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The Rector's letter is printed in each edition of the Church Magazine
February/March 2006
2006 will be a challenging year for us
all. Without exaggerating for effect, I
wish to state clearly that this year
could prove to be the most challenging
year in the 149 year history of St.
Thomas’.
We face a daunting
challenge. Now that we have received
full planning permission for the new
Parish Centre, we need to start the
process of raising over one million
pounds to build it. Most of it will have
to come from our own resources, our
own pockets.
It appears to be a task beyond us, for I don’t know
about you, but I don’t have a million quid lying around the house!
But as usual, God’s timing is perfect. He always knows what we
need, even before we perceive it ourselves.
Over the first few weeks
of January, we have been studying together the early chapters of the
book of Joshua. It has much to teach us.
1. With God all things are possible. Rivers can dry up, walls
can come tumbling down, nations can be defeated and
territory won. All things are possible with God. We do not
face the coming months in our own strength. Have faith, look
to the Lord who made heaven and earth.
2. God’s people must always put him first. What was the first
thing into the Promised Land? It was the Ark of the
Covenant, the visible reminder to the people of God’s
presence with them. How did they conquer Jericho? With
siege warfare? No, by being obedient to God’s directions.
This year we must place him first. We must have lives
centred on worship and obedience to his word. Consecrate
yourself for the coming year.
3. Move forward in faith. The people had a choice. At the
banks of the river Jordan they faced a choice similar to their
forefathers did in Egypt. To move forward into the unknown,
to move into enemy territory, to do battle, to make the
sacrifices required or to go back. Back to Egypt, away from
the Promised Land, away from the place of blessing. We
have a choice. Do we move forward and in doing so see the
ministry of this church grow? Or do we retreat from the
challenge and stay where we are? Let us move forward in the
strength of our Lord.
As we face our first gift day on Palm Sunday, let me state once again
three things we all need to do in the coming months:
Have faith in the Lord.
Consecrate ourselves to God and his service.
Move forward in the strength of the Lord.
David Mouncer
From the February 2006 edition of the magazine
April/May 2006
"When I survey the wondrous cross"
Chambers Dictionary -
survey v. "to look at or examine at length
or in detail, in order to assess
its condition or value".
Soon Easter will be upon us. Once again
we will be given the opportunity to survey
the saving work of God. Sadly, familiarity
breeds contempt. When it comes to the
cross and the empty tomb we have
heard it all before, we have listened to the sermons, we have sung
the hymns; we think we know it all. We end up not really bothering to
survey the cross of Jesus. Our hearts remain cold and unmoved.
Our lives, unchanged.
Let me quote a number of Christian writers in the hope that their
words will spur you on to revisiting, in scripture, the events of
Passiontide.
"Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which
you have been cleansed. See the thorn-crown; mark His scourged
shoulders, still gushing with crimsoned rills... And if you do not lie
prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it."
-Charles Spurgeon.
"Only one act of pure love, unsullied by any taint of ulterior motive,
has ever been performed in the history of the world, namely the self
giving of God in Christ on the cross for undeserving sinners." -John
Stott
"Good Friday and Easter , the days of God's overpowering acts of
history, acts in which God's judgement and grace were revealed to
all the world. Judgement in those hours in which Jesus Christ hung
on the cross; grace in that hour in which death was swallowed up in
victory. It was not human beings that accomplished anything here;
no, God alone did it. He came to human beings in infinite love. He
judged what is human. And he granted grace beyond any merit." -Karl
Barth
"Morality will keep you out of gaol, but only the blood of Jesus will
keep you out of hell." -Mark Stibbe
"If you look critically at the wondrous cross you will see in it nothing
but common wood. The cross of Jesus is best discerned through
penitential tears." -Dinsdale Young
David Mouncer
From the April 2006 edition of the magazine
June/July 2006
Summer holidays are almost upon us and if you are like me, I take the
break as an opportunity to catch up
on some reading. What will you be
reading this coming holiday? Let
me suggest three books. They are
all very different from each other.
One is quite theological, one
pastoral. One is for anybody in a
position of leadership, another, for
anybody. All of them are less then
ten pounds (or you could request
them from your library). I have road
tested them all – enjoy
“Fuelling the Fire – Fresh Thinking on Prayer” – Dennis
Lennon
Publisher, Scripture Union – ISBN 1 84427 149 8
Here is a book on prayer that is both theological and
practical, aiming to inspire readers about the value and
privilege of prayer, with a wealth of fresh images and new
light on biblical passages. The book deals in a robust and
original way with the questions many Christians have about
the prayer life. It is a great book that both challenged and
encouraged me in my prayer life. I agree with one persons
comment on the back cover, “Dennis Lennon should be
locked in a room with a pen and paper and told to write until
he could write no more ….”
“Builders and Fools – Leadership the Bible Way” – Derek
Tiball
Publisher IVP – ISBN – 0 85111 592 6
Builder, fool, ambassador, parent, pilot, scum, and shepherd:
the apostle Paul used all these images when describing
Christian leadership. Derek Tiball believes these images have
important lessons and fresh insights for all who take
leadership within a church. Do you lead a house group, do
you serve on the PCC, a member of the M and M Leadership
team, then this is the book for you.
“The Jesus I Never Knew” – Philip Yancey
Publisher – Marshall Pickering – ISBN 0 00 710740 4
Philip Yancey writes, “Boring and predictable. No one could
ever think of applying these words to the Jesus of the Gospels.
How is it then, that the church has tamed such a character?
The Jesus I got to know in writing this book is a very different
from the Jesus I learned about as a child. In some ways he is
more comforting: in some ways more terrifying.”
In this book, Philip Yancey, strips away the stereotyped images
to reveal the powerful and astonishing reality of Jesus. It’s
easy to read and full of down to earth illustrations but also
very powerful.
David Mouncer
From the June 2006 edition of the magazine
August/September 2006
1 Thessalonians 5v11 – “Therefore encourage one another, and build
each other up…”
I have noticed a particular weaknesswithin our church. We are, as a
congregation, quite poor at encouraging each other. We are
quite good at finding fault and criticising each other. But when it
comes to building each other up, we
are lacking in this area of our life
together.
Think about yourself, when did you last encourage
someone within the congregation. I’m not asking about the
last time you were given words of encouragement. But, when
was the last time you encouraged someone.
Encouragement, put simply, is when we find the good and
applaud. So often when we find the good, we remain silent.
We spend too much time trying to find fault and then offering
criticism.
Criticism can be so destructive. It undermines and destroys
people. A recent mental health report stated that, “For every
critical comment we receive, it takes nine affirming comments
to even out the negative effect in our life.” Yet, encouragement
can have some startling results.
I came across the following tongue-in-cheek comment about
encouragement.
It may be that you don’t like your minister. Well here is a
tested prescription by which you can get rid of him.
1. Look him straight in the eye when he’s preaching, and
maybe say ‘Amen’ occasionally. He’ll preach himself to
death in a short time.
2. Shake hands with him and tell him he’s doing a great job.
He’ll work himself to death.
3. Rededicate your own life to God and ask the minister to
give you some church work to do. Very likely he’ll keel
over with heart failure.
4. If all else fails, this one is certain to succeed: get your
congregation to unite in prayer for him. He’ll soon be so
effective that some larger church will take him off your
hands.
Find the good and applaud!
David Mouncer
From the August 2006 edition of the magazine
October/November 2006
After my sermon on the morning of 3rd
September, I have been asked by a
number of the congregation to repeat
an illustration that I used.
Listen to the sermon here (2.1mb) 
A Physician, Dr. Truman Davis, looks
at the Crucifixion.
"At the site of execution, the heavy
crossbeam is thrown down, and the
victim is pushed to the ground, his arms
stretched over the wood. The
legionnaire feels for the depression at
the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail
through the wrist and into the wood. Quickly, he moves to the other
side. Jesus is hauled up and lifted onto the upright post.
The left foot is now pressed backward against the right foot, and with
both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of
each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The victim is now
crucified. As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in
the wrists excruciating pain shoots along the fingers and up the arm
to explode in the brain, the nails in the wrist are putting pressure on
the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this
stretching torment, he places his full weight on the nail through his
feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the
nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.
At this point, as the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over
the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With
these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward. Hanging
by the arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostals
muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but
cannot be exhaled. The victim fights to raise himself up in order to
get even one short breath.
The common form of ending a crucifixion was by crusifixion, the
breaking of the bones of the legs. This prevented the victim from
pushing himself upward; thus the tension could not be relieved from
the muscles of the chest and rapid suffocation occurred. This was
unnecessary for Christ, who died after six hours of crucifixion.
Apparently to make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his
lance through the fifth interspace between the ribs, upward through
the pericardium and into the heart. There was an escape of water fluid
from the sac surrounding the heart, giving post-mortem evidence that
our Lord died not from the usual crucifixion death by suffocation,but of
heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the
pericardium."
Charles Spurgeon
"Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which
you have been cleansed. See the thorn-crown, mark his scourged
shoulders... and if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that
cross, you have never seen it."
David Mouncer
From the October 2006 edition of the magazine
December 2006/January 2007
A Christmas Question –
“How Big is Your God?”
At this time of year there are so many questions to answer. Turkey or beef? What present shall I buy Lisa? What colour socks shall I get my father-in-law?
Let me add to your question list. I want to ask you, “How big is your God?” People, sometimes even those who inhabit the pews, get the answer to this question wrong.
We get it wrong in two ways.
Firstly, we make God too small. We all have a tendency to put God in a box. Often it’s a big box, but still a box! We limit his majesty, glory and power. We make God too small!
Did you know that the size of the known universe is 78 billion light years across? Its volume is thought to equal to 1.9 × 1033 cubic light years. As of 2006, the observable universe is thought to contain about 7 × 1022 stars organized in about 100 billion galaxies, which themselves form cluster and super clusters. (You can tell I’ve now got a son doing A Level physics!) Let me admit to you, I’ve no idea what these figures mean, they are beyond my comprehension, but I do know they represent a big universe.
Yet, we read in scripture concerning God, “…he also made the stars.” (Genesis 1) and “When I consider your heavens the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place,…” (Psalm 8). We have an awesome God. The creator of the entire universe. Majestic, all-powerful and totally beyond us. He cannot be put into a box – however big we make it.
But we also get this Christmas question wrong in another way.
For, secondly, we have a tendency to make God too big! I know what you are thinking, “Can’t the Rector make his mind up!”
Christmas teaches us that God can make himself very small.
He is not too big to be able to make himself small, very small. Small enough to enter a virgin’s womb. Small enough to be a single cell within a womb! In John’s opening prologue to his gospel he calls Jesus the Word. He states that all things were made by the Word (John. 1v.3), and that the Word was God (1v.1). Then amazingly, John states in verse 14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us.”
God became small. He entered our world, he took on our dimensions. As Luther once stated, “He whom the world could not inwrap, yonder lies in Mary’s lap.” Amazing! It is simply amazing, that out of love, God would make himself that small. No wonder the angels sang on that first Christmas morning, “Glory to God in the highest.”
How big is your God? Join us for worship on Christmas morning, ponder this question, and then join us as we shout “Glory to God in the highest”.
David Mouncer
From the December 2006 edition of the magazine
Rector's Letters 2007
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