April 2017

Dear Friends,

What does the Easter weekend remind you of? Chocolate eggs and rabbits wrapped up in coloured foil, hot cross buns, a dash to that favourite holiday or camping spot, a good rest and a bit of fun with the family?

If we look back in history to the events that Easter commemorates, we see a weekend that stands out as a beacon and it was no holiday!

Why the fuss?

The usual Christian emphasis at Easter is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Christians celebrate Easter because it reveals the heart of Christianity—the story of a God determined to rescue a planet that is out of control.

We hardly need to be reminded that we live in a troubled world. You only have to watch the nightly television news to get a dose of the world’s woes. And so Easter speaks to us of rescue, of renewal and of the way to peace.

Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, said, “We’ve tried so hard and have failed so miserably that unless the world has a spiritual rebirth in the next few years civilisation is doomed.” And that’s what Easter is all about—spiritual rebirth.

God’s rescue mission

The Easter story tells of a God who made the world, saw it crumble and so proceeds to put it back in shape.

Christians believe that the ultimate result of sin is death and because we all have an inherent sinful nature, we have a pretty bleak ending. However, God is passionate about His creation and hatched a rescue plan to end sin and not destroy sinners—at an enormous cost to Himself. Someone with the highest position and greatest authority in the universe could pay the ransom for everyone else. So God sent a member of His own family—His Son, Jesus—to pay that price.

Many of you will know the story of Oscar Schindler. It’s a moving portrayal of one man’s attempt to rescue a doomed race of people.

Schindler had made an enormous amount of money in his enamel-ware factory in Kraków, Poland, providing plates, mugs, pots and pans for the German war machine. He used the money to buy the lives of hundreds of defenceless Jews with no other hope. To be on Schindler’s list was life. To be off the list was death!

The words of the old Rabbi, written in the Jewish Talmud, were quoted to him and he couldn’t get them out of his mind: “He who saves one life saves a nation.”

At the end of the movie, after the liberation of Czechoslovakia and having saved over 1200 lives from extermination in the death camps, Schlinder is about to escape in a shiny, black Adler car and leave his Jewish workers. He knows that as a German and a member of the Nazi party, he will be arrested and treated as a war criminal.

His workers present him with a ring made from the gold fillings from the teeth of the Jewish people he had protected. The words of the Talmud are inscribed on it, given in grateful thanks by the survivors.

We see him almost overcome with anguish and frustration that he was able to do so little, that he could have saved more Jews than just the ones he had rescued.

He takes his golden Nazi badge off the lapel of his well-tailored coat and in anguish realises that it would have been worth at least two lives.

“I could have done more,” he laments. “If only I’d done more.”

God who wishes to save all people. But part of that is our choice. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, all we need to do now is accept that He died for our sins to claim as our own the eternal life that God offers as a gift.

The first Easter

Some may think it strange that the hero of the Easter story is the One who dies. But it is a death with a purpose, a death to pay the penalty of sin, a death that leads to life and a death that covers and pays for all of our inadequacies and problems.

For the Christian world, Easter is a time to celebrate the love of God, as well as to acknowledge the debt that we owe to Jesus Christ. It calls us to revisit the scenes of Jesus’ crucifixion on that first “Good” Friday.

It calls us to recall the early morning stillness of the Sunday morning broken by the pounding of hobnail sandals on the cold, cobbled stones of the streets of Jerusalem, as the soldiers who guarded the dead body in the tomb rushed into the city with the unbelievable cry on their lips, “He’s alive! He’s alive!”

An angel of the Lord had come down in the darkness of that Sunday morning and tossed away the great stone in front of the tomb as if it were a pebble. Jesus walked out and nothing could stop Him.

So we have the vision of a risen Christ who is alive today, who is interested, who seeks His own and who wants to restore the broken relationship between God and humankind.

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive,” it says in the Bible (in the First Book of Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 20-22).

God had accomplished His rescue mission, but it was through brokenness and suffering. And this is what Easter is all about.

This will be the last letter for which I will have the pleasure of writing. As many of you will know, I will be moving to the Forest of Dean in August to begin work in September. I will have pastoral charge of five churches – Aylburton, Clements End, Coleford, Lydney and Woolaston. I am excited about meeting the people that live and worship there, to hear about the mission that they are already undertaking and the new opportunities that lie ahead of us all. I know there will be many challenges that come with moving to a new town and making new friends, but based on the lovely welcome I had when I visited, then I am sure that this will not be half so difficult as it could have been.

One challenge will of course be that of moving on from old friends. The welcome and subsequent care and support that you have shown Mark and I over the past years have been truly wonderful. Your prayerful guidance, your correcting of mistakes along the way and your warm encouragement as we have tried new things together have enabled me to develop and become the presbyter that I am today. Thank you! Thank you so much!

So yes moving on will be challenging, however I praise God that Rev David Winstanley will form part of the circuit and be caring for you as a church. I am sure that you will welcome David as warmly as you did me.

God bless you in your future – I know there are great thing in store.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

March 2017

Dear Friends,

Today has been another sunny day, the first few signs of spring seem like they are here, there is a warmth in the sunshine and the spring flowers are starting to full bloom, the first blossoms and the leaf buds beginning to swell on the trees.

Recently I saw lambs in the field, what a gorgeous picture. All those signs of new life and renewal we associate with Easter time. The message of Easter is about just that – new life and renewal. But how to talk about it?

Well maybe like this - ‘Easter tells us that God loves us very, very much!’ Because that’s what Jesus death and resurrection are all about – a true demonstration of God’s ultimate love and the ultimate gift, a gift not to be earned but to be joyfully accepted! It’s summed up in a well-known Bible verse, John chapter 3 verse 16, ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have a whole and everlasting life.’

As adults it can be so hard to comprehend God’s unconditional love. We have become so used to having to prove ourselves, we’ve had to pass exams to get where we are now, go through loads of job applications to get work, we’ve learned that there is always a catch to free gift offers. Perhaps we have had life experiences that make it difficult to accept love, or maybe we have had experiences that make it hard to believe that we could be loved. But God does love us unconditionally.

Brennan Manning in his book ‘the furious longing of God’ puts it so eloquently, ‘The God I’ve come to know by sheer grace…has furiously loved me regardless of my state - grace or disgrace. And why? For His love is never, never, never based on our performance, never conditioned by our moods - of elation or depression. The furious love of God knows no shadow of alteration or change. It is reliable. And always tender’.

The writer is using the word furious not in the sense of extreme anger but to signify intense energy. This intense, awesome love by God was made visible in his son Jesus who was filled with God’s enduring love.

For me, those words in John chapter 3 verse 16 are a truly awesome, life changing offer I can’t refuse. Easter tells us God loves us very, very much!

And that’s the same whether you get to read this before Easter happens or afterwards!

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

February 2017

Dear Friends,

I wonder how you spend your weekends. For some people it can be just as busy as the weekdays. Rushing around doing the things that you didn’t get time to do.

Right at the beginning of time, God was busy, he created the world. We read in the first book of the bible that God created the world in 6 days. What did he do on the 7th day? He rested. Why did he do that? Well I believe he did that to set us a pattern to follow. Work and rest. Just today on the radio there was a report about sleep and how we all need to have enough. We can’t do without rest.

Many Christians endeavour to rest on a Sunday. They pull away from the everyday demands of life and rest as they worship, pray and enjoy time with other Christians. At times this is not easy for the tasks and challenges don’t disappear, but somehow strength and new energy is gained, in preparation for the new week head. The freedom to gather together, to bring our joys and concerns to the God who loves us, is a true privilege and we acknowledge that in various countries this is denied. We are thankful for the privilege that is ours.

So I return where I began, I wonder how you spend your weekend. If you do attend worship, then is there somebody you know who you could bring along? And if you don’t go to church, how about giving it a go…. I am sure that you will find much more than you imagined.

As God says “Come to me, all you who are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.”

See you very soon

Rev Michelle Ireland

January 2017

Dear Friends,

Another year over,

a new one just begun…

…as John Lennon sang. And as such, many of us reflect on the year – or years – gone by and look ahead to what is before in 2017

So, 2016; Ten questions…

1. What was the best thing that happened this past year?
2. What was the most challenging thing that happened?
3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?
4. What was an unexpected obstacle?
5. In what ways did you grow emotionally?
6. In what ways did you grow spiritually?
7. In what ways did you grow in your relationships with others?
8. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?
9. What was the best way you used your time this past year?
   
   And finally –
    
10. Where, for you, was God is all this?

The answer for Christians would be that God was in it all… in all the joys and in all the sorrows, in all the routines and in all the surprises.

When Jesus came as a baby, which we have just celebrated, we can understand that God knows what it is like to be human with all its challenges and opportunities. By trusting in His love and His compassion for each of us we can enjoy and cope with all that life throws at us, knowing that He cares, even when the moments maybe tragic and heartbreaking. 

When this New Year ends how will we like to answer those questions about 2017?

Prayer;

As we stand at the beginning of this New Year, Lord, we confess our need of your presence and your guidance as we face the future. We each have our hopes and expectations for the year that is ahead of us—but you alone know what it holds for us, and only you can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its challenges. So help us to humbly put our hands into your hand, and to trust you and to seek your will for our lives during this coming year.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

December 2016

Dear Friends,

Yes we are at that point in the year again!

Advent, Christmas, it seems to come upon us so quickly, yet we have been told how many days there are left, for months now, and I should imagine most of us began some of our preparations long ago!

Christmas day, is a unique day isn’t it? I mean, at one level it’s a day like any other, falling rather predictably between the 24th and 26th days of the 12th month. But at another level it’s a day like no other.

We’ve been building up to it for weeks, months even, and the sense of anticipation has been mounting inexorably. From garish grottos in garden centres, to cheesy canned Christmas music round every corner, there has been no escaping the increasingly imminent arrival of Christmas day itself. And then it arrives.

And what, I wonder, will that day hold for you? Giving? Receiving?; Eating? Drinking?; Family? Loneliness?; Happiness? Sadness? For each of us, that day will bring a unique mixture of emotions and activities. But then, as quickly as it began, it’ll all be over. The day passes, and we wonder ‘where on earth’ it went. For many it will disappear and the new year with all its challenges will take over.

However as believers we are surely challenged to tell others ‘what on earth’ this day meant, and still means. Dinah Washington famously sang ‘What a difference a day makes’, and this is certainly so fitting for Christmas day. What a difference this one day makes.

Within the Christian tradition, Christmas is a day of celebration, but it’s also a day of remembrance. It points back in time to another day, long past, when a young woman gave birth to a child. Just another day, just another birth. And yet we believe that that day, that that birth, in some way changed everything. The birth-day of Jesus, one moment in history, one day among many, is celebrated as the moment history changed, the moment God became human.

The Canadian singer Bruce Cockburn puts it beautifully in his song Cry of a tiny babe: ‘Like a stone on the surface of a still river, Driving the ripples on forever, Redemption rips through the surface of time in the cry of a tiny babe’.

The prediction of the prophet Isaiah, comes true at Christmas, everything is changed for ever. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9. 6-7.

What a wonderful description - this is ‘what on earth’ Christmas means - peace, order and love. It is up to us to help this to be completely fulfilled.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

November 2016

Dear Friends,

Sunday 27th marks the beginning of Advent. No doubt most of us know about Advent calendars, opening a window each day throughout December and revealing a picture or gift, but are we so clear about the word Advent itself?

Well……In Advent we look forward to the coming of Christ. Jesus Christ comes to us through being born as a baby in Bethlehem. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas. But we believe that he also comes to us at the end of our lives and at the end of time.

Advent is a time for meditating on all three of these comings of Christ. At one time it was traditional to preach on the four Sundays of Advent on death, judgement, hell and heaven. The readings set for the first Sunday in Advent look to the time when Jesus Christ will return to transform the life of the world at the end of time; a time of tumult, judgement in the sense of being drawn into the more immediate ambit of Christ’s love; a time when this earth will be drawn into God’s fuller presence.

The readings set for the second and third Sundays of Advent reflect on John the Baptist, the forerunner, the one who prepared the way for the coming of Christ. On the fourth Sunday of Advent we read about the Mary and Joseph and their part in the coming of Christ. Each Sunday many churches light a candle to remember those who prepared for the coming of Christ.

In all these persons and themes there is the call to repentance ( turning around) as a very important way of preparing for the coming of Christ. The people who were part of the Christmas story were just like us, for they too were human, and at times they did what was wrong.

Repentance (turning around) is not to be seen as a duty or a hardship, although it can feel difficult. It is to be life giving for as we change for the better we become more joyful and are better able to help other persons. We live in a world with too much destruction; some caused by nature but much caused by human actions. Repentance leads both to less destructiveness and more help and healing to those hurt by what life brings to them.

May God guide and bless our repentance this Advent; so that we rejoice all the more at the coming of Christ, the light of the world at Christmas.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

October 2016

Dear Friends,

In the bible, the book of Psalms is an intriguing book. It is packed with short, honest poems, joy and tears. Emotions swing from high to low and back again. The writers talk, sometimes even shout, to God about how they feel and in most cases some form of understanding or resolution in the writer occurs.

Psalm 8 has a question – ‘What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour.’ — In other words – who are we???????

Adolf Hitler’s political philosophy has been summed up to say: “Society’s needs come before the individual’s needs.”

History, of course, tells us how that way of thinking worked out. Similarly, Communism stresses the importance of the political party over the person. In fact, under Joseph Stalin’s collectivization efforts in the Soviet Union during the early 1900s, peasant farmers were forced, for the benefit of the state, to give up their land and animals in order to become part of collective farms. This resulted in the starvation and death of many millions of innocent people.

In contrast to these philosophies, the biblical worldview holds that people matter supremely because they matter to God. Genesis 1:26-27 makes it clear that human beings are uniquely created in the image of God. We therefore have intrinsic value beyond that of any of the other creatures on earth, and this value is not contingent on our abilities, quality of life, or perceived worth in society.

Thus, Jesus said that God’s greatest commands are to

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... [and] Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. — Matthew 22:37-40,

Jesus also challenged us to go beyond just loving our neighbours:

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. — Matthew 5:43-45

The Bible teaches us that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

One would hope that by taking the biblical worldview believers would among many things fight for the rights of the oppressed, and work to feed, clothe, and lift up those in poverty. These are practical outworkings of the teachings of Jesus, who said in Matthew 25:40,

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.

Recently harvest has been a time for that.

So what nugget can I ask you to take away and chew over….. perhaps this…..

You matter to God, as does every person you know — and those you don’t know. Whom might God want you to protect, encourage, or love in His name today?

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

September 2016

Dear Friends,

The Rio Olympics have been and gone, and whether you are a sports fan or not, I am sure that there have been moments when you have been captivated watching the various athletes pushing themselves to the limit to win the ultimate prize; the Gold medal. The single race, throw or game that we see, comes after persistent training, hours and hours of it. For the athletes this has meant everything and they have had to give their all. Why? Well for them the prize is so very, very worth it.

This year Team GB did achieve more medals than in previous years so the hard work obviously paid off! Their training, determination and passion led to better results than ever.

For those of us who were last in the races at school and never picked for team games at playtime, we may start to think that this has nothing to do with us. However ( as you may well have heard before, but it bears repeating) the sporting world gives us many pointers to follow in other walks of life, particularly our life as Christians).

There are a number of New Testament passages which seem to be very appropriate for this, verses from the Bible where the writer uses the imagery of athletics to encourage Christians to keep on going with Jesus. Here are some of them…

• Hebrews 12:1-2 urges “let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus,”
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 encourages us to “run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the fames goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever”.
• In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul challenges us to follow his example – “forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus”.

Those verses talk of perseverance, training and a goal. They were also totally relevant to the times when they were written, for everybody then knew about the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games took place in Greece every 4 years without interruption from 776BC to AD393. That’s over a 1,000 years of Olympics! And so the writers took the Olympic Games and taught Christians how to use them to think more of God. When we see athletes run, we too should consider another kind of running – running the Christian race with perseverance and effort. When we see athletes smiling with a gold medal, we too should consider another kind of prize, the prize of heaven, of being in God’s perfect new world and that can start now!

And the big question for us whether we are sports people or not is Are we living for God with Olympic passion and perseverance? It was once said that “The determination of the athlete frequently puts to shame the half-hearted, casual nature of much Christian discipleship”.

I think that opinion does give us something to think about very carefully – those of us who profess to be a Christian should take time out to consider how we are running the Christian race. It may be that our training has slackened, or that we have forgotten what we are running towards – that deeper relationship with the one who loves us so much. There may be the need to take more time to read the Bible, or to be still and spend more time with God in prayer, or maybe to read a Christian book (as well as the Bible – it’s okay to do that, it’s how we learn) or to reflect on the areas of life that we need to change in order to be living more in line with God’s word. It’s good to do all this, but let’s not ever get into the way of thinking that we have to earn God’s love shown in Jesus, we could never do that! It’s freely given and always will be, in fact it’s given with great passion by God. However, the more training we do, the more passion we have for our Christian life, the more I think we will understand and feel and know that love and the better equipped we will be for our everyday life.

Debbie Flood, a former Great Britain rower and double Olympic medallist wrote: “In some ways, being an Olympic athlete is similar to being a Christian. You live with a hope for the future, the light when the day comes. You put your faith and belief in something that you cannot yet touch or see in its fullness until that final day. But yet knowing Jesus is more important than a gold medal. Gold medals will ultimately be forgotten and I won’t be taking them with me when I pass away. In the light of eternity, knowing Jesus surpasses everything else and is the most important choice you will ever make in your life. It was an honour and a privilege to be able to represent my country at the Olympics, but an even greater honour to be representing Christ in my life”

I wonder if we would echo those words about Christ????

So, yes I hope that you enjoyed the Olympics –but I hope even more that you will see how important passion and determination are in other areas of life , and most importantly in our faith life. Please remember God is passionate about you and he has done everything he possibly could to show you that, the supreme way being that of allowing his Son Jesus to come to this earth to help and help and to die on the cross in our place. And to rise again! Why? So that you and I could pursue that relationship that mankind once had with God, so that God and mankind could once again enjoy each other’s company. Right now and once we pack up our sports shoes for good! That’s surely a goal worth training for!

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

August2016

Dear Friends,

August has always been the traditional time for holidays. As a child I recall the week spent in either Perranporth or Carbis Bay in Cornwall. The journey seemed endless at times, especially as this was in the days before bypasses were thought of. It was the days of proper picnic baskets, and stopping in laybys to have your flask of tea.

Whether the roads are faster today or not, the journey can seem very long to an excited child longing to buy his or her new fluorescent bucket and spade, and to be the first to write their name on the sand each morning (yes we did use to get up and do that at 6am!)

As the journey proceeds the constant question is ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ and the continual answer ‘no!’ Eventually the questioning stops and a game of I-Spy begins as the car load of travellers take note of the beauty around.

On our journey of faith we may sometimes ask, ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ well I guess for most of us we have a long way to go. We are assured of the destination for those who believe. Yet for each one of us the earthly journey will be different . I wonder whether God is actually saying to us ‘Play a game of I-Spy, look at the beauty around. Yes keep heading towards the eternal destination, but don’t miss out on what I give you now!’

Whether you stay locally this August, maybe you don’t even venture out of your village, or if you travel many miles, play a game of I-Spy, and thank God for his glorious provision today.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

July 2016

Dear Friends,

Over recent weeks there has been huge turmoil, resulting from the EU referendum, and as I write politicians are leaving their respective parties. Most other news seems to have melted in to the background, except perhaps the muddiest Glastonbury ever! It seems an age ago since there were numerous events to celebrate the birthday of our Queen, her long reign and the manner in which she has indeed endeavoured to be ‘Defender of the faith’. With the current unrest in mind, I would like to take you back one final time to the Queen and her Christmas message, and bring a spot of hope and light!. She has talked of her faith and how he belief in and trust in God has carried her through the challenges and joys that have been hers. She has also encouraged others to find out about the God she worships, and invited her hearers to place their trust in Him and in his Son Jesus.

In a book published by the Bible Society especially for the celebration this year, there are snippets of the Christmas messages from over the years and the Queen herself has written at the front of the book using words from the poem by Minnie Haskins which has become so connected with the Royal Family…

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

I think most of us are fairly familiar with those words, but the poem continues and it may well be that this second part might just be for you at this moment. For there are times in our lives when we are not quite sure of the next step, we believe everything is in God’s hands but sometimes we wish we could see the path ahead a little more clearly.. have a read, I hope these words will bring comfort, together with the words of Jeremiah 29.11

‘For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.

These words I believe can of course fit many a situation, but maybe they are particularly relevant for this moment in history. And finally, have a look at Psalm 46 ( God is our refuge and strength…..)

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

June 2016

Dear Friends,

I was recently asked if I would contribute an article for the Midsomer Norton Methodist Church magazine. Such articles are often given a title containing the Christian name of the contributor and one other word beginning with the same letter as the Christian name.

Last month the magazine had a contribution from its editor Martin, and he called it ‘Martin’s Mutterings’, so that word was no longer available for me. What should I call it? Michelle’s Musings of course!

Tapping the word ‘musings’ that into the computer, I thought to myself, what does the word ‘muse’ really mean? Looking it up in a well trusted online dictionary I found the following definitions -as a verb, to muse is to consider something thoughtfully; as a noun, it means a person — especially a woman — who is a source of artistic inspiration. I will let you ‘muse’ over those!

On a serious note, there is something really important about slowing down at times and ‘considering thoughtfully’. With the rain over the last few days and the warmth in the air, the tremendous growth in plants, both garden and hedgerow, has been amazing. The fresh green, the vibrant blues – such a joy. But I know that I have had to make sure that I actually walk around the garden each day and look closely at the wonders there. The wonders of our creative God, who has given us more than we could ever dream of. How blessed we are. But how easy it is to miss seeing these wonders, due to our rushing around and not ‘considering thoughtfully’. And if we do that with the beauty around us in creation, how often do we do that with the pinnacle of God’s creation – mankind? The Novena (nine days of prayer from Ascension to Pentecost) prompted us this year to ‘consider thoughtfully ‘those we might miss – the marginalised in so many areas of life, from old, to young, to homeless, to refugee. Who is it you and I don’t notice in our busyness?

Jesus, our example, noticed those whom others didn’t, those who were marginalised for all sorts of reasons, for health reasons, moral reasons, social and cultural reasons. He ‘considered thoughtfully’ and due to that included all people. ‘The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost’ (Luke 19:10). Not dependent on background, status or anything!

He missed nobody. I believe he gives us much to ‘muse’ upon - happy Musings!

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

May 2016

Dear Friends,

Pentecost (this year Sunday, May 15th) is the final day of the Easter season (the Great Fifty Days.) It's the 50th day from Easter Sunday in which the church is called to celebrate the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Pentecost Sunday is the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, changing them, empowering them to live out their resurrection faith by telling others about Jesus through bold words and actions.

You may have noticed In churches and religious art, that a variety of symbols are used to represent the Holy Spirit, all of which come from the Bible.

One of the most common symbols of the Holy Spirit is a dove. It comes from the story of Jesus' baptism, when Jesus saw “the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.” (Mark 1:10).

Fire is another popular representation of the Holy Spirit. The fire that appeared on Pentecost (Acts 2:3) was reminiscent of the burning bush on Mount Sinai from which God spoke to Moses. (Exodus 3:2) During the Exodus, the people of God were led by a pillar of fire at night. (Exodus 13:21) Fire calls attention to the strength and force of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is also represented by wind. In fact, the original Hebrew and Greek words for “Spirit” can be translated as “wind.” The wind that appeared on Pentecost (Acts 2:2) was reminiscent of the wind that blew over the waters at the beginning of Creation. (Genesis 1:2) The wind calls attention to the Holy Spirit breathing life into the Church.

Water signifies birth and life. From a faith perspective, it represents the cleansing and life-giving action of the Holy Spirit at Baptism. (Matthew 3:11; John 3:5)

The cloud is used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit because clouds provide life-giving water. In the Old Testament, God often leads his people with a cloud or appears to them in a cloud. (Exodus 16:10) The image of a cloud is often combined with the image of light to symbolize the God who is hidden and mysterious but also revealing and luminous.

Anointing with oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit's uniting us with Jesus, the Messiah, the Anointed One. (Acts of the Apostles 10:38; 1 John 2:20-27)

Official documents in the past (Nehemiah 9:38; Esther 8:8), and some documents today, were sealed with hot wax. Then an imprint was made on the wax with the official seal of the person sending the document. In a similar way, we are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit to show that we are forever part of God's family. (Song of Songs 8:6; John 6:27)

If you were to draw a representation of the Holy Spirit, what would it look like? What would be your reasoning for drawing the Holy Spirit that way? How does the Holy Spirit affect your life?

Surely one of the key points about the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday is that it reminds us that we too are not alone in building God's kingdom in our present day. He empowers, indwells, equips, comforts and prods us to live out our faith with courage and boldness until that time in the future when Jesus will reappear. Why not pray that the Holy Spirit becomes a stronger and more powerful person in your life.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

April 2016

Dear Friends,

Last month I mentioned the lack of excitement that I felt there was nowadays regarding the four yearly extra day we have due to the leap year, and I was hoping that Easter would not go the same way. How was your Easter, did you manage to spend some time thinking about the story, did you watch any special Easter programmes or attend some church services? Most of all, did you consider the gift of Jesus’ love for you and receive that gift? If you did, or if you nearly did, then chat to somebody about it! share your story and you will be amazed at the story they share with you!

Is that the end of Easter now, well no, definitely not! One of my favourite Bible stories is The Walk to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13ff). In this passage two of Jesus’ disciples are walking to Emmaus from Jerusalem. Suddenly they are joined by Jesus, but, thinking he is dead, they do not recognise him. They talk about the events of the past few days in Jerusalem: of Jesus’ death on the cross and of his alleged rising to life again. The stranger listens and walks with them, helping them to understand the prophesies concerning Jesus’ death. As evening falls they share a meal, and as the stranger blesses and breaks the bread, so the disciples recognise him to be the risen Christ, and immediately – filled with the joy of the resurrection – they go into the world to proclaim this Good News.

The weeks leading up to Easter, which we call Lent, could in many ways be regarded as our journey to Emmaus; a time of walking with Jesus, seeking to know him more fully and living in his love more deeply. During Lent we are encouraged to ask questions about our faith, just like those first disciples obviously did as they walked. We are encouraged to spend time listening to Jesus – in prayer and through reading the Scriptures, discerning his call for each of us, and being both comforted and challenged by the transforming message he brings.

And after the journey, after Lent, comes the clearest revelation of Jesus. He breaks the bread at his friends’ table and is instantly recognised by them as their risen Lord. Every time people gather to share in a service which some call Holy Communion, Sacrament, Eucharist or Mass they too bless and break the bread, and the risen and glorious Christ comes among them in that bread and wine to feed them on their journey of faith in him. Easter is not over it is just the beginning. May it be something new for you too.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

March 2016

Dear Friends,

We have just had one of those days we don’t have very often – well, once every four years. Ae you with me? Yes – February 29th – the day we only have when it is a leap year. Now for those born on 29th this is a very important day, as thy only have a birthday once every four years! Or do they? I remember how as a child, February 29th was seen to be a magical day, everybody looked forward to it. The anticipation was huge. I wonder this year however, whether many people have not even been aware of it, the excitement has gone, it has become just like any other day.

The celebration of Easter day, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is to occur at the end of this month of March, on Sunday the 27th.

Will this be a day that you recognise, or will it merge into all the other days around it? Speaking of which, the whole of the week leading up to Easter day demands a little more of our attention too. We call that week Holy Week. During that time, we recall the events leading up to Easter Day, including the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his friends and the actual Crucifixion on the day that we call Good Friday. Why is it called Good Friday? Strange name surely. Well we believe that in some amazing way when Jesus died on the cross, he cleared the way for us to have a relationship with God, all those bad parts in our lives were forgiven. Of course that is a gift given to us, and for any gift to be of impact we have to say thank you, I would love to receive that gift.

Maybe this year is the opportunity to do that. For the story did not end on Good Friday, Easter Day was to follow when Jesus Christ rose from the dead. A miracle of God, which means that in that way that we can only feel with our hearts, Jesus is alive and with us.

Don’t let Holy Week and Easter become like February 29th, overlooked and ignored. Why not find out what services and events your local church is holding and make this years be the year that yes to the gift of Easter.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

February 2016

Dear Friends,

‘Have a Good Lent’ isn’t a usual greeting... Lent can seem a negative, downbeat time, when we give up something we really enjoy, like alcohol or chocolate. Giving up for Lent is traditional, like eating chocolate eggs at Easter and giving presents at Christmas – many people do it from habit, without making the religious connection with Jesus fasting 40 days in the wilderness in preparation for his public ministry of teaching and healing. Giving up something we enjoy to please God fits some people’s picture of God as an unfriendly, judgemental figure, rather than the loving Father who wants to bless us and lead us into fullness of life. Trust me, the church season of Lent is not meant to be a dreary ‘boot camp’ exercise in endurance but time to slow down and reflect with God on what really matters in our lives.

I used to think ‘Lent’ came from the French word meaning slow. I was disappointed to discover it comes from the Old English word meaning to lengthen, because the season of Lent coincides with Spring’s lengthening daylight hours. But slowing down remains essential to the season of Lent, taking time to reflect on how we live, an annual spiritual MOT. Ash Wednesday reminds us one day we will all die and have to account for our life to God – the good we have not done, the wrong we have said, thought or done, our failures to live in love. Lent invites us to a spiritual spring clean that looks at the clutter in our lives and deals with everything that is not as it could be.

Lent is hugely positive. Its focus is repentance, which simply means (re)turning to God each day, the God who changes our hearts and habits when we accept his love, admit our failings and needs. Repentance means wanting to be different, more like Jesus, loving, at peace and full of joy, whatever our outward circumstances. Repentance, (re)turning to God), includes living slowly, mindfully and thankfully, moment by moment, accepting what we cannot change, changing what is in our power to change, loving ourselves, knowing we are deeply loved by God. Lent also invites us to look outwards to the needs of others and do our bit to make the world a better place.

What could you do – you have 40 days to do something different each day? I can almost hear you tapping away on the computer, searching 40 different things to do throughout Lent! Brilliant! Have a great Lent!

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

January 2016

Dear Friends,

“It was the best of times it was the worst of times”

The above statement could easily be attributed to 2015 and it could be said that there has been an imbalance in favour of the second part of the above statement. The world has been rocked by a whole series of natural and manmade disasters and, of course, just because the year changes it doesn’t mean that the events of 2015 will be swept under the carpet. People will feel the effects of the devastating events well into the New Year. For example, the crisis in Syria is ongoing and those who have sought refuge are still doing so. The shooting in Paris and America make sickening reading. The full effect of heavy rain in our own country will take some time to sort out. When one disaster follows another, we have to be careful not to let the earlier events slip from our consciousness whilst trying to avoid sympathy overload. Our prayers and whatever practical help we can give, need to continue unabated.

Yet let us not forget the first part of the phrase above, for there will have been many times when someone has helped you and me, or occasions when we have been the helper – many times when we have been chuffed to bits and felt really good. Times when we have seen light, love and peace shine out and from all ages too! And yes it has been the best of times, for the birth of Jesus Christ has been celebrated and his death and resurrection too. Whilst all else shifts and changes, he does not. And so while we may say rather cynically at times ‘ nothing ever changes’ let’s for once be glad that some things don’t – our Lord is the same, yesterday, today and forever – the light has come and NO darkness will ever put it out! Praise God!

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

December 2015

Dear Friends,

“Where is God?”, the young child asks his parent. “Is he in heaven?” “Well, yes; but not only in heaven. He’s all around us too.” “Really!” says the child. “Is he in this room?” “Well, yes.”

“Is he right here in front of us?” “Well you could say that.” “Is he in this glass?” “Uh, yes.” “Got him then!” says the child, slamming his hand on top of the glass.

That story illustrates a basic religious belief that God is indeed everywhere, that he is present in all places and at all times. So what, then, do we mean when we say that God was specially present in Jesus, that in the little baby God came among us? The Bible says that another name for Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us and that Jesus was God’s only Son, God himself actually in our world. Well I solve this puzzle in this way. God is indeed everywhere. He is all around us like the air. But just like air we take him for granted. So we need to be reminded of him. And so we need to be aware of his presence. This is precisely what the life of Jesus is all about. It is a reminder to us that God is always with us. By being present in Jesus God demonstrates and teaches us something that has been true all along, that he is always there for us, that he will never leave us or desert us.

The power of the Christmas story – indeed the entire story of Jesus – is that this presence is not shown in strength but in weakness. People of faith have been able to see God, to discern divinity, in the weakness, innocence and vulnerability of a baby. We take it for granted, but it is really quite remarkable that the basic nativity scene is that of grown men and women worshipping a baby. A baby! What’s godlike about a baby? Not a lot, you’d think. Being a god is surely all about being powerful. But here’s this baby being worshipped. What are we to make of it? What I make of it is that the main thing about God isn’t power and fantastic knowledge and things like that. The main thing about him is that he is loving through and through. The heart of his existence is love and everything he does is filled with love.

Love is sometimes weak, sometimes strong and so too is Jesus. In the manger and on the cross he is weak. But that’s the God I need; that’s the kind of God we all need. Not an all-powerful tyrant, but a God who can be like us, can be alongside us in everything we go through in life. Jesus shows us, reminds us, that that is just the kind of God we have. But Jesus isn’t here now in the flesh. In first century Palestine people could meet up with him, could bump into him as he came round the corner. You can’t do that today.

So how can we experience his presence now? By sharing in worship, in Holy Communion, by reading his word and through prayer. At this time of year especially, with all the extra services there are so many more ways that we can be reminded of the baby born amongst us….why not see what is happening in your local area, you would be most welcome.

Why not go and search for the one whose life was and is a constant reminder of the God who is always with us.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

November 2015

Dear Friends,

November is a time of remembrance. We remember loved ones who have departed this life, as well as those who have given their lives in the service of their country. As we watch the news on our televisions or read our newspapers, we are constantly made aware of the conflicts that are going on in the world today, so this is a time when it is important to show solidarity.

On Remembrance Sunday the poppy offers a symbol that speaks volumes. Thousands of poppies grew in the soil churned up by fighting on the battlefields of the First World War, and this humble flower has become a symbol of remembrance. We think of the sacrifices made by our armed forces, and the red petal of the poppy reminds us of bloodshed, of lives lost, of human greed, and of countless lives marked forever by pain and fear.

In St John’s Gospel Jesus says “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” so it is right that we should honour these gallant people who put their lives on the line for us.

“They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them”

The green leaf of the poppy reminds us of the possibility of new life, a new start. For Christians this new start comes through Jesus, the one who laid down his life not only for his friends but for all people in all places at all times (and so that means me and you!)

One of the many beautiful descriptive names given to Jesus is ‘Prince of Peace’. Many people wear a white poppy at this time, their desire and prayer be that peace should come upon the earth.

Red, green and white, they all have their part to play. In remembering the past let us do all we can in the present to bring an end to fighting and disunity, so that all people may know God’s peace and loving provision day by day.

Yours in Jesus

Rev Michelle Ireland

October 2015

Dear Friends,

Hello to everyone who is reading this! Thank you for taking the time to do so.

Over the last few weeks, many churches and schools have celebrated Harvest Thanskgiving, doing what it says on the tin – giving thanks for all God’s goodness in the creation around us and reminding ourselves of the task that we have to care for that creation as good stewards. We can read the account of God creating the world in the first book of the Bible – Genesis. In chapter 1, we have a very ordered account where God created the world in 6 days and then on the 7th had a rest! That’s where we get our Sabbath day from, a day of rest and refreshment. In chapter 2 we have another version of the account, this time it has the feel of people sitting round a fire and telling the story to each other. Each sits comfortably with the other.

What I am intrigued and challenged by is the fact that mankind is the last thing to be brought into being, the pinnacle of creation, not just made from the dust of the earth by God’s own hand but also given life by his own breath. I think that’s wonderful, but even more wonderful, it says in the Bible the following Then God said, ‘Let Us make human beings in Our image and likeness’. - Genesis 1:26

In all of creation, only human beings are made “in God’s image.”

I have always wondered what it meant …. But I read this the other day, what do you think about the following…

Like God,

• we are spiritual beings - our spirits are immortal and will outlast our earthly bodies;
• we are intellectual - we can think, reason, and solve problems;

Like God,

• we are relational - we can give and receive real love;
• and we have a moral consciousness - we can discern right from wrong, which makes us accountable to God.

The Bible says that all people, not just believers, possess part of the image of God; but the image is incomplete and has been damaged and distorted by sin. So God sent Jesus on a mission to restore the full image that we have lost. What does the full “image and likeness” of God look like? It looks like Jesus Christ! The Bible says Jesus is “the exact likeness of God,” “the visible image of the invisible God,” and “the exact representation of his being” (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3).

God wants His earthly children to bear His image and likeness, too. The Bible says, ‘You were... created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.’ — Ephesians 4:24 God doesn’t want you to become a god; He wants you to become godly - taking on His values, attitudes, and character. The Bible says,

‘Take on an entirely new way of life - a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you’. - Ephesians 4:22-24

God’s ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone. God created your uniqueness, so He certainly doesn’t want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.

God wants you to develop the kind of character described in the beatitudes of Jesus (Matthew 5:1-12), the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), Paul’s great chapter on love (1 Corinthians 13), and Peter’s list of the characteristics of an effective and productive life (2 Peter 1:5-8).

Every time you forget that character is one of God’s purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. You’ll wonder, Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?

One answer is that maybe sometimes life is supposed to be difficult! It’s what enables us to grow. Remember, earth is not heaven! Many Christians misinterpret Jesus’ promise of the “abundant life” (John 10:10) to mean perfect health, a comfortable lifestyle, constant happiness, full realization of your dreams, and instant relief from problems through faith and prayer. In a word, they expect the Christian life to be easy. They expect heaven on earth.

This self-absorbed perspective treats God as a genie who simply exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment. But God is not your servant, and if you fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, either you will become severely disillusioned or you will live in denial of reality.

Never forget that life is not about you! You exist for God’s purposes, not vice versa.

Why would God provide heaven on earth when He’s planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven.

Do you think that being made in God’s image is something like that?

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

September 2015

Dear Friends,

I receive a variety of daily readings and thoughts via the computer each day. The following is an extract which I really wanted to share with you ( if you would like to subscribe to the readings which are free then go to Premier Radio, and find BE STILL AND KNOW.) 

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

Genesis 37:5 NLT

"One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever."

Joseph, the favoured son of Jacob, dressed in a fine coat, dreams what appears on the surface an impossible dream. His dream stirs up resentment and bitter opposition from his own brothers. They see his dream as nothing more than vain boasting and take offence at the thought that they must bow in acknowledgement of their ‘little brother’.

A dream like that is only ever an anticipatory intuition of some future reality. To invest oneself in such a dream takes courage and conviction. There can be little evidence of the success of the dreamer at the start of their pursuit of the dream. Yet, many of us carry dreams within our hearts. Dreams no doubt seeded by God; dreams for which we are the bearers and the means of their realisation. In a cynical age of criticism and rationality, it is increasingly difficult to live the dream.

However, no one can realise the dream save the dreamer, and the path to its realisation can, in fact, be fraught with difficulty. Joseph was to be tested at every stage of his dream, and throughout he had to discover the nature of both God’s provision and God’s timing. A dream cannot be birthed ahead of its time, yet if neglected can die with us, never having been considered worthy of investment. Much like the talent buried in the ground, it never matures and therefore offers no return to its principle shareholder, God.

God invites you to dream and to accept responsibility for that dream and to seed it through declaring it and prayerfully inviting God to fertilise it with his spirit. Where such a dream will carry you cannot be known at the outset. Yet to pursue it with a humble faithfulness is perhaps the greatest step of faith you may ever initiate.

With September marking the beginning of a New Methodist Year and also a time to celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving, we are reminded of the opportunities, privileges and necessities of sowing seeds and dreaming dreams. Let’s go for it, let’s reach further than we have ever done before, in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus. AMEN

August 2015

Dear Friends,

I am sure that a number of you will have visited Carnforth Railway Station, which has become a Mecca for fans of the film Brief Encouter. The buffet, where the encounter between the Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard characters began, has been restored. To go there now, you feel you are walking into the film. It’s a monument to the kind of unrequited longing that the two lovers’ chaste and impossible relationship epitomises. The passion the pair felt for each other was intense but it was in the final scene in the buffet that it became clear it could not be fulfilled. Even so, I suspect that even without the ending they wanted, the relationship was something they would not have missed.

The popularity of the film reflects the familiarity of that experience, in many areas of life. We long passionately for something to happen, perhaps even work hard towards that end. It doesn’t work out the way we wanted. But then, sometimes, a different but unexpectedly satisfying outcome surprises us. But even if not, the longing, though unfulfilled, has its own value.

The Biblical prophets speak of a longing for a more just and peaceful world. They express the deep yearning we all feel for an end to human violence and self-destructive behaviour. The birth of a child in a stable was not the outcome the prophets expected. Because this child was special, his coming added new power to the hope. But it hasn’t, not to the human eye anyway, brought the fulfilment to completion.

Today, even if our dreams for ourselves and our world seem far from becoming reality, let’s give ourselves with renewed energy to working towards them. There may be an outcome which is different from what we expect and the process, even without the fulfilment, might have a value all its own. There is a poster that remains for ever in my mind, which says ‘Let God and let God!’ I like that – do you?!

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

July 2015

Dear friends

Easter is long gone, Pentecost is over, what now? Well maybe the following poem might help answer that?

God Bless, Rev Michelle

The U in JesUs

Before U were thought of or time had begun

God even stuck U in the name of His Son

And each time U pray, you'll see it's true
You can't spell out JesUs and not include U.
You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, He was born; that's why He came.
And His great love for U is the reason He died.
It even takes U to spell crUcified.
Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand

He rose from the dead, with U in His plan?
The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew,
and this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.
When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.
"Go into the world and tell them it's true
That I love them all - Just like I love U."
So many great people are spelled with a U,
Don't they have a right to know JesUs too?
It all depends now on what U will do,
He'd like them to know,
But it all starts with U.

June 2015

Dear friends

Last month we were all given the opportunity to vote – did you?!

I’m sure we are all familiar with the phrase ‘X marks the spot!’ When we hear it, we tend to visualise dark wooden ships with the skull and cross bones flying from the crow’s nest, the wheel operated by a wooden legged, eye-patched pirate, parrot on shoulder, eagerly following the tantalising directions of a curling brown paper map, seeking the chest of gold wherein lie those pieces of eight! Aha my hearties. Great adventure - all because of the letter X!

But the letter X is used in many other ways, and has many connotations. When used as a Roman Numeral it has the value 10, when put by the side of an answer in an exam it means something is wrong. For those of you who enjoy a game of noughts and crosses, 3 crosses in a row is a welcome winning line, but if you happen to be a contestant on the very entertaining television show Britain’s Got Talent, that’s the last thing you want, as it means you won’t be returning for another round and a chance to appear at the Royal Variety Show. What power that little X has!

Of course many thousands of X’s were placed on ballot papers, as men and women were chosen to represent us in the political realm.

Many of you who have ever spent time abroad will know how great a privilege we have in being able to vote, to be able to place an X and know that it will be treated properly and results will be fair.

I wonder how you felt when you cast your vote, how do you feel now that the results are through. Perhaps the person or party you wanted to win have done so, perhaps they haven’t. Whatever the outcome - they now have a role to play, one is that very public and often demanding - it can be so easy to place a negative cross by things that those in power do - but they need our support, we should work together.

And maybe that leads to the most powerful way in which an X can work - one I‘ve not mentioned yet. Think of any birthday or thank you cards that you have received recently, or that you have sent. Were there any little crosses? I’m sure there were. a sign of love When we send birthday greetings or thank you cards we express appreciation, thankfulness to people who have helped or cared for us. They are positive and mean such a lot.

The most significant cross of all - the cross of Jesus was the ultimate sign of love.

So, a month on, we won’t all be totally satisfied with the results of the recent elections, but let’s not allow those crosses to become critical ones, let us do all we can to support those who work on our behalf and maybe that will be our contribution to helping the world go round just a little bit smoother and together we may be nearer finding that treasure.

Every Blessing
Rev Michelle Ireland

May 2015

Dear friends

Do you sometimes feel that you never stand still, that you are constantly on the move to the next event in your life? It’s a bit like that with the church calendar, no sooner have we celebrated Easter, than we are well on the way to Pentecost Sunday which falls this year on May 24.

But what is Pentecost about ? Why is the day special, what is celebrated. Unlike Easter and Christmas, when colourful eggs, Easter bunnies, Christmas trees and Santa Claus are harbingers of the upcoming Christian holidays, there are no such social markers by secular society ahead of Pentecost. So here’s a few thoughts about what Pentecost Sunday is and some Bible references that point to these thoughts.

1. Pentecost Sunday marks the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles.
2. Pentecost Sunday occurs 50 days after Easter.
3. The Bible records the Pentecost in Acts 2:1-13.
4. Pentecost comes 10 days after the Ascension of Jesus Christ. The day he went back to Heaven.
5. Pentecost is also known as "the birthday of the Church".
6. Pentecost fulfils Jesus' promise to send the "Counsellor" and "Spirit of Truth" in John 16-5-15.
7. Pentecost launches the large-scale spreading of the Gospel after Jesus' ascension. Acts 2:41 records that after Peter spoke to the crowd after receiving the Holy Spirit, some 3,000 people were baptized.
8. The Pentecostal movement derives its name from the New Testament event in Acts 2.
9. Jews also celebrate Pentecost, but not for the same reason as Christians. The celebration by Jews of Pentecost is to observe God giving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai 50 days after the Exodus. The Pentecost in Jewish tradition takes place 50 days after Passover.
10. In Western Churches, Pentecost is usually represented with the colour red, which symbolizes the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Every Blessing,
Rev Michelle Ireland

April 2015

Dear friends

One of the organisations that many people support at Christmas time is the Children’s Society, children are often the hub of the family at Christmas and they bring great enjoyment, particularly to their grandparents. Sometimes children and young people, and their families need a little bit of help and support and the Children’s Society aims to do that, to bring some light into what should be the most wonderful time of the year.

But what about the rest of the year? I found the following reflection, part of material produced by the Society for Easter. I thought it was very meaningful. I hope that you find it stimulating too.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

A reflection for Easter

Sometimes it doesn’t work out as you expect.
Sometimes even though you know
the game is up,
even though you know the inevitable outcome,
even sometimes when you have given up yourself…
…it doesn’t work out as you expect.

There are those days when the child,
who has been running away for years,
every week, without fail,
…doesn’t.

The day when the disabled child,
is finally accepted for who they are.
When the traveller,
for so long the outsider,
suddenly becomes a friend.

There are those days when,
in the face of despair,
for some unexpected and
incomprehensible reason,
our long dead hopes
are brought back to life.

There are those days
we suddenly realise
the stone has been moved…
… and the tomb is empty.

March 2015

Dear friends

You may well be reading this a number of weeks before Easter, however I think that is no bad thing! Think how early we talk and plan for Christmas!

Are you planning for Easter (Easter Sunday is 5th April) will it mean something special to you?

Over the days before Easter Day, Good Friday to Sunday, Christians experience the depths and heights of human emotions. For the disciples and friends of Jesus, Good Friday was anything but good. This was the day when Christ was crucified on the cross. Their master, friend, teacher was dead and all seemed lost and they hid themselves away – they were broken people. Sunday is the day of joy and some confusion. Jesus is no longer dead but alive. The chains of death have been broken once and for all and Christ has won for all of us who believe in him eternal life.

What does Easter actually mean for us today ??? Well, I believe that although life on this earth may often be difficult, and extremely challenging and there are times when we don’t know which way to turn, we can be sure that we have Jesus walking alongside us through that earthly life. The first disciples were amazed but also confused over this miraculous happening, this resurrection, and it took a number of appearances afterwards by Jesus, to convince them that he really was risen from the dead.

If you still find it difficult to believe in Jesus Christ and have a relationship with him, and some do, then I encourage you to pray, you don’t have to have a great knowledge or study of prayer behind you, prayer is talking with God. When we talk with people we often get to know them better, the same goes for God. Another thing to do is to pick up a Bible, yes it was written a long time ago, but the Bible can speak to all generations, it can have something to say to all of us, it can have something to say to you and me. I encourage you also to pop along to a church service over this time, to meet with other people who have the same struggles and joys as we all have, and share the journey of faith together.

I hope above all that whatever you do from now to Easter, through Holy Week itself and the Easter weekend – that you will be able to pause and think about Jesus Christ our Saviour during this great time of passion and rejoicing.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

February 2015

Dear friends

The time of Lent will soon be upon us with all the traditional days such as Shrove Tuesday (17th February) and Ash Wednesday (18th February). Some of us may make pancakes, investigating various recipes, feasting well, however fewer people I imagine will do anything special the following day. The discipline of Fasting is practiced less. Perhaps there is a way that we could all join in that, but using a different format. I found the following reflection, which I thought very inspiring. The reflection encourages us to leave behind, to fast from those things which are negative and damaging and to concentrate upon, feast upon those things which are positive , build up, and bring good. I hope that you find it inspiring too.

Fasting and Feasting

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling within them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on trust.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from hostility; feast on nonviolence.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift.
Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

January 2015

Dear friends

It is the time of year when resolutions are made. I found the following poem and prayer and they got me thinking….. I hope you enjoy them..

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

Christian New Year’s Resolutions

How can I use the New Year
To better serve my Lord?
I’ll read my Bible every day,
And be more in accord.

I’ll find new ways to serve others;
I’ll love my neighbour, too.
I’ll focus on "give" instead of "get"
In everything I do.

I’ll forgive the people I’m mad at;
Angry feelings I’ll discard;
I’ll try to love my enemies,
Even though it’s hard.

In the new year, I’ll lift people up,
Instead of putting them down.
I’ll fill my heart with love and joy,
And never wear a frown.

I’ll let go of my worries;
I’ll put it all in His hands;
I’ll repent and try to sin less,
And obey all His commands.

These new year’s resolutions
Are difficult, at best,
But there’s something I can do each day
That will put my soul at rest:

I’ll love my Lord with all my heart,
With all my mind and soul,
And if I do that essential thing,
All the rest will be in control.

New Year’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

In the new year, we pray
that You will guide us each new day
in paths that are pleasing to You.
Lord, the new year gives us another chance
to rededicate our lives to You,
to study Your Word
so that we know right from wrong
and to act in accordance with Your commands.
Thank You for the sense of
direction, purpose and peace we get
from aligning our lives with Your Holy will.
We pray for the strength and the will to obey You
each and every day of the new year,
and when we fail, we pray for Your mercy,
Your compassion, Your grace and Your love.
Help us in the new year to be Your faithful servants.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

December 2014

Dear friends,

The T.V. adverts for Christmas have excelled themselves once again, with many new selling angles. Each one competes to ensure us that in spite of the stress and strain that Christmas brings through family visiting, entertaining, present buying etc we mustn’t worry, for shopping in their store will mean you don’t totally crack under the pressure.

It leaves me wondering, how can we redeem Christmas from all the stress and anxiety, surely there has to be another way? I think the answer lies in Advent. Advent is the season of hopeful waiting, eager anticipation, joyful preparation of God coming amazingly into our lives.

Many people know what Lent is, the period leading up to Easter and they tend to say that Advent is the same , it’s the four weeks leading up to Christmas. But Advent isn’t Lent. In Lent we have a spring clean and clear out the rubbish. Advent on the other hand is about getting your home ready for a new arrival, a special guest, for Jesus the Son of God. Lent is a season for confession and giving things up, Advent is a time of preparation for a great celebration.

Advent prepares us for welcoming God afresh into our homes, our work, our schools, our everyday lives, it reminds us that Christmas is a time for rejoicing, a time for hoping, a time for God breaking in.

There is much in our world and in our lives that may depress us, much more than the supermarket shop, but the great news is that a Son has been born for us, Jesus is coming to show us just how much God loves us and as he comes he will transform our lives, as he did for Mary and Joseph, Shepherds and Kings. I hope you will capture the spirit of Advent, that will lead you to a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Every Blessing
Rev Michelle Ireland

November 2014

Dear friends,

This has been a year of sad memories as we have been remembering the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914 with all the carnage that followed. These memories will be recalled in November when we pay our annual tribute and respect to those who lost life and limb in the defence of our country in many conflicts. The human cost of war is so vast that we cannot escape the mixed feelings of pride and shame that humans can rise to such great heights of courage and sacrifice and others sink to such depths of violence and cruelty. No-one in their right mind goes to war if it can possibly be avoided and the leaders of our nations carry a heavy burden and deserve our prayers.

Many voices have been raised to question whether Britain should have gone to the defence of Belgium when Germany invaded and it is always easy to be wise after the event. The real question is whether we should have kept a promise made at the Treaty of London (1839) to defend Belgium if attacked. Should nations as well as individuals keep a solemn promise - or are they like pie crusts ?

We might consider the case of Joshua who made a treaty with the Gibeonites (Joshua Ch.9.) in Canaan who pretended that they came from a far country although they were near and hostile neighbours. Despite the deception, having made the vow before God Joshua would not break his word and spared their lives though they became servants. For Joshua a promise once made cannot be cancelled or broken. He remembered what Moses had commanded in Deuteronomy Ch.23.v.21. that such a promise must be kept.

This is a generation that makes an habit of breaking promises or not making any promises at all. The bonds that hold us together in life are the commitments we make to each other and the greatest promise is that which we make to Christ for time and eternity. ' O Jesus I have promised to serve you to the end.'

If we do not honour our promises then how can we expect God to keep His promises for those who honour God He will honour. (1 Sam.2.30.) God is faithful to His promises and He expects us to do the same. At every Harvest Service we recall God's ancient promise that as long as earth remains seedtime and harvest shall not cease. (Gen.8.22.)

The covenant God made with Abraham so long ago He kept through all the rebellion of Israel until the promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ who was born of King David's line and established God's Kingdom in the hearts of those who love Him. In Christ all the promises have been confirmed (2 Cor.1.20.) and as we are now the Children of Promise we have everything to look forward to for He is faithful who promised (Heb.10.23.) and we have a sure and certain hope so rejoice!

Every Blessing
Rev Michelle Ireland

October 2014

Dear friends,

In J. R. R. Tolkien’s book The Hobbit, the wizard Gandalf explains why he has selected a small hobbit like Bilbo to accompany the dwarves to fight the enemy. He says, “Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

That’s what Jesus teaches us as well. Warning us that we would live in dark times, He reminded us that because of Him we are “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14) and that our good deeds would be the power against the darkness for the glory of God (v.16).

There is one force that the darkness cannot conquer—the force of loving acts of kindness done in Jesus’ name. It is those people who turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, and forgive and even love their enemies who oppose them who have the power to turn the tide against evil.

October is a month which includes many ancient traditions, some associated with the darkness. It’s okay to have fun, but the light should always shine brighter.

So this month let’s look for the privileged opportunity to perform acts of kindness today to bring the light of Christ to others.

Light up your world with an act of kindness.

Blessings
Rev Michelle Ireland

September 2014

Dear Friends,

During September many churches celebrate Harvest Festival. This is a church festival celebrated by most traditions in our country, though in its modern form it only really dates from the nineteenth century. Up and down the land Christians turn their minds to the subject of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth.

I hope I do not fall into the same trap as the rather scholarly parson who preached to his congregation one harvest festival. Such an occasion in the year must not pass by, he thought, without the parishioners being reminded of his learning and wisdom. Thus he preached a particularly theologically erudite sermon, analysing in detail the texts of various parables to do with the harvest. After expressing his personal views on one very difficult verse, he concluded: “I am afraid that commentators do not agree with me.” As ever his rural parishioners went away from the service scratching their heads. The next day the parson was surprised to find a sack at his door with the note attached to it. ‘From Farmer Giles: I understand from your sermon that ‘common `taters’ don’t agree with you, so I thought you might like this sack of King Edwards’!

Every harvest we celebrate the goodness of God in providing for our needs in the form of the food we have to eat. It also gives us the opportunity to think of those through whom God works to actually grow and harvest our food. Whenever the Bible or Jesus talks about the harvest or about anything to do with food they nearly always refer to the people who do the donkey work, the sower in the field, the farmer who stores in barns, the men who sort out the wheat from the tares, the labourers in the vineyard. In our world, however, such people are often overlooked or forgotten, especially if they are far away. We are very happy to find the fruits of their labours on our plates, the bananas or rice or chocolate or coffee or tea, but we seldom give the people who are primarily responsible for getting them there a second thought. This is not God’s way. He is a God of justice and fairness and he calls his people to a similar pattern of life.

At harvest time, therefore, we are called to be thankful. Thankful to God, yes, certainly. But thankful also to those children of God who work so hard that we might be fed with all the delicious food we have the choice to buy in this country and in the other rich parts of the world. But thankfulness is empty unless we give it substance. This is why Christians and others work so hard to try to create a fairer deal for the poor farmers and farm workers of the world. We do this partly by giving financial help to organisations like Christian Aid and Oxfam. But charity alone will never overcome the inequalities which exist in our world. That is why we are encouraged to support fair trade. We need to give poor farmers the chance to sell what they produce at a fair price and not one that keeps them in penury. Another important way to try to improve the condition of those who work so hard to provide us with our rich diet is through campaigns to persuade governments and companies to treat poor workers fairly. Those who head up such campaigns often spend many hours beavering away to help alleviate the often appalling conditions of the poor farm workers of the third world. It involves sacrifice for them. It involves sacrifice for us too if we contribute generously to help the poor. But is not such sacrifice a vital part of our Christian calling to work for justice and fairness for people everywhere? We can easily afford small sacrifices to help those who sacrifice themselves every day that we can enjoy relative prosperity. This harvest let us commit ourselves again to a fairer world in which the fruits of the earth may be shared more equally.

Blessings
Rev Michelle Ireland

August 2014

Dear Friends,

My letter this month is a simple prayer – a prayer for peace in Gaza. It could of course be a prayer for many places at this time. Wouldn’t it would be wonderful if this letter became out of date and I needed to produce a new one before the end of August. If the fighting nations were to make peace and move on.

We do of course this month remember the centenary of the start of the First World War. We remember with great sadness at the loss of life, we remember with humble pride those who gave their lives. Could such a reminder trigger the pursuit of peace in people today?

Many people around the world now have the technology to know what is happening hundreds of miles away – we have the ability to pray for our brothers and sisters all over the world. Sometimes our prayers are answered straight away, sometimes time elapses, sometimes we don’t see the answer. (Not the answers we thought should occur!)

Please will you join in praying… we do believe that prayer is powerful, in the Bible we read the words of Jesus …

‘Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.’
John 14. 13-14.

It is the tuning into the will of God that we as followers of Jesus today, must endeavour to do.

Lord God of compassion,
whose will is for peace built on righteousness,
we pray for peace in Gaza and Israel:
for an end to hostilities,
for comfort and help for all who suffer,
and for reconciliation between Palestine and Israel,
through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.

God Bless
Rev Michelle Ireland

Easter 2014

And so Easter comes round again. What does it mean for you and for me?

For fifty days the Church celebrates the glorious feast and fact of the resurrection. Over this period we celebrate the meaning of the resurrection for Jesus and for us. We are not simply recalling a past event but a present reality. The resurrection of Jesus is our promise of resurrection too, and his life is the life we live now in and through the life of the Church.

One of the facts that must strike even the most casual readers of the gospel is how the disciples are transformed. At the crucifixion they had shown themselves to be cowards. Even after the resurrection is announced to them by the women who arrive at the tomb they are still far from belief. But the encounter with the risen Jesus changes them once and for all. They boldly proclaim the resurrection. They travel through all sorts of dangers to share their conviction. And the vast majority of them are prepared to face death rather than deny what they know. In fact they can face death confidently because they now know that Jesus is alive.

How about you and me? We must pray that the same confidence and joy radiates through us and the Church in our own time. We needn’t cower behind closed doors, we can go out and tell the world what we know – ‘He is risen.’ Many will dismiss us, many will oppose us, but many will others will hear and be saved.

Let’s go!

Rev Michelle Ireland

Christmas 2013

Dear Friends,

‘Mary gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.’ Luke 2.7.

What can you make out of a tea towel and a roll of gold card? Yes, you guessed it - a ready made shepherd and Wise man. It is indeed the season for nativity plays when the youngsters (and not so young) remind us of the wonder of Christmas as they gather around the crib in the stable. Yet these plays are not without their anxious moments.

The class had been practising for weeks, the costumes and props were meticulously prepared and the songs energetically learned. The time had come to present ‘CHRISTMAS LOVE’. Thirteen children were chosen to hold up the huge letters that spelled the words, whilst others delivered lines that brought many a tear to the gathered crowd. As the time came for the letter M to be the star of the show, a gasp was heard was heard as the child holding the card had turned it upside down - W. The words now read CHRISTWAS LOVE. All the long hours seemed to have been wasted. 

Yet surely that child had a message for us all. For we only have CHRISTMAS LOVE because CHRIST WAS LOVE. But is it all in the past? Is that why we see CHRISTMAS spelled XMAS so often, Christ taken out for he is no longer relevant.

No it’s not all in the past, CHRIST IS LOVE. His coming to earth, that very first Christmas was just the beginning of something so incredible. There God gave the greatest gift ever, His Son. And His Son gave the gift of life. And that life is for today, here and now. So let each one of us, whether we might consider ourselves kings or shepherds, whether we are the best or worst of spellers claim CHRISTmas back. Let us spell out to the world that Christ was and still is love.

‘So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of grace and truth, unfailing love and faithfulness.’ John 1.14.

Yours in Jesus,
Rev Michelle Ireland

January 2014

Dear Friends,

How was Christmas for you? How was the preparation period - the season of Advent? Did you get it all done - were you ready in time? Did you remember what it was all about? No doubt there was frustration and disappointment amongst it all and that horrible thing Stress!!! It never seems to escape us in this modern world, so full of activity and pressures and expectancy of one kind and another. And now Christmas is all over again or is it?

Already we are moving into another New Year. What will this year hold we wonder. There is always a feeling of clearing the mess of past days and weeks, of sorting out and clearing out. I’m always glad of the opportunity to start again motivated by a brand New Year. We have little to sort out really. Just packing the decorations away for next time. Sorting out the left over food when family and friends have all gone and then having a really good clean through, getting the place in order again.

Hopefully everything went smoothly for you – however it is in January that we can sometimes reflect on the things that went wrong at Christmastime. Sometimes it can be bad weather causing tragedy and disruption everywhere. The loss of home and possessions which can never be replaced. The loss of life, little children, family members and friends. Heartache and heartbreak! So often when there are natural or man made disasters at this time of year they seem to hit home the hardest. We can be forgiven if we begin to wonder what life is all about and to question all that has happened both near and far.

And yet such experiences are not dissimilar to those of people in days gone by. At least the emotions are the same. When God sent His Son Jesus, a special Baby born in Bethlehem all those years ago, whose Birthday we have just celebrated, the world was in a mess. There was disruption and disorder, war and rumours of war. Turmoil of heart and mind and soul. To such a world God sent His Son Jesus to bring Peace amidst it all. He was the fulfilment of the promise of a Wonderful Counsellor, Someone to help us, Someone to listen to us, Someone to love us and understand us. He is Mighty God, in Control of all that happens although we don’t understand. He is an Everlasting Father who we can trust in every situation. He is The Promised Prince of Peace.

Is Christmas all over? NO! we may have packed the decorations away but that tiny baby born in Bethlehem to be Saviour of the world can never be packed away, he still has the power to save us and bring us ongoing peace if only we will believe in Him and trust Him in every situation and follow in His ways.

It’s not too late for me to wish you a Happy and Blessed New Year. - 2014. I wonder what you will do with it. For me, I’m resolving to follow Jesus - the Saviour born at Bethlehem more closely and to seek out how I can please Him more as the days come and go and as this New Year unfolds. Care to join me?

Every Blessing
Rev Michelle Ireland

February 2014

Dear friends

So here is it again. February and Valentines day! A day full of customs and gestures , cards, red roses, romantic meals, the gentleman serenading his lady in the moonlight by the music of a mandolin – well maybe not the last one!

But there is something quite different about this day, a day when people can say I love you and say it out loud.

But how did this special day all start? Well there are various stories.

Legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during third century Rome. There was an Emperor at that time by the name of Claudius II. Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those that were married. With this thought in mind he outlawed marriage for young men in hopes of building a stronger military base. Supposedly, Valentine, decided this decree just wasn't fair and chose to marry young couples secretly. When Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine's actions he had him put to death.

Another legend has it that Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor's daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first 'valentine' himself when he wrote her a letter and signed it 'Your Valentine', words still used on cards today.

I don’t know whether Valentine would have drawn on his letter a huge big red heart shape with Cupid’s arrow through it, glance at any teenagers school books and you will probably see quite a few of those, the initials at the end of the arrow giving away a few secrets, but the heart has become the main symbol for love – why? Well our hearts are amazing organs because they pump the blood around our bodies.

A working heart is vital for us to survive. When our heart pumps blood, that blood goes to all the other parts of the body so that they work well too. When we say we love someone with ‘all our heart’ and ‘from the heart’ we mean, ‘with our whole self’, ‘from the centre of who we are’. We hold nothing back but give all we can ‘ whole heartedly.’ We are saying that we would do absolutely anything for the other person, because we love them so so much.

That is the ultimate love, a love which we see in God – perhaps the main verse of the Bible for many Christians is that found in John chapter 3 verse 16. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ God gave everything he possibly could to his people, the best valentine gift ever, the costliest gift ever because he loved each of the people he had created and that includes us today.

So how might you and I spend this valentine day, we might say we are past all that sentimental stuff, but we can never get too old for that! It is good to remember our loved ones and tell them how much we love them, even if it is many many years since the first time we shyly mentioned it.

Maybe for some people reading this today there isn’t one particular special person in our life, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t share our love with others – there are always opportunities aplenty for us to get those hearts pumping and to bring a bit of that love which is coursing around us to someone we meet - just saying something encouraging, giving that helping hand – they can all make a huge difference.

For when we show our love for each other and for God by saying and doing things that are good and right, that makes the other person feel good, and God is pleased.

Our hearts pump the blood around our bodies and all the parts of our bodies benefit from it. When we send out good thoughts and words and actions all parts of our community benefit and ‘love is in the air’.

So what might you do this valentines day?

Might you be all romantic and stick with the old fashioned traditions? If so have a lovely time.

Or perhaps you might be one who wishes to think a bit wider in the way you love and do something to benefit the community around you. If so I wish you well.

Whatever you do, I hope that somewhere along the way you will be able to hear the words I LOVE YOU and that you will be able to repeat them back WHOLEHEARTEDLY and remember God never stops saying those words to you!

Rev Michelle Ireland

March 2014

Dear friend

We are now in the season of Lent, the first day is actually Ash Wednesday 5th March. What is a Lent about? Well, many things, but perhaps one element is that if connecting. The call for better and faster broadband connection is often on the news. For business and for family life, technology is important for keeping in touch. One of the most striking recent changes in society is the way in which we have become digitally connected. And that’s as much for the old as the young. Digital connectivity has spread from computers to phones of ever-increasing complexity and cost. People text while waiting at red traffic lights. Conversations are interrupted by the need to check incoming messages. Silent couples at restaurant tables stare intently at their phones. It seems everybody everywhere is connected almost all the time.

There are certainly benefits. Smartphones allow us to consult with friends. Help us manage tangled social lives, check timetables, locate quotes – and even read the Bible. But I wonder if we have lost the art of silence.

Do we know any longer how to be silent? In silence we come face to face with ourselves. Silence with its freedom from distractions, allow us the opportunity to focus on what is necessary.

At the start of his ministry, Jesus spent forty days alone in the empty solitude of the wilderness. ‘Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple.'  Matthew 4 

Most of us would struggle to cope with forty minutes of being unconnected!

Jesus knew the importance of solitude. Luke 6:12-15 ‘In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.’ That’s where he got the perspective for his busy ministry. That’s why his words still speak to us across the centuries. In the silence he fed on his Father’s word and found strength in doing God’s will. Have you ever been in a secluded place, by yourself, just to think about things and to be still? Try it, if you can. It’s a good time to evaluate our lives - to listen to our ‘inner voice’. It’s also a great time to pray and find God.

Every Blessing
Rev Michelle Ireland

May 2014

Dear friends,

Do you ever feel that you are going round and round in circles and getting nowhere! A few years ago six people did that on purpose, they spent three days going round and round in circles in order to claim a place in the Guinness Book of Records, the world record for consecutive hours on a Ferris wheel. The riders got off the wheel twice during the ride due to lightning. They ate and slept on the wheel, and had privacy curtains and portable toilets!

Clearly everything was done to make their ordeal as comfortable and safe as possible but it can hardly have been fun. Probably only the incentive of achieving the record kept them going.

In life too, going round in circles can make life feel frustrating, boring and unfulfilling. Only if there seems to be some purpose to it does it seem bearable. In the Bible we find people doing just that, in the Old Testament the people who left Egypt with Moses complained that he was leading them nowhere. Yet in retrospect, their time in the wilderness was very formative for them as a people. It was a time when their relationship with God deepened and they learnt about trust and living as a community.

Now after Easter, we have the disciples who have been told to wait for the power from on high to come to them. With all that happened to Jesus their friend, they must have wondered what the future really did hold for them. Perhaps they felt that they were going around in circles and getting nowhere. It was to be a necessary time for them, I am sure that they grew together as a set of believers, gaining strength from one another. And when the power came at Pentecost it was well worth the wait!

If you ever feel that life doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, it may be worth exploring what value it might nevertheless have. Sometimes it is only afterwards that we realise what has been learnt from apparently unproductive periods in our lives. Occasionally, if we try, some purpose can be found in them even while the wheel’s still turning.

Every Blessing
Rev Michelle Ireland

July 2014

Dear Friends,

Some of you may well be planning your holidays, now that the Summer months are here. It may be a day trip out, or a week away. One of my favourite places is Blackpool, a place I guess that you either like or loathe. I love going there, there is something atmospheric about it - the sand, pier, cafes and lots of smiling faces. Blackpool doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is.

For those of you with a nostalgic leaning, the Tower Ballroom with its dance floor and Wurlitzer organ evokes many wonderful memories I am sure.

For others, who like a little more excitement, there is of course the Pleasure Beach - it is always great watching people, seeing their faces change from panic to pleasure and back again! On the Pleasure Beaches Website it says this, about the ride called The Big One.

‘Brace yourself for The Big One. The Pleasure Beach’s biggest, fastest, scariest rollercoaster will have you shaking in anticipation and screaming in delight. At a towering height of 235 ft it holds the crown as one of Europe’s tallest rollercoasters offering three adrenaline packed minutes of coasting.’

I personally leave that to others to test out!

But, we don’t have to go on a pleasure beach ride to have a roller coaster of a time though do we! Life can have its ups and downs - sometimes we find ourselves sky high, squealing with delight at how things are going, sometimes we feel that we are right down in the depths, at other times its almost like we are looking over the edge of what seems a terrifying precipice, and we just wish we could get off and regain our balance. The thing is whereas we can choose to go on these rides we can never quite predict how smooth or not our life’s journey is going to be. However, the one thing I firmly believe, is that we do not travel that path alone, there is one who travels with us, who had a roller coaster of a life himself and that is Jesus.

God Bless you all.
Rev Michelle Ireland

June 2014

Dear friends

June this year holds for Christians one of the most amazing days in the calendar, June 8th is as you may well know, Pentecost. The day when the Holy Spirit (the power of God) came to the Apostles and the "tongues of flame" appeared over their heads. You can find this account in the New Testament in Acts chapter 2. In artwork this is usually depicted as a small orangey-red flame hovering over their heads. I'm sure you've seen this type of illustration many, many times... This year we will be holding our Pentecost Parade, thank you Tom M. for your vision for this day.

Seeing some candles the other day, it suddenly occurred to me that a flame is not a little orangey-red blurb hovering there, it's a small piece of blinding light. (Sometimes is takes a long time for us to see the obvious!)

I started to imagine being part of your typical Jerusalem market day crowd, and seeing a dozen men suddenly appear with what looked like flame over their heads. With a light shining on each of them that blinded one to look upon it.

And then it occurred to me that as bright as it must have been, as bright as the candles were that I was actually looking at, that this was the Light of the Spirit, and the rays of light must have streamed forth, like the sunbeams do sometimes, and I always call that "glories". Glories streaming from Heaven above, right in the middle of a mundane day... and just stopping everyone in their tracks as the light pierced their hearts, so they could hear the Word of the Lord being preached for all to hear.

What an amazing day that must have been! Imagine that happening in our village! My prayer today is that we all become filled with that Light, everyday, with the glories that stream from Heaven above, and that we are filled with His wisdom, His grace, and His peace.

Have a wonder-filled day, everyone!

Rev Michelle Ireland