Talks, Sermons and Reflections

A talk given at the Bury St Edmunds Come Together event. listen to ‘The gospel is at the heart of Christian unity’ on audioBoom Philippians 1.27-30 Great to be here, together with other brothers and sisters. For the last 1000 years, Christianity has had a privileged position in this country.  It has been the established religion of our nation Our monarchs have been crowned by our church leaders We have bishops in the Houses of Parliament Many of our laws are rooted in biblical truths But that is all changing rapidly I predicted about 25 years ago that in 100 years’ time Christians would be some of those few strange people who – among other things – believed in life long monogamous partnership between one man and one woman. I stick by that prediction, apart from the 100 year bit. And I would make another prediction. In 50 years’ time Christians will be that strange group of people who make babies the old fashioned way! The new normal will be that

1 Samuel 10.1-8 listen to ‘How do I know I really matter’ on audioBoom There are two deep desires that many of us have 1. We want to know that we are significant We are told that we are unique and special, that we matter and are worth it. But we see through the hype. If everyone is special then how can I be special? There is this deep need for us to know that we are significant, that we are not just a cluster of atoms, which have randomly come together, for a millisecond of eternity, surrounded by other clusters of atoms,   which have randomly come together for their millisecond of eternity.  We want to know that we really are significant. And so we dream of what I would call the Susan Boyle moment – one moment they are laughing at us, treating us as a joke, as if we don't matter and the next we are receiving a standing ovation. Or  it might be the dream of winning £93m in the lottery, being spotted by the scout, buying the bigger house, having the boss take

2 Peter 3.11-18 listen to ‘Be holy, be hopeful, be humble’ on audioBoom What sort of lives should we live? I wonder what you will end up doing? Astronaut, lawyer, vicar, retail manager, musician, footballer, engineer, writer, inventor, nurse. It is fascinating: and I look forward to finding out. But Peter asks a slightly different question: not what will you do, but what sort of person will you be? What will be your character? It is more important. Because we are bigger than what we do. We are how we live. So what sort of people should be like? Holy, Godly, People with a hope, Active, Humble, Grow and mature, people who bring glory to God.  I’m just going to focus on three.  1. Holy people Peter writes: ‘What sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness … without spot or blemish’. That sounds so boring. We think of holy people as pious and aloof, sitting cross legged on some mountain somewhere. It is OK if you