastoral Care for anyone who is in need 

These are very much linked and takes the whole of my time as they mean diferent things in all sorts of ways.

Communicating the good news - of course means preaching & teaching on sundays, celebrating Holy Communion, taking services ... but communicating also means talking with people, being with people, writing, blogging, phoning, getting involved in all sorts of things at community level, building relationships with all sorts of people. You can't communicate if you are not out and about meeting people and doing practical things to simply help!

Providing Pastoral Care - In our world today there are many needs - in every community there are many needs, many issues ... As part of my work I am out and about chatting with people who have all the stresses and strains of life - we see the great moments of celebration in lives and also have the responsibility and privilege also to be invited into the most difficult and troubling issues of lives and situations. As a minister this pastoral aspect to work is so vitally important - simply asking "how are you?" allows people to say - what they normally say - "yeah - I'm good thanks" or actually say "mmm... not that great" and allows them the chance to chat openly about issues.

We do these things in the context of our understanding and experience of God & his word as written in the Bible as well as how the church has understood it down through the centuries. That's why my office is filled with books and why day by day I try to pray and read my Bible (it's not always easy - even for a minister!) ... But I  do want to  get to know God better than I did yesterday ... I want to apply the Bible to what I read in the newspaper.

I also want those who are in the church to grow in their faith and share it, and make an impact in their families, in their workplaces and schools again communicating the good news and providing support where they can.

So I suppose that's a start to understand what a Church of Ireland Minister does!

PS ... for this to happen there is of course all the necessary meetings, admin, form filling..  housekeeping and all the rest of the things that are necessary for any organisation to do but those do enable the above to be done!

Any of my facebook friends like to give their own answers???

Prayer Post #4 - Journaling prayers

Journaling is a way have found useful from time to time to pray ... especially at times of decisions, big issues or simply when I find prayer difficult.

Journaling is basically writing stuff down on paper. Ideas, topics, prayer pointers and praying through them. As you write you pray.

Again all of this is ... as with anything on the blog is simply my own experience, my ramblings but if they help in any small way then feel free to take, use and adapt.

For me, I like to have a notebook set aside for the purpose of prayer and simply begin writing. Usually when I would use this form of prayer I'd begin ...


Dear Lord ... and simply write out the issues and how I'm feeling and the way I see things developing.

It has been great to look back over the years at some of the places I have been in prayer ... the times when things have been difficult and seeing God's guidance in what has been uncertain times. I am not an organised person but taking the discipline of sitting down and writing out prayers has in different seasons been a good discipline and one which I do return to now and again.

Again ... it's another idea

This is the fourth in the Prayer Series as we look at the topic of prayer in Carrigrohane Union during these days.

Have you any experience of Journalling ... any advantages of it? have you anything to add?
Feel free to email / comment

Dark Winter Days ... Blue Monday

I don't know if it's the dark winter days ... if its the lack of sunshine ... the bad news on our screens ... the television programmes which are sapping our time. ... I don't quite know what it is but what I do know is that many of my friends around Ireland and UK at the moment are suffering and also just generally in society in the UK and Ireland there seems to be a season of grey ness, messy-ness and general need of something to lift the darkness.

As somebody who is in no way a counsellor or trained any way in this stuff ... but I am concerned about these issues as they impact people I know ... and also it is something which I know the Bible has a lot to say on the topic of life and meaning, purpose and vitality of life I wanted to make a comment here at this point in the year - According to somebody ... This monday coming is Blue Monday ... the most depressing day of the year... I got to ask... how can we work through depressing of whatever magnitude?

There are loads and loads of stuff on the internet ... some by people who are qualified to comment, some who have been on the journey through depression and some like myself who are looking on, knowing friends who are struggling with stuff of whatever kind and wanting to help in some small way.

In dark days ... the natural thing to do is want to turn the light on ... but for those who are struggling trying to find the light switch is difficult.

Those who are professional in this tell us that depression can set in for all sorts of reasons - worries, concerns about the present, relationship stuff in the past as well as concerns about the future

We are also told that there are other factors such as lack of sunshine, nutritional, our own gene makeup as well as many other factors. And it is usually a complete mix and mess of many of these and other  things together. So with all of this what can we do?

It is not easy ... but somehow we need to work though it.

I'm someone who knows about mess ... my friends from Theological College will testify to that! ... "Messy Monsters" used to invade my room when I wasn't looking and I struggled to keep clothes in the wardrobe, paper off the floor, books on the shelves and all the rest. But some days would come when I would go on a massive clean up ... some days it was sorting, some days it was a panic ... perhaps a staff member was doing an inspection

I definitely preferred the days when it was a sorting day ... a day which I set aside to do the sorting ... taking time to put particular things in particular places ... A day when I could decide what to throw out, a day when I could deal with stuff which I had left and not dealt with as they should have been dealt with. A day where windows could be open and every thing returned from whence it came.

The Panic days were crazy ... they ended up stuffing things in cupboards, mugs ended up in drawers, books in wardrobes, clothes in bin bags and all sorts of things all over the place. The Panic days were crazy ... things did get dealt with ... to those who arrived in ... everything looked like it was sorted but in the back of my mind I knew ... actually all the work I had done would have to be undone at some stage and I'd have to start all over again.

I don't know if this makes any sense ... but I wonder ...

I wonder if we need to set aside days when we can deal with stuff ... to allow ourselves space and time to sort out things which need sorted out. Days when we can pin point the things ... specifically we need to deal with ... name them and leave them where they need left.

I wonder if we need to make changes ... for some people it might mean taking up new stuff which excites them, putting into our routines time to be with friends, to do stuff which ensures that we do things which challenges.

I wonder if we need to use the rich gifts which God provides in a systematic way - to cling to the promises which he gives us in his word.

I wonder if we need to put in place some "rule of life" structures to help us deal with the stuff which is going on ... a framework for life ... Including maybe  ... daily Bible Study ... Time with Friends ... Meals at set times ... limiting the TV we watch ... Going on retreat ... Getting Sufficient sleep... Time with family ... Journalling ... whatever it may be ... simply to get some sort of structure into our lives... watching our negativity and seeing how we can turn the negative thoughts we all have from time to time into positives.

I also wonder if we sometimes are too hard on ourselves ... if we strive for perfection and beat ourselves up when we fail to live that perfection.

THE PANIC CLEAR UP DAYS

These days don't (always?) work ... yes there are deadlines but things are forced where they shouldn't be ... structures are undermined and sometime later they will burst out ... try finding the car keys after a panic clear up ... they'll always be in the last place you look!

As I write this stuff - I am challenging myself as well ... There definitely are structures in my own life which need to be strengthened ... things which I need to sort out ... I just wonder if you/I were to name a couple of things ... which need sorted out over the next couple of weeks what would they be.

Yes the student room ... one room could be tidied in a day ... usually a couple of hours would do it if I set aside the time to do it - yes usually there was something better to do but once it's done - its done.

Unfortunately its not usually the case that things can be tidied in such a short period of time ...  as we think of mess which has taken months and years to accumulate may need to take time. But I do think it might be taking a room/ a drawer at a time to name and deal with before we approach something else.

A challenge ... what stuff do we need to deal with? why not get a friend to pray/talk with you about general stuff and also particular things you need to deal with so that Blue Monday can be used for good and positive things.


I of course, as a committed Christian come to this topic from a prayerful perspective ... but realise that not all readers / friends share my understanding of life however I do believe that the principles are the same ... and many of my thoughts on this topic are guided by general stuff I have been reading on various websites and books.

I'm very happy to continue discussion of this topic either via email, Facebook or Blog comments or face to face if you happen to be in the Cork / Blarney area for coffee or a dander.

Regards

Robert



There are places to find more information

In Northern Ireland there is a  great website from the Public Health Agency - http://mindingyourhead.info/

In Ireland there is a similar site - http://www.yourmentalhealth.ie/

For those who need to chat to people there are always the Samaritans - http://www.samaritans.org/


----

Minding your head website suggest these things ...



Making lasting changes to your health can be hard.
Here are some steps that can help.

Choose what you want to change. Be SMART - set, and write down, goals that are:

Specific - Rather than ‘get fit’, a better goal would be ‘to take a brisk walk after lunch on  Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays’.

Measurable - Set goals that can be measured. ‘Get fit’ is hard to measure, but it’s easy to know if you walked for half an hour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday or not.

Achievable - Start small and set goals that are within your reach.

Relevant -Choose changes that make sense for you.

Timely - Set a target date. Without one, it’s easy to put off making the change.  And give yourself a (healthy!) treat when you achieve a goal.

Puppet training #1

One of the things which I have been looking at with our kids ministry in the parish has been with puppets and hopefully developing this.

I have managed to find a few of training videos ...

This one is the finished article ... what puppets singing to a track looks like ...

This is about how puppets enter and leave the stage

This one is about what puppets are doing when they are on stage ... eye contact

This is the tough bit ...!!! but essential

Prayer Blog #3 - Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is a divine reading/ praying of scripture ... allowing the words of scripture to penetrate your heart.

It can be done individually, with a friend or group. It is a slow reading allowing you to hear God speaking to you through scripture. It is best done when you are not rushed in a quiet space.

I also would stick on a contemplative CD / Worship song ... one song comes to mind as I write ...



Some background ... from http://www.lectiodivina.co.uk/

LECTIO DIVINA

Some 1800 years ago men and women retreated to lonely places to escape the stresses of daily life and developed Lectio Divina or ‘Sacred Reading’, a way of meditating that people have found helpful ever since. Traditionally it involved a ‘slow reading’ of a chosen text from the Bible and allowing the words to speak in new ways. There are four parts to a Lectio Divina exercise.

Reading (lectio) - Slowly begin reading a biblical passage as if it were a long awaited love letter addressed to you. Approach it reverentially and expectantly, in a way that savors each word and phrase. Read the passage until you hear a word or phrase that touches you, resonates, attracts or even disturbs you.

Reflecting (meditatio) - Ponder this word or phrase for a few minutes. Let it sink in slowly and deeply until you are resting in it. Listen for what the word or phrase is saying to you at this moment in your life, what it may be offering to you, what it may be demanding of you.

Expressing (oratio) – If you are a praying person, when you ready ready, openly and honestly express to God the prayers that arise spontaneously within you from your experience of this word or phrase. These may be prayers of thanksgiving, petition, intercession, lament, or praise. If prayer is not part of your journey you could write down the thoughts that have come your way.

Resting (contemplatio) - Allow yourself to simply rest silently for a time in the stillness of your heart remaining open to the quiet fullness of God's love and peace. This is like the silence of communion between the mother holding her sleeping infant child or between lovers whose communication with each other passes beyond words.

These four movements of Lectio Divina may not always follow a linear progression. Allow yourself freedom. The aim is to move into the depths of silence and stillness where we can hear the Word spoken to us in love and respond to this Word with our love and our life. This is a gentle invitation into a movement from silence into the Word and back into silence, dwelling there in the presence of God.

In modern times the scope of the materials used in the exercises has been greatly widened to include the visual arts and music. In today’s understanding it can be described as ‘attentive listening or looking’ – allowing what is listened to or looked at to speak to your situation in a fresh way.

Why not begin with a psalm ... for example Psalm 23 which works really well.

This is the third in a series of prayer ideas which I am blogging over the month of January as we journey to the Last Sunday of January which in Carrigrohane Union will have a focus on prayer. The next Blog will look at Journalling as prayer.

Prayer Blog #2 - What is Prayer?

This is the second blog in a series looking at Prayer as we seek over the next few months to look at Prayer and praying for our parish.

Prayer Blog #1 - Daily Prayer

Different people have different ways to pray.

For me daily prayer is a useful way to pray when I'm not sure what to pray or seasons when I find prayer difficult. Daily prayer is a traditional way which is traced back to monastic offices ... set readings, set psalms, liturgy and topics for intercession. 

In the Church of Ireland ... The Book of Common Prayer 2004 has in it a form of daily office which can now be found online ... take a look at ... Daily Prayer today 

The advantage of this type of prayer is that it is set and you have the knowledge that what you are praying is being prayed by many, many people across the globe. 

Daily the intercessions change and you can add in your own prayers and your own thoughts to the readings and psalms. Taking time to think about what they mean to you. 

If you find the Daily Prayer model of prayer useful why? 

How do you use it? 

any other comments? 

This is part of a series prepared to think about the topic of prayer ... next article will look at the topic of praying scripture ... Lectio Divina 

Image from the Worship Section of the Church of Ireland website 

New Year ... New Topic ... PRAYER

Right, the book thing ... Purpose Driven (previous blog)... hasn't taken off as various other things have managed to crowd in on ministry here... but one other things our parish is doing over the next few weeks and months is a focus on prayer ... both individually and corporately.

So I hope to look at some practical ways of praying ... just to spark some ideas. If you have any other ideas please do feel free to share, to email or get in touch with me some other way!

I have been chatting with various people recently about prayer and various ways they find it useful to pray and to study the Bible. Over the course of the next few weeks I hope to think some of the issues through and provide some resources from different places on ways to pray and to keep prayer fresh.

A Christmas Carol - Midnight Communion

A Sermon preached on Christmas Eve in Inniscarra

Christmas past present and future.

A sermon for Christmas Eve Holy Communion. 

He was born in an obscure village, the son of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter's shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he became a wandering preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn't go to college. He never visited a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of those things one usually associates with greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through a mockery of a trial. He was executed by the state. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of humanity as much as that One Solitary Life.

This evening we come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nathereth, The Christ, The Son of God. We do so remembering that this one solitary life brings together all things earthly and heavenly.

That things changed for good the night the angels sang the first Christmas carol.

I wonder for you what does this annual remembrance mean?

Charles Dickens in his book A Christmas Carol --- brought together 3 aspects of life … to get Ebenezer Scrooge to look back, to look at his present life and reflect on the future. By doing so life changed for him so incredibly

Is it a time to look back ? – a time to remember the past year or years …  a time to think about happy times as family, a time of fondly remembering those things which you have enjoyed.

Christmas has always been for Christians a time of good news and great joy for all the people. However we must admit that at times the joy is sometimes marred with pain as we remember loved one who are no longer with us. As we deal with issues in families and with friends. 

As years go on … the importance of remembering and looking back, of learning from our experiences is so vitally important. But we need to remember that the Birth of the child in the manger has changed things … has opened up for us a way to understand life and death, purpose of living and hope beyond the grave.

As we look back - Have we grasped the amazing message of Christmas … that in the Child whose birth we celebrate … it is possible to understand amazing truths of the triumph of Light in the darkness, hope over despair and life over death

Is it a time for you to look around now?  - A time to enjoy the moment … tomorrow/ or today … a time filled with expectation, of loving those who gather at the table, a time when all will be well with your world?, a time of celebration, a time of relaxing and feasting.

And rightly so … In the gospels there is an amazing picture of the Kingdom of God as a feast, of enjoying life … life in all its fullness.  Christmas is a time to remember … Immanuel God with us.

I wonder as you look around … where do you see God with you? … do you see God with you in your work … in your home … in your friends …wherever you may be. As we pack into this church this evening we do so as family of God in this little corner of Ireland … Not simply to remember an historical event … as historians remember, or to re-enact a battle as actors do … but we are here to worship the Living God, to receive strength and to commit ourselves to following through.

Christmas is a time when we gaze in wonder of the events of that first Christmas in Bethlehem … far from us both in time, geography and culture but it is a event which still challenges the powerful and the weak.

 As you look around you this evening … who is Christ to you?

Is Christmas a time to look to the future? – In the angels message to the shepherds … the message is for all the people … we are included in this message … the question is what are we going to do with this message?

Are we content with simply seeing Christmas a nice tradition or are we prepared for the adventure of following this Christ Child … of taking his radical and life changing message and allowing this message to transform our thinking, our speaking, our doing not just for one or two days but for the rest of our life.

In the Dicken’s book Scrooge is given a bleak picture of what his life & those around about him could be like in the future if things did not change.

But he was given a chance to change … and change he most certainly did.

The good news of Christmas, the good news of Christians is that Change is possible … yes we cannot change the past, we can decide how we are going to react in the present and we certainly can change our future.

In his Christmas message the new Church of Ireland Archbishop said “In this Christmas season, we are each challenged to connect or reconnect with our family, friends and others who are without friends, but also to connect or re–connect our lives with a faith that tells us we are each loved in Jesus Christ, and that calls us to carry Christ’s love into the dark and lonely places of this world, near or far”.

This Christmas… it is my hope and prayer for all here that we enjoy this Christmas time but also that we allow Christ to change our hopes and mind, that we are able to change what needs to be changed in our lives … and live our lives for him.

Let us pray

Purpose Blog #2 - It's not about you

Rick Warren begins his book with a radical statement as he sets out in looking at purpose of life ...

IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!

Then the question has to be asked ... "What is it about?"

As I have been thinking over some stuff over the past few weeks, and been reading various books it seems to me that the frameworks which we build in our lives are so vitally important.

Sometimes those frameworks stand the stresses and strains of life ... and sometimes they buckle under pressure. I remember, I think it was technology in High School when we were given the task of building bridges out of straws to span a certain distance. How those straws were arranged dictated how when weight was applied the straws would buckle.



Engineers also tell us how structures are arranged in big buildings dictate how they behave if there is excessive weight applied, if winds blow, if heat is applied, if cold is applied, if the earthquakes come.

Similarly as this picture shows sometimes structures can protect but sometimes those structures do fail.

Thinking about these things and building in structure into our lives is so vitally important, or strengthening the structure which we already have is something vitally important. Not only for the storms and rough times of life. But we gotta remember that Jesus said that he has come so that we may have life and life to it's full.

All structures in our world have a purpose

If the purpose of your life is not you what then is it? to answer that question we need to build a structure.

Examples of some of these structures
- Time out with friends & family to do fun stuff ... striking a balance
- Prayer Time ... time out with God
- Time to reflect, evaluate, say sorry and move on
- Time to read & study Bible
- Meeting with other Christians for Bible Study / chat
- Regular worship with Christian Community
- Living out the lessons of Bible Study
- Remembering to have a sense of humour!

For some reading these things might be thinking these are not part of anything you've ever done ... but do give them a try ... they do indeed work.

Purpose Blog #1 - some things to listen to

It's amazing how things work out ... The first set of readings in Purpose Driven Life .. the book which I set out out on this week to look at (See previous blog) are under the title of "What on earth am I here for?"

Truth be told over the past few days I haven't managed to sit down and read anything! But I have been listening to a few things during quiet time which have been very helpful in looking at the question from 2 people and I share these with you simply as reminders of what God is up to and what he might be doing in our midst and we're not even aware of it... they are all linked to purpose and living out John 10:10 - Jesus said A thief comes to kill and destroy ... but I have come so that you may have life and have it more abundantly. A very important lesson for all of us today.

Both of these audios are from Willowfield Parish Church recently - The first is from someone who is working with Christians Against Poverty who has seen their life transformed by God.

The Second is a sermon preached by George Newell ... who is seeing lives transformed by God in community in East Belfast

Purpose Driven Life

It has been great now to be getting settled in here in Blarney, to meet loads of people from all sorts of backgrounds and positions in society.

Over the next few months I hope to work my way through a book which many of the study groups / home groups have been working their way through and simply fire some thoughts onto the Blog ... looking my way through some very important questions of faith, life and things generally. I do this combining Scripture and Church life,  the text of Rick Warren's book as well as through experiences.

If you wish to join me on this ... what  Rick calls Journey please do feel free to email me, comment on the blog, on facebook or invite me out for a coffee!

I hope to start tomorrow but it will not be an everyday affair ... as things around here are busy but I will try my best to keep up with reading and blogging.

The Structure begins with the fudalmental question ... a basic one which lies in all of us ...

 "What on earth am I here for?" I wonder how you would answer that question?

A Community at Christmas

What a great time of year to be starting out in a community.

 I write this blog just after the Blarney Christmas tree lights have been switched on ... It was great to meet ... retailers, community reps and loads of people involved in so many ways in and around the community.

 I look forward over the months and years to come to get more involved in the work and witness of this community as it supports one another and welcomes visitors from all over the world.

 At this time of year there is so much going on, so many things happening in this community.

Based on the number of photo's that were taken this evening ... there will hopefully be a few to be linked to in the days ahead :-)

 PS ... I love the wand that was used ... instead of the traditional button ... The creativity and ingenuity of members of this parish knows no bounds! ... Well done Kate & Co!

Baptism & Kingship of Christ

This morning we celebrated in Blarney the Baptism of Holly using the whole of the Baptism Service.

It was a fantastic celebration of God's gifts as well as his rule in our lives.

The sermon was geared towards thinking about kingship and about our idea of rule in our lives

If you or I were High King of Ireland what would we do?

Some Ideas included

No Taxes
School Holidays increased
Sharing laws so no one would go with out

In a very short clip from the Lion King we discovered the young Simba had ideas

That he could boss people about
That he wouldn't have to do what others tell him to do
That he could run about and play


For us as Christian we have a king ... we sang loads of songs about worship and about his rule in our lives.

Today we celebrate a commitment, a decision which parents and God Parents make to have God's Rule in the Life of Holly ... They made a solemn promise which they will try and keep

Do you turn to Christ as saviour?

Do you submit to Christ as Lord?

Big questions --> basically saying that you are open to God's rule in your life and wanting that rule in the life of Holly.

What does that Rule look like
- truth
- Laws
- Living out the values of the kingdom

Importance of Worship
- Kneel before the Throne - day in day out
- Prayer - the privilege of access to the king

For all of those who have been baptised we have a challenge to live under the kingship of christ
obeying his laws and commandments

Of living out his provision for us - No better way to live

Faithful One

A Fantastic song which we began our service with this morning ... A reminder that God is with us whatever we are going through.

Let Us ... Do what?

Sermon notes prepared for Holy Communion Service on Sunday 18th November 2012 in Church of The Resurrection Blarney.

Epistle  Hebrews 10: 11-25

The Gospel Reading - Mark 13: 1-8

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

 Last week we looked at the preparations for this passage ... we looked at the fact that Jesus is High Priest, he has sorted sin and the consequences of sin ... even in our messy lives ... sin is sorted and also that for those who are in Christ ... salvation is sorted ... as we come to the Epistle passage this morning we come to the out workings of this.

What does it mean, what can we do?.

 The Letter to the Hebrew’s is trying to sort out for the early church in one location what it means to know the theory and also to put that theory into practice ...

 It is about trying to make sense of the changes which have happened in their generation.

 In the passage that we have before us this morning ... the preparations have been made and now the church - which was uncertain as to what they should be doing - the Holy Spirit through the writer of this letter is trying to work out what needs to be done.. he does work this out systematically...

 Remember the context ... It’s one where there are issues ... real issues of people drifting away, of looking to other gods, other ways to live, other philosophies, within the church there, there were those who thought that they could could be a Christian on their own, there were real struggles.

 It is into this world which the writer is writing Today we get a summary of what the writer is contending for in this letter Through Christ ... once repented ... sins are no more ... we have a clean slate BUT we have a responsibility to live out this new way of life ....

 And this is where we are today This is where the let us passages come into their own ... there are 5 lettuces in our passage this morning

 Let us 1 - Draw near to God with a sincere heart - in the full assurance of faith

This is a privilege which we have ... that we can come to God ... to our father, to Creator God who knows and loves us unconditionally... that we can simply say ... Look God I don’t know what to do or what to say ... but I want to know what you want me to do or say. I wonder today are there issues which we need to bring to God We can bring issues big and small ... to what God want us to do.

 Let Us 2 - Hold Unswevingly to the hope that we profess ... the Greek word here is rooted in the image of grabbing something and not being prepared to let go for anything ...

Baboon story ...

 Not letting go of it ... Many things in our world are telling Christians that it doesn't make sense but for those who have encountered the living God we know that this is the only thing that actually does make sense. That other philosophies, other stories make much less sense that what we proclaim. The passage then goes a bit further ... and proclaims why ... for he who promised is faithful Throughout Scripture there are many many promises ... to do with life, relationships, death, resurrection, provision and so on. He who promises is faithful... What promises do you and I need to take hold of and hold unswervingly to?

<< highlight Biblical Promises>>

 Let Us 3 - consider how we may spur each other on

The other 2 Lettuces ... could be taken as individuals but I don't think they are meant to ... but the third is definitely a corporate statement ... Nobody is called to do life alone ... outside of community ... we were created to be in community... when we try to do life alone it gets messed up ...

The church when it’s at its very best is when we draw along side one another and do what we can for one another ... when we ask how are you? Really ... when we get beyond I’m fine ... when we get down to opening up to each other on a personal level ... appropriately ... when we are able to help those who need help ... when we are open to receive the help that others can do and encouraging one another in what they are already doing

 I know it’s not quite the right time of year for resolutions ... but as we progress through the year I wonder could we integrate these things into our Christian Walk ...

 Let us 4 & 5 (in some versions) state that we are to
Not give up meeting together and encourage one another

Highlight Importance of this in the local church in a small community such as ours

... Let us Draw Close to God ! ... in prayer and worship, in Bible Study, in taking time out to be with him Let us Hold Unswervingly to the hope that we profess ! ... to the promises which he has made Let us consider how we might spur each other on ! ... and allow ourselves to be spurred on by others, 

 For a small community encouraged in faith and in living our lives ! for God


 Collect
Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son was revealed to destroy the works of the devil and to make us the children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that we, having this hope, may purify ourselves even as he is pure; that when he shall appear in power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 

PC Prayer 
Gracious Lord, in this holy sacrament you give substance to our hope. Bring us at the last to that pure life for which we long, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Sorted?

These are notes of preparation for a sermon preached in Church of The Resurrection Blarney on Sunday 11th November 2012

 

The theme = “Sorted?”

Based on the Epsitle reading for Sunday

Hebrews 9: 24-28

²⁴For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.²⁵Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own;²⁶for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.²⁷And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgement,²⁸so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

I don't know about you but I have been always been someone who struggles with saying something is sorted.

Sorting out ...  Black Bin Bags & Boxes

 

I wonder do you have a fictional literary hero you can relate to? … Maybe this might tell you a bit about the minister you now have in Blarney … but my hero is one created by Richard Havergrave

Today I would love to tell you about a great character, one who is one of my all time favorite fictional hero’s ... Mr Messy ... this contains spoilers ... I hope you don’t mind

Mr Messy lives in a messy house

which has a messy Garden

but he is quite content with his messy life

Until he meets a couple of people

Mr Neat and Mr Tidy who are sorting out the garden of a neighbour

They offer Mr Messy their Services

Mr Messy reluctantly agrees

They tidy his house, his garden and basically show him that things can be different

Now the last thing that they do is sort Mr Messy out with a bath

and then Mr Messy at the end of the story laughs and says to Mr Neat and Mr Tidy that he shall have to change his name as he is no longer Messy.

Mr’s Neat and Tidy were able to show Mr Messy that there was a different way to live

When Mr Messy saw this he was able to try and live less messily

I Share this story with you for a few different reasons … Mr Messy reminds us that all of us … myself included have different things in our lives which are messy … perhaps it is our past, perhaps it is stuff we are going through at the moment.

This afternoon for our kids and parents we have Lighthouse

As I have read up on the Messy Church stuff … one thing grabbed my attention immediately … and I can certainly relate to it is that life in 2012 is messy and crazy … time is at a premium

Our world is a messy world … its a scary place … its a crazy place.

And the thing is that us who call ourselves christian are not immune from it at all … we are caught up in the mess …

This morning … I suppose I would like to remind us that somethings are sorted … some things we need to anchor oursleves to … points of reference from our two readings

Firstly In our Hebrews reading

Background to God's Dwelling - Tabernacle / Temple ...

 

Altar; Sacrifice

Sin is sorted … through Sacrifice – In OT times annually the priest would have had to go and sacrifice a goat to sort out the sin of the people … The Law demanded it

But Sin today is sorted through the working out of what happened to Jesus on the cross … as we accept this then

Salvation is sorted … through waiting on God – This is where some of us are this morning … we know that salvation is Sorted, we know that … discipline comes in

Today we know that there is no longer a temple ... but we read in scripture that we are the temple ... you and I are where God Dwells ...

 

In the messiness of Life … don't let that define who you are …

Sorting out isn't a moment in time … rather it is a life long process … in the church we love to have big long words for things … this is one of them … Sanctification … which for our purpose means Becoming more like Jesus.

Becoming more holy ... The Great High Priest has made that way open for us.

 

God is dwelling in us ... Sin is sorted through Christ  ... Salvation is sorted through Christ BUT sometime in our lives we but rubbish in with the good stuff in our lives.

 

How can we clear it out ...

 

I wonder are there areas in your life ...we know need sorted... are there areas we need cleaned up.

Do we need to know that SIN … the stuff thatwe know is not pleasing to God … can be dealt with.

Some of us need to be assured that salvation is sorted … we need to be assured that God is indeed for us … not against us … and in our waiting on him we might ask the question … where is God in my situation … where is God? He is in our problems … are we eagerly seeking him

God is dealing with us as individuals … whatever we are going through.

Our Hebrews passage reminds us that we can be included individually in the sacrifice … so that our sin can be sorted and our salvation … as we trust … as we eagerly wait for him.

 

Let us pray
 

 

 

Dedication

This sermon was preached at the United Service of the Carrigrohane Union of Parishes - on Sunday 4th November 2012 11am

The theme of the service was dedication ... and "blessed to be a blessing"

 At the beginning of my sermon I mentioned a video clip of Archbishop Albert Chama (Primate of Central Africa) ... a man dedicated to God ... who was sharing his faith ... clearly in his life

This video appears on anglican communion in Canada website http://missionmoments.anglican.ca/index.php/marks/videodetail/99 

Today is a day of new beginnings, It is a great privilege for me as associate minster to be beginning a new chapter of ministry here in the Carrigrohane Union.

It is great to see so many new faces, and to re aquiant myself with old friends and people who I have met on a few previous visits to the parish.

It is also a real encouragement to see so many people who have traveled so far ... family & friends from Banbridge and from Belfast. Thank you all for coming so far. And to John Auchmuty - Rector of St. Columba’s Thank you once again for alll your support & wisdom over the past 3 1/4 years.

Last Sunday ... in St. Columba’s I had the opportunity to look back ... over the past few years ... This morning is a morning to be looking forward ... looking into the future ... looking at what God is doing here and how we can invest for the future in this place.

There is an illustration which may be familiar to some of you ... A Professor in a university produced on the first day of his first year class ... a lesson which the year group never forgot...

He turned up with a Jar ... a Bag full on tennis balls, a Bag full of pebbles, A bag full of sand and a jug of water.

He first stuck tennis balls into the jar and asked the class if it was full ... the class replied yes ... no more tennis balls would go in

but he the produced ... bag full of pebbles ... with a gentle shake ... the pebbles filled the jar ... and again ... he asked the class was it full ... the class replied ... yes ... sure enough no tennis balls nor pebbles would go in ...

but then again ... he produced ... his sand ... 

What he was illustrating was the importance of priorities ... if the students put the important things in place then there would be plenty of room to put the others in ... BUT if he had focused on the unimportant, on the small things and forgot about the main things then some of them would have to be left out.

On this day of dedication ... we are focusing on the important things in the parish ... focusing on focusing on our faith, our vision for the future, focusing on our finances.

In our reading this morning - Jacob gets a Glimpse of the future and is reminded of the promise of Abraham ... of God’s blessing to him and his offspring

Three big areas and getting these right so that in the months and years to come all the other things - important as we as a parish reach out into the communities to which we belong... we can see that these have been included.

Focus on faith

Each of us here this morning have a story to tell, how you have come to this particular point, a story of how God has been working, guiding, directing, calling, teaching or whatever way we would like to describe our encounter with God.

Throughout the centuries of the church ... there always has been people with stories of faith - people who have dedicated their lives to God ... ordinary people with extrordinary stories to tell ... lives devoted to God’s service. At this service as we think about the theme of dedication we do so simply because God uses dedicated people living lives worthy of the calling to which God has given to them.

I look forward to hearing and witnessing what God has been and is doing in this place and sharing stories of what God has been doing in Belfast, in Zambia as well as my own journey of faith to this point.

Focus on the future

I’m excited to be here at this time ... I’m excited to be part of the team who under God will be able to see new things happen, strengthen what is already happening. I do believe that greater things than have happened in the past will happen in the future. But they will only happen when we work together, when we as the Body of Christ in this place share our skills and our talents, when we take time to pray, to study and to seek God’s direction.

Vision & Strategy group forming 

Focus on finances

Again this is one of the important things ... On this day of dedication ... it is taking what we have been blessed with and blessing others through that blessing.

We can choose to look on this negatively or positively ... time after time in Scripture we see the Israelites being commanded by God to give back to God a thank offering for all that he had given to him.

Dedication is choosing positive to give back to God a bit of what he has given to us. It is saying that we are in this all together ... we are investing in the vision this parish has for the future, we are investing in the faith stories of our friends and family members.

The day of dedication ... this is an extremely important day for this parish ... but I am also aware that there are many people who are here from other parishes from Seapatrick and from St. Columba’s - these things still hold true for ... wherever you come from...

Faith stories don’t just happen ... they need people to invest in “making disciples” ... that means time spent with people ... they need people to teach, they need people to chat, they need preachers, they need youth leaders, MU leaders, opportunities to put faith into action, they need people to reach out, to chat at work & people to challenge appropriately

Future vision ...Churches are called to grow, they are called to have vision ... in proverbs ... without vision people perish ... if churches don't know where they are going, or what they are about then they flounder... are you prepared to get behind the vision for the parish you are involved with ... whether that be the vision of this parish which you have read about???

or if you are from seapatrick ... it simply and succinctly is Growing in God’s Love and sharing it with others

or if you are in St. Columba’s the vision is expressed in the prayer for the parish ... making the door of the church wide enough to welcome all who need

finances ... We all know that finances are tight at the moment, and things are not good in the economy north or south ... are we prepared enough to invest in the priorities of the vision which our parishes are working towards to invest over the next year in seeing what God can do with the resources we have been given.

The challenge has been set out to people here in this union of parishes ... but it is a question wherever we regularly worship .... are we prepared to invest sacrificially and dedicate our resources of time, talents, ourselves to God and to the work to which he has called us to.

If we are ... are we prepared to lay down a marker, to remind ourselves of God’s provision, of his Goodness and loving Kindness to us?  

I'm here!

Over the past 7 days a whirl wind of emotions and activities have taken place ...

From Belfast to Blarney
From Good byes to hellos
From packing to unpacking
From familiar to unfamiliar

And all the rest ... I have been sincerely gobsmacked by the thoughts and love shown both by St. Columba's people and Cork people as well. It was simply wonderful to witness.

As I Start out on a new ministry here in this small community in Blarney I am excited about the possibilities and the opportunities which we will witness in this place over the coming months and years ahead.

Some photos of the weekend will be posted here soon :-)