In touch	Check-in	Intercessions
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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.

In touch

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

Empowered

Who do you say I am? (Matthew 16:15).

Context

This week President Trump posted some AI-generated videos and pictures of himself with George Washington, one of the Founding Fathers and the first President of the United States of America. In one video we saw President Trump walking around showing an impressed George Washington a mock-up of his proposed White House Ballroom. In reality, President Trump is having trouble with Congress over his proposed ballroom and also a proposed triumphal arch in Washington DC.

In other pictures, President Trump shows himself writing with a quill, like Washington, and riding a horse alongside him. The inference is clear: President Trump suggests that he is as great as one of the Founding Fathers, whose power should not be challenged by Congress. And he floats the contentious idea that he should continue for a further term in 2028.

 

Reflection

In today’s Gospel reading we hear Jesus ask what the popular expectation is around the ‘Son of Man’. The talk is of the return of powerful figures: John the Baptist, and prophets like Elijah. The hope on the street is for a strong Messiah coming back to save the people from Roman oppression. But when Jesus asks Simon Peter, Peter sees that Messiahship is a divine, not earthly, mission. Because of Peter’s insight into Jesus’ true nature and purpose, he is entrusted with the spiritual task of establishing the truth about Jesus on earth. It is a very different scenario from President Trump’s AI aggrandisement. Jesus asks his disciples NOT to proclaim his Messiahship. He turns away from the pull of popular desires around earthly kingship and power and seeks only the path God the Father has laid before him.

 

Ideas for a sermon, talk or conversation

Life can be complicated and frustrating, and it’s tempting to try and set out one’s credentials to pull rank, silence naysayers, and get one’s own way. But that way lies unhealthy patterns of behaviour: abuse of power; self-aggrandisement and pompery; believing stubbornly that others are simply wrong, and refusing to listen. How then, do we hold on to humility and listening to others, and hold on to God in prayer? Jesus didn’t force his power and authority on the disciples; they only had to look into their hearts to see and acknowledge that he was, and is, Lord. And by that understanding, they themselves were empowered, not as warriors and winners, but as bearers of Jesus’s light and truth.

 

Questions for discussion

• How do you think people in positions of power can hold on to humility?
• Why do you think Jesus told the disciples NOT to go around announcing that he was the Messiah?
• How do you think Peter reacted to Jesus empowering him and trusting him with being the bedrock of the faith after Jesus’ death?

 

Dr Anne Richards is part of the National Public Policy Team at the Church of England, focusing on modern society, popular culture, contemporary spirituality and apologetics (see Deeper into God and Spiritual Journeys).

 

Check-in

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

As August moves on, we’ve arrived in a season of exam results and, for many, time to make decisions about what the next steps in our lives look like. After a lot of preparation, revision and waiting, the time has come to look ahead, to consider what and where we’d like to focus our energies, alongside pondering what God might be calling us to.

Milestones like this happen throughout our lives and, whilst some of us might have a really clear sense of purpose for ‘what’s next’, others might feel some uncertainty. Being empowered as we navigate our way, taking these next steps in life, can mean including parents and/or carers as well as other adults and friends around us who are trusted companions in our life and faith journeys.

Involving God in our decision making – praying, reflecting on our gifts and skills and learning from stories we read in the Bible – is a vital way that can help us find a path through. It’s worth remembering we don’t do any of this alone! God is with us every step of the way and that can give us confidence when making big choices.

 

Questions

• What are the big steps in life that you’re considering right now?
• How can God empower you in making life choices that are right for you at this time?
• Who are the adults and friends you can speak with, who will help and empower you as you look ahead?

Gail Adcock shares her time between being associate vicar with two churches in North Hertfordshire and a consultant for all things family and intergenerational church related.

 

 

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