4th April, 2010
Oh oh! Don’t tell the Bishop, but have you noticed that there was no sermon on Palm/Passion Sunday or Maundy Thursday or Good Friday! What is happening? Has the Vicar run out of things to say? Has he been sooo busy that there has been no time for preparation? Perhaps he has lost his way. Or hadn’t you even noticed?
A number of folk have said how much the Easter services have meant to them but stopped short of observing that there had been no sermon!
So what has made these services special or different, apart from having no sermon?
Maybe it is because we have spent a large part of the service listening to the Bible being read to us. As Christians we believe that the Bible is God’s word. It is a living document not just an historic account of the ancient Hebrews or first centaury Christians. As we listen to the Bible, God will speak to us. We become more conscious of what God has done and is doing in our lives. We become conscious of things that God wants to challenge us about; attitudes, behaviour, relationships. Some of us have discovered this during our recent Sunday Lenten studies as we have listened to the Bible, allowed God’s word to seep in and spent time in meditation. It can be a bit scary when things long forgotten reappear or when we feel that God wants something new and different of us, or for us. And even just sitting quietly can be very confronting!
We need something to fill up the space, we want someone else to do the thinking, we want anything (even the Vicar’s sermons) to block out what God might really want to say to us.
However, rather than being distracted it could be much more profitable to ‘read, mark and inwardly digest’ God’s words for us. To learn to put life on hold, sit quietly and hear from God.
We will be practicing that during our prayer time at 5pm on the first Sunday each month.
Finally, please do not think you are off the hook as far as the Vicar’s sermons are concerned - far from it! We have Ascension in our sights now, then Pentecost, Trinity Sunday and on into the weeks of what we call ‘ordinary time’ with plenty of good sermon fodder in all of that!
Posted by: Rev. Alex Packett
7th March, 2010
Last week saw many of us participate in the Westernport Festival. It was a great team effort.
It was, as usual, Nikki who acted as shepherd and guide. (Or perhaps more like a sheep dog as she rounded us up to help!)
Thank you to all who took part in whatever way.
Our style might have lacked the pizzazz and razzamatazz of some of those around us. However I was proud to hear the parade commentator proclaim that the Christian Churches have been part of the Hastings community for more than 150 years.
What did we achieve by decorating Roy’s truck and being another part of the passing parade? What did we achieve by offering an Oasis in the middle of the hurly burly of the carnival atmosphere?
We will never be able to measure the effectiveness of the time and energy expended but that is not our concern. We did it because we believe that God has put us in the middle of this community to reflect his presence among the people and his care for his people.
So long as we are here we are called to be light and salt in the community and to make best use of whatever opportunity presents itself.
All of us who took part in the festival, in whatever way we did, left the foreshore with a feeling of accomplishment. But it was not only us who had a sense of achievement.
I saw a number of people tackle the skill of stilt walking and plate twirling. A few tried, fell off and walked away; some others fell off again and again and were disappointed that they couldn’t do it. Most were able to master it and left with something better than a show bag in their possession.
There is a picture in that for us as well.
As we tackle Kingdom work some things will come naturally to us, other things we will have to work at. Sometimes we will see a clear result and at other times we will be left wondering what we have achieved.
Once again the answer is to know that we are about God’s work, in God’s time and for God’s glory.
Posted by: Rev. Alex Packett
7th February, 2010
The New Year always looks like a blank sheet just ready for a new start. However, often before we are ready, we find ourselves with a diary full of regular things that we are involved with. It also seems that ‘Murphy’s law applies, that when we think we have things neatly planned and prepared, something will happen to change it.
Sometimes, and without warning events crop up and our plans have to be put to one side. This can make us anxious and we worry about what we have to leave unattended. On the other hand new opportunities can be exciting and when the unexpected crops up we find resources to cope. These resources can be discovering inner strength that we didn’t believe we had or allowing others to minister to us.
There are some changes afoot for us at Holy Trinity that we are planning for. God is blessing us with growth in attendance at worship. For this reason we are to trial, this term, an additional 8am Holy Communion service each Sunday.
sundays@5 will not recommence and instead we will use Archbishop Frier’s material for our pre Easter study commencing Sunday Feb 21 at 6pm. This pattern will be reviewed after Easter. Our regular 1st Sunday Praise, Prayer and Proclamation service will also look a little different as members of the congregation including our children take charge of that. The Vestry have agreed to look at some redevelopment of our buildings. A building committee will be formed to consider various proposals. Plans for that will include an architects briefing, costings and a budget to pay for the work. These changes should result in improved facilities for all who use our property.
In all of this we can rest assured that God is unchanging and unchangeable and what we have experienced of God’s love for us in the past gives us confidence for the future. As disciples of Jesus we are called to be faithful in prayer, bible study and attendance at worship, loving God wholeheartedly and our neighbour as ourselves. And none of that needs to change!
Posted by: Rev. Alex Packett
