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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

Sharing in the community of faith, hope and love

 

Context

In Romans 5:1-5 Paul sets out how we attain peace in Christ through faith in God, hope for the future and love for one another. These are gifts but, to be effective, we need to be proactive in their use.

There has been another prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.

The Prince of Wales was a speaker at the Blue Economy and Finance Forum.

At the Tony awards the Korean musical Maybe Happy Ending wins six major awards.

 

Reflection and ideas for a sermon, talk or conversation

Faith is about more than simply believing in God. It is also trusting that God is in control and that means that we should have faith in our future and we can only achieve that if we have faith in one another. Prince William’s wake-up call about the threat our ocean beds face is a call to action. Each needs to play a part by uniting our activity with the desire of God for a perfect creation. Repair the damage and the world becomes a better place.

Was it just me or did the news of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine come out of the blue to other people as well? The last I heard they were vaguely speaking which gave no hope at all for an end to this war. There is still a long way to go but an exchange of prisoners is undoubtedly a sign of hope which is extremely encouraging. God is quietly at work and if we align our faith and prayers with God’s purposes then peace will come.

The plot of Maybe Happy Ending is surprising to say the least. It is billed as a love story between two robots. Its reflection on the relationship between the two robots reflects questions that many humans need to address. The robots realise their relationship has a time limit, but they continually put off ending it to do the things they think a human couple would do, even attempting to have a fight. What is love and what is its place in our world? God’s love has been poured into our hearts says Paul (Romans 5:5) but that begs the question of how we share that love more widely in our world.

 

Questions for discussion

• Why might hope disappoint you?
• Where do you see faith in the world?
• What do you think a Christian can do to promote peace in our world?

Stuart Wild is a Methodist Minister on the beautiful Lancashire coast. He loves musicals and his hope is one day to see a show on Broadway. As a man of faith he believes this will happen but does not know when.

 

 

Check-in

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

The headlines this week have been dominated by US President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines against protestors in Los Angeles. The cause of these demonstrations is the mass arrests of alleged illegal immigrants. In a city in which an estimated third of the population are born outside the US, such actions were likely to lead to negative repercussions.

How does this action and response fit with the theme of being invited in by God? As Christians we have done nothing to earn the grace of which Paul speaks - we receive it through the love of God which is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit as a gift. Through no act of our own, God invites us into a relationship with them, the Trinity: creator, redeemer and sustainer. This invitation is inclusive – it is there for everyone, no matter who they are, where they were born, or where they seek to live.

Thoughts to discuss with your group:

• Where do our sympathies lie when we hear news stories about migrant people?
• Why do we think people from other countries want to come and live in the US, Europe and Britain?
• Why do some people want to exclude migrant people?
• How are we called to respond to God’s unearned, all-inclusive, free invitation?

Victoria Etherington is children’s, youth and family’s ministry leader for the Yorkshire North and East Methodist District.

 

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