The workload of my ministers has increased significantly since these services began. So, now that we are no longer isolated from one another this will be the last of these locally produced online services.
Each Sunday the Church of England publishes a service that can be viewed live on the CofE website, Facebook or YouTube . It will be available for playback immediately after as well. Mid-week services are available from Canterbury Cathedral, also via YouTube.
Thank you to all of you who have joined us online over the last few years.
Thank you for joining our online worship for Remembrance Sunday and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
God bless,
Nigel.
Remembrance Sunday Service, led by John Taylor
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
Remembrance Day 2022 Recorded
Genesis 22; 1 – 13 & Luke 21; 5-11. Recorded Nov 2022
Wilfred Owen, was one of the better known poets of the 1st World War; a man who experienced the
horror and devastation of that time – was awarded the Military Cross – and lost his life at the
beginning of November 1918 during the final offensive on the western Front. His poetry was
greatly influenced by his reading and knowledge of the bible, and I’d like to read to you what he
wrote earlier in 1918.
From – War Poems by Wilfred Owen
‘The Parable of the Old Man and the Young’
probably written at Scarborough in July 1918.
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb, for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! An Angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him, Thy son.
Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns,
A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.
But the old man would not do so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
………………….
The Oxford English dictionary has this to say about ‘Pride’ – “too high an opinion of oneself;
inordinate self-esteem…”.
The word ‘proud’ is “feeling or displaying pride; arrogant….”
Proverbs 16; 18 – “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall”.
And here in his poem, in borrowing this scripture from Genesis to portray how he understood and
experienced war – we see Owen zero-ing in on perhaps the most toxic ingredient of hostility,
conflict and war! Repeat last 3 lines –
Those in authority making decisions that affect the lives and the future of the ‘younger’, less
powerful, voiceless ones of the world – always convinced that ‘they are right’ and everyone else is
wrong; and when you get a number of strong individuals, each seducing and influencing their
supporters to adhere to their way of thinking and doing – because it’s the ‘only right way’ – there is
fertile ground for hostilities and conflict and horror and death!
The workload of my ministers has increased significantly since these services began. So, now that we are no longer isolated from one another, I have decided to discontinue these locally produced services.
Each Sunday the Church of England publishes a service that can be viewed live on the CofE website, Facebook or YouTube . It will be available for playback immediately after as well. Mid-week services are available from Canterbury Cathedral, also via YouTube.
The last of these local services will be uploaded for Remembrance Sunday (13th November).
Thank you to all of you who have joined us online over the last few years.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by John Taylor
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Now that we are no longer all isolated from one another, I am considering discontinuing these locally produced services, and directing people to the excellent services produced by the Church of England centrally. This Sunday’s CofE service can be vied live on the CofE website, Facebook or YouTube . It will be available for playback immediately after as well.
Thank you to those who have contacted me with your thoughts. If you have a comment to make, please let me know by leaving a message here or by emailing me: rector@7churches.org.uk
Our local offering is available below.
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from Ann Cork
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
Now that we are no longer all isolated from one another, I am considering discontinuing these locally produced services, and directing people to the excellent services produced by the Church of England centrally. This Sunday’s CofE service can be vied live on the CofE website, Facebook or YouTube . It will be available for playback immediately after as well. Mid-week services are available from Canterbury Cathedral via YouTube.
Thank you to those who have contacted me with your thoughts. If you have a comment to make, please let me know by leaving a message here or by emailing me: rector@7churches.org.uk
Our local offering is available below.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell.
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Now that we are no longer all isolated from one another, I am considering discontinuing these locally produced services, and directing people to the excellent services produced by the Church of England centrally. This Sunday’s CofE service can be vied live on the CofE website, Facebook or YouTube . It will be available for playback immediately after as well.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Our local offering is available below.
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Today, I have included an additional set of prayers. These are from our previous Benefice Administrator, Lucy Elton. Lucy is now living on a narrow boat and traveling around the midlands. She found these prayers, thought of us, and asked me to share them. They are copied below, after the sermon and before the music links.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from John Taylor
Lucy’s Prayers
“In our Journey”
Heavenly Father,
Our love for you is so empowering with your Son Jesus in our lives. We feel your holy presence circling this place and the excitement we see in others is feeding all with joy.
Lord when you send anyone to face us in our path, whether it’s for us to show love, understanding, to listen, being involved in their lives or to bring hope through you we pray you will be right by our side guiding us in actions.
In our journey. Hear our prayer.
We know we are too far away to help others in other nations but we can help here in our own town, in our streets, on the rec and other gathering places, in our schools, in our sheltered housing, in the shops, family homes and parks, the pubs, the trading estate and our environment.
We have so many wonderful children, young adults, families and elderly in our community who yearn to know you. We pray through you we can go out to join them in their ways and language.
In our journey. Hear our prayer.
Lord you know our fears and anxieties in doing your will and we continually pray we can grow showing our individual gifts of love and commitment that you continually shape in us.
In our journey. Hear our prayer.
We ask you Lord to give ones the chance to seek you when they are alone in illness or feel they have no future in this life anymore…….
For the ones who already know you but are in pain and so long to be with you…..
We remember our loved ones knowing you are already there within your holy arms.
We say together
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
Our reading contains four blessings and four woes which will completely change the lives of all affected. This is what Jesus is promising here but he is also giving us a warning. It is difficult to imagine anything more radical either then or now. It is also, depending upon your point of view, the most wonderful and reassuring prospect or the most frightening. It is all based on generosity. The generosity of God to us and the generosity God expects from us to each other.
Jesus is telling us that all our hopes and fears will become a reality. Everything we have experienced is going to be turned upside down. All our lifestyles will go into reverse. Those who have enjoyed all the good things will lose them forever, those who have been happy will experience misery and on the other hand the poor and hungry will become rich and well fed whilst the sad and crying will become joyful and laugh.
This is the message that Jesus gives his audience and then he goes on to tell them to give and give and not stop giving. Both parts of our reading, the blessings and the woes are rooted in generosity.
Firstly, the generosity of God towards those in need. Secondly the generosity which God expects from us towards those in need and thirdly, the generosity of God towards the comfortable and happy by giving them the chance to enjoy his mercy by showing mercy to others.
It is this last mercy which counters what might, at first glance, be the suggestion that for those now who are well fed and happy there is no chance in the future.
This is where the warning part of our reading comes in. Jesus is giving us all a chance. The reading finishes with the famous command to do to others as we would wish them to do to us. In the passage following our reading Jesus goes on to say that if we do this, if we treat others as we would wish to be treated, then our reward will be great. Jesus very clearly makes the point that because God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked, we are to be merciful to others. In fact we should be just as merciful to others as he is merciful to us.
We should not sit back and think; ‘when God comes the hungry will be fed.’ Those of us who have more food than we can eat should be feeding the hungry ourselves,. We should not be waiting for God to do what we can do ourselves. For example, if God were to ask me; ‘why did you let my children in Africa starve when I have given you so much?’ I am not sure that I would have any good answer. Amen.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell.
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Our sermon for today is from Lindy Ellis
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
There’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy
Sermon Text
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
I wouldn’t say that I am nosy, but I am interested in people. Sometimes, when I am sitting quietly, say, in a café or on a bus, I catch snatches of other peoples’ conversations: about the activities of their families, or last night’s football, or how awful the weather has been, and I know I am in comfortably surrounded by ordinary everyday life. But occasionally, there is one strident voice which seems to drown out all the other voices and it is impossible for me to tune out of that one voice. The person goes on and on about his or her own affairs, giving their companions no chance to get a word in edgeways and I just wish that person would stop.
Of course, God is in no way like me sitting on a bus when he listens to our prayers, which he does at all times. He is ready whenever we are; he listens to each one of us the whole time. In last week’s gospel Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up. In Psalm 139, we read, ‘Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
We can’t understand how it is possible for God to be able to concentrate on each one of us at every moment, but we are not God. The difference between us and God is as great as the difference between a pottery figurine and its potter. Isaiah sees this when he says, ‘O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.’ The nearest I can get to an explanation of God’s omnipresence is that God is outside time and space, because he created both time and space, but I am totally unable to understand what that means.
I feel that the Pharisee in today’s gospel reading is a bit like the person on the bus who can only talk about him/herself. His prayer is all I, I, I. ‘I am not like other people … I fast … I give. Certainly he doesn’t give himself any chance of hearing anything that God may have to say to him, but he already knows what God would say – or thinks he does. He imagines God would say, ‘You have done so well. There is nothing I can suggest to you that would improve you’, but Jesus tells us that those who exalt themselves will be humbled.
On the other hand, the tax-collector knows that he has done wrong; he remains bowed down and beats his breast in repentance, saying ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner’. He is confessing his sins and showing true repentance – we can only wonder how he tried to change his life after this experience.
In the first letter of St John, we read, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ So, we confess our sins each time we come to a service and then we try to change our ways, but we are weak and we fail, and then we have to resolve to do better yet again. That is what God asks of us – true repentance and doing our best – never giving up.
Now I will finish by using words from our Holy Communion service:
We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name. Amen.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell.
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from Josh Whitnall
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
O For a Heart to Praise My God
Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright
Sermon Text
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by Lindy Ellis
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Lord Jesus Christ (Living Lord)
Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King (Forever)
Sermon Text
Luke17; 11-19. Ten Lepers Healed. Recorded October 2022
The lepers stood at a distance – Jews, Gentiles, foreigners, united by their common problem –
separated from everyone and everything – except other sufferers – by their disease — forced to live
in isolation – away from the main communities in which they had once lived and worked –
abandoned and shunned by everybody because they were ‘unclean’.
It’s easy – don’t you think – to identify with these 10 people as we look back over the last 21/2 years
of our own lives and consider the similar situations we’ve found ourselves in because of Covid 19 –
the lockdowns – isolation – separation from loved ones – social distancing – the pervading loss of
confidence and an increase of fear of both the present time and the unknown future; I know – I can
understand where they were ‘coming from’ better than I would have done a few years ago – and
identify with their desperation as they shouted out to Jesus for mercy!
You see – even though they had been – and were – so isolated – it seems that these men were aware
of what was going on in Israel – they had obviously heard about Jesus and knew the reputation He
had of healing sick people – and so we’re told that they “called out in a loud voice” – they screamed
out to Jesus with a desperate longing to be healed – to be made whole – to be restored to normality
– to be able to re-enter the communities from which they originally came – and be reunited with
their families.
And Jesus heard their prayers and answered them! v 14, ‘When He saw them He said – “ Go show
yourselves to the priests”’- and they went – to the priest – as He told them to and as was required by
Jewish Law, and they were declared clean – healed as they obeyed Jesus’ directive – ‘Go and
show”! What an amazing release from the prison – the limitations and restrictions of their illness.
One of them – a foreigner – who by his ethnicity – was even more isolated and excluded from that
society than the others – when he realised he had been healed – rather than trying to keep a law he
knew and understood nothing about – went back to say ‘thank you’ – fell at Jesus’ feet and
worshipped Him – making personal contact with the One who had restored him – and received an
additional – personal – blessing.
The other nine – having got what they wanted – understandably – rushed back into life – and
seemingly didn’t give another thought to the One who had made it possible! Could be they meant
to go back – but the distractions of their new found freedom – helped them forget.
And perhaps – we can understand that – even identify with them.
But perhaps we ask ourselves – “How could they forget? They got the changed lives they wanted –
how could they forget their healer?”
Well – it’s part of the human condition! People do it all the time; they are easily distracted – have a
tendency to rush ahead to see what’s coming up next – often missing out on ‘the now’ and so miss
out on His personal blessing – “Your faith has made you well” – or as some translations say – “Your
faith has made you whole”.
I think the two main things I’ve learned from this story are –
1 – no-one is excluded from God’s love and mercy – the ‘outsider’ was given the same opportunity
to receive God’s mercy and healing as the other 9 were.
2 – that an attitude of gratitude its essential to the believer if they desire to know the full extent of
God’s mercy and grace.
Are you feeling ‘exiled’ at the moment – for any reason? Perhaps you’re feeling lonely, excluded,
useless? Whatever you are going through, remember that Jesus can – and will listen when you tell
Him about it – and that a grateful heart will be open to receive His abundant grace.
Perhaps we should pray with George Herbert – “Lord, You have given me so much. I ask for one
more thing – a grateful heart.”
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell.
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
All Things Bright and Beautiful
Sermon Text
Dear Lord, may all that is of you be heard and remembered and all else forgotten. Amen.
I remember it well. We were out on a trip organised by the Working Men’s Club, to Redcar with the highlight of fish and chips before we headed home!
I went with my cousin. We sat down in this posh looking place and the food arrived. My cousin had more chips than me. It wasn’t fair! I think we had a fight later. That wasn’t unusual.
But I still remember that feeling inside. That feeling of injustice. Something was wrong with the word, “It wasn’t fair!”
Have you felt or thought the same?..
I learned an important lesson that day: The world is not fair and no amount of my wishing differently will change that. Life is not fair, and even following Jesus does not change that, and Jesus never said that it would.
Just think of the parable of the labourers in the field. Those who had only worked one hour got the same day’s pay as those who had worked all day. God is generous, that isn’t fair.
Or the parable of the lost sheep, or the prodigal son. In both cases there is a great celebration over the found sheep or the returned son. But what about the 99 good sheep? Or the faithful son who hadn’t wasted the family money. It’s not fair.
When we become Christians we are promised God’s Holy Spirit to live in us, to strengthen and work in us, to make us more like Christ himself. Then we join the family business, God’s family business of growing his kingdom here on earth.
We are each given different gifts, and we each have different strengths. Some are clever, some not, some are strong, some are not. Some have good health, some do not. The list goes on. None of that truly matters. It is our service and dedication to Jesus that really matters.
So you and I, we serve because we love. Or more accurately, we serve because we have discovered that God loves us and we want to share that love.
Out of love we care those around us, as we care for family and friends – because we love them. The reward is not high honour on earth, it is the joy of pleasing the one we love.
This is Paul’s message to Timothy (2 Timothy 1.9):
God saved us and chose us
to be his holy people.
We did nothing to deserve this,
but God planned it
because he is so kind.
Even before time began
God planned for Christ Jesus
to show kindness to us.
God isn’t fair, he is generous and loving. Thank God! If he was fair I would be in terrible trouble.
Jesus told the apostles (Luke 17.10):
When you’ve done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.”
When you give your life to God, you get everything for free: Eternal life, the love of God and the promise that he will work in you and be with you forever.
We do not serve God for a reward, we do so out of love. We have every reward already, and the rest is waiting for us, safe in heaven. We have the privilege of being servants of the living God. We simply do our duty, and seek to love as he loves us.
Now back to the seaside. Back to, “It isn’t fair!”
I still think it. I at times I still want a fair world, a just world. Then I remember that fair, and just, can be very unforgiving.
Forgiveness and mercy are at the heart of the God that I love. There will be justice, but with mercy, and healing and reconciliation.
If God was purely a god of justice, Jesus would not have been sent to die for our sins. None of us would have the hope of eternal life. To be fair, if God were truly just, he would have just wiped us destructive human beings off the face of the earth. Given up on us as a bad job.
So, When you’ve done all you should, then say, “We are merely servants, and we have simply done our duty.”
Life isn’t fair. God isn’t fair.
Thank God!
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell.
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Our sermon for today is from John Taylor
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Before The Throne of God Above
Sermon Text
Sermon for September 26th 2022
Today’s parable is a call to action. It is Jesus telling the Pharisees and others of his time who loved money, who enjoyed rich and comfortable life styles to change, not just their behaviour and attitudes but their very way of looking at the world.
Their understanding of life was that if they were successful then it showed that they were well thought of by God and enjoyed his approval. That if life was hard then it meant they had incurred his displeasure.
The idea that the rich and poor would have their positions reversed in the next life was not one which would have come naturally to them. Their view would have been; If I am successful here I will be successful there. The news that they were wrong and that the poor and despised would be made welcome whilst they were refused entry came as a shock, as a most unwanted surprise.
Jesus is telling them that they have the chance, the opportunity, in this life to secure their future in the next. But, there is also the warning that failure to act carries the penalty of eternal torment.
Many people did not, and do not, believe that this could happen to them. They might even think it very unfair if it did.
The problem was, and is, that humans find it so easy to convince themselves that if life is good, if they are doing well it is because they deserve it, they are worth it, they have earned it and life will always be that way.
Not everyone. There are plenty of people who consider themselves unworthy and there are those who cannot believe their good luck in the same way there are those who are frightened that it will all go horribly wrong tomorrow. But, in the main, comfort leads to compliancy and it is very hard to break through this shell of self-delusion.
As Jesus says if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets then they will not listen to anyone not even if someone comes back from the dead.
I can imagine him sadly shaking his head from side to side thinking; what is it going to take to get through to you? Even if I die and my father raises me up from the dead you still won’t take any notice, why bother? Of course, he did bother and people still aren’t listening.
Lazarus is still with us. We can see him on the streets of almost every town. Huddled in doorways, sleeping on cardboard boxes, sheltering under newspapers. He is out there trying to sell The Big Issue to important, rich people who rush by too busy even to look him in the eye and say hallo let alone stop for thirty seconds and buy one.
Lazarus ended up with Abraham which is another way of saying in heaven and the rich man in hell. Whose fault was that? If when we die we look up and see The Big Issue seller in heaven whose fault will that be?
Amen
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell.
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from Lindy Ellis
A Reflection to Mark the Passing of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell.
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
We meet together today mourning the death of our Queen. Tomorrow will be her funeral, a milestone in the path of grieving, which will help us in our emotional journey of coming to accept our loss. Let us remember especially in our prayers her family and personal friends, who have to balance private and public aspects of their relationships and will be finding the many public events so difficult.
During the last week or so, we have heard so much about the Queen’s life, her character, and people’s reminiscences of her, but one aspect that I particularly admire, apart of course from her openly declared faith, was her love of the countryside and her understanding of how it needed our care and support if it is to survive for future generations to enjoy. The main thing I remember now about her Platinum Jubilee was her Green Canopy initiative, in which she encouraged everyone to plant a tree for the sake of the environment. In her unusually personal video message to the leaders at COP26, she declared that the time for words had now moved to the time for action, she poignantly said that ‘none of us will live for ever’ as she urged the leaders to rise above the politics of the moment for the sake of the climate.
I therefore feel confident in saying that I am sure that Queen Elizabeth II would have fully supported The World Council of Churches in designating the period from September 1 to October 4 as the Season of Creation, and I am sure she would have enjoyed an exhibition of needlework that I was lucky enough to see at the Abbey in Bury St Edmunds recently. It comprised a dozen huge textile panels retelling the creation story as told in that poetic allegory, the book of Genesis, entitled ‘Threads through Creation’. From an artistic point of view they were beautiful – so colourful and with so many different textures.
The artist, Jacqui Parkinson, took 3 years to complete the 12 panels, and they certainly display her creativity, but behind the work I discerned a mind that had thought long and hard about the theology of creation. The Book of Genesis begins, ‘In the beginning, God …’ and that is where the exhibition starts.
The first panel depicts a huge coil or spiral. I see that as the pent-up energy of God, like a spring, waiting to start on his work of creation. When you look more closely, you see that the coil comprises three threads bound together, representing the Holy Trinity. From the early days of the church, Christians have believed that all three persons of the Trinity have been in existence together from before the beginning of time. This is echoed in many services when we end prayers and canticles with ‘Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen. The swirling shape of the Trinity in this panel also made me think of Richard Rohr’s description of it in his book ‘The Divine Dance’ as a never ending circle dance of love that we are all welcome to join.
From then on there are a series of panels of increasing complexity as more and more things are created: light – the twinkling stars and the sun and moon; the waters, a very blue panel; plants, and then panels showing the different classes of created creatures – those that swim in the waters, including whole shoals of silvery fish, jelly fish, a sea horse and shell fish; those that fly in the air, flocks of birds across the sky, a colourful parrot, a flamingo, and a robin; then – most imaginatively, most luxuriantly, the animals of the land – an elephant, a giraffe, a lemur, a sloth, a monkey, a leopard, a zebra, a dog, and a man and a woman. Around this big central panel are smaller panels depicting smaller creatures, such as a bee, butterflies, beetles, reptiles. There is such magnificent diversity. No wonder that at the end of each day of work, God looked around and saw that it was good.
Now however we come to a different panel, displaying a different atmosphere. It shows a single being that takes up the full height of the panel – a creature, part man, part serpent, is diving downwards. It is beautiful in its way – I am attracted and yet repelled at the same time. This is Lucifer, the fallen angel, Satan, the devil.
God created us with free will – he wanted us to love him because we wanted to, not because we had to – but it gave us the option of going against God’s will. Going against God’s will – that is my definition of sin. When Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we see them again, wearing scratch-made clothes of fig leaves, but divided by the tree, down the trunk of which a snake is slithering its way. Adam and Eve are now standing with their backs to one another, divided and not communicating. Now, it becomes clear why they have been shown as totally different racial types. Here is when we started excluding strangers, anyone different from ourselves, anyone looking or behaving differently from the ‘norm’, believing something different, speaking differently; this is when we became ‘us’ and ‘them’.
The final panel shows Adam and Eve trudging despondently out of Eden, out of their paradise, followed by a long queue of the other creatures, as they too are expelled from Eden. As St Paul says, ‘the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.’
At first sight, it seems that the whole beautiful, uplifting, exhilarating exhibition ends in failure, in misery, but closer consideration shows that at Adam and Eve’s feet trots a lamb and a dove flies over their heads. The lamb is a symbol of Jesus Christ and the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, so here we have the promise that throughout everything, however miserable and awful life may be, God is always with us in the form of the Holy Spirit, and that God’s plan has always been to rescue us from this seeming defeat by the devil. He sent his only Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, into the world to overcome the devil, sin, and death, and that is the faith that Queen Elizabeth II declared.
We are promised that death can no longer defeat us. Jesus did not only overcome death for himself – he overcame it for us as well. All we need to do is to be sorry for our sins and accept the gift of salvation from our Lord. We can all trust in God that there will be life after death for each one of us. Our new King Charles III revealed that he truly believes that when in his moving first talk to the nation he said, “And to my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you.” He then went on to pray, ‘And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.’
Please join me in this prayer:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank You for your love, for your wonderful creation, thank You that Jesus Christ came into the world as our Saviour and for the salvation that we have received through trusting in His death on the cross and His resurrection. My heart overflows with grateful thanks and praise for His amazing sacrifice for sin. We also thank you that you came into the world, into the hearts of all those who love you, as the Holy Spirit who is with each one of us always. Amen.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by Lindy Ellis
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Sadly, today is the first Sunday after the death of our Queen. Reacting on behalf of the Diocese of Norwich, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher said:
“The news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, brings immense sadness to our nation and particularly to this Diocese of Norwich for which she always had great affection. Our thoughts and prayers are with His Majesty The King and the whole of the Royal Family.
“Her Majesty has served our nation and Commonwealth with distinction and devotion. As Supreme Governor of the Church of England she has spoken movingly about her own faith, and it is clear that she reigned out of a deep sense of God’s calling upon her life, a life of anointed service.
“Her Majesty’s visits to Norfolk, to her beloved Sandringham, meant that she has been held in special esteem and fondness in the County of Norfolk and Diocese of Norwich. I have very fond memories of being her guest at Sandringham and experiencing her kindness.
“Many will want to join in prayers and acts of thanksgiving, and churches will be kept open across the Diocese for people to visit, for prayer, for times of reflection and thanksgiving, and to sign the books of condolence that will be made available.
“As we begin to mourn the death of a great Sovereign, so we pray also for the new King and his family, and for our nation and Commonwealth.”
We have been asked to keep our normal pattern of worship. However, I have added a reflection to mark the passing of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
God bless,
Nigel.
A Reflection to Mark the Passing of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
“Lost and Found” Luke 15; 1 -10.
Scripture tells us that over a long period of time – God had sent many Prophets to the people of
Israel warning them of the consequences of their disobedience and rebellion – of His growing anger
with them, and also about His promise of forgiveness if they would turn back to Himself. So when –
after an apparent silence of about 400 years – God began speaking to them again – 1st through John
the Baptist – and then of course through Jesus Himself – it’s important for us to remember that He
was talking to His people – not to strangers; He was talking to a people who had once been in a
loving – covenant relationship with Him – and now – generally speaking – were not. Apart from a
small number of faithful people who did hold on to their beliefs and preserved an authentic faith –
most of the people – were merely going through the motions out of a sense of duty and not out of
love for Yahweh – in fact – they’d drifted further and further away from Him and deeper and deeper
into sin.
And in our gospel reading today – Jesus – in telling the stories of the lost sheep and lost coin – both
of which had once ‘belonged’ to someone before being lost – was talking to people who had once
belonged – to God – but were now lost – to God.
So – how does this “lost-ness” affect us today? There is so much that could be said – I’ve decided to
limit it to four thoughts – taking the word “lost” as our guide. L O S T
L. Laziness. It has been said that laziness is the habit of resting before you get tired! And God
doesn’t call lazy people!! There’s a saying – “If you want something done – ask a busy person!”
And God calls to Himself – people who are active – but not too busy to hear Him and respond to his
call. Think of some of the people He called: David was looking after his father’s sheep – the
Disciples were fishing – Matthew was collecting taxes! Dwight Moody – one of the most effective
Christians in church history – was called as he worked in a shoe store; Billy Graham was a busy
student; all working – none of them were just sitting around waiting!
Today we live in a hi-tech world that seems to major on the production of labour saving gadgets –
remote control units for just about everything from radio and TV to light switches and alarm codes;
self cleaning ovens and self defrosting fridges!!! And yet – people seem to be more and more busy
– more and more exhausted! All the time saved by using those gadgets – is taken up by other things;
but that’s not the kind of activity or busy-ness I’m talking about! This kind of frenetic busyness
often keeps us from fellowship with one another and with God, makes us too tired for worship – too
tired to pray – distracted from the important stuff. Could it be that laziness has more to do with
wrong priorities – than with sitting around doing nothing?
Which brings us to the next letter –
O. Other; other gods – other things that come between us and the One true God – wrong
priorities – even important things like family / jobs / hobbies / etc – which in themselves are not bad
or wrong – but when those things become more important to us than God – they become ‘other
gods’; and our relationship with Him becomes fractured and distant – our worship becomes a mere
formality and our service to the community just become a chore or jobs we do because we feel we
have to.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from Ann Cork
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
Healing – of the disabled woman. Luke 13; 10-17. 21 recorded August 2022
Imagine the scene – it’s the Sabbath, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue – many people had come
because they’d heard about Him and wanted to hear what He had to say – and there was a woman
standing among them – Jesus noticed her because she was struggling – obviously disabled – all bent
over – unable to see straight ahead without difficulty because she couldn’t lift her head easily – and
His immediate reaction was one of concern – discerning how limited her activities would be – how
handicapped she would have been trying to accomplish the normal activities of living, so He called
her to Himself; I wonder how He managed to catch her eye – to have that connection which sparked
His invitation to come?
So she came to Him – and He said – v 12 “ Woman, you are freed from your disability” – then He
laid His hands on her and she was healed! Her body strengthened and straightened – she could stand
upright for the first time in 18 years – and – we are told – she glorified God. She knew Who had
healed her and gave thanks. She hadn’t gone to the synagogue that day looking for healing, but
healing found her in an act of pure compassion by Jesus.
But not everyone was pleased about this wonderful healing, the ‘rulers of the synagogue’ – the
religious hierarchy – the ones in charge – were not at all sympathetic. They accused Jesus of
breaking the Sabbath law which said that it was a day of rest and that no work was to be done
between sunset on the Friday to nightfall on the Saturday. You see, they saw the healing of the
woman as something that could/should be done by a ‘physician’ – as part of their job – and therefore
done during the other days of the week – definitely not on the sabbath! And they couldn’t see
beyond this reasoning; they couldn’t see that the fact they could and would untie their oxen and
donkeys to lead them to food and water on the sabbath – because the animals needed to eat and
drink and be cared for – that that was permitted within the law. They couldn’t see that because the
condition that had kept this woman bound for so long – her healing was an ‘untying’ that would set
her free to truly live!
It’s important for us to note that Jesus wasn’t disagreeing with the rulers about what the Law said –
what they were saying was true – but He was reminding them of those so called ‘legitimate
allowances’ that allowed certain kinds of work to be done on the sabbath for the well-being of
others – even animals, and suggested that they think again about their very rigid interpretation of
that law – that their condemnation of the woman’s healing was sheer hypocrisy – and they were “put
to shame” for their double standards.
The people – meanwhile – v 17 – “rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by Him” ie
Jesus.
Jesus sees each one of us – as we are, even those of us tied up by things from the past; things – like
memories – that inhibit us! Things – like the judgement of others, who looked at us and judged us
with a limited understanding of the truth behind what we did/said – and caused deep hurt that we’ve
not been able to forget. Things – that we’ve done and wish we hadn’t. Jesus sees all that and looks
beyond it all – and longs to set us free – not a freedom to do what we want when we want to do it –
but freedom to live the life He calls us to live, as His children – to live in the knowledge that we are
truly loved for who we are and released from all those past things that kept us bound.
Will you allow Jesus to unbind you today and rejoice as those people did so long ago at what He
does for you?
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Our sermon for today is from Lindy Ellis
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
I Will Offer up My Life (Instrumental)
Sermon Text
For those who enjoy sport this has been a glorious summer – nearly every week for weeks and weeks there has been some special event going on. I especially remember the women’s football and the exuberance of crowds across the country. In dozens of club houses and pubs there were dozens of people, particularly teenaged girls cheering, shouting, singing and dancing as the England women’s team won their way through to being European Champions. Hold the image of one of those celebrating, exuberant girls in your mind. I believe that that is pretty close to how St Mary was as she shouted and sang today’s gospel. So often we visualise her as older, demure, submissive, there are so many classical paintings like that, but I think we have got that wrong. I think that the Magnificat, as we now call it, is a shout of triumph, a shouted song of triumph all about God and about revolution, God’s revolution. Today’s gospel reading follows on the arrival of Mary to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with the son who will become John the Baptist. We hear how even that unborn baby welcomes Mary and her unborn son by leaping inside his mother’s womb – a moment to be cherished, particularly for a first-time mother. Surely only Luke, as a doctor, would have been trusted with that intimate detail. Now I am wondering just how close the link is between the two women. After all, Elizabeth is old enough to be Mary’s mother. I wonder whether, when it became obvious that Elizabeth was seemingly barren she acted as Mary’s mother when she was little. They could have shared so much then. They are living under the brutal rule of Herod the Great, backed up by the threat of the power of Rome, and they share the ancient Hebrew dream of hope, revolution, victory over evil, and of God coming to the rescue at last, which is spelled out in the psalms and writings of the prophets. Nearly every word of the Magnificat is a direct quotation from those scriptures, which both Mary and Elizabeth have been steeped in all of their lives. Elizabeth and Zechariah lived in the hill country of Judea, where I would imagine that many revolutionaries, those planning rebellion against the Romans, would hide out. There must have been much talk of such things in the area, and phrases in the Magnificat such as, ‘He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.’ is scriptural for Mary, but would also echo things being talked about in secret. It is later Jesus himself echoes the sentiment when he says, ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.’
But Mary was to discover that God’s ways of achieving that revolution were totally different from man’s ways. God would not use swords and brute force, but love and submission. Isaiah says, ‘“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.’ Mary will discover that God’s way will involve her in much suffering because of her love for her son. As Simeon prophesised, ‘A sword will pierce your soul’, and at the end of Jesus’ life, for three days, she believed that he had failed completely. She must have wondered what it was all for, had their lives, the sacrifices that had been made, been a total waste? But on Easter Day the feeling of triumph expressed in the Magnificat returned, and this time it would never leave her. Finally, Mary was able to understand, as much as any human can, God’s ways. Let us pray that God will give us that same understanding. Dear Lord God, we know that you have a plan for each one of us, and that you love each one of us, willing the best for each one of us. We pray, ‘Thy will be done,’ but it is sometimes difficult for us to understand what your will is, so often we are really praying, ‘My will be done’. Lord help us to recognise your will as being the best for us. Give us grace that we may have the faith to take one step at a time and to follow where you lead us, even when we can’t see
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from John Taylor
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Mon Ame se Repose (In God Alone – Taize)
Sermon Text
Our reading this morning tells us not to be afraid but also warns us to be ready because we do not know what form the end of the world is going to take or when it is going to happen.
This means we have to accept two things; To trust the advice not to worry as well as preparing ourselves for who knows what.
These two might appear to be mutually exclusive because it is a natural human reaction to be afraid of the unknown. Not to be afraid when we do not know what is coming requires us to believe the person advising us not to worry, or to put it another way, to have faith in them.
Faith and belief are not entirely the same thing. Sometimes we only believe in what we know or can prove to be true. This is because belief can be firmly linked to empirical evidence. Something is only true for us if we can measure or test it. What you might call the; ‘ I’ll believe it when I see it’ approach.
On the other hand, we can also believe when we have no proof but that requires faith because that is what faith is. Faith is belief in something we cannot prove, or see, or hear, or touch, or taste, or smell. Something which is, to some people, quite literally not sensible.
Is it sensible to make preparations against the possibility of an unknown event at some stage on the future? We cannot call it an unforeseen event because we have been warned about it. Something will happen but we do not know exactly what. If we look at what the event will be, even if we do not know what form it will take or when it will happen, then I suggest it is sensible to prepare for it.
We are not talking about something minor like the house burning down because we forgot to turn the iron off or not going by train because it might crash but the end of the world as we know it. The Second Coming, the Day of Judgement, what ever you want to call it will be the point in the life of this planet and everything on it when time stops and whatever we have not done stays undone. The point where we have no more chances.
Before we get too confident that this will not happen in our lifetimes let us remember two things. Firstly, Jesus is specifically warning us that it might. He very strongly tells us it will come as a surprise and secondly, every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ourselves ask for it to happen. Thy Kingdom Come. That’s what we want to happen.
To just shut up shop, sit down and compose ourselves in prayer on the off chance that it might be later today is unrealistic. We have to live, we have to care for ourselves, and for others and for the entire of creation. This means we have to continue with our normal everyday activities. We have to take thought for the future, both for ourselves and for others.
But, we have to do it in such a way that is in accordance with God’s commandments. We have to live and to be the people that Jesus wants us to be.
There is no way in which I can succeed in this all the time. And to be fair I have never meet anyone else who seriously thought they could either.
That is where the trust and faith in Jesus comes in. Jesus tells us ‘it is the Father’s pleasure to give us the Kingdom’. What we have to do is to have faith in Jesus, believe in his promise and try to live accordingly. If we can try with all our hearts to do this then Jesus’ promise will come true for us.
Amen
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Sue Auckland
Our sermon for today is from Lynda Mansfield
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
The Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12:13-21
v.15 : “Jesus said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
My first question to you is – do you seem to accumulate stuff!? Do you have drawers, cupboards or an attic, or a garage and shed full of things? And do you often think – I must have a sort out? Well, that is me! Storage indeed! Possessions! I don’t need to keep all my stuff – and stuff is the only way to describe it!
But are these things we amass because we want to be rich – no, it’s just that we don’t get round to it.
The gospel reading for today tells us about a man who wants to become more rich than he already is, so when he produces a bumper crop of corn he builds bigger barns in which to keep it and any other possessions.
Jesus had been asked to intervene in a dispute which someone had against his brother who, apparently, had not shared out their inheritance. We may feel that the man had some justification in his concern, but Jesus responds by warning the man that he seems to be prey to the power of greed or covetousness. Does this sound fair on the face of it? Jesus is simply saying that we may be tempted to accumulate wealth, but for what reason. We cannot take it with us! (Not that what I accumulate is wealth – far from it!).
The rich fool’s greed isolates him in a world where his fantasy of future happiness is dependent upon possessions. The worst thing about this story is that the rich man had produced a good crop one year and instead of sharing the excess with other folk he built bigger barns in which to store it for himself. But it doesn’t work – in vv. 20 & 21 God says “You fool, this very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
In a book by Rabbi Lionel Blue he recalled sitting in an airport as he waited to board the plane and likened that to our lives. He realised this world was but a departure lounge. One makes oneself as comfortable as possible and gets to know people and then one has to leave it.
Our eternal home is in God’s Kingdom and our life on earth is temporary – transitory, to use that wonderful Book of Common Prayer word.
Later on in this chapter, Jesus tells us not to be anxious about our life and what we might eat or clothe in. God will provide for us (and this can be another sermon for I, at one point in my life, did not know if I had enough money to buy food and presents for Christmas, but it was given to me out of the blue and anonymously – that was God. Put God before wealth –give and you will receive tenfold).
God’s presence brings a glow to anyone who feels it and the password to His presence is generosity – not necessarily of money or things, but of our hearts, minds and spirit. The fruits of the spirit are set out in Galatians 5, verses 22 – 23 – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control.
A Rabbi was asked – Where does God live? His answer was – wherever a human being lets Him in and as we allow God to enter our lives, his grace will be sufficient unto us. Amen.
A prayer:
Father we thank you for your world which is full of good things, which should be shared among all people, and yet many live in harsh poverty. Help us to continue to enjoy the fellowship of sharing one with another and may this sharing and giving spread from this place so that we may see poverty reduce and your Kingdom increased. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Sue Auckland
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Sermon Text
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by John Taylor
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from Jamie Worthington
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Be still for the presence of the Lord (Instrumental)
Sermon Text
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Sue Auckland
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
More Modern:
Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly
Sermon Text
Trinity 4 2022 Recorded Luke 10; 25 – 37.
Today – we see Jesus engaging in a discussion with a so called – “expert in the Law” – who begins
by asking a question – “ Teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” – Jesus answers his
question with a question – read v 26 to 28! which prompts another question from the lawyer – “And
who is my neighbour?”
In answer to that – as He often did – Jesus tells a story. A story about a traveller on the road between
Jerusalem and Jericho being attacked by robbers – about a Priest first – then a Levite – both passing
by on the other side of the road – and His listeners would have identified sympathetically with them
– after all – the Jewish priest would have had to safe-guard his religious purity by avoiding a body
that may very well have been dead – for him to touch that body – or even come into contact with it –
would have made him ceremonially unclean – and would mean that he would not be able to fulfil
his religious duties in the temple – so his action was understandable, as for the Levite – well – it
could be that the robbers were lurking nearby – no sense in taking any chances – so it’s perfectly
understandable that he hurried on – and as Jesus goes on read v33a “But a Samaritan, as he
traveled, came where the man was;…” – one can almost hear the rustle of movement as Jesus’
audience lean forward in anticipation – Ah Ha!!!! the villain of the story has finally arrived – a
Samaritan – ………………….. But what is this ? Horror of Horrors – instead of the villain – the
Samaritan was Jesus’ hero! They were shocked and horrified. How easy it would have been to
accept Jesus’ hero if he had been Jewish – that’s what they’d been expecting – and after all the Jews
had no problem with the concept of helping each other – but helping and receiving help from one of
THEM – Oh Boy – that was radical!!! As far as they were concerned there was no such thing as a
“Good Samaritan.” They were despised – they were inferior – THEY were different.
Bitter hatred had smouldered between the Jews and Samaritans for over 400 years. The Samaritans
were descendants of the Jews who had been left behind – when – many hundreds of years before –
the Assyrians had over-run the Northern Kingdom and taken most of the people into exile. Over
time – these people had intermarried with those foreign invaders – thus – in the eyes of the Jews –
dishonouring – defiling – and diluting their Jewish heritage – and the Jews couldn’t accept Jesus
using one of THEM as an example to illustrate the ideal of “neighbourly love.”
“Which of these 3 was a neighbour to the man?” Asks Jesus –
“The one who had mercy!” – the lawyer couldn’t even bring himself to say “Samaritan” – this
neighbour was – too unexpected – too unacceptable – too different.
They say there is nothing new under the sun – and so it goes – on and on – one group of people
considering themselves superior to another group of people – with prejudice and bigotry directed
towards all those who are considered to be different; in culture – between East and West; within
societies between the physically able and the dis-abled, the employed and the unemployed – the rich
and the poor – the young and the old; in religion between the faiths – Christian, Jews, Muslim and
Hindu – as one group of people believe themselves to be the only keepers of the truth – and that
everyone else is doomed! In Christianity – just in case we think we’ve got it sorted out – one only
has to think of the historical conflict between Catholic and Protestant – Charismatic and Evangelical
and even – until fairly recently – between the protestant denominations themselves – to know that
we haven’t – got it sorted out that is!
And then there’s racism – alive and well in our world today – with – just last week – a record number
of hate crimes being recorded in the UK alone – all committed against those who are seen to be –
different! And until that attitude changes – until people are able to really see others and be true
neighbours to one another – nothing will ever change and the world will continue on its downward
spiral with it’s people forever separated from one another and their creator.
Praying for world unity and peace – and an end to global conflict by asking for a healing of the
Nations – will not effect that change – it’s not going to change because the United Nations says it
must – it’s not going to change because of a change of Government; neither will it change because
enough people believe we can MAKE it change through greater knowledge and technological
advancement. We only have to look back across the last century – a time of unprecedented growth
in knowledge – and unprecedented human carnage – to know that that is not so.
Mark says in his gospel – quoting Jesus – “ for from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil
thoughts,, malice, deceit,, arrogance.. etc etc”-
So – for a change to be made in the world – there needs to be a change of heart! A change of heart
within individuals – which will bring a change of attitude; within those individuals first – then in
ever widening circles of influence – within our churches – our communities – then – their healing –
and the healing of the Nations – becomes a possibility. And only God can effect that change. He
promises -[Ezekiel 36; 26.] “ I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit in you. I will remove
from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit in you and move you
to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws.” God will do it – if we let Him! And it’s
available to everyone who will accept it – whoever they are!
With that new heart – It becomes possible to recognise and acknowledge ones own attitudes and
prejudices – and deal with them – in whichever way is appropriate – to bring about healing and
reconciliation.
There is such desperate need for healing – for a change of heart. And it is easy to convince
ourselves that we are not responsible for other people’s behaviour and attitudes – any more than
they are responsible for ours. We can – like Pilate – on that Thursday of Easter so long ago – wash
our hands of any responsibility – and leave it up to “them” to sort out. Or – as God’s people, serious
about making changes – we can choose to accept responsibility for our own sin – and the sins of
our Nation/world – we can ask God to give us new hearts – clean from old attitudes and entrenched
ideas – and then – go out and be good neighbours to our neighbours – even those who are different.
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from Ann Cork
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
More Modern:
8 hours of calming Christian instrumental music
Sermon Text
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Sue Auckland
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Our sermon for today is from John Taylor
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
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Sermon Text
I wonder what is the most important thing in our lives? What is the most important duty which if we didn’t do we would not be ourselves. What obedience defines us and who we are?
Try and think of something that you really cannot put off doing, something you cannot procrastinate about, something which has got to be done now come what may.
Because that is what Jesus is talking about here. First of all he turns his back on those who will not receive him. He didn’t appear put of the blue he had sent messengers ahead of him but still they did not receive him. Rather than waste time and effort he just turned and walked away. As he was leaving someone asked to follow him but said they had to bury their father first.
In Jewish culture at that time one of the most sacred duties of a son was to bury his father. If he did not do this when he should then he was not a proper Jew. He would feel that he had failed and the rest of the nation would agree with him and treat him as an outcast.
And yet here is Jesus saying I am more important than that duty. If you want to follow me then I am the most important thing in your life full stop. No ifs no buts no maybes, nothing else compares to me.
These are pretty severe messages. They are not warm and comforting thoughts.
This week’s readings force us to face the twin challenges of accepting Jesus for what he is and of then putting him first.
This is no accident. We are in the season of Trinity. That long period between Pentecost and Advent. It is the season when we look at the teaching and life and ministry of Jesus in detail and try to understand what they mean to us and how we should respond to them. Very often this makes for uncomfortable reading.
Jesus is making the point that if we are trying to follow him then we should not be concerned with what has gone before but concentrate on where we are going. On what we are trying to achieve.
Now by this stage I might be feeling very worried that there is no way that I can ever live up to Jesus’s challenges to me this morning.
However there is a bright light on the horizon, all is not lost. Just before the start of Trinity we celebrated Pentecost when God sent down the Holy Spirit to help us. When we fail, as we will because we are only human, then we can ask for the help of the Spirit.
As the final line from the epistle this morning says; ‘If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit’ and that is how we can face these challenges. We can do our best, we can try as hard as we can to accept Jesus and to put him first, we can pray for the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit and we can leave the rest to God.
Amen
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Due to pastoral issues there will be no online sermon for today.
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
More Modern:
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Sue Auckland
Our sermon for today is from Ann Cork
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
More Modern:
Sermon Text
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
More Modern:
Pentecost sequence – Veni Sancte Spiritus (Taize) (Shorter version)
Sermon Text
John 14; 16 &25-27 and Acts 2; 1-4
Read v25 – John’s gospel – words spoken by Jesus to His disciples that evening of the last supper –
preparing them for what lay ahead; from the scriptures – we know that they were together again a
few days later – after His resurrection – when – as we are told – He “showed them His pierced hands
and side” – then after 40 days during which time Jesus had continued to teach and encourage His
disciples – He Ascended into Heaven – having told them (Acts 1; 4) to wait for the gift that The
Father would send to them – the Holy Spirit – Who would give them the power to do what He had
entrusted them to do – ie carry on His ministry here on earth.
Wait! Don’t you thing that waiting is one of the hardest things we have to do? And it must have
been especially hard for these disciples who were bursting to tell anybody and everybody who
would listen about what had happened – but Jesus had told them to wait – so they did – meeting
together, praying together as they waited! For another 10 days – until the feast of Pentecost.
A harvest festival, Pentecost was one of the 3 main Jewish festivals that was celebrated annually,
and attracted Jews from throughout the known world to Jerusalem. – and it was at that significant
time that God fulfilled the promise to send His Holy Spirit.
And – Holy Spirit came – manifest in audible and visible signs.
Wind or breath – are both used in the Old and New Testament as symbols of Holy Spirit – and on
that Pentecost day – Holy Spirit came – we are told – as a violent wind – or as one translation says –
“like the roaring of a mighty windstorm” – certainly no gentle breeze. Wind can be cleansing /
purifying / refreshing; but also unsettling and disruptive – as it tends to stir up that which has been
settled / comfortable /stationary!
Fire was another OT symbol of Holy Spirit, picturing God’s purifying presence. He had confirmed
the OT Law with fire; in Exodus 19; 16 – 18 we read – “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke
because the Lord descended on it in Fire…” Now at Pentecost, God authenticated Holy Spirit’s
presence by sending fire again. On Mt Sinai, fire had come down in one specific place – at
Pentecost – tongues of fire came down upon all the believers who were gathered – individually –
causing them to respond by speaking in languages that they had previously not known.
Believers and non-believers alike could actually see that something supernatural was happening; as
the believers experienced His presence – everyone responded in one way or another to what they
heard. V6 – “When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered” – they were all excited – WHY?
= Not only because of the noise – but they could hear their own language being spoken. To this
international audience – being far from home – it was wonderful to hear – in their own language –
the amazing story the believers were telling; they asked questions – eager to know and understand
more! But there were others who just poo-po’d it all! “Oh they’re just drunk” – they said.
Peter however, now wonderfully changed by Holy Spirit from the fearful man he had been – into a
bold and confident ambassador for Christ – assured them that what they saw was the fulfilment of
the prophet Joel’s prophecy concerning the last days – and not drunkenness; He then explained to
everyone what had happened and why!
Now the Jews would have accepted the authority of the OT scriptures, and as Peter quoted from
Joel’s prophecy, which spoke of a time when God’s Spirit would be poured out on ALL PEOPLE –
irrespective of whether they were Jews or Gentiles, whatever their gender, age, class or status – the
crowd – already drawn by all the excitement – could see the evidence and reality of God’s presence
and power in him as he spoke – telling them about Jesus, who He was and why He came to earth;
about His death – resurrection and ascension – ending with an exhortation to repent and be baptised
in Jesus’ name.
We are told that about 3000 people believed and were baptised that day!
And so the church was born!
As that crowd dispersed and returned to their homes – the good news of the gospel was carried far
and wide – crossing and breaking down geographical, racial and political boundaries.
Oh what a lesson we can learn from those 1st disciples; to accept and acknowledge the authority of
scripture; to pray together – and to wait expectantly for the Holy Spirit – allowing Him to empower
and equip us. – and we do not have to wait like those first disciples had to.
Perhaps we need to allow – even invite – the wind of God to stir us up – unsettle us – tip us out of
our comfort zones – open up new and creative opportunities for reaching out and telling people the
good news of the gospel in a way that would be relevant to them!
Perhaps we need to invite the fire of God’s Spirit to cleanse and purify us – both as individuals and
as the Church – so that the telling and showing of our faith will have credibility.
One thing is for certain – we must move the evidence of our faith out into the open – be prepared
and ready to share the good news of what Jesus has done for us with those who will listen – gossip
the gospel – accepting that there will be some who might poo-poo what we say – but carrying on –
doing now what Jesus commissioned those first disciples to do – grow His Church.
And we cannot do that without Holy Spirit – it is He alone that can speak right into the hearts of
those who will listen – and change their world. So that is where we need to start – by praying
together – as the church – and asking Holy Spirit to come and fill us with His presence and His
power so that we can go and tell!.
Are we ready to experience our own Pentecost?
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by John Taylor
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Sue Auckland
Our sermon for today is from Jamie Worthington
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Christ triumphant, ever reigning
More Modern:
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Sue Auckland
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Canon Lyndy Domoney
Our sermon for today is from John Taylor
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
More Modern:
Sermon Text
Acts 16: 9-15
Sometimes in the life of a Christian we are called to do something, be somewhere, go somewhere, speak or be silent and it seems to make no sense. At other times we feel we have been left hanging about. waiting for instructions which take an age to come, far too long for our impatient ways.
This waiting can sometimes feel a hard thing to do. There we are all fired up with enthusiasm, wanting to crack on with whatever it is we feel called to do and we are told; hold fire, just wait a bit and, worst of all, we don’t know why. We haven’t got a clue what is going on. We have never seen the plan and we do not know what the big picture is let alone where we fit into it.
All we can do is wait and trust. And then, all of a sudden, things fall into place.
Paul had been working his way north through Turkey and tried to go in one direction but, in the verses before our reading this morning, we are told that; ‘the spirit of Jesus did not allow him to do so’ so he wandered along waiting for instructions.
I have no idea how patiently Paul waited. Whether he chaffed at the delay and went pacing about muttering under his breath or whether he was, secretly at any rate, physically relieved at a brief rest because he had been charging about all over the show and his body was starting to show wear and tear we do not know. The temptation at this stage is to say it doesn’t really matter and to concentrate on what he did when he reached Greece but I think it does matter. I think it does matter a lot and there is a vital lesson here for us all.
Most of us have to learn to relax a bit. To have faith and trust is almost a given but it also helps to develop a habit of accepting the down time that God gives us. To take advantage of and revel in periods of calm and inactivity and to use them to just think and to be in God’s presence. To calm our nerves and quieten our minds.
It is a very common complaint, and I am certainly as guilty as anyone else, that life is just too busy. That there never seems to be enough time to achieve everything that one wants to. The pile of books waiting to be read just grows and grows. The to do list never reduces, as soon as one thing is crossed off another two appear.
To try and deal with this some of us go on sabbaticals, others on retreat. We take holidays which involve planning, expense, travel delays, frustration, anti-climaxes and unfulfilled expectations which just seem to make matters worse.
So why do I become impatient when God tells me to be still and rest and wait for him to tell me what to do next?
What we do know is that when Paul’s instructions came in the form of a vision pointing him in the direction of Greece Paul immediately set about finding a way to get there concluding that it was where God was calling him to go and preach the good news. He arrived full of energy and enthusiasm. Went on to work wonders and achieve great things. He is a leading and shining example of what it means to be a Christian.
Who knows perhaps it was that period of waiting that God provided him with that gave him the strength he needed?
Amen
This week our service of Compline (Night Prayer) is led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
God bless…
A Service of Compline for Today:
Thank you for joining our online worship including our Holy Communion and a short sermon. Below them are links to a selection of music (traditional, modern and prayerful). Thanks once again to Stephanie Woollam for prayerfully choosing such a broad range of inspiring sacred music.
Please continue to share your views on our services.
God bless,
Nigel.
Welcome to our Holy Communion, led by The Revd. Nigel Tuffnell
Our sermon for today is from Lindy Ellis
Music links (just click on the titles below to be taken to the music hosted by YouTube).
More Traditional:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to heaven
More Modern:
KungFuPreacherMan 