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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

 

Crossing to Europe

As the gospel spreads, Paul takes a ship to cross into Europe (Acts 16.11f)

 

Context (with URLs)

Last Monday our news was all about Europe and the first European Union (EU)-UK summit at Lancaster House in London since Brexit. Depending which media you follow, the Prime Minister has either undone Brexit and surrendered to the EU, or agreed a package of sensible improvements to our relations with the EU. And this week our lectionary gives us the passage in which Paul crosses from Asia Minor (modern Turkey) to Macedonia, firmly in Europe.

Reporting of the EU-UK meeting took prominence in the British press and overshadowed the following events :

• the election of a pro-EU President of Romania (over a right wing Eurosceptic)
• the first round of presidential elections in Poland which also featured splits over the direction of the European Union
• an indecisive election in Portugal.

Last Sunday Leo XIV, the first Pope born in North America but who spent much of his life as a missionary in Peru, was inaugurated as Bishop of Rome.

Finally, the UK Government has (at last some would say) called the Israeli offensive in Gaza ‘intolerable’ and brought trade talks with Israel to an end.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

The Acts of the Apostles is largely the story of how a group of frightened disciples, and Paul, a latecomer to the gospel story, spread that gospel from Jerusalem to the heart of the Roman Empire, the political entity which then controlled much of Europe (as well as much of North Africa and parts of what today we call the Middle East).

Both Europe and Rome have been much in our news lately. At a London summit the Prime Minister has ‘reset’ UK relations with the current main European political entity, the European Union. Today, just over halfway through the Acts story, we learn of the gospel news crossing from Asia to Europe with Paul, Silas and Timothy. The switch from ‘they’ to ‘we’ in Acts 16:10 suggests that Luke joined them.

For Paul and his companions this was not all plain sailing (Acts 16:7) and it involved radical changes in perception. As you may have heard in last Sunday’s reading from Acts, the notion that the good news was for non-Jews as well as Jews was deeply disturbing. Deep inside none of us like change much. It heralds the unknown. But change is also essential. Nothing can stay the same for ever. People have to move on. Children grow up and many leave home.

In his inauguration sermon on 18 May, Pope Leo XIV recalled how love and unity are the two aspects of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus. He went on to speak of the Church as ‘a small leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity’ within a troubled and divided world. He ended by calling on Catholics and ‘our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of good will’ to build ‘a new world where peace reigns’. Surely here is a serious challenge to all Christians to seek to live up to the gospel of peace in our own lives and locally as well as in our witness to the wider world where war persists in Israel/Palestine, in Ukraine, in Myanmar, in Sudan, in South Sudan and in other places which have slipped from our news. It is sometimes said that it is easier to start wars than to end them and that certainly seems true of some of the world’s intractable conflicts.

Methodist users of Roots may also be opting to celebrate Aldersgate Sunday (instead of last Sunday - 18 May). Aldersgate Sunday takes place on a Sunday close to 24 May (Wesley Day) when we recall that John Wesley’s life was changed by the event at which he said his heart was strangely warmed on 24 May 1738.

 

Questions for discussion

• How significant was Paul’s decision to respond to a vision by taking a ship across the Aegean to Macedonia?
• What do you think about visions as a motive for action? Might you set off into an unknown context (like a new continent) in response to such a vision? How much change would you contemplate in response to a vision or dream?
• What practical steps might Christians, and others of goodwill, take to respond to the new Pope’s challenge in his inauguration sermon to build ‘a new world where peace reigns’?

Dudley Coates is a local preacher in the Salisbury Methodist Circuit and a former Vice President of the Methodist Conference.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

A couple of teams who have had a season of rough waters are Tottenham and Manchester United! They’ve struggled, lost a lot of matches and both ended the Premier League year only just out of the relegation zone. But somehow, despite the fact the league has been anything but plain sailing, they both managed to make it to the end of the Europa League to face each other in the final in Bilbao, Spain on Wednesday night.

As you will know by now it was Tottenham who took the trophy. Although an exciting win, I imagine this was not quite what they expected at the start of the season. The same goes for poor old Manchester United. Both teams may well have had a very different idea of where it would all go in the 24/25 season. But, in football and indeed life, the plans we might have, or the direction we set for ourselves, is often very different to the place we end up in.

At the start of the half-term holiday with the final term of school coming up, have a think about what’s happening to you at the moment. You may feel like Tottenham with an unexpected win - perhaps the exams are going better than you thought they would, or you’ve found a great group of friends in your new school. Or maybe you are experiencing a Manchester United moment - the school year hasn’t quite panned out as you thought it would, things haven’t gone to plan, you might be looking forward to getting to the end of this year and are already hoping for a better one when the new season starts/September rolls around!

But the fact is, that in all of the rough seas, or bad seasons, or just the curve balls we’re given God remains steady and faithful to all of the promises he has made. It’s a solid truth worth reflecting on.

 

Activity ideas

Football prayers

if you have space, stand in a large circle and throw or kick a ball to each other. As you throw/kick the ball, say the name of the person you would like to catch/receive it. Keep going until someone misses. Take the opportunity to then pause the game and pray for that person as a group. Keep going until everyone has been prayed for.

 

Yes and Amen

Invite everyone to stand in the room facing one direction. Explain that they are going to think about the expectations they had at the start of the school year. After a few minutes ask everyone to slowly turn to face the opposite direction. Now ask people to think about what actually happened.

Play the Chris Tomlin song Yes and Amen encouraging the group to listen to the words and use the chorus ‘faithful you are’ as a prayer of thanksgiving that whatever happens, whatever ‘season’ we have, God is faithful in his promises.

 

Fiona Dorman is a freelance leadership consultant and mediator.

 

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