The above article is reprinted from the Huddersfield Examiner with thanks

EASTER 2006

The other weekend a large educational think tank raised the idea of renaming the Easter weekend as Chocolate Sunday. This would be safe for those who are offended by the religious story that currently dominates the weekend with barbaric killings and stories of a dead man rising.  

We must look forward to new facts taught to children about chocolate, which was introduced to the United States in 1765 when Irish chocolate-maker John Hanan imported cocoa beans from the West Indies into Dorchester, Massachusetts, to refine them with the help of American Dr. James Baker. He sold the Baker bar still sold today. In  1819 - The pioneer of Swiss chocolate-making, François Louis Callier, opened the first Swiss chocolate factory.  Then in 1849 - Joseph Fry & Son and Cadbury Brothers displayed chocolates for eating at an exhibition in Bingley Hall, Birmingham, England.

Sponsor may be hard to find however with Cadbury, Fry and Rowntree families were devout Quakers. Although their former companies are now owned by others I think there will be someone saying no.

 The truth is that the message of the cross and resurrection is a harder images to swallow than the slushy babe in a manager at Christmas. Crucifixion is ugly and there seems nothing good about this coming Friday that why in Germany it is Mourning Friday. I’ve read that the word good used to have a secondary meaning of holy, but I can’t trace that back in my etymological dictionary. There are a number of cases in set phrases where the words God and good got switched around because of their similarity. One case was the phrase God be with you, which today is just good-bye.

On Good Friday Christians walked respectfully around the town behind a cross. (see a photo) At points they stopped and prayed for the town, read a portion of the Bible and sing. Why? because we want to remind ourselves of the sacrifice that change our lives.  Only Jesus could give his life to help me find God, and I did.

Previous Easter Article

Will EASTER be just another holiday or will it be a HOLY DAY for the first time in your life?

Does that sound a bit strong? That's because what happened at Easter is more important to both Christians and all the rest of the world than Christmas.

Christmas is celebrated for the birth of Jesus the Christ. As with most births we celebrate a new life. We celebrate all the wonderful things that await this new person as they grow from baby, to toddler, to child, to teenager, to adult.

Jesus' family had all these expectations and hopes for their son. And most of their dreams came true - UNTIL HE WAS ABOUT 30 YEARS OLD.

That's when everything changed. He began his ministry of teaching about the KINGDOM OF GOD. He taught the people that they should love God with all of their heart and mind. He taught that they should be obedient to God. He taught the people that they should love God and mankind. He had a love and respect for animals and nature.

However, there  was something very different about Jesus. God recognised Jesus as his SON during Jesus' baptism. Jesus performed many miracles of healing and other acts of love such as the changing of water into wine at a wedding.

Even, then there was a much bigger difference between Jesus and all the prophets who had gone before, and any who came after.

JESUS KNEW the real reason for his life among the people was SO HE COULD DIE.

When he explained this to his disciples they objected to Jesus saying that he would soon die. They did not wish to believe it and could not accept that it was going to happen.

JESUS' DEATH is the most important belief of a Christian. The reasons are given below:

Ever since God created the world man (and woman) had caused God great heartache by their disobedience and wrong doing.

Throughout the many years until the birth of Jesus God had looked for ONE PERSON who was truly good. ONE MAN OR WOMAN who had never done anything wrong against another person or against God.

Some people came close to this PERFECT MAN but everyone one of them was still flawed. Every person throughout the history of the world failed to meet the standard of perfection. Not 90% perfect, not 97% perfect, not 99% perfect BUT 100% perfect.

Perfection was important to God since the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) had rebelled against God's rules.

If only one perfect person could be found in all of history then the relationship between God and man could be fully restored. Man and woman could be forgiven for their wrong doing (sin).

For thousands of years God looked for this ONE MAN. There was no one.

What else could God do? He could not change the standard. He could not reduce it and accept 99% perfect when the standard required was 100%. As we all know and understand from science and logic. PERFECT IS 100%.

A solution came with an offer from God's only son, Jesus.

Jesus suggested that he became human, a man.

We do not know anything about the conversation between God and Jesus but we can imagine that it could have been something like this.

God, " If you become a man it will mean that you must give up everything that makes you God."

Jesus, "I realise that and I accept it. I must become as they are. I must become one of them. I must show them that it is possible to live the live you want them to live."

God, "If you do this for them THEN I can accept them. I can forgive them and restore them to the position and place I always wanted for them."

Jesus, "All their sins, all their wrong doing must be placed on me. It will mean my death. Only by my sacrifice can they be restored."

God, "I had prepared a place for them where they would live forever in my presence. Once again they can enter that place - BUT - there must be a condition. They must believe you did this for them. They must accept you as their Saviour. They must believe you have taken their place and accepted the punishment they deserve.

Jesus, " I will do this because I love them"

The above is just imagining how the conversation may have been. But the truth remains as we read the teachings of Jesus in THE GOSPELS and other parts of the New Testament which is the second part of the HOLY BIBLE.

The one message of Easter is that JESUS DIED THAT WE MIGHT RETURN TO A FULL "FAMILY" RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

There is no other way. No alternatives based upon doing good works, giving to charity, being a good person.

So, if this is the only way of MAKING PEACE WITH GOD what are you going to do?

2006

A fresh start for you. A fresh start for the Church? WE'VE STARTED MAKING CHANGES.

The following item was displayed on this website during December 2005 - please see the new comments in red.

Have you watched Priest Idol - over the last two years we have already tried many of the ideas used in the show - bacon butties and breakfast for the first half hour and then worship God together,  everyday language and relevant talks backed up by multi media presentations. The only thing we haven't had is a big pot of money to run lots of advertising. But who cares - ideas are free. So why not come along and join us - you may find it fun and its always interesting.

What do you expect a church to look like (building and furnishings)?

Do you expect the church leader to wear a special costume / robes or normal clothes casual or suit?

What songs do you expect - all hymns or all modern songs or a mixture of both?

What else would make it a church you would want to attend?

LENT

From Ash Wednesday 1st March 2006

Last until Easter - 40 days not counting Sundays.

A time of reflection and repentance. Sometime confused as a time of giving up things such as alcohol, sweets, etc. This is not what Lent is about. It is a time to reflect upon our relationship with God. Are we in a good relationship with him? Is there something wrong in our lives which need to put right?

Why 40 Days?
40 is a significant number in Jewish-Christian scripture:
In Genesis, the flood which destroyed the earth was brought about by 40 days and nights of rain.
The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the land promised to them by God.
Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai.
Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry.

DOES THE DA VINCI CODE OR THE JUDAS ISCARIOT STORIES AFFECT CHRISTIAN BELIEF?

Only a fool would never ask the question, "Is there any truth in these stories?"

Sometimes Christians will have trouble understanding and separating fact and fiction. Sometimes they will feel threatened when newspapers, television or books appear to challenge the Christian's core beliefs.

When you read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which tell the story of Jesus' life we find that Jesus was always teaching his disciples to question everything around them. The disciples lived in an age when religious leaders had enormous power and influence. Often what they said had to be believed and obeyed. That was not Jesus way. He stressed the importance of finding out what God said and he did this from scripture. Today our scriptures are both the Old Testament which Jesus knew and also the New Testament which is about Jesus life and teachings. These two testaments are known as the HOLY BIBLE.

Throughout the ages people have often been in dispute with the teachings of the Bible and that is OK. It doesn't make them right. Sometimes how Christians have interpreted the Bible has been confusing, sometimes stupid or ignorant and sometimes totally wrong. No one can defend apartheid from the Bible.

For the last 2000 years there have always been other stories and rumours about Jesus, other Gospels, other teachings, etc.

Time after time people have come to realise that there is no substance in these stories no matter how good and interesting a story they are. IT HAS NOT AFFECTED THE BELIEF OF MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.

As a Church we believe the accounts given in the Gospels in the New Testament. If you have never read about Jesus then start with the Gospel According to Mark. In a modern version you will find it an easy, enjoyable read. What you will read will blow your mind because here are eyewitness accounts of Jesus performing miracles, healing people and bringing teaching  to the masses which has only recent found favour with our political parties in recent years.

Jesus cared for people. He taught that we should love (respect) everyone. He taught that everyone was of equal value in an age which still had slaves. He taught citizenship when he said pay your taxes. He taught honesty and trust in an age when political and religious leaders appeared grasping and often corrupt. He had a love and respect for creation long before the recent interest in ' saving the earth and rare animals'.

If you want to be truly radical you do not join a political party you become a Christian. It is radical to put your belief in someone who has taken all your wrong doing on to themselves. It is radical for your life to be totally changed by what you now believe. It is totally radical in the 21st Century to live by a moral code.

Lots of the latest research still shows that millions of people in the UK still believe in God, They still call themselves a Christian. They have fallen out of love with the established Church.

The majority of people have never given up believing in God and when things get bad then its a time to remember to ask for God's help again. Why not try church again?

Coming back to church is a courageous thing to do and WE WILL NOT JUDGE YOU. We have all felt like the Prodigal Son at some time - that's why Jesus told us the story and why its in the Bible.

2005

VOTE   VOTE   VOTE   VOTE

We are approaching local and European elections. Many Christians have alarm bells ringing, particularly evangelicals, when we talk about politics. We must keep away from politics, it’s dirty. Some Christians, however, go head long into the role and even become candidates for different parties. Rather than criticise from the side lines they dive in, trying to add salt into the world.

Personally I have decided, at this time, to keep away from the time consuming role of a people’s representative. The role of Pastor gives me the opportunity to meet with people with the full power of the Christian gospel not a restricted role of the politician.

The matter that does concern me is the growth of the biggest voting group in this country. They have no leader; have never been in power, have one policy which wins every election and their numbers are growing. Their policy is not to vote, the party of called apathy.  

Christians should pray for their leaders of the country and local government.  I believe we should also use our vote and pray that we will vote in the right people. Only those who vote have a right to complain about the state of the country. Those who didn’t vote are saying “I couldn’t care less what state the country is in,” is that the message of the gospel?