Bethlehemian Rhapsody

Some things are just too good not to share. Thanks to an old friend, Ian, the Youth Officer at the Diocese of Oxford who has an excellent blog where I found this.

And the Lyrics...

The soundtrack for the video clip in the next post is by a band called Apologetix who have written some excellent parodies of 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's music - lyrics below courtesy of Lyrics Download

Is this a real guy? Is he just fantasy?
‘Cause of his grand size, no one’s safe from fatality
Open your eyes, look up at Goliath, and see:
GOLIATH:
I’m dressed for war boys, I need no infantry
Because I’ll meet the one you propose
Israelites, pick my foe
Anyway, I’ll win, so it doesn’t matter to me
DAVID:
Mama, there’s still no man who can come against this threat
You might figure now we’re dead
Mama, Goliath is testing us
And know he’s gonna know they’re all afraid
Mama, he’s a mean and crazy guy
He’ll come back again this time tomorrow
Daring us, Scaring us- cause he wants to meet in battle
Hooray! My time has come
Been a shepherd all my life-but I’m taking on this giant
Goodbye, everybody – but not for long
God will lead me all the while I face this brute
C’mon (David you’re a whimp though) I’m not gonna die
The One who wins my battle is Lord over all
GOLIATH:
I see a little silly shepherd, not a man
What are you trying to prove? You’ll be chewed up and mangled!
Send a boy to fight me? A very very tiny flea!
DAVID:
Gol-la-liath! Gol-la-liath! Gonna die you big galoot!
I’ll kick your butt!
I trust the Lord but nobody trusts me
CROWD:
He trusts the Lord but suffers from insanity
Daring to fight ‘gaist this monstrosity
DAVID:
Evil comes, evil goes- you will get deposed
GOLIATH:
I will not, no! I will not get deposed
DAVID:
Yes, you will (repeat) Your head will roll
GOLIATH:
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Come-to-me-a! Come-to-me-a! Let the eagles pick your bones
Beelzebub and his devils gonna fight for me for me for me
DAVID:
So you think you can scorn me and spit on my tribe?
So you think you’re above me just based on your size?
Oh, baby…. you ain’t just duelin’ David
You’e gonna get it now- cause God’ll win my battle here
CROWD:
Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah!
DAVID:
Guys I’m really flattered-yet it wasn’t me
God wins every battle- God wins every battle for me
VOICE:
David will be king soon

More Sermons to download

There are some more sermons available to download - just follow the link on the right to our E-snips gallery.

The sermons include a 4 part series on the Beatitudes from Matthew Chapter 5.

More Amour!

Well February is upon us - the month for Luuuurve! (Well how else do you do a Barry White impression in print?) Valentines day is nearly upon us and before long a whole aisle of Asda will go red with hearts and cards and vastly overpriced red roses. Sadly one of the extra elements creeping into Valentines day in recent years is also red, but has horns and a trident. Not content with Halloween the demon is mounting a takeover bid for the feast of St Valentine. Cute cuddly demons - talking of "being naughty" or "wicked" but an image of a demon nonetheless.

So what about poor old St Valentine - what has he got to do with Luuurve? Well, not much really. The 5th Century Pope who established the feast in Valentine's honour said his acts of courage were "known only unto God" and all the legends about Valentine arose in the middle ages when he became associated with romantic love. So why celebrate the day at all?

I'd like to suggest two reasons - firstly I don't think I'm ready yet to abandon St Valentine to be the patron saint of cuddly demons and secondly I think that a day when we celebrate all that is best about romantic love is no bad thing. After all romance (and its ensuing activities) were God's idea in the first place - He created us male and female - He gives us guidance on the ways in which this sort of love should be expressed and He made sure that the Song of Songs was included in scripture.

So this February let's avoid the demons and celebrate God's wonderful gift of love - given to men and women to enjoy together.

Unresolved Resolutions

New year - a time for turkey curry, cold weather and resolutions! New Year resoutions are funny things - I like them, because they give me a nudge to change a bad habit or to establish a good one - but I also hate them because I feel dreadfully guilty if I either don't make some or if I fail come mid-January!

But the New Year is a good time to take stock - to look back on what God has done in the past year and to look forward to what He is going to do. 2006 was a mixed year with all sorts of exciting things happening and then there were some struggles with Church family members being ill and some dear friends who have gone on ahead of us into glory! Ups and downs - highs and lows - yet through it all we can say one thing "God is good" - even in the difficult times God has been at work amongst us - building us into the family he longs for us to be.

I wonder what God's New Year Resolution for All Saints might be - where he is planning to lead us in 2007. What has God got in store for you this year? It would be great to know what is coming - what special times lie ahead - yet it would be awful to see the sad times before they come. Perhaps waiting for God to reveal things in His time is the best - even if it is a bit scary waiting!

So at the start of this new year the call is to put our trust in God, to rely on his promises not our fears and to know that "He will never leave us nor forsake us". Wherever God leads we will follow as best we can, knowing that He will give us the strength and the gifts we need along the way.

"I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'
And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east."

Advent Calendars!

When I was little Advent Calendars were of two types: The first type was the "non-religious" where the pictures which were revealed were of snowmen and parcels and Santa Claus and robins - even if the picture on the front was vaguely "religious" the innards certainly weren't! The second type was the "religious" type which usually had either a very arty nativity or a cartoon Bethlehem scene on the front and pictures of angels or wise men or shepherds or donkeys. If it was a particularly "religious" calendar then on the inside of the doors there would be one of the familiar Christmas verses

These days there is one qualifying factor for Advent calendars - they have to provide huge quantities of chocolate for every day of December. If they are particularly indulgent then there is an extra chocolate for Christmas Day (Horror of horrors - my advent calendars used to stop at number 24!!!) and even an extra countdown to the New Year.

It got me thinking about Christmas and how we prepare for the celebration. Are we like the first type of calendar with vaguely religious intentions but then we give in to robins and tinsel. Or are we like the second type where December is a month to be religious, to remember the familiar words and stories but then when January comes its back to normal. Or maybe Christmas is just a time to party - lots and lots of chocolate and then an extra party for New Year.

This December why not try something different - why not take a few minutes in and amidst the busyness to wonder why God should choose to be one of us, to become a baby, to live and care and heal and ultimately to die - the Bible says so that we could live life to the full.

So are we headed for a traditional December? I hope not!

Forgiveness

Hmm. Have you ever struggled to forgive someone, or perhaps to be forgiven. Stephen preached on Sunday about this as part of our being the body series - check out the sermon using the "sermon downloads" link in the column on the right!

Sermons

If you want to hear a sermon again then click here or click on the link on the right of the blog!

Remembering

November is a time for remembering. We start the month with the annual competition to let off the biggest firework (with bonus points if you do it after midnight) in memory of Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators who attempted to blow up King James. Then comes a more solemn time when we wear our poppies and pause on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month to remember the men and women who gave their lives in two World Wars and in many conflicts since. Later in the month on the evening of Sunday 19^th at All Saints Church we will take time to remember our loved ones have died when we gather to remember and to think and to cry.

You may have read the article in the Brodsworth Informer or the Highfields Village Chimes where I talked about my search for records of my Great Uncle Clifford. As a family all we had was a memorial plaque and the memory of my Grandma saying that he died in the war. Yet we knew that would have been barely 16 when the war ended. I tried for nearly 5 years to find records of Clifford, yet I couldn’t. Then I found an entry in the registers on-line which gave me hope. I sent for the death certificate and found that Private Reed, of the 3^rd East Yorkshire Regiment died in 1919, aged just 17. “I’ve found him”, was all I could say as I held the piece of paper.

Remembering, I discovered, is not something that just happens. It’s something we have to work at – whether remembering failed plots and treason, or loved ones, or brave young men and women. If we simply rely on them coming to mind then eventually the remembering will stop. We need to be deliberate about remembering.

The same is true of our faith – the Christian faith is about remembering – remembering that God created the world, that He loves each one of us so much that He came to save us – remembering His death and resurrection with the symbols of bread and wine – remembering that He is here now through his Holy Spirit. We need to be deliberate about telling the story of God, not just waiting for it to come up in conversation or in our homes, but actively remembering, reminding ourselves and others of the Good News – allowing God to make it real again in our hearts and minds.

November is a time for remembering. The hope we have comes from remembering God’s faithfulness in the past and then looking ahead to the future that he has promised.

Will your anchor hold?

In loving memory of Gladys - A lady whose anchor held firm to the end and who is now safe in God's hands

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?

We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
Fastened to the rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!

Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear?
When the breakers roar and the reef is near;
While the surges rave, and the wild winds blow,
Shall the angry waves then your bark o’erflow?

Will your anchor hold in the floods of death,
When the waters cold chill your latest breath?
On the rising tide you can never fail,
While your anchor holds within the veil.

Will your eyes behold through the morning light
The city of gold and the harbour bright?
Will your anchor safe by the heavenly shore,
When life’s storms are past for evermore?

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Just a question - where are you anchored?