Went out for a meal tonight and on the way back I couldn’t help noticing that the local countryside is really quite magnificent.

I had a really creative day yesterday. Putting together the themes and topics of the sermons and services as we plan ahead for the next nine months. It a great feeling when you’ve been able to find a format and a number of themes that all fit into each other. I just hope the congregation enjoy what I’ve decided work on. I’m also looking forward to the new Worship Planning Group to be put in place . This will also help me to shape and reflect upon the themes and the content of these themes. I chosen Matthew’s Gospel as our core focus gospel for the next nine months. I’ve decided to split the gospel up into three distinct parts dealing with first of all the teaching of Jesus. I’ve entitled the first series of ten sermons ” Jesus the Generous Teacher”  We’ll take a break from Matthew for 5 weeks and look at the Epistle of James. When it comes to Advent we’ll return to Matthew’s gospel and look at the stories surrounding the birth of Jesus. So part two from the gospel will be entitled – ” The World is Still Waiting” I noticed this will tie in nicely with the theme that has been chosen for Advent 2009 by the Churches Together in the UK. The third series of  sermons from Matthew’s gospel will continue with the theme “Jesus the Generous Miracle Worker”  This will allow us to explore the working practice of Jesus. He was always so generous in the way he treated people. Reading through the chapters from 7-9 y become aware of the immense compassion that Jesus had for people who had been cast aside , especially if it was trough illness. The Challenge is for us in the churches today to reconnect with the Jesus of the NT rather than the miracle worker we have systematically questioned until everything he ever did has been rationalized and minimized.