New Kid on the Blog

Easter Day (2009) Year B RCL Eucharist An ‘Easter frame of mind’ In some ways it is quite hard to prepare an Easter sermon, particularly when, as is usual with sermons, one is preparing during the week before. This last week was, of course, Holy Week, and this year we have made special effort this year to observe Holy Week, with services that have focussed on healing, on repentance, and telling of the painful events of the Passion of our Lord Jesus, from his arrest to his crucifixion. In this week we have sought to set our minds on the passion and the death of our Lord Jesus and not on his resurrection. Though we know what happened beyond the cross part of our observance of this week just gone is to call to mind all that Jesus went through to bring us life in all its fullness. So this sermon was started on Maundy Thursday, after the service of the renewal of Ministerial Promises which I (and various Readers, Deacons, Priests, Bishops and even a few normal people) attended in the Cathed...

I could be here for hours talking about the events of this last week, but I will just give a quick overview of things and say HAPPY EASTER! I know that Easter Day was yesterday, but we are just starting the Easter Season, so I have another 49 days to wish people a happy Easter! I hope your celebration of the resurrection was a joyful one, and if you didn't celebrate it, I hope you find a reason to! This past week was one of journey, spirituality, thought, prayer, meditation and reflection. I made a very conscious decision to make something of Holy Week this year, by weaving my experience of Holy Weeks since I started as a Curate way back in 1996 with the usual pattern of observance in these local parishes. So I decided that we should have some kind of service each day of the week, with special effort made on Good Friday to have something in each of the five Parishes in the Five Alive Mission Community, along with an Easter Eve event as well. So Palm Sunday saw me leading an earl...

For those of you who want to put yourselves through reading the five different parts of my Creed talks here are the links so you don't have to trawl through the New Kid Deep Stuff archive list... Part 1 I believe Part 2 in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Part 3 I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, Part 4 suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. Part 5 I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen .

Five Weeks later and we finally arrived at the last part of the Creed on this last Thursday, here's the opening and a link to the full talk at New Kid Deep Stuff Lent 2009: The Apostle’s Creed Session 5 I believe – and all the rest! Well, it’s been quite a journey over this past five weeks as you’ve heard a lot of me speaking, you’ve had some pretty solid Theology, and you’ve even had the opportunity to talk to each other a bit too! As we embark on the home stretch here today I want to begin by saying thank you for being a part of these sessions, for your contributions, for your feedback and for your time and attention. I was asked yesterday if we could have a little more discussion this evening. Well, we may have a chance to talk over some things but I just wanted to say that these evenings were something of a ‘one off’ in the sense that I didn’t set them up as discussion groups as we have around our different parishes – the purpose of this series was really to share with you som...

This was the sermon I gave at our excellent Mission Community service last Sunday, a wonderful event which was extremely well attended and a great reminder of the joy of being together in Christ! As usual, this is just a taster with the full text available on New Kid Deep Stuff . Lent 5 Passion Sunday (2009) Year B RCL Principal Jeremiah 31.31-34 Psalm 51.1-13 Hebrews 5.5-10 John 12.20-33 Living with PASSION I don’t know what sort of things you are passionate about. When I say passionate I mean that you feel grasped by them, unable to let them go – you want to spend lots of time doing something that excites and inspires you. Perhaps your passion is Music? Movies? TV Soaps is a very popular choice! I am passionate about a number of things, one of them being my wife and children, you may have got the idea that I am passionate about guitar playing (whether or not I am terribly good at it) – but something that has become a passion of mine is motorcycling. I love riding my motorcycle, I li...

As you might have guessed, things are going along pretty much at full pelt in the headlong dash that is our Lenten observance towards the Church's greatest Festival of Easter. It's been good, hard work but good. I don't feel overburdened, though I am tired, and the variety of events and activities has been energising rather than draining. There's a saying in these parts that you aren't part of a village until you've 'wintered and summered yer' - actually some would say there's a belief that you aren't part part of these communities until you've been born, lived and died here, but that's a discussion for another time! In the Church I think there's a feeling that as a new minister you've earned your place when you've 'Christmassed and Eastered' there. I think that's true, until you've celebrated the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ then there's something missing from your part in the Christian commu...