When I was first asked if I would like to do a Sunday Sermon, I mentally jumped back six feet and said "no thank you".

I then went on holiday to the UK. While there I looked in a Christian bookshop for guidance on writing a sermon - a sort of 'ABC' Guide to
Sermon Writing.  I asked the man at the counter - he said "I don't think I have ever seen anything  like that".

Then I was kindly and gently invited once again to deliver a sermon. 
This time I felt that it might be a Life Lesson and if I refused again, I might miss a very important occasion in my life. 
For - "As if you do what it is the Heavens require, you shall receive pieces of yourself".

 With this lesson in mind I quietly thought about the 'Task' - how would you go about it.
A Sermon is basically a story containing a Spiritual message.
Stories have a beginning , a middle and an end - a sort of verbal sandwich.
So with that idea to start me off, I spent Quiet Time and listened for Inner Wisdom.

 My message to you today is about Love. 

Once upon a time (all good stories started that way when we were young) there came to earth a Special Being, his name was Jesus of Nazareth.
His task was two-fold, to show the peoples of the world that 'Love' is the most important power we all possess
and that we should not fear death but will have an eternal life. 

Throughout the Bible we are shown different facets of love, love comes in many disguises.  

Compassion - as in the story of the Good Samaritan (found in Luke Chapter 10 VS.. 30-37),
for not only did the Samaritan take the wounded man to a hostel, he left money for the man to be properly fed and looked after,
promising to settle any outstanding bills that might arise for this service.
Not like the supposedly Religious people, who had crossed the road and walked on the other side,
so they would not have to get involved.

 Compassion was also the motivation of the young widow Ruth, who stayed and cared for her mother-in-law.
I would like to mention a few words on why this was a remarkable act of courage and kindness on her part.
Young Ruth was a Moabite, a different tribe to Naomi, Ruth's people had their own customs and they worshipped many gods.
Ruth found the love in her heart to stay and share Naomi's hardship, for they had both been left widows. 
Widows were often left destitute, reduced to begging or prostitution, unless a male relative from the husband's family
married them and took on their children. We have as a testament of her loving compassion this beautiful passage:-

    "Where you go, I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God".

Ruth continued to take care of her mother-in-law until Naomi helped Ruth by arranging a new marriage.
Then she released Ruth with thanks, saying it was alright to make a new life with Boaz.
This beautiful story can be found in Ruth Chapter 1, vs. 1 - 22.

 We know of that passage in the Bible that begins "No greater love has a man, than he lays down his life for another". 
That does not just mean in war time. Being a Carer, can mean that too - giving their life, love and commitment to someone,
be it partner, parent or child, who would have no quality of life at all without this selfless love.

 Then there is the love of a true friend who cheers us up and cheers us on, supporting us when family have not even noticed that we are not feeling
as strong as we might  be. These friends, who often set us back on our feet, return our self-worth and sometimes
even teach us to love and laugh at ourselves, they give this love freely in the name of friendship and loyalty.

 In Luke Chapter 10 v28 - Jesus gave the instruction - "Love thy neighbour as thy self".
Who is our neighbour - not just the people living next-door surely?
Doesn't this refer to any human standing next to us - in the shopping queue, on the beach, on the road, in the next Country or Continent.
In the end aren't we all neighbours on this beautiful little planet?

 All these wonderful, powerful faces of love are ours to use but we are SO clever, SO inventive that we use love in many other ways,
certainly not contained in any instructions from Jesus.

 We use selfish love. We put conditions on our love, we make people 'earn' love,  sometimes on  a points system,
"If you do this for me - then I will do what you want". What's in it for me - counted in there somewhere. 
Or there are folk who are possessive, holding their loved ones captive, not allowing them freedom of time, thought or talent.
Thinking to themselves, if they get to know more than me or meet other people - "I might lose them".
So they are controlling, denying the person they say they love, a chance to obtain full potential in their lives.

 Some practice manipulative love, "If you look after me I will leave you all my worldly goods - I"ll see your alright".
They have probably said the same promise to several people, which causes a real who-ha when they have passed on.

 Lastly we are sometimes guilty of practising emotional blackmail, more often on the people who love us most,
the ones we know are least likely to retaliate, the ones who least deserve this abuse.

 We were given instructions 'to love everyone even our enemies - IS IT EASY - I don't think SO! 
Yes, it says how easy it is to love those who love us, and do right by us - the NICE ones but what about the others?
To give love to those who do not wish us well, to love those who are lost on their life's journey, so lost, they have
no love left for any mortal Soul, least of all their own.
Well - that is the HARD part,  that's where we learn the real lessons in life, because it is usually the small hurts
that really get under our armour. This is when we need help from Above, to rise to the challenge
to stay on the path of love. It's a pretty big task isn't it - to love even those who drive us crazy - to stay big-hearted.

 With Divine Help we find forgiveness for them but even more importantly, for our own salvation.
When we forgive, our own hearts are released and healed and we find the strength that we need 'to love our neighbours as ourself'.''

Of all the loves we have to learn and experience, for me the hardest to understand and practise is 'unconditional love'.
I keep looking for words that will somehow help me to understand and unlock the deeper meaning and reality of this phrase,
so than I may understand it in my soul and be able to truly practise.
It is sometimes called 'impersonal love', love that has no strings, no expectations, no judgement, to love regardless of circumstances.
As a child does perhaps? Is that the simple answer?
I  sometimes despair of finding the spiritual power to experience this state of grace,
but I will never stop seeking and never give up hope.

 Thank you, God bless you all

BIBLE READING;  MATTHEW ch. 2, v. 21-22

“No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment; else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old,
and the rent (the tear) is made worse.  And no man putteth new wine into old bottle;
else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the bottles will be marred; but new wine must be put into new bottles.

We are at the start of a new year.  We have reached a time of reflection, and re-assessment. 
It’s time for an internal stock-take for each of us.

New year is a hopeful time, when we feel optimistic about the idea of starting afresh, and we feel hopeful of this year being a better one than the last. 
At this time each year, many people make New Year Resolutions, hoping to break old habits or to create new ones.

Your brain loves to do what it has always done before, it is a creature of habit!  It has been said that “our habits can have the unstoppable inertia of a freight train.

If you have ever tried to stick with a New Year’s Resolution, you will know how hard it is to stop repeating an old habit, or to inculcate a new one.

Here’s an example:  You decide to live a healthier lifestyle in the new year just beginning.

………. you sleep in late after your alarm clock has rung.

 ……… you rush out to work – no time for breakfast.

………  you grab and gulp down numerous cups of coffee at work to get through

          The day.

………  work stress keeps you frantic all day.

………. you grab some fast food on the way home

………  you “crash out” in front of the T.V. for evening munching snacks.

The only way to abide by your New Year’s Resolution is with persistence, and “baby steps”.

Each time we repeat a behaviour, distinctive loops of electricity circulate between the hippocampus in the brain, the frontal brain,
the body and those parts of the cerebral cortex related to the activity.  The hippocampus “knits together” the thoughts, feelings and physical actions.  BUT….

Our brain, we have established, is a creature of habit, remember? Old habits save effort and energy.

It takes persistence and frequent repetition to replace an old habit with a new, better or improved one.

If you have made a New Year’s Resolution this year, ask God your Heavenly Father to help you with the (new, presumably better) change. 
God knew you wanted to give up that old habit, or to adopt a new one, before you even asked Him!  Your guides and loved ones in the realms of Spirit
are all there to assist you, also , call on God, and on your helpers “Upstairs” to strengthen your resolve,
and guide your faltering steps in your desired new direction, hesitant though your change may be.  Remember, you are never alone.

There is nothing in your life or mind that you can’t discuss with God in prayer.  No-one else has to know about it – it can just be a private chat
between you and your Creator, God is always only a prayer away, and you can talk to Him any time.  As someone once said,
“In the evening, hand all your worries over to God, He’s going to be awake all night anyway.

Take the time to think through any resolutions you have made for the coming year.  Remember the old fabric with the new patch on it in the bible reading? 
You need to think through how your unwanted habits have developed over time, and consider what conscious changes you need
to put in place, so you can develop new habits to replace them.  Psychologists say that when an individual feels stuck”
they eventually sabotage themselves subconsciously in some way.  In order to get down to Rock Bottom, and from there they can rebuild
their life on a new foundation.  This is also as true for groups and organizations as it is for the individual. 
 

Here in our Church we as a collective group are beginning this new calendar year with a new Captain to steer our ship. 
A new Reverend is just beginning to serve God, and to acknowledge Spirit.  In our name – we need to give her our support,
our assistance and our prayers; to give her the moral support and practical co-operation that she needs in her new undertaking.

In our Church, we pray to the Christian God and no other deity, we work in God’s name, and to further His work in our modern world. 
As the crew on our Christian Spiritualist ship, let us all be like sailors working in co-operation with our Captain, as our ship moves forward into the future. 
As Queen Elizabeth says when she launches a new ship:  “May God Bless her and all who sail in her.”