24th April 2022 – Easter 2 All Saints Church, Childwall
Read: John 20:19/23 – “ 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.21 Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending
you.’ 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’
Reflect: I wonder why you think Jesus appeared to his disciples in the upper room on that first Easter evening? I am sure there were several reasons i.e. so that his disciples would know that he was indeed raised from the dead by the mighty power of God, so that they would know that the claims he had made about himself were true, and no doubt also because Jesus wanted to bring his peace to their grief stricken hearts. But were any of those the main reason for Jesus appearance[s], or was there something else? As I read the passage, Jesus words, ‘As the Father sent me, so I send you!’ stand out to me. Jesus appears to his disciples not simply to reassure them, but to recommission them with those words, ‘As the Father sent me, so I send you!’
So what was it that God had sent Jesus into the world to do in the first place, and which Jesus expected [and still expects] his disciples to emulate/continue? I would suggest the following:
To ‘incarnate’, to embody the presence of God in the circles in which they mixed. To seek and to save the lost.
To speak of and demonstrate the love of God in action.
To teach, baptize and make disciples.
To offer God’s forgiveness, and to be forgiving themselves.
But Jesus didn’t expect them [or us] to replicate His ministry to the world in their own strength. He did not send them out helpless or powerless. No! We also read that Jesus ‘… breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.’ I can’t read/hear that verse without being reminded of a scene from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ when Aslan has come back to life and arrives at the castle of the White Witch where the courtyard is full of what appears to be ‘statues’ of animals. Aslan breathes on the ‘statues’ and they are ‘thawed out’ and are transformed back to real, living animals and immediately join in the battle against the White Witch. Just as the animals were ‘thawed out’ by Aslan’s breath and sent to join the battle, so Jesus’ frightened disciples were ‘thawed out’ and re-commissioned and empowered for active service as Jesus breathes on them and says ‘As the Father sent me, so I send you! Receive the Holy Spirit!’ The disciples had been ‘frozen’ with fear and grief, now they are energized for battle. Sadly, critics of the Church have often accused God’s chosen people of behaving more like ‘God’s frozen people’! If that is true, then we need to repent and seek God afresh. The gift of the Holy Spirit is available to all who believe and trust in Jesus. We don’t need to wait for ‘another Day of Pentecost’, we simply need to ask God for a ‘personal Pentecost’ so that we are equipped to live for Him, in His power/strength.
Respond: Do you recognize your own need to be filled or refilled with the Holy Spirit so that you are renewed in faith, worship, prayer, obedience and witness? If so, why not read or listen to the hymn, ‘Breathe on me breath of God’ and use it as a prayer asking Jesus to breathe new life into your discipleship? The first verse is shown below as a prayer.
Pray: ‘Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what Thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do’.
Bill Forster (Associate Minister at All Saints)
Church services
Sunday 24th April – 9.15am – Holy Communion 11am – Service of the Word with Baptism
12.30pm – Baptism Service 6pm – Evening Worship (in the Church Hall)
All Saints Annual Parochial Church Meeting – Monday 16th May at 8pm in the Church Hall & on Zoom
Morning Prayer – Monday and Friday at 8:00am – Common Worship Morning prayer service with words on screen. Optional Chat after the service. Meeting ID: 948 786 2454 Passcode: 4allsaints
.
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
Vestry Hour – every Tuesday 7pm – 8pm. There will be no Vestry hour in church on Tuesday 19th
April. Vestry hour will restart on Tuesday 26th April.
To book a Baptism or a Wedding or speak to a member of the clergy, please come to Vestry Hour which is held in the church every Tuesday, no appointment is necessary. Please use the wooden door to the left of the tower. You do not need to knock, just come in, take a seat and you will be seen privately in turn.
Hope From Above (HFA)
Some of you will remember Tim and Carol Derbyshire who are coming to All Saints in May as part of a speaking tour. They serve in HFA which is an Australian-based Christian organisation. It helps mission partners and ministries take the gospel to unreached and inaccessible people groups. This is done through aviation and technology. Tim and Carol will be speaking on two dates.
- Thursday 19th May in church at the 10.45 BCP communion service
- Saturday 21st May in the church hall at 7pm
For more information contact Chris and Sue Watterson 428 8406 07707901279
Church hall cleaning rota
Currently there is a team of people who clean our church. Since Playgroup closed, there is no longer a cleaner employed to clean our church hall. Can you please spare an hour a week to work in a small team to clean the church hall? Please contact me if you are willing and available to help.
Thank you Mary Harrison 078 1747 1857
Youth Confirmation Classes
The Confirmation Service for young people will take place on the 20th June at 7pm in Liverpool Cathedral. A separate service for adults will take place in November.
In order to be confirmed, candidates must be adequately prepared. Classes are being organised by Liverpool South Deanery. They will be taking place on Monday afternoons/evenings at All Hallows Church, Allerton. Young people (11-16 years) will be gathering from 16:30 for refreshments. Discussion/teaching will start from 17:00. The sessions will finish at 18:30. They will take place on the following dates.
9th May, 16th May, 23rd May, 6th June and 13th June.
Please contact Andrew or Helen if your son or daughter would like to take part.
Sunday 1st May 9.15am – Service of the Word 11am – Holy Communion Service
6pm – Evening Worship (in the Church Hall)
Thursday 28th April – 10.45am – BCP Holy Communion
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8802380315?pwd=cGxQTnQ0QVRjU1gyUnBrYnJMMzZldz09
Please note joining ID. Meeting ID: 880 238 0315
Passcode: yt76bq
Weekly Prayer requests – Please pray for all those who are unwell at this time particularly praying for Gary McCoy, Stan Cowley and Alison Kefford. We pray for the bereaved family and friends of Graham McCulloch, Diana Cowley, Sybil Francis and Daniel Melling.
Andrew Colmer – Vicar – Tel: 07305 842257 – vicar.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com Helen Deegan – Curate – Tel: 07984 933467 – curate.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com Bill Forster – Associate Minister – william.forster1@btinternet.com
Adeyinka Olushonde – Ordinand – adeyinka.allsaintschildwall@gmail.com
