5th June 2021 Trinity 1
All Saints Church, Childwall
READ: Mark 3. 20-35 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” 23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” 31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
REFLECT: From Day 1 of his ministry, Jesus had done surprising things:• He had given up a good little business in order to become a roving preacher.• He had recruited a band of followers, including a hated Tax Collector, and taught in public even though he was not a formally trained Rabbi.• He had healed people on the Sabbath; the Jewish day of rest.• He had declared a paralysed man to be forgiven of his sins.• He had challenged many of the accepted religious practices of Judaism.
All of these things had alienated the religious elite. In today’s Gospelreading, Jesus goes home where yet another crowd gather to see/hear him or to be healed by Him and he encounters three different attitudes.
Some people, including his own family, were saying that he had gone mad – taken leave of his senses.
Others, especially the religious scholars, said that he was possessed by the devil himself.
The crowd were much more open to Him, exhibiting faith; they recognised the power of God at work when His family and the teachers of the Law did not.
As Jesus’ disciples spent more time with Him and witnessed His death, resurrection and ascension and then experienced Pentecost, they came to understand that he was neither sad, nor mad nor bad, rather the very Son of the living God.
But the key question for us is not what other people thought/said/believed about Jesus 2000 years ago but what we believe about Him today and how that impacts the way we live our lives. If we recognise Jesus for who He claims to be and seek to honour, follow and obey Him then we are, according to Jesus, members of his family – as close and important to him as his mother or brothers or sisters. Wow!
RESPOND: So, what is your response to this maverick preacher/teacher/healer and His claims about God and about Himself? Is He credible? Does His life match His teaching/preaching? Does His character reflect His teaching/preaching? What difference does what you believe about Him make to your life today.
How would you answer somebody who said they thought Jesus was deluded or a trickster or worse?
PRAY: Day by day, day by day, O, dear Lord, three things I pray: to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly, day by day. Amen.
Rev Bill Forster (Associate Minster at All Saints, Childwall)
Church Services
Sunday 6th June – 9.15am Service of the Word 11am – Service with Holy Communion
Thursday 27th May – 10.45am BCP Communion Service
Sunday 13th June – 9.15am Service with Holy Communion 11am – Service of the Word
Social distancing measures will be in place and masks will still have to be worn.
Children’s work – Rock Club
If you would like to receive specific information about our Children’s and Youth work please email Gypsey, our Youth and children’s worker directly, who will add your email to her master list for youth and children. gypsey.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com Unfortunately, we are still currently not able to re-open our Crèche.
Online Church Services – We are continuing to record our Sunday morning service in church weekly. It will be uploaded to our website to be viewed each week soon after 11am. www.allsaintschildwall.org.uk
Zoom Sunday Coffee – Every Sunday at 10.45am – Meeting ID:842 767 1496 Password: 4allsaintshttps://us04web.zoom.us/j/8427671496?pwd=K2dMMnlvTHpwTkxDNEV6bDYwQXBDQT09
Morning Prayer– Monday and Friday at 8:00am – Common Worship Morning prayer service with words on screen. Optional Chat after the service. Meeting ID: 789 873 7449 Passcode: Newsman1
Evening Prayer – Every Sunday evening at 6pm led by the Readers. The liturgy and the readings will be on the screen and there will be a short reflection on the New Testament passage which has been set for the day. Please join us. Meeting ID: 789 873 7449 Passcode:Newsman1
Pastoral visiting – If you would value a visit or know anyone who would please let Helen or me know, our phone numbers and emails are below.
Weekly prayer meeting – Thursday 6.30pm on Zoom. Why not join a group of us at All Saints that pray regularly. It lasts 40 minutes, you can pray, sit and listen or just contemplate. – Aidan Holmes
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8802380315?pwd=cGxQTnQ0QVRjU1gyUnBrYnJMMzZldz09
Please note new joining ID. Meeting ID: 880 238 0315 Passcode: yt76bq
NEW… All Saints’ book and documentary study group. Be inspired by testimonies of lives transformed. See the attached flyer for further details and contact Gary Vyse, gary_vyse@hotmail.com, to register your interest.
Weekly Prayer requests – If you would like other members of our church family to pray for you or a family member, please send me their names for this sheet, please ask permission from the person. Please pray for all those who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Nicoli Gray (Carole Turner’s daughter) and David Miller. Also, please pray for all those being ordained to Holy Orders this year, among them Helen Deegan, who is to be ordained priest on Saturday 12th of June at 10:30am.
With our prayers for you all at this time
Andrew Colmer – Vicar – Tel: 07305 842257 – vicar.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Helen Deegan – Curate – Tel: 07984 933467 – curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Gypsey Tait – Youth & Children’s Worker – Tel: 07961 793435 –gypsey.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com
Adeyinka Olushonde – Ordinand – adeyinka.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
