Dear Friends
Many thousands of people in our country make pilgrimages weekly to the temples of their faith, others—unable to make the pilgrimage to the temple—head to shrines up and down the land, others still invest that the religious ceremony be brought into their homes. The deities and priests of the religion perform in contest against each other to prove whose temple, which followers of the cult, are the greater. News media provide daily updates on the status of their priests as followers invest their time, their energy, their talents and their money for the sake of receiving identity, community and a purpose to their lives.
Our world might not understand the fervency but is willing to accept the religious compulsion of football fans. Their temples—stadiums up and down the land—serve as holy places and, should they not be able to attend the sacred contest in person, fans may attend pubs which serve as shrines where the hallowed match is broadcast.
And yet this religion of the masses cannot answer the ultimate questions. It serves to mollify its followers, lift them in victory and give them community solace in defeat, but is based exclusively in this life, in this reality.
I have come that they may have Life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
— John 10:10
Christ comes offering much more than any earthly religion. While the heroes of football may end up being preserved in legend, Christ comes and offers Life to all: not life according to this world which ends in death, not life where only heroes are frozen in statues for an existence in a brittle form until that falls to pieces, but dynamic Life, a Life of growth and renewal, a Life of joy, a Life where suffering is an opportunity for becoming more like God, a Life where even death is faced down as a defeated enemy.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, religious life is all around us as people try to find meaning, worth and belonging in this world. And we have the only thing which more than placates their desires but offers to allow them to transcend this earthly reality and become true human persons radiating the Light of God, we have the Gospel of Christ. But for this to be effective—for us to be able to show that change towards Life is possible—we ourselves need to be converted, we ourselves need to repent, we ourselves need to live the reality of the Resurrection in our lives: not in a theoretical sense, neither as a hobby nor a pastime, but actually, persistently, daily turning to the Lord who has set us free if only we are willing to choose Life.
For you were once darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord. Walk as children of Light
(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
— Ephesians 5:8–10
Let us turn again to the living God, let us be the Beacon and Lighthouse guiding others to Christ, let us be more than Christians in name and be Christians in deed.
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Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
How many people, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, reached out to touch the hem of the Lord’s garment? How many countless persons—men, women and children—must have reached out just to touch His clothing! And each received a blessing, each had an encounter with the divine, each touched God. We do not, either, know their motives, their desires, their intentions, but Christ did. And to each he grants what is good for their salvation.
Christ had withdrawn, crossed the sea with his disciples to the land of the Gadarenes (Luke 8:26–39) and released the man from captivity to demons, “clothed and in his right mind.” (verse 35) Now He returns across the lake, to Capernaum which is the centre of His ministry in Galilee, and a man falls before Him. And he should fall before Him—He is the Christ, the Son of the living God—but he comes as a last gasp for his daughter. And the Lord hears him, though he comes as to a healer and not the Son of God, the Lord hears him. And He hears us.
But the Lord wishes to reveal to Jairus and to the disciples more of who He is. “Who was it that touched me?” And to us this is a ridiculous question, “Master, the multitudes surround you and press upon you!” Those countless people who had touched the Lord before had never been called out, but this was different. And an unclean woman came forward. She was at the fringes of society, ritually unclean for twelve years, and had none of the advantages of Jairus nor his daughter. She was an outcast, a pariah, but the Lord chose her to show what faithfulness is, what power he has, so that when news of the Jairus’s daughter’s death comes all may still have faith. “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
…
Read this Sermon, Do not fear; only believe.
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 1st November
Discussion on the Gospel of Matthew, 8 pm
Online only
Saturday 2nd November
Great Vespers, 6.30 pm
At 3rd URC Scout Hall, Chandlers Ford
Sunday 3rd November
Matins and Divine Liturgy, 9 am
At 3rd URC Scout Hall, Chandlers Ford
Online session is via Google Meet: please get in contact for the details.
Please join us: all are welcome, come and see.
Attending Church
We meet at 3rd URC Scout HQ, Kings Rd, Chandlers Ford SO53 2EY. The Scout hall is behind and to the left of the URC Church. Come and See.
Can I help you?
I am here for you, you need only ask. Is there a way I can support your life of faith? Get in touch.
Can you help the parish?
Yes, absolutely. Offer yourselves to the Lord: pray! Make available to him all your talents and ask him how he would like you to use them — listen for his reply.
Your prayers!
With love in Christ
Fr Alexander
[email protected]