The Reason for the Season.

 A few weeks ago, a letter dropped onto the doormat and emblazoned across it was

CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED,

that is like saying Jesus was never born. My youngest daughter Charlotte would have been upset by seeing this. She loved the lead up to Christmas and immensely enjoyed all the preparation, the hype and razzamatazz that went with it. She would start nagging me to put the Christmas tree up even though it might only have been the middle of November. The timing of taking the tree down always had to be negotiated as she would have been quite happy for it stay up until next the next year. She even enjoyed hearing the sometimes-tacky Christmas songs belting out in the shops far too early. Every year she would wait in eager anticipation and increasing excitement for the Coca-Cola ad to appear on the TV.  I do have to say that I have seen this year’s Coca-Cola advert. It made me smile as I thought about how excited Charlotte would have been on seeing it.

Yesterday was the first Sunday in Advent. Advent purely and simply means “coming” So how do we prepare for the coming of the Christ child this Christmas.  All too often we arrive at Christmas feeling totally frazzled. So much to do and so very little time in which to do it. Decorations to hang presents to buy and wrap, tree to buy or retrieve from the attic or back of the broom cupboard and decorate, Christmas cards to write, not to mention baking, cleaning, visiting, concerts, parties and so the list goes on. The social scene may be somewhat quieter this year but the lead up to Christmas will still I imagine be very hectic and extremely busy. In the midst of all these preparations let us not forget the reason for the season (corny I know but appropriate)

It is good to be ready and prepared for Christmas, but as well as focusing on all that there is to do, there is something else to consider, our hearts. How do we prepare our hearts to welcome the Christ Child? After all, isn’t this what Christmas is all about.

In the hall, I have a picture and each time I walk into the house I see it. Written on the picture is a verse from Psalm 46:10

                                     "Be still and know that I am God”

 It is a picture of peace and calm. Each time I look at the picture I can almost hear the waves gently breaking on the seashore and feel the sand between my toes. The sereneness and tranquillity of the scene helps me to let go of the daily comings and goings of my life.

So why not this Advent season do just that. Set aside some time each day to be still. even if it is only five minutes. It might help you to put to aside the busyness of the season, help you to remember the reason for the season and prepare your hearts for the coming of the Christ child.

 

Sunday Eucharist

 The service for the first Sunday of Advent can be found here

Intercessions

 The intercessions for the first Sunday of Advent can be found here

Advent Sessions

It is not too late to sign up for the Advent sessions.  After a successful introduction on 25th, we will have singing of hymns and carols and the advent candles will be lit.

2. 2nd December 2nd thought on 1st Advent: Hope   

3. 9th December 3rd thought on 2nd Advent: Peace  

4. 16th December 4th thought on 3rd Advent: Joy    

5. 23rd December 5th thought on 4th Advent: Love 

6. 
   

We know it’s not ideal to host these sessions on zoom but in these uncertain times I look at this as an opportunity to think of each other’s safety and as Paul says to Romans that  

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose”. (Romans 8:28)  

It is very hard to do good things in bad circumstances but as a believer, we have hope in that hope we can live in peace with joy and spread the word of God. 

I am very much looking forward to seeing you all so we can lift each other in spirit during these sessions.  

Praise the Lord. 

Please come and join me in God’s spirit along with your family and friends. 

If you would like to join these sessions, please contact me on (07883063137or kathreenshahbaz@gmail.com) so I can send you the zoom invite. 

If you have concerns about using Zoom, please still contact me and we can run through the procedure with you.

With lots of love and every blessing, 

Kathreen Shahbaz. 

Can't see the wood for the trees

Yesterday’s Old Testament reading set for morning prayer made me sit up and be intrigued. It was from Isaiah (which is one of my favourite books in the Bible). This particular verse drew my attention to the type of trees that were mentioned:

“I will put in the wilderness the cedar,

the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;

I will set in the desert the cypress,

the plane and the pine together.

so that all my see and know,

all may consider and understand,

that the hand of the Lord has done this.” Isaiah 41:19-20.

The Ceder, is a tree that can grow up to huge hights of 35 metres and because of this provides a good area of shelter. And, because of is size the wood was used to build huge things like temples. It is an evergreen and a source of essential oil.

The Acacia tree is valued for long roots that can stabilize the soil in areas threatened by erosion. The roots reach deep underground and therefore the tree can tolerate extreme drought conditions.

The Myrtle tree is an evergreen and useful for making oil to heal.

The Olive tree is an evergreen and extremely tough. It has the ability to re-grow even when damaged by fire all the way to the base. It most loved and known for its fruits and oil.

And then finally the Cypress tree, which is fast growing, but grows best near water.

I looked at all the properties of these trees and realised the impact of what God is saying in these verses. Placing the Ceder, Acacia, Myrtle, and Olive in the wilderness is setting up a provision for His people in the bareness and barrenness. Shelter, food, balm to heal, and a sign of endurance and resilience. These sources of life are evergreen, like His love and provision. They will not fade, He will not fade away, His promise is for ever, resilient, fruitful, relentless.

Then I realised that also God is putting trees in places where they are not normally able to thrive, so all may see and know that the Lord has done this. Like the Cypress in the desert when it likes lots of water and grows next to rivers.

What can we learn from these trees that God plants?

I love the characteristics of them.

Deep rooted, resilient, healers, shelter, a food source, stabilizers.

All things that are called out of us to be as we walk with Jesus.

Can we be resilient even when we feel we have been burnt down to our very base?

Can we be stable and frequent in our prayer life to sustain us even when things feel like they are falling apart?

Can we be a food source and shelter to our neighbours?

Can we be healers by listening and showing love to all?

What I am saying in all of this, is that all may grow with the Lord in whatever pasture is around them, even when it seems impossible.

And, in the impossibility, God shows us that He can plant things in us that we did not realise could be possible, He can grow anything anywhere.

We do not need to be perfect to be able to receive God’s love, but awake and open to His word, our hearts open to the possibility of impossibility.

The grace and wonders that God works in and through us is that all my see and know, all may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this.

All may grow with the Lord in whatever pasture is around them, even when it seems impossible. 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations

Congratulations to Freda and Terry Davies who celebrate their Diamond Wedding Anniversary today.  

Freda joined the congregation last year after her own parish church closed and is keeping in contact by watching the services on-line.  

Freda and Terry's children have given them a present on the 26th of each month during the year and today they got a card from HM the Queen.

Another one of Lyn's Midweek Musings

 

Most of you know that one of my Granddaughters has a life threatening illness (two actually) and that her Father is a Royal Marine, which means that he is away from home more often than not.  For this reason, my daughter has formed a bubble with Dave and myself.  It is also for this reason that Dave and I have to be extremely careful.  I have asked that anyone entering the office cleans all surfaces, and anything that they may have touched, with anti bacterial wipes before leaving.  Even when we are not in enforced lock down, I have to do what I can to avoid even socially distanced physical contact, conducting meetings via zoom and wherever possible, working alone rather than with my colleagues.  This goes against the grain somewhat, but it is important and a sacrifice I have to make.  I realise that I am far from alone in this, indeed most of us are doing much the same, just to comply with government guidance, the difference is, due to my personal circumstances,  I am quite possibly more acutely aware of the need.

 

This brings me to the point of this blog post: how aware are we of the things that are life threatening to the Spirit of God that dwells within us?  How much care do we take to protect it?  Some of the things that are life threatening to the spirit within us are common to all, but some vary from one individual to another.  For some, solitude feeds the Spirit while for others, loneliness is damaging.  For some silence is important while for others, singing helps their spirit soar, whether that singing be traditional or modern, soft and gentle or enthusiastically loud.  Sometimes, to protect the Spirit of God within, we need to avoid things that we might find pleasant.  Even though we love to spend time with our Granddaughter, and have permission to do so,  to protect her, we stay away unless we are needed, either to calm her, or as in recent days, to get her to a medical appointment when her Mother was unable to drive.  What things do you find pleasant that could actually be spiritually damaging?  It could be something that in moderation is fine, but excessive amounts of anything can be damaging.  Do we spend excessive amounts of time or money on anything?  Could these things shift our focus from the God that we serve?  There are many, many things to consider.

 

Advent is fast approaching, and like Lent, it is a time for a spiritual spring clean or more appropriately, a December de-clutter.  Let us resolve to take time during the coming season, to reflect on our spiritual lives, asking for God’s guidance on how to protect His Spirit within us, and let us act upon the guidance that He gives.

 

God bless

Wind Knocked Out Of Your Sail

 Last Wednesday in her midweek musings Revd Lyn began by saying "It's amazing how the Lord can use the same thing to say something quite different to different people, according to their need," She then went on to explain how the image of a field of cobwebs had spoken to her husband Dave and then how it had spoken to herself. She finished by asking what does this image say to you? 

The image spoke to me of a sail on a boat that has suddenly caught some wind. As the wind fills the sail, it begins looks like the shape of a wing.  

Of course, you can't see the wind filling the sail of the boat but you know it is there as the boat picks up speed.

Yesterday I was out walking with Archie when he suddenly stopped and said: "what's that nana? It was the sound of the wind rustling what few leaves there were left on the trees. How do you explain the wind to a 2 year

 old who can feel and hear it but can't see it? 

I am reminded of the Holy Spirit. The first time the Holy Spirit turns up in the bible is as wind. Like the wind, the Holy Spirit is invisible and unpredictable. Just as a boat needs the wind to fill sail so

that it can move along the water, we also need the holy spirit to come and fill us. Life without the Holy Spirit is like having the wind knocked out of your sail. Having our lives filled with Holy Spirit equips us for a life of service, helping us to build up the body of Christ here on earth.

Christ the King

 The Eucharist service can be found here

Sunday Eucharist for Christ the King

Rev'd Lyn's sermon can be viewed here

Rev'd Chris's Intercessions can be viewed here

The service is planned for a live stream, you will be able to watch it here later today.

Watching and waiting

I’ve spent another week using the garden as a way to escape from the crushing reality of lockdown. This week I put a bird feeder in the garden. It is a tall one that has many hooks for the feeders to hang from. It also has a basket type arm for loose seed and one for a water dish.

I have watched each day to see if the birds had taken any interest. First up was the local Pidgeon which was on all counts huge. A round pillowy specimen who realised it could sit in the water dish and help itself to the seed. 

Next up was the squirrel. Now some may remember that I had shared my challenge with the squirrels destroying the plastic feeders in the past. This time I was prepared and had metal feeders. I also made a conscious decision to located the whole thing away from potential climbing points to discourage mr squirrel. 

He was adamant though, and I watched as he tried to climb up the pole. Satisfyingly  he slid down. 

1-0 to me. 

Then in a feat of bravery he launched himself off the fence and landed with a thump on the very top! 

1-1 

Well I was equally impressed and annoyed. Soon he got himself into the seed and the less robust feeder.

1-2 to Mr Squirrel. 

So today I removed the water dish so he could not copy what the pigeon was doing, sitting at leisure and stuffing his chops.

2-2.a draw for now!

Anyway, after these frequent visitors were managed I have started to see more and more birds arrive. A robin, blue tits, blackbirds, a thrush, and a jackdaw. There are others and I am beyond excited to see them.

As I watched the sun start to set, I listened to the birds sing and in my mind I had a glimpse of summer, where the longer nights are set to a backdrop of birdsong. I closed my eyes and I could smell the perfume of grass and flowers in the heavier warm air.

In that moment I realised that whatever happens over these next couple of weeks, the seasons will continue to change. And that also means Christmas will arrive too whatever it looks like. 

The celebration of Jesus Christ being born in a manger, fed and swaddled by his blessed mother, will happen. 

Our remembering of God dwelling with us will happen. 

It might not be how we expected it, but God’s love and joy will find a way to us, all we need to do is to keep watch.

I will keep watch over these next few weeks to see what other birds will arrive in the garden. And as I do, I will keep watch for glimpses of God’s love and joy as we journey towards Advent and then Christmas.

 

Midweek musings

Midweek musings

During this second lock down, Dave and I have been visiting our prayer field.  I was surprised one day, on a bright, early morning, to see hundreds of cobwebs that looked like a lacy carpet on the grass.  Here is one, close up and you may be able to see lots of others like a pale topping on the green grass.

It's amazing how the Lord can use the same thing to say something quite different to different people, according to their need.

Dave told me of how he had been concerned about how he would manage a certain situation with limited resources.  Seeing the carpet of cobwebs made him of think of manna in the wilderness, that milk coloured ground covering that was God's provision for His people in need.  This spoke to Dave of his need to let go of concerns because God would provide.  It was just what he needed at that time.

I had been concerned about many things, the death of my Mother, the ongoing devastation of Covid 19 and the life of the church and its people with renewed restrictions.  I was seeing no one from church, no sign of life.  I suddenly got a sense of unseen life, things going on, unseen.  I have never once seen a spider in that field but there must be hundreds of them to produce so many cobwebs.  I may not see my Mother now but that doesn't mean there is no life there, and so with church, just because I don't see people now, doesn't mean that there is no life there.  People are reading spiritual books, doing good deeds for friends, neighbours and relatives; engaging with online worship, spending time in prayer and countless other things that I don't necessarily see.  I needed to be made aware of that and the good Lord opened my eyes and eased my mind.

And what of you?  What does this image say to you?  Perhaps this lock down may be a time to clear away the cobwebs, no, not in your house but in your head or your heart.   Maybe it says something totally different to you.  Ask God to help you to see something around you today, that will speak to you of His provision for you, His love for you, or whatever you need from Him today.

God bless

Lyn

An Autumn Day Out

Well, after all the rain of the last few weeks, who could have predicted the glorious sunshine we had just over a week ago. It makes such a difference to get up in the morning and see the sun in the sky.

I took advantage of sunny weather and went to the park with my grandson Archie. We fed the ducks, played ball on the field, had a dance on the bandstand and watched the ongoing building of the new children's playground. Archie was enthralled with watching the digger load the dumper truck with soil and then seeing it tipped into a hole, slowly filling it up. I do have to say though, he was disappointed that all the puddles had dried up.

The weather was so good, we even had a picnic lunch in the park. We bought the food from the park cafe and sat on a park bench to eat it. It was very yummy indeed. Never thought we would be doing that on a crisp November day.

But the best was yet to come. When the sun is shining one, there is one thing that has to be done. It doesn't matter whether it is spring, summer, autumn or winter one just has to have an ice cream

It was great to see so many people out and about enjoying the sunshine. The trees were in full autumn glow. The orange, brown, yellow and bronze colour of the leaves reminded me of the flames of the coal fire in my childhood days. The leaves carpeting the ground reminded, of walking to school and trudging through the dry crisp leaves and hearing them crunch underfoot.  

Deciduous trees will always shed their leaves in Autumn The trees have to let their leaves fall so that come spring, new growth can take place. Sometimes we also need to let go, let go of whatever it is that is preventing our growth spiritually. There is only one way to do this and that is to take it to the Lord in prayer. Who knows what new growth this may lead to.

 

Sunday Eucharist

The service presided at by Rev'd Christine can be viewed here

The Sermon by Rev'd Amy Elizabeth is here

The Intercessions by Rev'd Amy Elizabeth are here

Digging deep for joy

I have been spending time in my garden every day since this second lockdown began. My decision to embark on this activity came from sitting on the decking in a largely melancholy mood. I watched the heavy Autumnal sun break through the grey scattered sky. The warmth seemingly broke through all my layers of self-preservation that I have formed over this pandemic. Tears fell into my now tepid cup of tea, then suddenly I felt my melancholy melt away as I realised the Lord was with me.

I had forgotten how much being outside had such a positive affect on me. Somehow through these times I had stopped praying outside. I guess it is because the only places I have been recently is at my desk, in church, or in a supermarket. Somehow on this chilly sun-soaked afternoon I felt I had found a way of distracting myself when everything felt overwhelming and  joy was sparse. 

So I’m eight days in and my most recent activity in the garden was putting in a small pond. I had no experience of how to do this but I thought I would give it a go. So there I was with a pond liner, a spade, and a little bit of determination. I was excited as I neatly excavated the lawn in sensible pieces (just in case it did turn out to be a terrible idea), and so the digging began. I was making progress, and then there were roots from various bushes. Then as I plunged the spade in I hit something hard. Scraping the mud away I saw that it was a large stone. Combined with the roots and now the stone I started to get a feeling that perhaps this was a bad idea. I toyed with the idea of giving up and that melancholy mood threatened to creep in. However, I kept going and removed the stone, worked around the root, put in the liner, filled it with water, and all of a sudden I had a pond!

I had a thought as I was digging that our experience of this pandemic was similar to my pond building. At first many were energised and raring to go in the first lockdown, motivation was high and so was hope. As we got deeper there were stones and roots, patience became thinner and at the beginning of this lockdown I like many wondered if there was an end in sight. This is a bad analogy perhaps, but I realised that I had to keep going when making the pond, and what I’m saying today is that when we find it hard to find motivation, hope, compassion, and love; our Lord Jesus Christ is there to listen to us and to give us the peace and strength we need.

I do not think that Gardener’s World will be hurrying down to take photos of my little pond. However, it is a sign to me that Jesus is with us through all of these troubling days. I am reminded that Jesus promises that sorrow will turn into joy. Jesus spoke of such whilst talking to his disciples before the crucifixion, he says, “..you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:22)

Through all of this, no one can take away the joy of being disciples of Jesus; not the churches being closed, or the lack of the Eucharist, not seeing our friends, our partners, our families, none of this, and no-one can take the joy of love from us, for God is love, and His love is dug deep inside of us.

 

 

Advent Sessions

 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,  

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” 

 (Titus 2:11) 

This is going to be a very different Advent season for a very different Christmas celebration, but just like Titus said, the grace of God has appeared years ago that offers salvation to all people in all circumstance at all the times.  

How can we make a difference to celebrate a different Christmas this year?  

God sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ our saviour to the world for our salvation as a baby years ago. However, we all know in faith that Jesus will not be coming as a baby but instead, his second coming will be as a king. 

We can see the world is in pain, sorrow and crying for His 2nd coming.  

Are We Ready for Christ’s Second Coming?  

Let us remember his birth and celebrate this Christmas and also prepare ourselves for his second coming.  

Here are the best opportunities this advent season to get ready for Christ’s second coming, organised by St John Baptist church. I am very grateful for Revd Lyn for giving me this opportunity to host and organise all these sessions on Zoom every Wednesday from 1:30pm till 2pm starting from 25th November 2020. 

1. 25th November 1st thought on preparing ourselves for Christmas.   

2. 2nd December 2nd thought on 1st Advent: Hope   

3. 9th December 3rd thought on 2nd Advent: Peace  

4. 16th December 4th thought on 3rd Advent: Joy    

5. 23rd December 5th thought on 4th Advent: Love 

We know it’s not ideal to host these sessions on zoom but in these uncertain times I look at this as an opportunity to think of each other’s safety and as Paul says to Romans that  

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose”. (Romans 8:28)  

It is very hard to do good things in bad circumstances but as a believer, we have hope in that hope we can live in peace with joy and spread the word of God. 

I am very much looking forward to seeing you all so we can lift each other in spirit during these sessions.  

Praise the Lord. 

Please come and join me in God’s spirit along with your family and friends. 

If you would like to join these sessions, please contact me on (07883063137) so I can send you the zoom invite. 

With lots of love and every blessing, 

Kathreen Shahbaz.