Thought for the Week - 10th March 2024

Dear Friends, 

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent, and it is Mothering Sunday, the day when we give thanks for our mums and those who carry out any kind of ‘mothering’ role in our lives. It is an opportunity to show our gratitude by sending cards and presents, the most popular of which are flowers, chocolates and jewellery, and shoppers are estimated to spend £1.7 billion on the celebration this year in the UK. But today is also know by some in the church as ‘Refreshment Sunday’ because historically those taking part in the Lenten fast were allowed to relax on this day from the rigours of fasting and abstinence. Yet another name for the fourth Sunday in the Lenten season is Laetare Sunday, Laetare being the Latin for ‘Rejoice’ and coming from the first few words of the traditional Latin entrance verse for the church service, ‘Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her…’ (Isaiah 66:10), and a little later we read of this image, the Lord says, ‘As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.’ (Isaiah 66:13). One of the abiding memories I have of my mum is her love, kindness and care, particularly when I was young and I needed to be consoled, encouraged and comforted. Mums seem to have that innate ability to show care and love for their children, and not only mums but all who have any caring and nurturing role in life. So today we give thanks to God for our mums and all those who play a ‘mothering’ role to others, and we rejoice in God’s loving kindness for all he has made. 

Grace and peace,

Neil
        

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Week - 28th January 2024

Dear Friends, In 1985 the Congregational minister and hymn writer Fred Kaan reflected on ‘For the healing of the nations’ saying, ‘Of all the hymns that I have written, this is the text that has been more widely reprinted and incorporated in major hymnbooks than any other’. It was first used in 1965 and it expresses something of the deep longing and desire for peace and reconciliation, for God’s justice to be known, and for an end to all conflict and violence. Fred Kaan was a committed pacifist and, in an obituary, following his death in 2009 at the age of 80, it read, ‘His theology reflected a God committed to and immersed in a world crying out to be set free from every form of injustice. Fred’s poetry centred on a Jesus who embraced the whole of creation and excluded no one and nothing from his love. In Fred, the Christian peace movement found its voice.’                      ...
Read more

Thought for the Week - 29th October 2023

Dear Friends,  Today we are celebrating two things, firstly it is the Bible Society’s Bible Sunday, a day when we can give thanks to God for the scriptures and echo the apostle Paul’s words, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timohty 3:16-17). And secondly, as a church we are celebrating the 140 th Church Anniversary of Beckenham Baptist Church, founded in 1883 as Elm Road Chapel, the opening services took place on Wednesday 31st October – 9.30am Prayer Meeting, 2.45pm Public Service, 4.45pm a Meeting in the Chapel, and at 6.30pm another Public Service – with various Baptist luminaries of the day in attendance. The public reading of the Scriptures has always been at the heart of all we do as a Christian community, for it is there that we can hear the stories of the Bible and reflect upon our own place in God’s never-ending story ...
Read more

Thought for the Week - 4th December 2022

Dear Friends,  ‘Census 2021 will probably be remembered as the one in which Christianity became a minority religion in England and Wales’, so read the article in a leading UK newspaper. It went onto say that ‘the number of people identifying as Christian dropped 5.5 million in the past decade’ ( The Guardian , 29/11/2022). Responding to the findings the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said that the country has ‘left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian’, and that the Christian church would continue its work in the face of both ‘revival and decline’ ( Sky News , 29/11/2022). He went on to say in an interview for BBC News, ‘ It's not a great surprise that the census shows fewer people in this country identifying as Christian than in the past, but it still throws down a challenge to us not only to trust that God will build his kingdom on Earth but also to play our part in making Christ known’. The Bible Society says that the findings of...
Read more