the Parish of St thomas' Brampton, Chesterfield

St Thomas' Brampton and St Peter's Holymoorside, Chesterfield

Rector's Letters February 2007-January 2008

Our vision statement: Sharing the love of Jesus

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The Rector's letter is printed in each edition of the Church Magazine

February/March 2007	April/May 2007	June/July 2007
August/September 2007	October/November 2007	December 2007/January 2008

February/March 2007

Thou dost pitch a tent of grace in my weakness

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christs power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12

Some books stay with you a lifetime. When I was ordained, some twelve years ago, I was given a copy of a book called, The Valley of Vision. It is a collection of puritan prayers and devotions. I still use it frequently. It still has the power to inform and change my own devotions.

Let me quote from it. It is a passage concerning weakness and the Christian life. It might help you, it certainly has helped me over the last few weeks. (Sorry for the rather archaic language it was written in the seventeenth century!)

Thou dost show thy power by my frailty,
so that the more feeble I am, the more fit to be used,
for thou dost pitch a tent of grace in my weakness.

Help me to rejoice in my infirmities and give thee praise,
to acknowledge my deficiencies before others
and not to be discouraged by them,
that they may see thy glory more clearly.

Teach me that I must act by a power supernatural
whereby I can attempt things above my strength,
and bear evils beyond my strength,
acting for Christ in all, and
having his superior power to help me.
David Mouncer

From the February 2007 edition of the magazine

April/May 2007

Easter Refections

Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by?
Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me,
that the Lord brought on me in the day of his fierce anger?
-Lamentations 1 v.12

St Thomas had a visit from the 38th Brampton Cub Scouts the other day! They wanted to visit the church to see what goes on within these hallowed walls. They wanted to discover what was at the heart of St Thomas, why we turn up on a Sunday week after week. As I sat in church a few days before their visit, I mused on what I was going to say and then it struck me. It was a real thunderbolt moment. When you look at the church its easy to see whats at the heart of this place. Who ever designed this church knew what should be at the heart of this place.

Have you ever sat and looked towards the front of church. When I mean look, I mean actually look. If you do, you will see something wonderful. Did you know that you can see ten crosses at the front of church. Not only do we have the brass cross on the top table, there are numerous crosses woven into the very fabric of this church. The cross is integral to the fabric of the church. So it is with our faith. Remove the cross from Christianity and you have very little left. Without the cross there is no forgiveness, no hope for eternity, no chance for change in our lives. Without the cross we remain enemies of God, alienated from him. But, through the cross of Jesus, we are reconciled to God.

As someone once said:
1 cross + 3 nails = 4given

Architecturally, the cross is central to the fabric of St Thomas. But, is it central to your life? At the beginning I quoted from the book of Lamentations. I know that Christs death is not nothing to you, it means something to you, but, is it everything to you?

David Mouncer

From the April 2007 edition of the magazine

Rector's Letter June/July 2007

Heaven and Hell

Many years ago a man conned his way into the orchestra of the emperor of China although he could not play a note. Whenever the group practised or performed, he would hold his flute against his lips, pretending to play but not making a sound. He received a modest salary and enjoyed a comfortable living.

Then one day the emperor requested a solo from each musician. The flautist got nervous. There wasnt enough time to learn the instrument. He pretended to be sick, but the royal physician wasnt fooled. On the day of his solo performance, the impostor took poison and killed himself. The explanation of his suicide led to a phrase that found its way into the English language: He refused to face the music.

Jesus was very clear; we all have to face the music someday. Each of us, without exception, will have to give an account of our lives to Almighty God. Such judgement, the Bible states, can result in only one of two possible outcomes; heaven or hell. A place with God, or a place far away from God. Although an unpopular subject in many churches today, in the month of June we will be studying the key texts to do with heaven and hell. But, be honest, when did you last hear a sermon about hell? Its a pretty unpopular subject. But I agree with C.S. Lewis who once said,
There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this hell if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, especially, of our Lords own words; it has always been held by Christendom, and has the support of reason.

A place of endless darkness, of pain, of weeping, of wailing and gnashing of teeth hell is not a place that we would want anybody to go to. So, let me finish with the following true story.

One day when Vice President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the Senate, one senator angrily told another to go straight to hell. The offended senator complained to Coolidge as presiding officer. The vice president looked up from the bible he had been leafing through while listening to the debate. Ive been looking through the rule book he said, You dont have to go.

As you listen to the coming sermons concerning hell, remember this; because of Jesus, you dont have to go, because of the cross, you dont have to go!

David Mouncer

From the June 2007 edition of the magazine

Rector's Letter August/September 2007

Be a Revolutionary

We are revolutionaries! Our Lord was a revolutionary! Consider, if you will, some of his basic teaching. Love your enemies, Do good to those who hate you, Store up treasures in heaven not on earth. All these statements (and more) run counter-culturally to the world around us. But does the world see us as revolutionary? Does our society see us as a threat to their foundational beliefs and lifestyle? The answer, is of course, no!

Why does the world not see us, the church, as being revolutionary? I offer the following hymn for your consideration.

Backward Christian soldiers, fleeing from the flight.
With the cross of Jesus nearly out of sight:
Christ our rightful master stands against the foe,
But forward into battle we are loathe to go.

Like a mighty tortoise moves the Church of God;
Brothers we are treading where weve often trod.
We are much divided, many bodies we,
Having different doctrines, not much charity.

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus hidden does remain;
Gates of hell should never gainst that Church prevail,
We have Christs own promise, but think that it will fail.

Sit here, then, ye people, join our useless throngs;
Blend with ours your voices in a feeble song.
Blessings, ease and comfort, ask from Christ the King,
With our modern thinking, we wont do a thing.

Read it again, this time apply it not to the Church, or a particular church, but to yourself.

David Mouncer

From the August 2007 edition of the magazine

Rector's Letter October/November 2007

The gospel is simple to understand. If it werent, the message of salvation would be limited to the intelligent, the ones with brainpower, and those old enough to comprehend.

The gospel is in fact very simple. Would you be able to explain the gospel to someone? In less than 100 words? Not using any Christian jargon or theological words? Have a go. Write down what you would say to a person wanting to discover why you followed Jesus Christ?

We can say great truths simply. We dont have to dumb down the message, we just need to make the truth accessible. If you want a hand with this exercise I would be happy to help. In the meantime, let me share with you someones attempt (slightly tongue in cheek) to simplify the whole of salvation history.

God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Jacob fooled
Joseph ruled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Body rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
Heavenly glory

David Mouncer

From the October 2007 edition of the magazine

Church Warden's Letter December 2007/January 2008

As we are in an without a Rector at present the Church Warden's have taken over the writing of the 'Rector's Letter'

As I write this article I am very conscious of the fact that David Mouncers last service with us will take place in two days time on the 4th November. Thoughts of thanks to him and good wishes to the family are running through my mind.

After this Sunday we will be in the period known as an interregnum which will last until a suitable clergy person can be found to take up the position of Rector of the Parish.

The PCC has already been busy holding extra meetings to produce our Parish Profile, providing details of our churches and our requirements of a new Rector.

We understand that Bishop Alastair is very keen for us to keep the interregnum to a short interval.

We are also in the process of looking to appoint a new Minister at St. Peters.

We are very pleased that St Johns Clergy, our Licensed Readers, Retired Church Army and Retired Clergy have made an added contribution to our service rotas up to the end of the year. In the New Year, however, there will be a slight change to our service patterns.

Karen and I, your Church Wardens are in good spirit and we do hope that you will continue to support the churches in this difficult period of interregnum.

I feel that God is in all of this. In the same way as he prunes the branches to improve the growth of fruit, he also shakes us about a bit to make us more focused on his work.

I close with a reading from 1 Timothy 4:8-10:
Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labour and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, and especially of those who believe.

Bernard Blanksby -Church Warden

From the December 2007 edition of the magazine

Rector's Letters 2008