Cross Encounters

The power of the resurrection and the mystery of Holy Communion mean that people today can encounter Jesus and learn that He is for us and not against us and follow Him.

The Church is not just local and global but also spiritual and physical and meeting Jesus with others can be so enriching – spiritually and physically. Jesus always makes a difference each day!

In following Jesus, the Church wants to serve her neighbours – whether they’re in eyesight or on the other side of the world. Working out how to serve takes wisdom and effort.

Mothers, Lent, and Jesus all combined – a story often unknown – and one which doesn’t stop us from honouring our own Mum!

It is easy to be cynical about service. Whose agenda is being met? Only God in Jesus Christ offers and delivers true service.

The world understands ’you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ and that so many of our relationships are transactional – particularly in religion. Until we come to Christianity and Jesus that is! Then it is gift upon gift!

But Jesus has rescued us so that we can live in him and that life is better than anything we could have done on our own!

We have so many experiences and encounter many points of view that it is important to understand why we have the perspective we have. For Christians, the answer is seen in Jesus and who is and what he has done for us.

Christianity is more than ethics - how we behave - and Jesus is more than a teacher which is why following Jesus is really about relationships when you consider the cross.

Jesus breaks the stereotype of God - look at the cross - so that people may live. Jesus’ followers break the stereotype of discipleship with laughter rather than asceticism - because a full life with Jesus involves everyone around his followers having the best time possible as defined by Jesus rather than the world.

Words are so powerful and none more so than the Word made flesh.

The Christian Faith is not disconnected from our lives but it exists and is lived in our situation – no matter what it is – because Jesus relates to us in all situations and no situation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Each church year, the liturgical seasons can draw us closer to God because we are changing each year and God is faithfully still serving us each year.

Jesus doesn’t simply influence life – he kills the sinful flesh and brings a new life (in him) into being – and that is far more radical than influencing.

Christmas, The Epiphany, Easter, anything about Jesus can seem to be about him with Jesus himself ’far away’ and in one sense irrelevant but the power of words and the work of the Holy Spirit mean that people are still meeting Jesus through words. The encounter is now as people come to faith that Jesus is real, alive, with them, and most importantly, for them.

The message of the Incarnation isn’t about making Jesus like us but reminds us that God wants to us to be like him.

Why Christmas is celebrated is important to know because, at its heart, it is a celebration of God being with us today.

People build their religions from all sorts of sources. How different is it for people when God reveals himself in Jesus Christ!

When people read the book of Revelation they are looking for comfort and hope – and in Jesus you can always find it for he is with his people always!

What is happening to us is always important to us - and we never face it alone with Jesus.

Truth is important to us. The best truth is Jesus Christ.

Getting the forecasts right are very helpful for so much of living from the weather to the economy and more. How much more important is the right forecast that comes with living with Jesus Christ! Now that’s life in all its fulness!

Whether we hear them as they are spoken or read them from centuries past, words open the world and others to us – and that is no more so than with the Word of God.

When imagining heaven and arrivals there, let’s be firmly grounded in God’s Word – and there isn’t much detail, but it is enough!

Whichever way it is, hopefully we make the best decision we can each time. Knowing that Jesus is with us is good and supportive, but he is not the puppet master, or a heavenly sat-nav. Rather Jesus guides us through his Word. Which way we turn is up to us.