St Jude's Mapperley Archive Blog

Loving God | Loving Each Other | Loving our Community Good Morning! It's been a busy week – I can hardly believe that this time last week we were still waiting for Christmas! Many thanks to everyone who has needed a rest after serving in various ways this week – especially thanks to Val for all her hard work with writing, organising and leading the Nativity Service, which went really well! Sorry for any injuries caused by flying chocolate too – it can get really dangerous around Christmastime... Yesterday morning we were looking at Simeon & Anna in Luke 2. Both Geoff and Dennis reminded us of the importance of ordinary people – not the kind of people who make headlines, but the kind of people who know their God, who spend time with him and who wait patiently for him. I remember hearing Bishop Paul mention them as well, and comment on what a privilege it was for them to be praying for Jesus, and for God to use their prayers for Jesus to accompl

Loving God | Loving Each Other | Loving our Community Good Morning! We are well and truly getting near Christmas now! Several groups have already had their Christmas dinners, and last night we had our first Carol Service of the year in the Duke of Cambridge pub. A great time was had by all – I know I had several really good conversations with folk who are thinking of coming to (or back to!) St Jude's. So be encouraged as we invite folk along to the Christmas services! Yesterday morning, Philip began our new series in Luke reminding us of the story of the angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah and then to Mary, the fact of the Virgin Conception and the way that it all points forwards to Jesus. What really struck me was how spiritually dry Zechariah must have felt. He kept on praying and holding on, but he didn't really expect God to do anything any more. All that was left for him was retirement and childless obscurity. And yet God remembered (that's

Loving God | Loving Each Other | Loving our Community Good Morning! It was great to see so many folk at St Jude's yesterday, including a few new faces. An old friend of mine was visiting us with his wife, and commented on what a friendly church it was, so thank you everyone who spoke to them and to all who put the effort into welcoming new folk! It's a really important part of being church and of loving those around us. We finished our series in Colossians yesterday morning, and I spoke particularly about how valuing other people fits together with recognising that Jesus is Lord over everything, and that when you put those two truths together, you end up praying passionately for people, because you care about them and realise that God can open blind eyes so that people can see him, that he can soften hard hearts so that people can love him and he can open our mouths so that we can praise him to others! It also flows out into having conversation that is alw

Loving God | Loving Each Other | Loving our Community Good Morning! Advent is a time that's all about waiting. It's a time of waiting and looking forwards to Christmas as we count the shopping, working and chocolate-eating days left. But it's also a time, as Geoff reminded us at the 9:15 yesterday, of looking forwards to Jesus' return in glory. "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead" we say in the creed. And yet so often we carry on as if it is just an idea that Jesus will return one day . Yesterday evening, I was preaching on Haggai. In Haggai's day, the people were working hard but never quite had enough to eat. They were putting off rebuilding the temple because it seemed like too much hard work, and they were too discouraged. But God used Haggai to encourage them by reminding them that he was in control, that if we put him first and work for his kingdom, especially when times are hard, then he will bless us