All Saints Assembly

Aim

To celebrate the Christian festival of All Saints (1 November) by demonstrating that 'saints' are ordinary people who love God.

Preparation and materials

Pictures of Southampton Football Club, & girl band All Saints. Plus pictures of Christian saints

Assembly

1. Show picture of Southampton Football Club. Ask the children if they know what the nick name of this club is – answer The Saints.
2. Show picture of girl group All Saints. Ask the children if they know what the name of this band is (be careful not to give the question away!)
3. Show selection of pictures of Christian saints - & say a little about then. We call these people 'saints'. Sometimes they were very brave and died because they believed in Jesus, or sometimes they were very good Christians, and set a good example for other people to live by.
4. Say that we also call people saints who are very kind or helpful - we might say, 'She's a real saint'.
5. Explain that for Christians 1 November is called 'All Saints Day' - it's the day Christians remember and give thanks for every saint, and for the example they set for us. It is also an time when we stop to thank God for those people who have helped us in our lives. Say that many people believe that only very special and holy people are 'saints', but we are all very precious and special to God. In the Bible St Paul said that all people who loved God and tried to do right were 'saints'.

Time for reflection

Think about those people in your own life who have helped you. And say thank you to God for them.

Dear God, Thank you for the example of all the special people who have loved you. Help us to love you too, and to remember that we are all special. Amen

John 11:32-44 Memorial Service Talk 2006

This is my talk for our annual memorial service which takes place in St Martin's on October 29th 2006 at 6.30pm. Part of this talk has been inspired by the Nooma video 'Matthew' by Rob Bell, and I feel it is right that I acknowledge this at the start.

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C S Lewis, who was born in 1898 and died in 1963, is renowned as being one of the greatest Christian writers of the last century. His works have been translated into over 30 languages, and 43 years after his death he is still on the best sellers list. He wrote many books, but he is most famous for his children’s series, The Chronicles of Narnia, which has sold over 100 million copies.

One of Lewis’ less well known books is called ‘A Grief Observed’, which is based on a series of journals C S Lewis wrote shortly after the death of his wife Joy Gresham from cancer at the age of 45. It is an extremely honest and moving account of the pain C S Lewis endured after his wife’s death.

Anyone who has experienced the pain of bereavement will I think be able to identify with what Lewis writes. This is what he wrote shortly after the death of Joy. “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear… the same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning… At other times it feels like being mildly drunk, or concussed. There is a sort of invisible blanket between the world and me. I find it hard to take in what anyone says. Or perhaps, hard to want to take it in… I dread the moments when the house is empty… There are moments, most unexpectedly, when something inside me tries to assure me that I don’t really mind so much, not so very much, after all… I was happy before I ever met Joy. People get over these things. Come, I shan’t do so badly. One is ashamed to listen to this voice but it seems for a little to be making out a good case. Then comes a sudden jab of red-hot memory and all this ‘commonsense’ vanishes like an ant in the mouth of a furnace.

All of us here tonight, have been affected by bereavement at one time or another. For some here, this bereavement was very recent, and the raw emotions that CS Lewis writes about, may reflect how you feel today. For others, the bereavement may have been some time ago, but even with the passage of time, nothing fully takes away that sense of loss, instead you learn to live with it.

Christians have always believed that there is hope in death as in life, and that there is new life in Christ over death. But even if you share this hope, the pain of death is no less real. One of the things that C S Lewis wrestled with was the sense of having been abandoned by God. In the days after his wife’s death he wrote “Where is God?” for Lewis it felt as though God had closed the door in his face, and that he had been abandoned.

But this is something that Jesus himself felt, when he cried out from the cross, ‘Father why have you abandoned me?’ Where is God when it hurts?

There answer to that question in part lies in the cross itself. The cross throughout history was a symbol of suffering and death, but for Christians it has become a symbol of hope and victory in the face of death. It is through the cross Jesus took on and defeated death. At his birth Jesus was given a special name, Emmanuel, which means God with us. And it is on the cross that we see, Emmanuel, God with Us, suffering with us and for us. God shares our pain, and he weeps with us.

Jesus himself wept at the death of his friend Lazarus. Several days after Lazarus had died Jesus goes to Lazarus’ village, to where his family and friends are mourning their loss. And Lazarus’ sisters say to Jesus, if you had been here earlier, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. And Jesus enters into this big giant mess, and we are told that he was deeply moved in his spirit. Somewhere deep down he connects with all this mess, and then we are told, Jesus wept. He feels all this pain and loss, and enters into it. And he lets the full force of the moment hit him, he doesn’t hide from it, or ignore it, he faces it full on.

In life we cannot avoid pain, or try to ignore it, expecting it to go away. We have to let it out, or else it builds up inside of us. If Jesus wept, then we need to as well.

We all have a choice about how we respond to the pain of loss and about the kinds of people we are, and the kinds of people we’re becoming. We have a choice whether or not we’re going to become bitter. There is a woman in the Bible named Naomi, and she loses her husband and her two sons, and she says, “Don’t call me Naomi anymore, call me Mara.” The word Mara is the Hebrew word for ‘bitter’. “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me bitter." A man named Job in the Scriptures loses everything, children, houses and possessions, and his wife says “Job, are you still holding on to you integrity? Curse God and die!” She becomes consumed with her bitterness. And if we don’t’ acknowledge this choice, if we allow a bit of bitterness in, it will take over. Or sometimes it is not bitterness that we feel, but a sense of guilt. “If only I would have done this, that wouldn’t have happened. If only I would have been this way, if I would have done something differently” And so we can become racked with guilt, and it can seep in and become part of us and we aren’t even aware of it. Don’t let it happen.

In one of the psalms the writer pours out his pain and says to God, “You’ve made me see trouble. You’ve made me see troubles, many and bitter, but you will restore me again.”

It’s easy when we suffer loss, for whatever it is we’ve lost to become the centre of our life. We had them, and now they’re gone. And so there is this giant hole where they once were, and it becomes all we can think about. And what happens in the process is, our whole life becomes what we don’t have, and we lose out on what we do have.

Bereavement always leaves a great hole in our lives, our hearts will never be the same again, but we will recover.

The first Christians spoke about a day in the future when God would restore everything – you, me, everything in heaven and on earth. They talked about how there would be no more weeping or sorrow, nor more death or pain. I find great hope in that.

So may you realise that Jesus wept, and may you realise that God is with you, fully present, grieving your loss… but also restoring. And in that, may we find hope.

Mark 10:35-45 Looking to the Future

It is now almost a year since I arrived at St Martin’s, and I felt that this marks a good time for us to look back at where we have come from as a church, and to look forward to what God has prepared for us in the future.

But before we look more specifically at St Martin’s, I want us to look at changes in church attendance nationally. Last year an in depth study was conducted of 17 thousand churches across England (these are churches from all denominations). The results of this survey have just been published, and shed some very interesting light on the state of the Christian church in England today.

The survey revealed that 6.3% of the English population attend church on an average Sunday, when this survey was last conducted in 1998 the figure of 7.5%.

But the survey did provide some good news

• Ethnically diverse churches are growing
• There are more growing churches (34% of churches recorded growth between 1998-2005, up from 21% during the 1990s), and fewer churches are declining (drop from 65% to 50%)
• Larger churches are growing (they also have younger congregations)

Church decline is not as bad as originally thought

So what is the bad news?

• The average age of those going to church has increased to 45 against a population average of 40
• 29% of churchgoers are 65 or over (12% are 75 or over) against almost half that percentage (16%) in the population generally
• People aged 65 to 74 make up one-sixth of all who attend church
• We are loosing 80,000 people a year from church

So that is the challenge facing the church nationally. But what about us here at St Martin’s? In many ways, we seem to mirror what is happening nationally, St Martin’s has been going through a long period of decline.

So what do these figures reveal?

First of all the bad news:

• Usual Sunday Attendance (USA) has halved since 1990
• USA for adults reached a high in 1997, since then we seen a decline of 39% in our adult USA
• Since 1990 we have lost 89% of our young people

So what about the good news?

• 2006 was the first year when adult USA has not gone down since 1990 (an indication that our numbers are stabilising)
• The Net (http://walsallstmartins.2day.ws/walsallstmartins/section/TheNet/)is beginning to attract a number of new families to church
• Decline is not inevitable, BUT growth will only come if we are open to what God wants (through prayer and openness to the Holy Spirit), and are prepared to face the cost of change.

Of course these statistics don’t show the whole picture. Although we have seen numerical decline, there has undoubtedly been growth in other areas of the church’s life over the past 16 years. For example, in the place of prayer life of the church, a greater openness to the Holy Spirit, more lay involvement in the life of the church, the creation of the ministry team, and seeing individuals grow in faith.

But bearing all of this in mind, we need to face up to the reality that although I believe we are beginning to see signs of pulling out of this decline, it is possible numbers will drop further, and that the challenges we face are great. Doing nothing at all is not an option, it is clear that we cannot be complacent.

So what does the future hold for St Martin’s? In one of the first sermons I preached at St Martin’s I shared with you some of my vision for the future of St Martin’s, and that was of a growing church, a church that is confident of what it believes, a church that is open to the Holy Spirit, and a church that is growing numerically, as we take the good news of Jesus Christ out into our community. This is still my vision. But if we are going to see growth what sort of church must we be like?

In our Gospel reading today we are reminded that as Christians we are called to serve others. Jesus says, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” And Jesus himself sets the example of what this means. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." As I reflected upon this passage, and what it means for us as a church, the word that came to mind was ‘Sacrifice’. If the church is to grow, we will need to be prepared to sacrifice our time, our effort, our money, and our talents, for the sake of God’s kingdom. Not only that, but we may be called to sacrifice those things that we hold dear, and to be prepared to face the cost of change, if we are to be faithfully to serving God in whatever way he calls us. This is not easy, but it is about following the example Jesus set for us. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.”

So as a church we are called to serve and be obedient, just as Christ was. First and foremost we are to serve God, and secondly we are called to serve our neighbours, the community of which we are part. God wants to transform our whole society, our focus as a church isn’t primarily about filling the pews, as a Christian community, we are called to be agents of transformation and change for the whole area, seeing people being healed, relationships restored, God’s love proclaimed in word and deed, seeing God’s Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. We could sum up this calling in the word ‘Love’, loving God and loving our neighbour, and all that this entails. We at St Martin’s are called to be a sign, symbol and foretaste of God’s Kingdom.

This raises a very important question, how well are we at doing this? If we do not take seriously our calling as Christians and as a church to serve God and his people, then there will be no future for the church. A church that lives to itself will die by itself. To give you an example of this I would like to tell you a story.

On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-boat station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and gave of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew. Some of the members of the life-boat station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the life-boat station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical life-boat in the room where the club’s initiations were held. About this time a large ship sank off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house build outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.At the next meeting, there was a split among the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-boat station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station. So they did.

They built a small hut, and brought a boat, and without any thought for themselves, would day and night go out on the treacherous sea searching for the lost. After a while, others wanted to become associated with the station, and give time and money to support its work. And then people thought that what was needed, to improve the work was a bigger life boat station…. And so history repeated itself. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but now adays, most of the people drown.

So what is the challenge facing St Martin’s? We need to make sure that we do not loose sight of why we exist. Jesus said that we are to be a servant of all. The job of a servant is follow the instructions of his master, no matter how costly that may be. That means devoting time, and trouble to those we are seeking to support.

What I feel is one of the main priorities for the coming year, is for us as a church to put prayer much higher on our agenda, so that we hear what God is calling us to do, and that TOGETHER, as a church we may faithfully serve God and our community. Yesterday I attended Diocesan Synod, and one of the items that we debated was the Diocesan Going for Growth Strategy, and in the report there was this quote. “The growth of the kingdom and the growth of the Church depends on the Holy Spirit, not on human striving. Prayer MUST be our first priority. Church members have a vital part to play, praying daily for the growth of the church and of the kingdom.”

As we look to the future, it is clear that we face many challenges as a church, but we must not be despondent, because with God all things are possible.

The Going for Growth report that was debated yesterday went on to say, “As we listen to God in prayer we can develop our vision for our own personal outreach and for the life of the church. We can also share what we think God might be saying, so that we can inspire each other.”

Bigger Piece

One night at the dinner table, the wife commented, "When we were first married, you took the small piece of steak and gave me the larger. Now you take the large one and leave me the smaller; You
don't love me any more..."

"Nonsense, darling," replied the husband, "you just cook better now."

Female GPS

Road Safety Campaign

A Texas Highway Patrolman pulled a car over and told the driver that because he had been wearing his seat belt, he had just won $5,000 in the statewide safety competition.

"What are you going to do with the money?" asked the Highway Patrolman " Well, I guess I'm going to get a driver's license," he answered.

"Oh, don't listen to him," yelled a woman in the passenger seat. "He's a smart aleck when he's drunk."

This woke up the guy in the back-seat, who took one look at the cop and moaned, "I knew we wouldn't get far in a stolen car."

At that moment, there was a knock from the trunk and a voice said, in Spanish, "Are we over the border yet?"

Assembly: Jesus Light of the World

I live in a very multicultural part of Walsall, the vast majority of pupils at our local community primary school where I take weekly assemblies are Sikh or Hindu, hence a reference in this assembly to the festival of Diwali.

Aim:

To reflect upon why light is important, and what Jesus meant when he said he was 'The light of the World'.

Preparation and Materials

A collection of sources of light, such as a candle, torch, bike lamp, Christmas tree lights, etc.

Assembly

1. Now that is in autumn, the mornings are dark. How does it feel, when you have to get up and it is dark outside?
2. What types of light can you think of – show them some examples that you have brought along to the assembly. Think about the different uses of the lights you’ve brought.
3. Ask the children to think about why light is so important, e.g. we can see more clearly, so it keeps us safe, guides us, etc.
4. Mention that in a few days time Sikhs and Hindu’s will be celebrating a special festival called Diwali, which is a celebration of light. Say that for Christians the theme of light is also very important. Jesus said something very important about himself, he said "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
5. Ask the children what they think it means when Jesus says that his followers will have the light of life? What sort of light is it? Make the point that just as light can help us see more clearly, keep us safe, and guide us, so Jesus can do the same things for us, if we allow him.
   

The Nativity Story

Check out this trailer for a new film 'The Nativity Story', the trailer looks really promising, and it may be a great outreach tool. It is apparently scheduled to come out in December, although I'm not sure if that is only the USA or here in Britain. The official website is http://www.thenativitystory.com

The Net

The Net is a fresh expression of church that meets on the third Sunday of every month at St Martin's Church, Walsall (4-5pm). It is aimed particularly at families, and is described as church with a difference. As you can see from the video, the emphasis is upon having fun, and learning about God is a creative and exiting way (if you're wondering what the YMCA song has to do with God - the theme of this Net was communication, & people are using semaphore to spell out the letters YMCA). The next Net is on November 19th at 4.00pm.

Dangers of Job Promotion

A man was driving along the motorway when his MD called him and said "You've been promoted - you're now an assistant manager". He was only a few miles further down the road when his MD called again and said "I've just heard your new manager has died in a 'plane crash - so we're promoting you again, you're now a full manager." The chap was so startled with this that he swerved a bit but kept control. A bit further along, he had another telephone: "I've just heard that not only your new manager died in the crash, but his boss too: so we'll promote you again to Group Manager". At this the chap was so fazed, he swerved right off the road into a tree.The police came and asked what happened. "Don't worry," he said, "I careered off the road".

Need a push?

A man and his wife are awakened at 3 o'clock in the morning by a loud pounding on the door. The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, is asking for a push.

"Not a chance," says the husband, "it is three o'clock in the morning!" He slams the door and returns to bed.

"Who was that?" asked his wife.

"Just some drunk guy asking for a push," he answers.

"Did you help him?" she asks.

"No, I did not, it is three in the morning and it is pouring out!"

"Well, you have a short memory," says his wife. "Can't you remember about three months ago when we broke down and those two guys helped us?" "I think you should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself!"

The man does as he is told, gets dressed, and goes out into the pounding rain. He calls out into the dark, "Hello, are you still there?"

"Yes," comes back the answer.

"Do you still need a push?" calls out the husband.

"Yes, please!" comes the reply from the dark.

"Where are you?" asks the husband.

The drunk replies: "Over here on the swing!"

Sad Stories

Bill, Jim, and Scott were at a convention together and were sharing a large suite on the top of a 75 story sky scraper.After a long day of meetings they were shocked to hear that the elevators in their hotel were broken and they would have to climb 75 flights of stairs to get to their room. Bill said to Jim and Scott, let's break the monotony of this unpleasant task by concentrating on something interesting. I'll tell jokes for 25 flights, and Jim can sing songs for 25 flights, and Scott can tell sad stories the rest of the way. At the 26th floor Bill stopped telling jokes and Jim began to sing. At the 51st floor Jim stopped singing and Scott began to tell sad stories. "I will tell my saddest story first," he said. "I left the room key in the car!"

War in Iraq

I'm not a pacifist, I do believe that on very rare occasions, the use of military force can be justified, although it should only be used as a last resort, after all other means of resolving the conflict have been exhausted. In the Christian tradition this is described as the 'Just War Theory', which whilst recognising that war is always an evil thing (because innocent people suffer), there may be times when it can be justified, and may be the lesser of two evils. For example, the fight against the Nazi's in the Second World War was I believe justified - although the blanket bombing of cities such as Dresden wasn't. There is of course a strong Christian tradition of pacifism (see http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/pacifism.htm for a detailed look at this subject).


The most recent Iraq war was in my opinion not justified, and I like many others in this country and around the world was opposed to this war. I don't think anyone was sad to see an end to Saddam Hussein's evil regime, but is Iraq and the world any better for it? We were led to believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that this was the justification for going to war. Despite wide spread searches, no WMD have been discovered. Instead Iraq has been plunged into sectarian violence.


Today the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has released a report in which they estimate that 655,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the US led invasion in 2003, that is an average of 500 deaths every single day. Every day there are more reports of abductions and murders in Iraq. The results of this particular war have been to destabilise not only Iraq but the Middle East as a whole, and create a new recruiting ground for terrorists, and giving rise to radical Islamic groups.



Publicly George W Bush & Tony Blair continue to support the war in Iraq, but I wonder whether privately they now regret their decision to go to war, and knowing what we know now, would they still feel it was justified?

Did Jesus really rise from the dead - my response to anonymous

On Saturday 30 September, I wrote a blog entitled 'Did Jesus really rise from the dead?' (you can find it under Questions of Belief). Yesterday I received the following email from someone who had read this blog. I originally intended not to publish the comments of this email, but I've decided that I would like an opportunity to respond to what is written.

The comment was submitted by 'Anonymous'.

Is this meant to be proof???? You obviously have never experienced an hallucination. Perhaps you should come out from your secure little ivory tower and talk to some people who have. I have. I know what I'm talking about. And you have no idea. I used to 'believe' and had 'experiences' to back it up. Then I took anti-psychotics for my depressive illness. Not only did they get rid of the hallucinations, they got rid of the 'godly' experiences too. Know that feeling that god is near? That 'feeling the need to pray'? It's all in your head. It's all psychological. That's why the anti-psychotics make it go away. Wake up! Religious experience is all in the head. Bury yours in the sand if you have to, but get off the internet and stop feeding the religious frenzy that will eventually lead to fanatics blowing up the planet. Religious faith is a mental anomaly, nothing more. Don't believe me? Ask your doc for trifluoperazine. Then wake up!

My response to anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for the comments you've submitted to my blog. One of the purposes of creating this blog was to create dialogue, and challenge people to think about issues of faith. When I first received your comments I decided that I was not going to publish them, because I felt that the tone of what you wrote was quite hostile and that you made the attack quite personal, but on reflection I want the opportunity to respond to what you had written. We may not agree with one another, but I do hope we can show one another mutual respect and understanding. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I do feel that it is important that we have the courage to stand up for what we believe in, and I would have appreciated it if you had been prepared to put you real name beside your comments.

I'm sorry if you have had a bad experience with the Christian faith, and feel as though God has let you down, but I can honestly say that from my own experience I know that God is real, and that he does make a difference to people's lives. You seem some how to think that because I believe in God, that I live in an ivory tower, some how escaping from reality. But I don't believe that this is the case, I live in the real world, I face the same challenges and struggles that everyone else does, it is just that I am a Christian, and this effects the way I look at life.

You express a concern about religious frenzy which will lead to fanatics blowing up the planet. I agree with you that some terrible things have been done in the name of religion, but you seem to think that all religion is a bad thing, but it is not. Yes there are problems in the world, and sadly there will always be some people who want to hijack religion to serve their own goals, but so much good is also done by people of religious conviction. So much good work on both a local, national and international level is being done by Christian individuals and organisations, working to build a better world for all people. For example, tackling poverty and injustice, bringing aid and relief to those most in need, helping support some of the world's most vulnerable people.

I am not entirely sure how you think this blog is going to encourage religious frenzy, but if it leads someone closer to experiencing God's love and forgiveness, then that makes me really joyful. When people become Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to live within them, and the Holy Spirit helps us to become more Christ like in our attitudes. This doesn't happen over night, but slowly the fruits of the Spirit (as they are called in the New Testament) start to grow in our lives. Paul describes these fruits as ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23). These are not bad things, in fact I think most people would admit that to see more love, more peace, more kindness in the world is a good thing. If this is the sort of religious frenzy that this blog will encourages, then I'd say bring it on! Jesus also said that the two great commands are that we love God and love our neighbour (in that order). If more people did this, then I believe it would utterly transform the world we live in.

I get the impression that you have struggled with some form of mental illness (depression or something similar?), and that experiences you once felt were from God, you now know were not God. Since I don't know exactly what it is that you experienced, I feel I am unable to comment about that. However, I do believe it is possible to experience God, to experience his peace and joy and his healing, and I don't believe that it is all psychological, or as you say 'all in the head'. You describe religious faith is a mental anomaly, but the reality is that at least one quater of the world's population is Christian, and on top of that we have the other religions, so that is a lot of people to describe as having a mental anomaly!

If you have questions you want to ask, or to debate these points I'd be very happy to, although I would ask that we respect one another's positions, even if we don't agree with one another.

Best wishes

Simon

Assembly: Caring for God's creatures, the example of St Francis

The following assembly is adapted from an assembly produced by the Revd Guy Donegan-Cross

Aim

To explore the idea that animal conservation is part of stewarding God's world.

Preparation and materials

(Optional) Power point (or failing that OHP) images of extinct animals & the Genesis creation story [I scan these images from a children’s Bible – The Beginner’s Bible is ideal] – focusing on God’s creation of animals, and his instruction to Adam to care for them, plus an image of St Francis.

Assembly

1. Show images of recently extinct animals, & ask the children if they know what these creatures have all in common (now extinct)
2. Tell story of the creation of the world:
   In the beginning, the world was empty. Darkness was everywhere. But God had a plan.
   God separated the light from the darkness. ‘Let there be light!’ he said. And the light turned on. He called the light ‘day’. And he called the darkness ‘night’ This was the end of the very first day.
   Then God said, ‘I will divide the waters.’ He separated the waters in the clouds above from the waters in the ocean below. He called the space between them ‘sky’. This was the end of the second day.
   Next, God rolled back the waters and some dry ground appeared. He made plants of many shapes and colours. He made mountains, hills and valleys. This was the end of the third day.
   God put a shining sun in the sky for the daytime, and he put a glowing moon and twinkling stars in the sky for the night time. This was the end of the fourth day.
   On the fifth day, God made fish and squiggly creatures to live in the ocean. Then God made birds to fly across the sky.
   On the sixth day, God made animals to creep, crawl, hope and gallop. Then from the dust, God made the most wonderful creature of all – a person. God named him Adam. And told Adam that his job was to look after the world God had made, and to care for all the animals.
3. Make the point that just as Adam was told to care for the animals, so we also have a responsibility to look after all the creatures we find on the earth. But due to human actions, hundreds of animals face extinction if we don’t do something to protect them.
4. Tell the children about St Francis, who lived a long time ago (800 years). He loved animals and had a special relationship with them. He would pick worms up off the road so they would not get trodden on!
5. Tell the following story: One day, Francis and his friends were walking through the the Italian countryside, when suddenly, Francis spotted a great number of birds. There were doves, crows, every variety of bird you could think of. Francis, exited at seeing such a site, left his friends in the road and ran after the birds, who patiently waited for him. He greeted them in his usual way, expecting them to scurry off into the air as he spoke. But they didn't move. Amazed, he asked them if they would stay for a little while to hear about God. He said to them: 'My brother and sister birds, you should praise your Creator and always love him: he gave you feathers for clothes, wings to fly and all other things that you need. It is God who made you noble among all creatures, making your home in the thin, pure air. Without sowing or reaping, you receive God's guidance and protection.' At this the birds began to spread their wings, stretch their necks and gaze at Francis, rejoicing and praising God in a wonderful way. Francis then walked through the middle of the flock of birds, touching their heads and bodies with his tunic. Then he gave them his blessing, making the sign of the cross over them. At that they flew off and Francis, rejoicing and giving thanks to God, went on his way. Later, Francis wondered aloud to his companions why he had never preached to the birds before. And from that day on, Francis made it his habit to tell all birds, animals and reptiles to praise and love the God who made them. And many times during Francis's life there were remarkable events of Francis speaking to the animals.
6. Conclude that Francis looked after animals because he believed one thing: that everything in the world belongs to God, and so all animals need looking after, especially the ones that may disappear.

Time for reflection

Ask the children to shut their eyes and imagine their favourite animal or bird - its shape, its colour, its movement. In their own words they can quietly give thanks for it.

Dear God, Thank you that everything belongs to you. Help us to care for the creatures you have made. Amen.

Parable of the Life-Saving Station

On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and gave of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical life-boat in the room where the club’s initiations were held. About this time a large ship wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house build outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split among the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station. So they did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.

The Legacy of War

There has been a lot of concern raised over Israel's dropping of thousands of cluster bombs in the last days of their conflict with Hezbollah. Southern Lebanon is now littered with thousands of these deadly unexploded bombs, and it is already claiming lives.

Even decades after fighting ceases, war leaves a nasty legacy. In Laos for example, people are still being killed by cluster bombs that were dropped during the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, the US used a toxic defoliant called Agent Orange to unmask guerrilla fighters by stripping forest cover. Decades after the war finished, children are still being born with terrible deformities, which is the terrible legacy of Agent Orange.

The fighting may have finished long ago, but war always leaves a nasty legacy.

A Man of Few Words

An old Scotsman called his local newspaper to place an obituary notice for his recently deceased wife. He told the woman taking the ad that he wanted to have only two words in the notice: "Maggie died".

The woman at the newspaper told him that he could use up to six words with punctuation and it would cost exactly the same as two words.

The man thought for a few seconds and said, "Maggie died. For sale, 1991 Volvo".

Harvest of Hope

Today we celebrated our harvest festival at St Martin's. Harvest has always been on of my favourite festivals right back to the time when I was a child. For many years my family lived in a small village in West Cumbria called Gosforth, where my dad was the local minister. One of his churches was the tiny church of St Olaf's, nestled at the foot of Scafell Pike and Great Gable in Wasdale Valley. In Wasdale Head there are only a few farms, a hotel and a shop (which caters for the many walkers who visit this remote and stunningly beautiful valley). Harvest Festival in St Olaf's was always special, the church was always simply decorated, and the produce wasn't prepacked stuff, but potatoes, turnips and carrots taken straight from the fields, with the soil still clinging on to them. Because farmers made up a significant part of the congregation, as a service it always had such a special feel.

I still love Harvest, although living as I do in a large urban conurbation, very few if any of the people in the church earn their living from the land, and this year rather than collecting food stuffs, we collected toiletries, which we are going to send to Bulgaria.

Harvest, as well as an opportunity to give thanks to God for all the good things we enjoy, is an opportunity to reflect upon those people around the world who do not have the things we take for granted. This year we focused on the work of Tearfund who are supporting the Yanapanakuna project which is helping the Quechua people of Bolivia build better lives for themselves. Living high up in the beautiful but inhospitable Andes the Quechua people have struggled for generations to survive on this hard terrain. With a diet consisting mostly of potatoes and wheat, malnutrition is rife, and 20% of children die before the age of one. Now with the help of Tearfund, the Quechua people are being taught how to build greenhouses and grow vegetables to improve their diet, as well as receiving spiritual support. This simple project, is transforming lives (for further information go to http://www.teafund.org)

Our reading from Isaiah this morning reminded us that we all have a responsibility to care for the poor and needy, where ever they may be. "I'll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused! Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don't turn away your relatives." (Isaiah 58:6-7)

In Britain we face problems of obesity, and over consumption, and so it is good for us to remember our obligation to those less fortunate than ourselves, and to be wise stewards of the resources God has given to us. For far too long, the developed world has been guilty of squandering and misusing the world's resources, and exploiting the developing world. This can no longer continue. I for one am delighted to see the growth in fairly traded goods filling our shops, and rising consumer awareness about how the choices we make every time we go shopping can affect others on the other side of the world. God in his wisdom created a world with enough resources for everyone, it is about time we started sharing these resources more fairly and making a better world for all people. For us in the developed world, this means being prepared to take hard choices, about what our priorities are and how we spend our money, but it is worth it, if we are to build a world based on justice and equality for all.

Support in Christian Ministry

Being in full time Christian Ministry can be tough, and it is important to have good support networks around you. In Walsall I'm extremely fortunate in not only having a very supportive Ministry Team, that meets once a month to pray for one another, but also great colleagues within the Walsall Central Cluster (a group of five churches which are linked together, go to http://www.2day.ws/walsallstmartins/section/ClusterChurches/) As clergy from the different cluster churches we go away once every two months to a house on the edge of Cannock Chase, where we can spend time praying and supporting one another as well discussing areas of mutual concern.


There is also a Walsall Leader's Prayer Group, which meets every fortnight on a Wednesday to pray, (plus there is a monthly breakfast prayer meeting, which meets early on a Saturday morning - although I've yet to attend!)

It is a real privilege to share fellowship with other Christians, particular. We are a very diverse bunch of people. In the group we have people from the Anglican, Methodist and Brethen Churches, plus the Salvation Army, Community Churches, and from the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Although we represent different denominations, we all share the one desire to see God's Kingdom grow in Walsall, and it is wonderful to see how God is uniting Christians in this town as we seek to work together and support one another. What is also exiting to see, is how God is drawing people to Walsall from the different corners of the globe. In the photo above is Debo who has moved to Walsall with his wife from Nigeria, because he feels God has called him to be a missionary in this country. We also have another person who is part of this group (but not in this photo) called Paul, who like Debo felt called by God to come to Walsall from Uganda. God is clearly at work in Walsall, and it is exiting to see what he is going to do.

Assemblies

It was always my hope that this blog would become a resource for others in ministry. With this in mind I've decided to start recording my assemblies on this blog, so that they can be used by others. I cannot claim much creativity, I borrow heavily from a number of websites (two of the best being http://wwwassemblies.org.uk), and http://www.sermons4kids.com/) and sometimes adapt these assemblies to suit my own particular audience.

TRUST

Aim

To explore the ideas of truth and trust.Preparation and materials

Resources

1 blindfold

Assembly

1. Blind fold child, turn them around several times & direct them to a chair & get them to sit down.
2. Ask why it is important to tell the truth. (People can trust you. Bad things don't happen.) One of Jesus' great claims was, 'I am the truth'.
3. Tell the story of Blondini, and perhaps embellish with actions! Blondini was a tightrope walker who used to walk over the Niagara Falls. People came from far and wide to see him. He would carry all sorts of things over the water. One day a famous duke and his entourage visited the Niagara Falls. They watched Blondini walk over and clapped. They watched him walk back and shouted for more. Then Blondini asked, 'Who believes I could take this wheelbarrow over the waterfall?' 'Of course you can!' said the duke and his friends. Blondini took the wheelbarrow over. Everyone was ecstatic. 'Do you believe I could carry this sack of potatoes over the waterfall in the wheelbarrow?' 'Yes!!' He duly did. Then he asked, 'Who believes I could carry a human being over the Falls in this barrow?' 'We all do!' they chorused. After a pause, Blondini asked, 'Who will get in the wheelbarrow, then?' There was an embarrassed silence - the duke suddenly felt he had better things to do. Then a little old lady came out of the crowd and got into the wheelbarrow. Blondini pushed her over the falls and back again, to the astonishment of the crowd. The lady was Blondini's mother.
4. Explain that Blondini had told the truth, but his listeners needed to trust him before the great truth could be demonstrated.
5. Jesus once said, ‘Trust in God & Trust also in Me.' Make the point that we can always rely upon God, because he will never let us down, he always loves us, and that we can always turn to him. Say that Jesus proved his trustworthiness by all the good things he said and did.
6. Trust is a two-way thing. Who do you really trust, and can people trust you?

Prayer

Dear God, Please help us to know who to trust, and help us to be truthful and trustworthy ourselves. Amen.

Poem

I received this poem in the post today, it comes from Val and Stan Holloway who live in Argyll, Scotland:

I am the one who heareth thee
I am the provider of all you see
I am he who over all prevails
I am the one who never fails
I am the one who knows all you feel
I am he that all you diseases heal
I am he that does teach and guide
I am he in whom you can confide
I am the one who is always just
I am and in me you can trust
I am the one worthy of your praise
I am he who knows the number of your days
I am the lamb of God and Lord of light
I am he who keeps you by day and night
I am the Lion of Judah, the dove of peace
I am he who all your sorrows cease
I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end
I am the one who is your truest friend
I am master, saviour, Lord and King
I am he who wants to be your everything.

Taize, the nearest to Heaven on Earth?

The Taize Community is a large ecumenical Christian community situated in the south of Burgundy in France. It was established by Brother Roger in the early 1940s. Brother Roger's desire was to find a place where he could devote his life to God in prayer and worship. During the second world war Brother Roger sheltered Jews who were escaping from Nazi persecution. Eventually the Gestapo learnt of Brother Roger's activities and he was forced to flee to his homeland in Switzerland. At the end of the war Brother Roger returned to Taize with some other men, and this was the start of the Taize Community. Brother Roger's vision was to create a community that would be committed to reconciliation, particularly amongst the different Christian denominations. In the 1960s young people from around Europe started arriving at Taize, wanting to spend time living and worshipping with the community, and today thousands of young people from all around the world visit Taize for a week or longer to share in the life of the community.

Taize has a very distinctive style of worship, it makes use of simple chants which are sung in many different languages (in any given week there can be up to 40 different nationalities in Taize). They also make use of silence, which is an important part of the daily prayer (which takes place three times a day in the Church of Reconciliation). I had always loved Taize worship, and was desperate to visit. I got this opportunity in the summer of 1996, I was 19 at the time, and had just completed my first year at Durham University. I fell in love with Taize immediately, all I can say is that it is the closest to Heaven that I've ever been, it's as though it's Heaven on Earth. There is something so wonderful about the worship, and being able to pray with thousands of other people from different countries and churches.

During your time in Taize you have a choice of what to do in the week. One of the most popular options is the Bible introductions, which are led by one of the brothers in the morning, and then in the afternoon we divide into small groups to discuss the topic of the day. It was mid way through the week in Taize, when a couple of Polish people came to our group and asked if they could join us. I think that they were keen to practice their English, and had heard that our group seemed to have a lot of fun. One of the Polish people that turned up was a 19 year old girl called Beata Nalinska, who had a heavily bandaged knee, which she had damaged whilst running. I don't know what it was about her, but I felt an immediate attraction (which I gather was mutual). There was something so special about this girl, and I think I fell immediately in love with her (the first and only time it's ever happened in my life). The photo below was taken on the first day we met, Beata can be seen wearing a white top with her crutches near by!

A lot of my spare time during those last few days in Taize were spent with Beata, and when it came time for me to leave we exchanged addresses and promised to write to one another. The picture below (the first one of us together) was taken just before I boarded the bus home.

The journey home to England was a very difficult, not only did I miss Taize and the rhythm of prayer, but I also missed Beata. As soon as I got home I wrote a letter to her, and this started many years of correspondence. A lot happened over the following years, we attempted to meet up several times, but it never worked out, it was two years before I was to see her again, this time in England. The irony was that I was going to Taize to see her, something we'd arranged long ago, but at short notice she was given the chance to come to England, something she'd dreamed about for many years, so in the end I was only able to spend a few days with her, before I headed to Taize, although I did manage to meet up with her in London a couple of weeks later. I knew that she was heading back to Poland, and that she was spending a couple of days in a youth hostel near St Paul's Cathedral, so without knowing exactly when or where she would be there, I decided to go to London and search for her. She knew nothing about my plan, and as I was leaving one hostel after failing to find her, who should walk through the door but Beata!

There were times when it looked as though we weren't going to be together, times when we drifted apart, but in February 2002, having not been in regular touch for quite some time, I arranged to visit Beata in Poland. Two weeks later she came to visit me in Cumbria, and then in August of that same year she came to England to work at Rydal Hall, a Christian conference centre, that was only eight miles from where I lived. She'd only been in England a week, before I asked her to marry me, I had to wait three months before I got the definitive answer which came in November, and the following February (three months later) we got married in my church in Bowness on Windermere. I have absolutely no doubt that God drew us together, I had no idea that my first trip to Taize would be such a life changing one! The great irony is that although Taize has played a huge part in our lives, we had never managed to meet up in Taize again (we'd both been back there but never at the same time). So this year, ten years after our initial meeting we returned to Taize together, but this time with our two boys, Tomek & Adam. The photo of Beata myself and the boys was taken this summer in Taize, with two Polish Sisters, friends of Beata.

Alpha Course: Exploring the meaning of life

At St Martin's we run the popular Alpha Course (http://www.alpha.org/), a ten week course that looks at the claims of the Christian faith in a fun, friendly and informal way. This is the second course that we've run since I've been in Walsall, and last night was the second session of the course. Last night's topic was 'Why did Jesus die'. It's such a privilege to be able to explore with other people issues relating to God and the Christian faith. In total we have fourteen people on our current course (this includes group leaders), and we vary in age from a teenager up to people in their sixties. The evening begins with a meal, followed by a presentation and then an opportunity to divide into groups to discuss the topic of the night. The great thing about Alpha is that it gives permission for people to discuss the big questions in life, in a safe and non judgemental environment. We're all on a journey with God, a lot of people on the course are searching for answers, looking for God, others have been Christians for some time and are using the course as a refresher, looking again at the essentials of the Christian faith.

At St Martin's we tend to vary the presentation week by week, so some weeks I do the talk, using clips from films when appropriate, and other weeks we use the Alpha DVD which contains the talks given by Nicky Gumble.

I've been on quite a number of Alpha Courses over the years, but what I find is that each one is different, and I always come away feeling as though I've learnt something new. It's a wonderful privilege.

There is a link to the main Alpha website on this blog as as through our church website (http://www.walsallstmartins.2day.ws/), if you're looking for answers, and exploring the meaning of life, I'd recommend you give Alpha a go.

Trust in God

I came across the following on the internet today, and thought I'd share it with you:

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The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. " God how could you do this to me ! " he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. " How did you know I was here? " asked the weary man of his rescuers. " We saw your smoke signal. " they replied.

It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it:

You Say It's impossible God Says All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You Say I'm too tired God Says I will give you rest (Mathew 11:28-30)

You Say Nobody really loves me. God Says I love you. (John 3:18)

You Say I can't go on God Says My grace is sufficient. (II Corinthians 12:9)

You Say I can't figure things out. God Says I will direct your steps. (Proverbs 3:5-8)

You Say I can't do it. God Says You can do all things. (Philippians 4:13)

You Say I'm not able. God Says I am able. (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say I can't forgive myself. God Says I forgive you. (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You Say I can't manage. God Says I will supply all your needs. (Philippians 4:19)

You Say I'm always worried God Says Cast all your cares on Me. (I Peter 5:7)

You Say I'm not smart enough. God Says I give you wisdom. (I Corinthians 1:30)

You Say I feel all alone. God Says I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

Africaid

As a church we support a number of charities based in the UK and around the world (details on our website http://www.walsallstmartins.2day.ws/) We are the only church in the UK to support a small charity called Africaid that works in the slums of Nairobi.

The following description of what Africaid does is taken from their website www.africaid.org

"Our mission is to provide the much needed financial services and holistic training to the business
communities with a main focus on the member women entrepreneurs to save and access credit to expand their enterprises in order to alleviate poverty. We also address HIV/AIDS through strengthening of local communities' identified and established strategies."

To support this work they rely upon donations from around the world. Unfortunately a lot of the money that they had been promised has not been forthcoming, and as a result they are facing a financial crisis. This work is of vital importance, and many lives depend upon it, as the sole supporting church in this country we feel a particular burden of responsibility to this project, and are doing what we can to help support Africaid.

If you feel you could support a worthwhile project that is making a difference to some of the poorest people in the world please visit the Africaid website http://www.africaid.org/ or contact info@africaid.org