Seize the moment

We listened to the story of Martha and Mary as it appeared in today's lectionary reading from Luke 10:38-42. Martha welcomed Jesus into their home and prepare food. Mary, was listening to Jesus speak. Then Martha asked Jesus if Mary could help her get the food ready. Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better part and that should not be taken from her. 

Daphne, who was preaching, asked us how do we make time for Jesus and seize the moment as Mary had. The final hymn was Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.

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Pentecost and Platinum Jubilee

Today we remembered Pentecost and the Queen’s Jubilee.

The hymns were pentecost hymns about the Holy Spirit.

Deacon Selina led us in considering the Queen’s service for seventy years and how she has served God and people and has shown in her life the gifts of the Spirit: faithfulness, love, patience, kindness, self-control, modesty. peace, and joy.’

Take this Moment

At church yesterday we sang a song written by John Bell. It had the last verse:
Take my talents, take my skills,
Take what's yet to be;
Let my life be yours, and yet
Let it still be me.

Revd' Ian's sermon was about two passages from Matthew's gospel: : the Talents and the sheep and goats. The sheep were welcomed with ' for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

Then the parable of the talents where two servants made their master's money work and earned more money. The servant given one talent feared his master and so buried the money for safe keeping.

Ian asked, 'What point Jesus was trying to get across. Which of those servants do you most identify with?' The servant who hid the money was driven by fear. That fear stopped him taking any risk at all. Could the talents equate to gifts God has given us? It appears that all the servants wanted to please their master but one feared and did not use his gifts.

Taken together these two parables might be saying: don't fear, use the gifts God has given you for his Kingdom.

From the Peachcroft Christian Centre

I got into church early and was the first to be seated. T and R were chatting on the sound desk. T ran through the slides and I heard a short preview of each hymn. People arrived in ones and twos. Then I heard a few voices at once, like the echoes in an underground station. 

 At the start of the service, T welcomed us all from the lectern, . She especially welcomed, Andrew, the preacher, from the Peachcroft Christian Centre, and remarked we don't get many people from there.

One of the hymns, 'Give Thanks to the Lord', was a video performed by people from Peachcroft Christian Centre. 

The sermon had the title 'Our Identity in Jesus'. The main point being how closely we identify with Jesus. Andrew said the Christian life is like marriage where we give up part of our identity. He suggested spending more time in prayer as a start, and mentioned Prayer Force as a way into praying.

Returning to normality with caution

At Trinity Church in Abingdon this morning things are slowly returning to normal. For the first time people did not need to book in advance. However people were still socially distanced, and wore masks and there was no congregational singing. The songs were on videos. 

The preacher, Helen, was pinged by the NHS Covid-19 app on the way to church to say she needed to self isolate. She passed on her apologies and written prayers and sermon and they were read by another lay preacher. 

He began by saying you may have heard of the 'pingdemic' -  a play on words from “pandemic” and being 'pinged' or notified by the NHS app that you have been contact with somebody who has Covid-19 and should self isolate. 

He said that is why he was standing there before you instead of Helen. The service went smoothly and at the end Helen was complimented on her clear, and easy to read, notes.

Trinity Sunday

I was the door steward at Trinity Church and was waiting for the first people to arrive. I looked out through the half arch of the door to the blue blossoms of the ceanothus and yellow blossoms of a laburnum tree over the road. A car idled and birds chirruped and whistled. J and M came first and so I greeted them and ticked them off the pre-booking list. L was next to arrive. She was on her scooter and reversed it into a space by the door. The booking sheet had 20 people and next to her name was the comment 'reader'. There followed a rush of people, including S who was preaching, and Ba, who I added to the list - as she had forgot to book. At half past ten, S came to ask if we were expecting any more. G and M, the last two, came in at that moment. Ga asked when we were going to stop wearing masks. I said, 'possibly June 21st, depending on government advise.'

The Covid safety measures are the same as when the church opened after the first lockdown with masks and spaced seating and no singing. The first hymn video that played was 'Open the eyes of my heart, Lord'.

S's reflection was on the icon by 15th Century Russian painter, Andrei Rublev, known both as 'The Trinity' and 'The Hospitality of Abraham.' She said the Trinity was discerned by the early church and is not easy to explain but this icon can help us. It was made for prayer and can help us focus on God the Trinity and experience not in words but as a window. Selina then took us through a meditation on the icon with silences. S said we are included in the picture as there is a space for us at the front together with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.

The first service since lockdown

The bells rang out and Services resumed today. We’ve dipped our toes in the water and held the first Sunday service in our church building since lockdown began. The service followed the familiar form with prayers, bible readings, sermon and hymns. We were not allowed to sing, but we could still concentrate on the words as the music played. Government recommendations were followed to the letter and we felt perfectly safe. No conversations were allowed in the church building but there was opportunity to talk outside.