What's the difference betwee Robert Green and Jesus?

With the football World Cup starting this last weekend I thought I'd start my sermon on Sunday with a football link - and so on Thursday I wrote my opening paragraph about one of the England goalkeepers David James - those of you who follow English football may also know him as Calamity James - because of some of the mistakes he has made. I'd chosen one Youtube clip from among many. All building up to the conclusion of that opening paragraph: 'What's the difference between Jesus and David James?'

But then on Saturday evening in England's World Cup opener against the USA with Robert Green in goal, this happened.



A quick re-write of the opening paragraph was required on Sunday morning, with a new punchline: 'What's the difference between Jesus and Robert Green?' The answer: 'Jesus saves'.

This week, in our series in the book of Hebrews, we were looking at chapter 7. And in that chapter we read that Jesus is able to save completely.

The author of this letter wants her/his readers to know that when it comes to knowing your past forgiven, knowing peace, having a right relationship with God, seeing that your past need no longer define your present or your future - it is only Jesus who can do that. Jesus saves.

An Apple a Day...

At the moment it seems as if I'm getting an email from Apple pretty much every day with news of the new iPad or iPhone4...so far I have resisted clicking on the 'Buy Now' button! But some of you no doubt use an iPhone or iPod Touch or maybe even an iPad - or maybe something similar made by someone else.

We are nearly halfway through the year (this is week 23 - we reach the halfway point at the end of the month), and for those of you who have been memorising the weekly Bible verses printed on our church notice sheet, that means you should now have 23 verses memorised.

But memorising Bible verses takes effort. Those of you who are going through exams at the moment will know that it is possible to memorise something for tomorrow's exam, but you will have forgotten it all in two days time! To memorise Bible verses and keep them memorised is a discipline that requires going over verses again and again and again, and then reviewing the older verses regularly so that they remain accessible and at your finger tips.

In the past, in the days when I used a PDA, (before reverting back to pen and paper - neither of which need a battery or are likely to crash) I had a great program produced by Laridian that helped with memorising Bible verses. Once the verses were entered you could check you knew them by typing the first letter of each word. And if you got totally stuck there was a 'hint' button. Now I simply use little cards with the verses written on them!

But for those of you who sleep with your iPad under your pillow, or who don't go out without your iPhone why not look up an app that will help you memorise the Bible? Do a search on 'Bible Memory Verses' in the apps store. I haven't tried any of these out so can't make a personal recommendation but there are a number to choose from. Some of these apps are free, but you might have to pay a bit for some of the better ones, or to have one that includes a modern translation such as the NIV.

An apple a day might not keep the doctor away, and neither will memorising a verse of the Bible a week - but over the years, it will be time and effort that you will not regret.

Camping Trip

If you've been wondering where I've been - the answer is camping. Here are a few pictures.

Toasting marshmellows.



Worn out after a hard day's camping!

Your secrets revealed next week

How many of us are glad that there are things about us that no one knows? I wonder what would happen if I was to announce on a Sunday morning in church that the following week every person present will have something about them revealed on the projector that until that point no one else knew. I guess some people may be torn between turning up to see everyone else's stuff revealed and not turning up so as to keep their own secrets - but I'm guessing the church would be a fairly empty place - at least it would give an indication as to who wasn't listening the previous week!

But Hebrews 4:13 tells us that God knows everything about us - nothing at all is hidden. And 4:16 tells us that we can come with confidence into the presence of God. How is that possible? If God knows exactly what I'm like and what I've done and what goes on inside my head, how is it that I can come to God with confidence - especially when we think that the first readers of Hebrews had grown up with the tradition that only the high priest could enter the presence of God - the Holy of Holies - and then only on one day a year, the Day of Atonement - and then only after having made a sacrifice for his own sins.

It's possible because between verses 13 and 16 we read about Jesus and in verse 16 we read about God's mercy and grace. It's possible, not because of what I can do, but because of what Jesus has already done, on the cross.

So rather than sweep our rubbish under the carpet and hope no one finds it there, let's believe that God has dealt with our past failings and step into the present with confidence.

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