Barbara and Grayden led us at the bandstand this morning, picking up on themes from the last couple of weeks. We’d all been asked to bring digital cameras / phones or writing pads and after some starting thoughts we were sent out to photograph something that spoke to us of God’s presence / provision… The park was stunning, bathed in sunshine (oh how we appreciate that after this long winter!) and we were all spoilt for choice as we looked with new eyes at flowers, trees, sky, colours, shapes, creatures, patterns, textures… These we shared with thoughts on them – a brilliant way of reflecting upon how we all see different things and will have different emphases, but each inspires the others in enhanced worship.  We joined together in these words:

In the beauty of this moment

We worship you

In the fellowship of your people

We worship you

In the presence of your Spirit

 We worship you

In the company of all creation

We worship you

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

These words are so meaningful and easy to say from the heart when worshipping outdoors – we’re beginning to question why we haven’t done this before and why more don’t do it!

For the bread and wine we used these words from seasonofcreation.com

It is right to give you thanks, loving Creator. Your word is the impulse for all things to be, for space, stars and stardust to appear, for Earth to emerge from the deep, for life to be born of Earth and for humans to be born of Earth and the Spirit.

Your Spirit is the life impulse in all things, renewing the barren and healing the wounded, groaning in anticipation of a new creation, stirring new life born of water and the Spirit.

You chose to be born a human being, to become a part of Earth, to suffer, die and rise from death to redeem humankind, renew creation and affirm all born of Earth and the Spirit.

Your presence is the living impulse in all things, the Christ deep among us filling Earth – land, sea and air – filling every element and place, filling the grain and the grape we share with you this day.

Therefore with angels and archangels, ancient voices in the forest, high voices from the sky, deep voices from the sea and the whole company of creation, we proclaim your presence among us.

Holy, holy, holy God of all life,

Earth and sea are full of your presence.

May we who share this Bread and Wine,

Share Christ with one another.

Amen!  Amen to that!

We had an excellent follow-up to our rowdy debate in the Crown last week, with Colin and Michele leading us for the first time.  In fact it was so well prepared and so challenging that we’re continuing with it next week in the Crown.  We were given questionnaires, in advance, on our habits such as recycling, buying fairly traded produce, considering air miles etc which started us off with plenty to think about and discuss. Then the really challenging bit… How were we at ThirdSpace (as individuals and as a church) espousing simplicity in our:

Worship

Theology

Church management

Personal lifestyle

Local community and

Global community?

That’s why we’re continuing next week!  Stretching stuff that’s essential for us if we’re to take our value of ‘Justice’ seriously.

Loved the closing blessing of the evening:

A Blessing

God’s blessing be upon us as we leave and return changed to our homes.

May we strengthen and encourage one another in our shared vision.

And may the blessing of our adventurous Creator God go with us.

And may the blessing of the Son, who showed us how to live, re-shape us.

And may the blessing of the dancing Spirit joyfully enable us in our renewed living.

Amen.

Source: Hope in God’s Future: Christian Discipleship in the Context of Climate Change Report & Study Guide, Methodist Publishing 2009

And here’s Colin and Michele’s resource list and recommended books:

BOOKS

 Saving Planet Earth, Colin A Russell

 Planet Wise, Dave Bookless, IVP 2008

 Christianity, Climate Change & Sustainable Living, Nick Spencer & Robert White, SPCK 2007

 When Enough is Enough: A Christian Framework for Environmental Sustainability, ed RJ Berry, Apollos 2007

 The Rough Guide to Ethical Living, Duncan Clark, Rough Guides 2006

 Kingfisher’s Fire, Peter Harris, Monarch 2008

 L is for Lifestyle, Ruth Valerio, IVP 2004

 The Busy Christian’s Guide to busyness, Tim Chester, IVP 2006

 Glory Days: Living the Whole of your life for Jesus, Julian Hardyman, IVP2006

 For the Beauty of the Earth, Steven Bourma Prediger, Baker Academic 2001

 Celebrating Community: God’s Gift for today’s world, eds Chris Edmondson & Emma Ineson, DLT 2006

 Caring for Creation: Biblical and Theological Perspectives, ed Sarah Tillett, BRF 2005

 Silent Fields: The long decline of a Nations Wildlife, R Lovegrove, Oxfod Press 2007

 RESOURCES

• A Rocha Christians in Conservation www.arocha.org 01387 710286
• Christian Ecology Link cel2000@christian-ecology.org.uk 01423 871616
• Christians in Science (CiS) www.cis.org.uk
• Department for international development (DIFD) www.dfid.gov.uk 0845 300 4100
• John Ray Institute (JRI) www.jri.org.uk 01242 543 580
• Tearfund www.tearfund.org 02089437818
• Eco-Congregation www.ecocongragation.org
• Living lightly 24:1 www.livinglightly24-1.org.uk
• Operation Noah www.operationnoah.org 

Join us at the Crown on Wednesday?  If nothing else we’ll all be needing company, if not a pint, for consolation after the match!

This was the task we set ourselves last Wednesday night at the pub. It ’s a scene setter for our next 6 weeks theme – Living More Simply. Taking my inspiration from the world cup refs, I got to chuck out anything I thought was too general (as in ‘culture and art’- sorry Colin)  or just verging on the pretentious….and red cards would be distributed for swearing… ( I know this sounds very undemocratic, but what a sense of power!)

In pre-pub discussions with P, I was quite relieved to know he wouldn’t be able to make it -top of his list?? – moist toilet tissue…honestly, how superficial can you get?  Disappointingly, my fellow Third Space buddies had no problem with such wordly matters, – knickers, underpants and toilet paper featured high on the essential lists of quite a few of us.

Discussion ( a polite names for arguments) ranged around whether a laptop was one ‘thing’ , why it just wasn’t possible to live without a car and whether some of us really could start a fire by rubbing sticks together…

After much debate, we (kind of ) agreed on the following 5 corporate things we just couldn’t so without

matches (just in case the stick rubbing doesn’t work)

books

music

land ( a garden to you and me)

sanitation ( but you’ll have to use your left hand- the toilet paper didn’t make it)

I suppose we did descend into post -apocalyptic living a bit, (or post rapture, depending on your theology) but it was an interesting exercise, and harder than you think, and as I’m the ref, I’m cunningly going to hide my mascara in the box of matches.

Let us know what your 5 are.

We had a moving time together at the bandstand this morning reflecting on one of the ‘Morning Bell’ messages from Ian Adams this week (which give pointers to prayer each day). Based on the poetry of R S Thomas, the Friday morning message was ‘Listen today for echoes of God. Follow them ))))’  So we reflected on how God constantly reaches out to speak to us of his presence and goodness and love. These we wrote on arches of card. We read Psalm 8 in The Message which ends with words of God’s echoes in his creation and an extract from John Ortberg’s ‘God is closer than you think’ which speaks of every act of nature being God waving ‘hello’. Next we  coloured squares of printed paper – with no knowledge of the image – and pieced them together to discover the face of Christ. We know that it is through each other and when we are together that God speaks most clearly of his reality and love and community… Laying down the card arches of recognition of echoes of God in our lives, and seeing these emanating from the face of Christ, created a powerful image.

From there we moved to the magnificent weeping Beech Tree at the Royal Bank of Scotland – pretty central to town – where Steve led us with the following words as we shared bread and wine:

Divine Entanglement with Bread and Wine

 Look up, all around, entangled and surrounded, mind-blowingly all enveloping – God’s breathing, God’s love sweeping down and curling around.

Acknowledged blessing and unacknowledged blessing, love noticed and unnoticed, blessings overt and covert. Incidences and coincidences and God-incidences too complex for us to sort through and untangle. We are caught – in the web. God behind us, God in us, God before us.

Surrounded and enveloped by God’s care, those blessings obvious to us now and those blessings only to be known about in the future and those blessings perhaps never to be known by us.

God at work in us and in those around us and in those we love and despair of. God’s love touching us, our ground, our lives through His humanity and love incarnated in Jesus.

We are surrounded in our space and time by roots, by branches, by leaves, by this living and growing 360 degree, multi dimensional, 24/7, God who loves. We are not tree hugging, but we are God- hugged.

And so while we are still indifferent, ignorant, hostile, unblissfully unaware, God loves us and in our hands we hold the bread and wine which expresses, encapsulates and enfleshes that Jesus love.

So why us? Why are we invited to this banquet under this umbrella of God’s love? Because we deserve it, merit it, lead good lives and have good theology? No, because God loves because he loves because he loves….

And so together as one body within God’s enveloping, connected with the worldwide family, we eat bread.

And so together as one body within God’s enveloping, connected with the worldwide family, we drink wine.

And so we have communed with God in this banquet but we do not now take our leave of Him. These roots and branches encircle and will not let us go even though we depart from this holy ground. He goes before us, marks our steps and our way.

And so we pray for all:

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore.

AMEN!

Fantastic!