Sermon for Christ the King

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King, but what do we mean when we talk about Kingship? For some people the whole idea of monarchy seems an old fashioned, out moded form of government, despite this every little girl still wants to be a princess. Monarchy in our modern world can be seen in many different ways. There are monarchs whose names are forever linked with evil, such as Ivan the terrible, and there are those that are still seen as figures that can inspire us such as Elizabeth the first. There are the media headlines of party princes, written by journalists keen to point out any slight indiscretion made on a night out, presenting a view of monarchy as privileged people living to excess at our expense. Yet it is this very same press interest which led to Prince Harry's first tour of duty in Afghanistan being cut short. It is this press interest that also gives us the other side of monarchy. Royals who are prepared to work hard for their people, to use the press exposure they get to highlight issues, as Prince Charles recently did about religious persecution, or to help raise funds for good causes. To be a King or Queen is to be a leader, even at times of great national or personal crisis, to speak for and to the nation and provide hope in times of despair, even if they are struggling to believe in that hope themselves. The monarchy we have now on earth is far from perfect but it can give us a glimpse as to what it means when we talk about Christ the King. Earthly monarchy has a good and a bad side, because even Kings and Queens are human and make mistakes, but the Kingship of Christ is Kingship in it's most perfect form. Christ isn't like a normal King, over the next few weeks as we approach christmas we will hear about his birth, and how the wise men assumed he would be born in a palace, only instead to find him in a stable. He wasn't born surrounded by luxury, Mary didn't have the benefit of the best doctors and midwives to ensure a safe birth of a healthy son. Christ is the King who is prepared to live as one of his people, to take the risk of standing up to authority without the protection of rank or diplomatic status. A king who was prepared to die for his people, even a humiliating death on a cross between two criminals. Christ is the king who can give us hope even in the darkest of places. The Jewish peopeven had been suffering under the occupying roman forces but were given hope by the prophets in their history who had foretold the coming of the messiah who was going to free them from oppression and re establish Jewish rule in Jerusalem. They were expecting a King who would deliver a new Jewish nation and overthrow the hated Romans, when Jesus failed to live up to their expectations of what a King should be they turned against him, a bit like todays press will turn against any celebrity figure that lets them down by not being perfect. They failed to understand that the Kingdom of Christ is bigger than one nation, that the kingdom of Christ will one day reach out to all peoples and nations. If the kingdom of Christ is not the sort of Kingdom we have currently on earth, then what sort of Kingdom is it? Our gospel reading this morning gives us a clue, it is a kingdom where the naked will be clothed, the hungry fed, the stranger welcomed and the prisoner visited. In todays political climate it sounds like a wonderful dream. It would be so tempting to think that is what it will be like when Christ comes back in glory lets just sit back and wait for God to do his stuff, come back in glory and put the world to rights. However as Christians we have pledged ourselves to be servants to Christ the King. No monarch can rule effectively if they don't have the support of their people. Christ the king needs our support to help build his kingdom here and now. That means we have to be one hundred percent commited to serving Christ the king. On twitter this week there has been a series of tweets on the theme of if Jesus rules our lives then what else can't be allowed to rule our lives. Some of the suggestions I have read and thought yep, that’s fine, not a problem, ones like if Jesus is lord, celebrity can't be. Then there have been the ones that in principle I agree with, but struggle with the application of, such as, if Jesus is Lord, my bias can't be or if Jesus is Lord my insecurities can't be. Then there have been the ones which have really made me stop and think, If Jesus is Lord my family can't be, if Jesus is Lord my bank account can't be. Hang on God, having money to pay the bills and spending time with my family are probably the most important things I think about in life, and there lies the problem, yes obviously family and earning enough money to pay the bills are important, but to be true subjects of Christ the King, God still has to come first. As I was writing this sermon my mind went back to my Methodist roots. In the Methodist church at the start of each year there is a service which commemorates the covenant God has made with his people. It includes a prayer which to me seems to sets out what exactly choosing to follow Christ the King means, and it's not always easy: I am no longer my own but yours. Your will not mine, be done in all things, wherever you may place me, in all that I do, and in all that I may endure; when there is work for me and when there is none; when I am troubled and when I am at peace. Your will be done when I am valued and when I am disregarded; when I find fulfillment and when it is lacking; when I have all things and when I have nothing. I willingly offer all I have and am to serve you, as and when you choose. To choose to serve Christ the King is to commit your whole life to serve him and to work to start to build his kingdom on this earth here and now. Next week is Advent and the start of a new church year, a time for making new years resolutions. A time to think about what we can do as subjects of Christ the King to bring his kingdom a little bit closer here on earth. Amen

Why Go To Church

I was asked this question whilst on holiday and struggled to come up with an answer, which I wish I could blame on the fact that the same person also kept giving me shots of Jagermeister. However I have been thinking about it since.
The first thing I have realised is that everybody probably has their own reasons for going to church. At least some of he reasons I have are rooted in my past and in the person I am, good and bad.
So here are some of the reasons I go to church.

1.) Acceptance and Belonging
As a child I was the odd kid, the one that couldn't talk right, couldn't catch a ball and had to use a typewriter in class.  Most of the time the other kids ignored me. At break time I would find a quiet corner with a book. On Sunday at Sunday school, even though it was thesome of the same kids I could join in with things and feel part of the group.
Church has been and still is a community where  I feel accepted and as I belong. What breaks my heart now is knowing that some people, some very good friends of mine, feel rejected by the place I have found such acceptance.

2.)  To Meet With God
I'm not saying that I don't meet with God anywhere else but there is something in sharing in song and spoken word in corporate worship and receiving thesacrament that brings me closer to God. That lifts me for a short while out of the day to day stress and leaves me feeling stronger to face the day to day stress and challenges of life.

3.) To Be Challenged and To Grow In Faith
A good sermon, prayers, hymns, words from scripture or conversation with others can all cause me to question why and what I believe. This hopefully helps develop my thinking and leads to a deeper and stronger faith.

So three reasons why, despite the stress, despite the fact that sometimes the church as an institution or it's individual members sometimes say or do things I think are wrong I still go to church.

Holiday Day 8: Mountains and BBQ

Went for a run round the lake this morning, beautiful views of the mountains, in fact they were so good I'm blaming them for taking my breath away.

After a shower and breakfast we went to buy our lift passes and headed up the mountain. Had a nice walk round the Huttenrund. Stopped for lunch at Hannenkahm Sturbel. I tried to be healthy and had a salad but I'm not sure that works when the salad comes with fried bacon and cheese and swimming with dressing.

They are running the moving carpet lift up to the start hut they put in last christmas so we had a go on it. It felt very strange going up a moving carpet lift without skies.

Took the gondola back down and on the way had a phone call from Dave wanting to know if we were coming to a BBQ. Arrived back at Snowbunnys and changed before heading to the garden for the BBQ. There was a Natural High Tours group there. Got chatting to a guy called Steve, who asked some questions I found difficult to answer such as "what does going to church give you"

After having eaten pork, chicken, beef, lamb and fish, we headed into town. There was a small festival on and they had a Thomas The Tank Engine bouncy castle, Andrew was very impressed. Had a drink in Glockenspiel and then took a walk down to Sigi's where we ended up buying ducks for a duck race and called in to a very quiet Flannigans for a final drink on the way home.

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from my LiveJournal, Jane Williams - The Wombling World of Madness

Holiday Day 6: Walk in the Park ( and a few drinks)

Woke up early this morning and managed to motivate myself to go for a run. Most of where I went today was through parks which makes a nice change from streets.

After another multi course breakfast went to check out a Bavarian market we had seen advertised. I was expecting lots of stalls with wood carving and other traditional craft stuff, however, it turned out to be a rather small and normal market.

After that we headed to the north end of the Englischer Garten and set of to walk through it, stopping at the various beer gardens along the way. There was one small one that seemed to be a meeting point for dog walkers, I think there was nearly as many dogs as people there. Most of the people we saw in the northern half seemed to be dog walkers.

As we progressed into the southern half it got busier with the people and even the sun decided to come out from behind the clouds. Saw a dog whose owner was throwing sticks into the stream, the dog ran to the edge, then stopped as if saying "it's gone in the water, what do I do". After some indecision it decided to take the plunge and jump into the water after the stick.

After lunch at the Chinescher Turn we headed across an area open parkland, on looking up realised we were walking across the nude sun bathing area!

Once back into the centre we had a few drinks in Augustiner Am Dom and Le Clou before heading back for a shower.

Once we had recovered a bit went into town and had some pizza, before deciding to have an early night. Wrote the post cards I bought in Lindau in a vague effort to actually post them from the same country they were bought in.

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from my LiveJournal, Jane Williams - The Wombling World of Madness

Holiday Day 5: A Red Squirell and Other Animals

After last nights early night, woke up reasonably early, all rested and keen to be virtuous and go out for a run. Then I looked out the window and saw the people walking past with umbrellas and retreated back to bed. Half an hour later the rain was stopping and I convinced myself to go out for a short run. Towards the end of the run I found a nice park with wooded paths and whilst running down one a red squirrel decided to cross the path jus in front of me, the first time I have seen a re squirrel in real life. How the virtuous are rewarded.
After a shower went down to breakfast to undone the good of my run by enjoying a buffet of cheese, fruit, cold meats, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, mushrooms and Danish pastries.
The weather seemed to be staying dry, if grey and cloudy so we decided to go to the zoo. Disappointingly the brown bear was having some gardening done so wasn't out. However we did get to see the polar bears, one adult with two young ones. I thought they were cute and fluffy, Andrew didn't agree.  Opposite the polar bears were the sea lions including one baby. The old adults were sat on the rocks posing like old pros, whilst the baby was struggling to get out of the water, it reminded me of trying to get out of the swimming pool without using the steps as a child.
The elephant house is still in the process of being rebuilt but the elephant herd was out and about. Elephants always look like gentle giants to me. In the monkey house the orang utangs were putting on a good show. There was a baby one that kept trying to escape the nest and climb a rope but kept getting grabbed by it's parent and pulled back. There was also an empty plastic barrel in the enclosure. I never knew such a thing could provide so much entertainment to two orang utangs as they hid in it, rolled round in it and tried to grab each other and pull the one outside in.
After walking round the zoo, feet were feeling a bit sore so we headed back to the hotel for a break. Once we were feeling more recovered we headed into the centre of town for that great German tradition of coffee and cake. We managed to get a table in Somers, which I consider to have one of best selections of cake in Munich.  We ordered and both drinks and Andrew's cake arrived, but there was no sign of my rum torte. I drank my coffee and still no sign of cake, eventually I reminded the waiter and shortly after it appeared and was very good.
After the cake we went to sample that other great German tradition, beer. After Augustiner am Dom and Le Clou we went to Augustiner am Platzl were they had "beer from the wood" that is beer poured by gravity dispense from a barrel behind the bar.
After sampling the delights of "beer from the wood" we decided it was time for food. On a previous visit we had had a drink at place near the hotel, which seemed very local and nice, and decided to try the food there. It was a good choice. The side salads were crisp and lush. I had steak cooked with crispy onions which was melt in the mouth delicious. It came with potatoes that reminded me of how delicious potatoes can taste. Andrew had a pepper steak which he also declared as very good. This was followed by pancakes with cream and ice cream, and a free schnapps that came in a glass shaped like a chemistry flask.
Feeling full and slightly merry we headed back to the hotel.

Holiday Day 4: Train to Munich

Up at 6am to catch an early train. Whilst doing the last bit of packing discovers a hole in the top pocket on my backpack, so transferred the stuff to my day pack. Then when I picked my day pack up managed to stab myself in the hand the scissors from the first aid kit. My day pack now looks like a proper adventurers with a few blood stains on it!

Tim fed us breakfast then headed to the station and said our goodbyes before catching the train to Fischbach, where we changed to the train for Ulm. Uneventful journey to Ulm, where we had slightly longer to change trains due to the train t Munich being late.

Arrived in Munich by 10.30am and put our baggage in a locker at the train station before going for a walk through the city centre. Stopped to look in a toy shop, which had some very nice cuddly toys, including swans. We also had a look in some of the sports shops before deciding it was time for lunch at Hofbrauhaus. Skies were cloudy so after lunch we just had a quick walk around the viktulimark. Stopped for a drink at a very small bar called Le Clou, which has a motorbike as part of the decoration, I think it would look better with a large teddy bear riding it. Went for a drink in Augustiner Am Dom before picking up the baggage and going to the hotel to check in.

We are staying at a hotel in Munich have used before, but booked it through a different website so it hadn't come up on their system that what stayed before and when they realised this we got an apology for not getting a free room upgrade and told in future to let them know and they would make sure we did.

After settling in had a snooze to recover from the early start. Later on we headed out to a beer hall / restaurant for dinner, Andrew went for schweinhaxe again, whilst I had a Bavarian cordon blue, which is pork stuffed with ham, local cheese and red onion. It was very delicious but decided to have a quiet night and headed back to the hotel.

Posted via LiveJournal app for Android.

from my LiveJournal, Jane Williams - The Wombling World of Madness

Summer Holiday Day 3: Rain in the treetops

Jane Williams - The Wombling World of Madness

Sep. 2nd, 2014 08:36 pm Holiday Day 4: Train to Munich Up at 6am to catch an early train. Whilst doing the last bit of packing discovers a hole in the top pocket on my backpack, so transferred the stuff to my day pack. Then when I picked my day pack up managed to stab myself in the hand the scissors from the first aid kit. My day pack now looks like a proper adventurers with a few blood stains on it! Tim fed us breakfast then headed to the station and said our goodbyes before catching the train to Fischbach, where we changed to the train for Ulm. Uneventful journey to Ulm, where we had slightly longer to change trains due to the train t Munich being late. Arrived in Munich by 10.30am and put our baggage in a locker at the train station before going for a walk through the city centre. Stopped to look in a toy shop, which had some very nice cuddly toys, including swans. We also had a look in some of the sports shops before deciding it was time for lunch at Hofbrauhaus. Skies were cloudy so after lunch we just had a quick walk around the viktulimark. Stopped for a drink at a very small bar called Le Clou, which has a motorbike as part of the decoration, I think it would look better with a large teddy bear riding it. Went for a drink in Augustiner Am Dom before picking up the baggage and going to the hotel to check in. We are staying at a hotel in Munich have used before, but booked it through a different website so it hadn't come up on their system that what stayed before and when they realised this we got an apology for not getting a free room upgrade and told in future to let them know and they would make sure we did. After settling in had a snooze to recover from the early start. Later on we headed out to a beer hall / restaurant for dinner, Andrew went for schweinhaxe again, whilst I had a Bavarian cordon blue, which is pork stuffed with ham, local cheese and red onion. It was very delicious but decided to have a quiet night and headed back to the hotel. Posted via LiveJournal app for Android. Tags: via ljapp Current Location: Munich, Albert-Roßhaupter-Straße, 6 Leave a comment

Sep. 2nd, 2014 05:06 pm Holiday Day 3: Rain in the treetops

Slept in for a bit this morning, then finished updating the holiday journal. Once we were all awake, some people took longer than others, we went to the local bakery for breakfast.
Tim was driving today and leaving the shores of Bodensee behind we headed up along a twisting narrow road to Scheidigg. Here we headed for the sky walk, a series of suspended walkways through the trees, with a viewing tower in the middle. Unfortunately the weather was a little bit on the cloudy side, but you could still see the lake. Then the wooden walkways began to become more challenging, consisting of netting and suspended silver discs and balance beams to try to get across. The next challenge was a rope to walk across fixed to the netting. At this point the two chaps abandoned me, saying they would meet me at the end, leaving me to continue across the nets and balance challenges on my own. Once reaching the end there was a slide down to the bottom.
We then had a short walk on the ground through the forest, finding various things on the way including a catapult. However, it started to rain so we headed to the cafe for coffee and cake.
Our next stop was at the local waterfall, here as well as a very nice waterfall there was a small water wheel powered round about.  We then headed back towards the lake and went to Austria and a place called Lolku, where we had a short walk along the front, and saw a dog been taken for a "walk" in a plastic crate on wheels attached to a bicycle.
By now we were starting to feel a little hungry so headed back to Lindau where we met Stephan, and much to Andrew's delight found somewhere serving Schweinhaxe, although it came with Spatzle and salad rather than the more traditional dumpling. The Spatzle (a sort of potato pasta) here is less thick and more spaghetti like than the Spatzle you get in Tirol.
Lindau is on a sort of Island, although connected by road and rail to the mainland. After dinner we had a walk around the Island. The sun had at blas started to come out and we were treated to some fantastic views across the lake as the sun began to go down, unfortunately I had left the camera in the car. There was a relaxing feeling of peace and quiet around the place.
We then headed back to Fischbach and after parking the car at home, went to a little local bar for a drink before bed. The bar had an old fashioned looking brick and wood interior an behind the bar was a little old lady with rosy cheeks and a blue checked apron, you could almost think you had walked into a storybook. We had a couple of very reasonably priced beers before heading back to pack up and get to bed early, ready for an early start in the morning.