There were crowds to welcome Jesus. A few were His followers. They recognised something special about Him, something about His teaching, something about the way He interacted with people. They’d stick with Him through thick and thin. Some thought He was a good teacher. They liked the Sermon on the Mount, the lovely parables. It was ‘nice’ to hear
someone talk about the meek, the widow, the orphan. They weren’t too sure about His mixing with ‘tax collectors and sinners’ but He was good with children. There were those for whom Jesus was the latest in a line of fashionable, charismatic leaders, the latest ‘fad’, here today, gone tomorrow. They’d lap up His teachings that made them feel ‘good’. And the odd one or two who were looking for a revolutionary leader. Jesus was the one who was going to overthrow the Romans, and if the odd dagger in the back helped, so much the better. So they all cheered that first Palm Sunday; palm leaves, coats, hand-waving, the lot. ‘Hosanna, hosanna!’ But Jesus didn’t start the revolution; He caused too much trouble to be a ‘fad’; some of the things He said were uncomfortable and not so ‘nice’. In the end, only His followers, His true disciples, stayed with Him.

Sometimes they strew His way,
And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
Hosannas to their King:
Then ‘Crucify!’ is all their breath,
And for His death they thirst and cry.
They rise and needs will have
My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they save,
The Prince of life they slay,
Yet cheerful He to suffering goes,
That He His foes from thence might free.

Rev Phil

Mia is a pedigree Vizsla. She has a Kennel Club record proving her pedigree. (Amba may have a pedigree, we’re not sure—she’s just a bundle of youthful energy in a wirey coat!)
In terms of church attendance, I have ‘pedigree’. My ‘mother’ church had, and still has, strong links with Oak Hill Theological College, with many students and staff choosing
to attend Christ Church, Cockfosters. My parents were PCC members and Sunday school leaders. Dad was a verger, sidesman, and regular attender at Keswick Bible Week.
Mum sang in the choir, was Overseas Missionary secretary, and attended Billy Graham rallies in 1954 & ’55. My birth nearly interrupted a Sunday School leaders meeting. I first went to church aged 2weeks, was baptised on 3rd February 1963, and confirmed on 4th May 1978.
As I grew up, I attended Climbers, Explorers, Pathfinders, Koinonia and Sunday Fellowship. I still have my BCP, presented for 40 consecutive Sunday attendances at Explorers.
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about God or Jesus. After listing his ‘pedigree’ in his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes:
‘I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord’
What mattered to Paul was not his past record but his present knowing ‘Christ Jesus my Lord’. He wanted to ‘know Christ, to be ‘found in Him’, to ‘gain Christ’.
Like Paul, I can claim ‘pedigree’. And like Paul, for me my pedigree isn’t important. So I can join with him in saying:
‘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.’

Mothering Sunday

Like a mother, church is , or should be, unconditionally on your side. As church we are there for one another, caring, supporting, ready to go the extra mile; we are there for the homeless, the refugee, the disadvantaged.

Like a mother, church sees your potential. We are each made in God’s image, there is something of God in each of us. Church encourages us to be the very best version of ourselves because that’s how God sees us.

Mothers are always ready to forgive. At the core of our message as church is the fact that we are forgiven people, and we so we should be ready to forgive. And we recall that forgiveness came at a great cost, the Cross on Calvary. It was on the Cross that Jesus stretched out His arms to say, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you’, to reconcile us to God. And we, as church, are called to this ministry of reconciliation:

God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5: 19-20)

Rev Phil

       Happy Mothering Sunday Mum/Grandma xx

Water is essential to life. You can go for two-three weeks without food, but only two-three days without water. Water is essential for our bodies. 60-80% of our body is made up from water right down to the cellular level.

Health professionals recommend drinking 2 litres of water per day in order to maintain correct hydration levels. If we don’t keep our bodies hydrated, we suffer with lowered energy levels and reduced brain function. We can have tap water, highland spring water, arctic glacier water, slightly sparkling, fruit flavoured, isotonic. And there are water sommeliers, who can tell you where a particular water comes from, and which is the best to go with different foods.

The Bible likens our need for water to our need for God:

‘Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters…’

‘…my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.’ ‘…they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them…’

As we need our daily intake of water, so, in order to maintain our faith, we need to be daily refreshed by God.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“Behold, I freely give

the living water; thirsty one,

stoop down and drink, and live.”

I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream;

my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

Rev Phil

I remember learning about the heart for ‘O’ Level biology. I spent hours reproducing the drawing from the text book.

Its four chambers, the valves stopping a backflow of blood, the aorta carrying oxygenated blood from the heart, the whichever artery carrying de-oxygenated blood to the heart.

The heart is a physical organ getting on with its job. But the heart has become something more.

It is the symbol of love; I Y you. It’s the centre of discussion; ‘right at the heart of the matter’. It’s where our beliefs lie; ‘if you believe with all your heart’.

Paul says: ‘… it is with your heart that you believe…’

This is beyond simply knowing the facts.

It even goes beyond just believing. I believe that there was a person named Julius Caesar. That fact doesn’t really make any difference to the way in which I live my life.

James wrote, ‘You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder’.

It is believing in. In my heart, with all my heart. That small word ‘in’ conveys words like trust, hope, refuge, strength. I believe in God the Father. He is my hope, my strength, my refuge, the One in whom I trust.

I believe in Jesus Christ. He is my hope, my strength, my refuge, the One in whom I trust.

I believe in the Holy Spirit. He is my hope, my strength, my refuge, the One in whom I trust.

What is in our heart, what is at the very core of our being, is shown in how we speak to one another, how we relate to one another, within the church family and with our neighbours in Bromyard and Stoke Lacy.

During this time of Lent, let us ask for forgiveness for just believing, and take up the joy, the challenge, of believing in God, who is our hope, our strength, our refuge, the One in whom we trust.

You ask me how I know He lives; He lives within my heart!

Rev Phil

We seem to like to leave permanent markers of our presence. Go to the top of a mountain and there you’ll find a cairn.

At either end of a long-distance walk there’ll be a pile of stones.

Sometimes we mark significant, holy places – an emergent natural spring; burials in the form of long barrows; sites of martyrdom; holy appearances, such as at Walsingham.

Permanent structures, shrines to a past event.

On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter wanted to put up ‘shelters’ for Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Permanent markers, shrines to a holy appearance. It’s as if he wanted to freeze that moment in time.

But before he could go any further with his plan, Moses and Elijah have left, leaving Jesus. Jesus cannot be constrained, we cannot tie Him down.

Jethro Tull, a ‘70’s folk rock band, sang:

‘People, what have you done locked Him in His golden cage. Made Him bend to your religion Him resurrected from the grave.’

Are we in danger of trying to constrain Jesus, to freeze Him in time and place, to bind Him into our own particular church or world view? Or are we prepared to allow Him to move freely in the world, in our communities, in our churches, in our lives.

But we make His love too narrow by false limits of our own;

and we magnify His strictness with a zeal He will not own.

If our love were but more simple, we should take Him at His word; and our lives would be all gladness in the joy of Christ our Lord .

Rev Phil

The sea of Galilee is noted for its changeable weather – one minute serene and calm, the next squalling winds and rain.

Peter, James and John would have been only too aware of the lake’s temperamental nature and how to see out one of it’s vengeful squalls.

So when Jesus suggests crossing the lake by boat, they would have set out with confidence. But even with their confidence, when a squall does rise up, the disciples are afraid. This must have been worse that they’d previously experienced.

They turn to the sleeping Jesus for help. ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’

Getting to His feet, He told the wind, “Silence!” and the waves, “Quiet down!” They did it. The lake became smooth as glass (Luke 8:24, MSG)

After calming the storm, Jesus rebukes the disciples, ‘Where is your faith?’

And they are amazed, and a little frightened, wondering, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him.’

The episode teaches us two things.

Firstly, that Jesus, as the Son of God, has real power, such that even the winds and waves obey Him. And also, that with Jesus in our lives, we can trust Him to see us through the storms of life.

There is the children’s chorus:

With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm as we go sailing home.

I’m not sure that ‘smile at the storm’ is quite the phrase I’d use but you get the point!

We can smile at the storm, we can trust Him because of who He is, the Son of God; Son of the immortal, invisible, God only wise.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

when sorrows like sea billows roll;

whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well, with my soul.

Rev Phil

Rivers.

From a tiny source to a wide estuary; from burbling brook to a stately flow.

Constantly flowing, constantly trying to find the smoothest route to the open sea.

Along its banks plants grow, drawing on the water and nutrients. Insects live out their life cycles in and around the water. Fish, birds, and animals call rivers ‘home’.

Rivers are life-giving and energising. Jeremiah says that:

the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him … will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream (Jeremiah 17: 7-8)

The Psalmist echoes this though, saying that those whose:

… delight is in the law of the Lord … is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither (Psalm 1: 2)

We are like trees planted beside God’s life-giving, energising waters.

We are fed and nourished, and are fruitful, when we trust in God, when we put our confidence in Him, when we delight in His law.

But a tree also gives nourishment to others; birds and animals feed on the fruits and berries. A tree gives shelter; all manner of insects hide in the bark or just under the bark; birds roost and make their nests in the branches.

In the same way, as we are fed and nourished by God, we feed and nourish those around us. Not just as individuals, but as parishes and as a Benefice.

How am I, how are you, how are we, feeding and nourishing our family, friends, neighbours, communities?

Longing for food, many are hungry. Longing for water, many still thirst. Make us Your bread, broken for others, shared until all are fed.

Rev Phil

As you’ll be aware, I’m an angler. I’ve been fishing since my mid teens.

Over the years I’ve learned to ‘read the water’, to be able to tell see where fish might be hiding, look for signs of feeding activity, to assess what might be the right approach.

Generally there are two techniques that I use to catch fish. One is the trusted float, hook, piece of sweetcorn, the other is a swimfeeder with a hair-rig. Most of the time, these two simple techniques are all that I need to catch fish.

There are days when I seem to daw a blank, with nothing apparently taking the bait. At these times I have to think differently, try a different technique, a different part of the lake or river, a different rod, a change of reel.

Peter was an experienced fisherman. He’d followed in his Dad’s footsteps, watching and learning as he grew up. He knew how to catch fish, where to catch them, and the best time of day or night to catch them.

He and his friends had been fishing all night to no avail when Jesus comes along and says, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’

With, I think, immense self-control Peter replies:

‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.’

But then he adds:

‘But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’

The result is a miraculous catch so large that he has to get help to bring in the net.

There are times when we think that we’ve got this church thing sussed. We use this or that particular liturgy, these set of hymns or songs, meet in this sort of building.

And then Jesus says:

‘Put out into deep water, and let down your nets’.

Maybe there are times when Jesus is calling us to do it differently; a different liturgy; a change of hymns or songs; to try

silence; change our building; a new location. Have we the faith, the courage, to follow Peter’s example and say, ‘Because You say so, we will’?

Maybe there’s a miraculous catch waiting for us …

Rev Phil

Mission is God’s invitation to everyone to join in the Divine Dance.

2025 is the Diocesan Year of Engagement, when we are challenged as churches and individuals to engage with our communities. It is only through building relationships with people that we are able to engage in mission.

How do we do this practically?

My shelves have books entitled ‘Everyday Evangelism’, ‘Developing Healthy Churches’, ‘Online Mission and Ministry’, ‘Creating Missional Worship’, all of which should be a guide to mission, that act of inviting people to join in the Divine Dance.

The best advice I’ve found comes from ‘Chav Christianity’, which has a section entitled ‘Get off your backside and tell your friends about Jesus’. And it simply says to tell your story, share your faith, and share your hope.

Peter tells us to:

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15)

We don’t/shouldn’t need to initiate conversations about faith. If we are living Christ-like lives, people will be wanting to know what it is that makes us different. The way in which we live, think, act, talk, should attract people. A chorus I learned in my teens says:

They are watching you, marking all you do, hearing the things you say.

Let them see the Saviour as He shines in you, let His power control you every day.

When we are in the shops in Bromyard, when we’re waiting for the bus to Hereford or Worcester, when we’re at a show or concert at the Conquest, when we’re exercising in the Halo gym, when we’re walking the dog, when we’re at Stoke Lacy coffee morning.

If you want to engage with the community, don’t use the self-service checkouts in the Co-op, do always say ‘Hello’ to a

passing stranger, end every conversation with a simple ‘God bless’. It may take a little time, but doors will begin to open! A thought ascribed to St Francis of Assisi:

‘Preach the gospel, use words if necessary’

Rev Phil