Rev Paul, Vicar of Hoylake's 'Two Penn'orth for 27 July 2014

My Two Penn’orth this week is an extract from 

last Sunday’s sermon conducted from 

the centre of our Prayer Labyrinth.

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his week has been quite special for us as a church family, the reason being that we held our Prayer Labyrinth. The labyrinth was really well received and many of you played your part, helping in so many different ways, and I thank you all wholeheartedly.

I would like to use a sentence out of the Labyrinth booklet. It says, “You are a disciple, you are a learner and you are learning from the master himself. Walk with him on your journey of discovery of Faith.”

We are learning from the master himself, It doesn’t get better than that.

For those of you who have walked our Prayer Labyrinth it can be a walk of real self-discovery, of letting go of those things that hinder us, and can help us draw closer to our Saviour.

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n Thursday night I decided to walk it myself, I found it very powerful. When I arrived at the centre I instinctively was drawn to the candle, the light of Christ shining out powerfully in the darkness.

I decided to put my hand behind the flame and felt its heat gently warming my hand, and thought of how like Jesus that flame was, drawing us closer to him, so that we can be gently warmed by his love.

I was able to let go of some of things that have been playing on my mind and hand them over to Jesus and move forward.

We should never be afraid of opening ourselves up to new things, to revaluate our lives, and our relationship with God. As I have said in the booklet, quoting from John Lennon, “There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid we pull back from life, when we are in love we open up to all life has to offer.” Our desire should be to move closer to the love of Jesus Christ.

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f there was one feature in the lives of his disciples that Jesus could not resist, and did not resist, it was their overflowing love. Psalm 117: “Great is his love towards us”

We all carry baggage and it is all too easy to get used to carrying it around with us to the extent that we become so used to it we fail to actually see or feel it anymore. So what do we do?

May I suggest to everyone to be open with themselves, unload your burdens, find comfort in knowing who you are, and who you really are in God’s eyes. That way you can know that he loves you, and allow yourself to see God, as he sees you.

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et me remind you that the bread which we break at Communion symbolises not just the broken body of Christ but also that we are sometimes broken as Christians.

The challenge I offer you is this: Can we truly open our hearts to the love that flows from Jesus and allow ourselves to move closer to our God and Father? And in so doing become more loving and compassionate people?

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you by this all will know that you are my disciples”

 

Your friend,

Rev’d Paul

27 July 2014

Service for Those in Care Homes and Their Family & Friends: 29 July 2014

A SPECIAL SERVICE FOR CARE HOME RESIDENTS, FAMILIES & FRIENDS        

A service of thanksgiving for care home residents and their families and friends will be conducted by Rev’d Paul at St Hildeburgh's on Tuesday, July 29, at 2pm. 

The service will consist of contemplative prayers, hymns and readings and will be followed by refreshments. 

 So, whether you have a family member or friend in a care home, or if you care for someone at home, please bring them along to our beautiful church to share worship and good fellowship.

Messy Church: The Vicar's Two Penn'orth for July 2014

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 would like to begin my Two Penn’orth by quoting Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury:

“There is every reason to be hopeful about the future of the Church of England, and indeed, all the churches in this country.

“There are many signs of growth, huge areas of development, and the church is – more than it has been for the last 60 years – demonstrating how essential it is to hold together our society.”

Wonderful words of encouragement from our Archbishop!

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s the Open Golf Championship is about to begin and our Prayer Labyrinth is in its final preparation stages, I am looking forward to the future already. A church must continue to move forward or it will cease to exist. And that applies to us here at St Hildeburgh’s.

With our new head teacher of Holy Trinity firmly in place, and the former head, Peter Ham, accepted for readership, it seems quite natural that we should move to start a ‘messy church.’ For a number of people the term messy church may conjure up a mind-boggling con­ception.

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o what is messy church? Quite simply it is an outreach to local children and their families. Messy church is a fresh expression of church, it is an opportunity for children and their parents to learn and play together. Messy church tells the stories of the Bible in an imaginative way using craft and all things messy. It combines all those things with worship and a sense of togetherness.

Taking on this massive new initiative takes a lot of planning, which will include a meal for children and parents. It is a massive task, but this is a fresh way for us to express ourselves and reach out to our community, which in the long run will grow this church.

I do feel that to achieve this new outreach successfully we will need an enormous amount of help from within the church and without. This can’t be realised without your help and prayer. Please pray for this new venture and all who will help in any way. In my experience we struggle when we rely on ourselves.

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cripture tells us in 1 Chronicles 16:11: Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. Very easy and direct words to follow but time and time again we forget to turn to our Saviour and acknow­ledge his strength and his help. We need to be in constant contact and feel his presence with us. The Holy Spirit can turn sit­uations on their head, but we continue to take on tasks relying on ourselves and the very limited resources we have to achieve our aims.

When we trust in God and listen to his continual prompting we can achieve our goals and so much more. In scripture we are reminded of this in Psalm 37:4-6: Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteous­ness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

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 hope people are as excited as I am, as we move forward growing the church family. I think the long-term vision of St Hildeburgh’s, going and working in the community and also being committed to grow the Kingdom is a wonderful goal. As Proverbs 16:3 tells us: Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

 

Your friend,

Rev’d Paul

Third Sunday of Trinity : 6 July 2014