“… and they all lived happily ever after”.
We like stories that end like that. They’re lovely. At least – they’re lovely if you live in that period called “ever after”. The trouble is: That is only the ending because the rest of the story is somewhat more complex and somewhat less happy. That’s what makes “… and they all lived happily ever after” newsworthy.
Welcome to Paul’s letter to the Philippians. The church at Philippi was a thriving and healthy church. Just from this opening paragraph we get a sense of how deeply Paul feels for them. It’s almost as if they are his favourite church. Philippians is a lovely letter, because the Philippian church had no major problems. Sure, there are a few things for them to work on, and there are a few things for them to watch out for. But overall, this is a church that’s getting things right, that is in good health, and has been a tremendous strength and blessing to Paul.
One of the things that causes many people to dismiss the Christian faith is the perception that the church is hypocritical.
With great delight we have just baptised three small children. We have just welcomed three new members into our church. That makes this a good Sunday to think about our relationships with one another. How should we, who are in this church, relate to one another? What should characterise our relationships.
Most of us here this morning would agree that Jesus Christ is good. He’s good for our lives. He’s good for our village. He’s good for our nation. He’s worth doing things for. He’s worth giving things up for. He’s somebody really very precious indeed.
Over the past twenty years, the study of “comparative religion” has become a significant enterprise. As more and more religious faiths are represented in Britain in significant numbers, and as communications around the world have opened up, we feel it is important that people have a basic grasp of the religions of the world and how they differ from one another. Most GCSE RE syllabuses now focus on this, and the emphasis is on the various practices, customs and rituals of each religion. Compare, and contrast.
That Bible reading from Jeremiah chapter 18 was a very short one, so we don’t get any sense of where it comes in the book of Jeremiah.
