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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.

 

Fear and joy

Moses experienced awe on Mount Sinai. Those who encounter the living God on Mount Zion have an awesome experience (Hebrews 12 18-29).

 

Context

A meeting of European and Commonwealth allies, the coalition of the willing, was held on Tuesday to update leaders and to discuss next steps concerning the war in Ukraine.

This week Sky News announced that 6000 words such as lewk, delulu and skibidi have been added to the Cambridge Dictionary this year. These are words which have grown in use across social and mainstream media and beyond. Some are linked to celebrities and influencers and others are linked to working from home, such as "mouse jiggler" - a device or app that simulates mouse movement and stops your computer going into sleep mode

 

Reflections and ideas for sermons and interactive talks

Experiencing God is awesome. We can be filled with awe experiencing the fear of the Lord but also it is awesome in the sense that it is a wonderful experience. It transforms us and, by giving us a new lewk, provides the inspo for our discipleship. It certainly is not delulu.

The continuing negotiations concerning the war in Ukraine provoke a range of emotions and feelings. There are those who are optimistic and those who are pessimistic. There are those who are supportive of President Zelensky and those who back President Putin. Some are directly involved; others are interested observers.

Moses experienced fear as a result of the terrifying sight (v.21). By contrast we are invited to experience Mount Zion which is a more emotional spiritual experience rather than a physical experience. Reflecting on what it is like to consider the war in Ukraine and the negotiations may help us better accept and understand what it is like to encounter God through Christ Jesus.

Spiritual experiences are a part of life but they are not always spoken of. Part of the reason for this is that such experiences can be beyond words. One of the new words in the Cambridge Dictionary is 'skibidi'. It can have a number of different meanings, including good, bad, cool or even weird. It can even have no meaning and can just be a gibberish sound. Maybe skibidi is a good way to describe the blend of emotions that an encounter with God provokes or maybe it can prompt us to seek words of our own.

 

Questions for discussion

• Is there something that you can describe but for which there is no word?
• Can you invent a word to use in this situation?
• What do you believe would be a satisfactory outcome to the peace negotiations concerning Ukraine? How can you play a part in bringing peace?
• How do you describe encounters you may have had with God? How did you feel before, during and after?

The Revd Stuart Wild is Superintendent Minister of the Blackpool and South Fylde Methodist Circuit,

 

 

Check-in

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

Many young people have recently received GCSE and A-Level results. Opening an envelope with bare numbers and letters that clumsily but clearly grade your academic ability is not an experience many of us will want to repeat - we feel judged (and often it doesn’t feel very fair!).

It doesn’t stop with school exams of course. Young people feel judged in all sorts of other ways and it’s not always the adult world doing the judging; perhaps the most pressure and judgement comes from their peers. Research suggests that. in today’s world, the key factor in identity formation for adolescents is reaction by their peers to their physical appearance. Judgement sucks.

Today’s passage is a reminder of the terror of judgement for all of us, but this is not the callous judgement of our peers. It’s the righteous judgement of God. The problem has always been how unholy people approach a holy God. Under the old covenant it was complicated (so many dead animals!) and dangerous (so many dead humans!) and that helps us appreciate even more the beauty of the new covenant. Our passage today says that we can come to God who is indeed the judge of all but, as we do, we also come with our mediator Jesus, whose blood speaks words of grace to us.

As young people process their exam results or prepare to move to secondary school or face any new situation where they might feel exposed and judged, let’s point them to Jesus. Jesus is the one to whom we are all laid bare and exposed and yet, if we come to him humbly and repentantly, there is grace, welcome and acceptance, whatever our grades.

Dr Gareth Crispin is Tutor for Youth and Children's Ministry at Emmanuel Theological College.

 

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