Good News from St Hildeburgh's

 

  45 years ago my husband and I were working at a mission hospital in Nigeria. We came home during that winter as our daughter was getting married. For me it was a very special occasion as it was my stepdaughter’s wedding and I had never thought I would be able to be ‘Mother of the Bride’ at a wedding. it was a wonderful experience going to the wedding in central London and to the reception in Knightsbridge. It was a highlight in my life. A month later we found ourselves in a very different situation. We were returning to Nigeria but this time not by air but over land. A Land Rover ambulance had been donated to the mission and needed to be taken to Nigeria. We drove through France, took a long ferry across the Mediterranean to Algeria, and then across the Sahara desert. We reached the Nigerian border only to discover that there had been a coup and the border was closed. For 18 days we had to camp in the sand in no man’s land between Niger and Nigeria. From being at the mountaintop expe

 

 

 

Mark Twain famously said, ‘Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.’ I have been trying to get out into the garden in the last few days, just to see what the worst of the Winter has done and to see that the early signs of Spring are beginning to show through. The birds seem to be singing louder and the first of the daffodils are just starting to poke through the soil. For five minutes, the sky cleared and a little bit of the sunshine we are blessed with her on the Wirral danced across the garden. The sky was blue, the clouds cleared, and all was right with God in His heaven. Which in a round about way lead me to think about today’s sermon and that quote from Twain. For so many people, the existence of God is a concept that they struggle with. The idea of a Creator who loves us all equally is a proposal that they find very difficult to comprehend. How could God love each of us equally, with all our myriad faults and differences? There mu

 

Lord God, you are the source of everlasting light. Your son, our beloved Lord Jesus was presented in the temple 40 days after his birth. He was recognised by Simeon and Anna, and welcomed as the promised Messiah. May we like them, behold the glory of the Lord Jesus. Grant that we may stand before you with hearts cleansed by your forgiving love. May we serve you all our days and make your name known as we worship you as our Lord. So may we come by your grace to eternal life. Amen.