ࡱ> molq` ;bjbjqPqP 4~::h3%TTTTTTTh8(,h9#<<"^^^999"""""""$%$h&`"T99"TT^^" |T^T^" " TT ^0 ǛP " #09# &p& &T 9R 3TM999""t d9999#hhhD DhhhhhhTTTTTT Sermon for Evensong at Little Cornard Flower Festival 13th May 2007 Gods generosity, our response EZEKIEL 37.1-14 The Valley of Dry Bones 37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me to and fro among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, Son of man, can these bones live? I said, O Sovereign Lord, you alone know. 4 Then he said to me, Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feeta vast army. 11 Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord. Revelation 21.10, 22-22.5 The Angel carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lambs book of life. The River of Life 22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. Sermon When I read the two readings for tonight I started thinking about the hymns and decided that what we really needed was Peter on the organ our choir and a 50 strong gospel choir in satin robes singing Dem Bones, Dem Bones followed by The River of Life .. but then I thought No, get a hold of yourself, we arent quite ready for that yet. well you know maybe next year! In the reading from Revelation John is carried up to a mountain where by the Holy Spirit he is shown the city of Jerusalem, By the time he is writing the Temple had already been destroyed, nothing was left but rubble, but In his vision he can see clearly the New Jerusalem, Heaven in fact. And a picture of the longed-for close relationship between God and his people. Jerusalem was the Holy City where people went for important festivals where they believed they met with God so it was an obvious choice for an imagined Heaven, where God lives with us face to face. Three weeks ago some of us came back from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. On the first day, when we arrived at a mountain overlooking Jerusalem, it was a very powerful moment, at last we had arrived, somewhere I have been looking forward to seeing for years, suddenly the whole city was spread out before us, the Mount of Olives, the garden of Gethsemane, mount Zion, the Kidron Valley, all so small, so local, everywhere a short walk from everywhere else. And knowing that we would be able to explore these places was quite overwhelming. As we stood there that first day we read Psalm 122 (the Psalm we have just sung) Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. It is built like a city that is closely compacted togetherand Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:may they prosper who love you Well you can imagine how that felt to be actually there! What a place of paradox, such history and spirituality and beauty and yet the dreadful conflict between Judaism and Islam trying to claim Jerusalem, as uniquely Holy to them. Although on the surface the check-points seem orderly enough and there is no outward animosity, the two communities living side by side do their best to maintain a veneer of tolerance, but beneath the surface there is an undercurrent of hatred. In Revelation John sees a time when there will be no more death, or mourning, or pain ---- In his vision of Heaven there is crystal clear water, flowing down the street from the throne of God. And those of you who have been to Israel will know the extraordinary importance of water. In fact they have the same amount of rainfall as we do here in southern England, but instead of the rain falling in small amounts every month of the year as we have, it all falls in a short space of time in the winter, then nothing for maybe10 months of the year. In modern Israel the infrastructure is very impressive with an irrigation system that spreads across most of the countrys plains and some hillsides. But in Biblical times the difficulty posed by months of drought was immense. In the Bible we often read about aqueducts and wells and cisterns, how if you claimed land, the first thing you had to do was dig a well because you had to devise some way of collecting and storing water for your crops and animals for the months ahead, this meant digging channels and one or more cisterns. We saw some of these old cisterns, still there, they are huge some of them 50 feet deep and 20 feet wide and hewn by hand out of the solid rock like enormous vertical underground caves. Our own climate does seems to be changing and some of these beautiful flowers are out earlier than usual but after the last week or two we have stopped worrying about drought.. In fact this weekend for the flower festival you could have done with less! In two weeks we made up for all the rain we lacked in April. And we dont have to travel far in this country to find some running water. We love our river but we do take it for granted and never imagine that the Stour could ever be just a dry river bed. So the river, running brooks, ponds and even water features are just part of the landscape for us. But for Jews an abundance of water is a rarity and part of their vision of Heaven. I seem to have spoken to a number of people lately about Heaven, of course I am no expert, not having been there yet and none of us can be absolutely sure what it will be like. But a surprisingly large number of people have had near death experiences and they say pretty much the same things a tunnel, a bright light, a feeling of peace and comfort and warmth, the absence of pain and sadness, sometimes a feeling of coming homeand so on. All very similar accountsand rather encouraging! Is seems a shame that in everyday life people dont talk much about heaven, as though it is all a bit fanciful, a bit embarrassing or odd so people wait until they are either very old or very ill to raise the subject, which is a pity. On Panorama the other night a Moslem woman in a burka was trying to explain why she expected so little from her life, She said We only live for the hereafter, this life is just a test, I thought that was so sad, her expectation of her life on earth was so low and there is nothing as powerful as a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you expect little you get little. As Christians we can take delight in the life we are given. We are already living in Gods Kingdom - we can always find things to be thankful for, we can count our blessings even in difficult times. Its a win-win situation - if life is hard here , well we know it will be better there! And In the Bible there is so much about heaven and Jesus himself speaks all the time about the kingdom of Heaven and here in both Ezekiel and Revelation we have it all laid out for us. We will have no need of the sun or the moon, there will be so much light there will be no equivalent of the temple, because it will all be a holy place. .. So much of the iconography of Heaven is the same as the symbols we have for the Holy Spirit, so perhaps its natural to think about Heaven and the Spirit together, indeed part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to give us joy and peace, if you like, glimpses of Heaven so that we at least have some inkling about where we are going and what it will be like. Now in the weeks leading up to Pentecost we think more clearly about why the Holy Spirit is there and what he does for us .. It is very hard to describe his presence so we use ephemeral sort of words: breath, rushing wind, warmth, flowing water, and so on. all invisible but none the less unmistakable. St Johns vision speaks of a continuous stream of the Holy Spirit as the water of life, not a cistern-full carefully stored away for moments of need, but a gushing, tumbling abundance, an open-hearted, open-handed profusion to refresh us, restore us, renew us to baptise again, and enliven us, Gods lavish generosity literally falling over itself to provide for us and bless us. This morning at Family service in Bures Robin had a miraculous jar filled with water, however much he emptied it it filled up again all by itself, over and over, The children were fascinated. and it was to make the point that God is so free with his forgiveness, his love, his grace, he just never stops giving to us and caring for us whatever we are like, carrying on pouring out his goodness. Your flowers here this weekend speak of your gifts and generosity reflecting Gods gifts to you! How can we dare to be anything ourselves but overflowing with generosity? How can we be mean-minded or mean-spirited, or judging, or withholding, or lacking in charity? This is Christian Aid week and some of his generosity to us can be passed on. You only have a perfect day if you do something for else who will never be able to repay you. From Gods point of view, when we dont give and, when he doesnt hear from us.. sometimes we must seem as dead as the army of dried bones, he wants to bring us back to life and yet we know our names are written in the Book of Life, were thirsty but not always aware of it, gasping for life and breath and moisture, sometimes tired by what life has thrown at us and so much in need of his Spirit. The disciples who witnessed the Ascension must have longed for him So like them we must open our hearts and our hands as we wait for Pentecost in two weeks to receive all that he wants to give us, not just then, but now, and newly every day, allowing his goodness to wash into us, and over us and through us--------- We dont have to dig cisterns to store the Holy Spirits gifts we can receive Gods gifts to us again every day and be grateful for them. If we only ask him, pray to him every day, he longs to revive us and refresh us. We dont need a temple or a church or any special place, we dont need it to be a Sunday at 10.30 or 6.30 It can be every day and all the time. So although Heaven is an experience we have to wait for, none the less we can we live our lives fully, here, enjoying what there is to enjoy, focussing on the positive, being thankful. If you cant have what you want always, its time to start wanting what you do have! Glimpse what it will be like for us when we can worship him face to face. This life is not just a test, it is to be lived to the full, with a generous spirit, an open mind and a loving heart, passing on a little of what God gives to us. MC     PAGE  PAGE 1 69;DEdefgmnvwޗsaO;&h3oNhgf6CJOJQJ]^JaJ#h3oNh_5CJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhgf5CJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhJM5CJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhP 5CJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhF35CJOJQJ^JaJh_EO5CJOJQJ^JaJ&h3oNhc5CJH*OJQJ^JaJ#h3oNh_EO5CJOJQJ^JaJhF35CJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhc5CJOJQJ^JaJEFefw { BC]cdv h7$8$H$`hgdc h7$8$H$`hgdWxZ 7$8$H$gdP h7$8$H$`hgdgf 7$8$H$`gdgf 7$8$H$gdgf P7$8$H$gdch;; " V [ \ ^ y } w    { } O R ad$'TY 9CNɏ&h3oNhP 5:CJOJQJ^JaJ&h3oNhgf6CJOJQJ]^JaJ#h3oNhgfCJH*OJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhgf:CJOJQJ^JaJ&h3oNhgf5CJOJQJ\^JaJ h3oNhgfCJOJQJ^JaJ5N]^gSV69bcduvxjoVX%EF۸nZʧ&h3oNhWxZ5CJOJQJ\^JaJ&h3oNhWxZ6CJOJQJ]^JaJ&h3oNhP 6CJOJQJ]^JaJ h3oNhcCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhWxZCJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhWxZCJH*OJQJ^JaJ h3oNhsGGCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhgfCJOJQJ^JaJ&h3oNhgf5:CJOJQJ^JaJ"vFGNO0&  (){|1267$8$H$^`6gdQP67$8$H$^`6gd~67$8$H$^`6gdsYW67$8$H$^`6gdA" 7$8$H$gd? 7$8$H$gd~gdWxZFGNO/0kl̻wfXG h3oNhqrCJOJQJ^JaJh3oNCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhy"CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh -CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh?CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhP CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh>CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhPhCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhR1CJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhR15CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhM:CJOJQJ^JaJ   &6>Ipq̻̙ﻙwfUD h3oNhOCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhR1CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhM:CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhy"CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh^CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhGQCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhgCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh?CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh<5CJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNh\y>*CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh\yCJOJQJ^JaJ %&-.@ABCQ_qt  7RT޼ޫͫ{j͚jYH h3oNh`CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh?CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhH^CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh<5CJOJQJ^JaJh3oNCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhOCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh^CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh\yCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhgCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhGQCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhy"CJOJQJ^JaJTg{3=CDLMTntu~ %'޼ޫޚޚމމމxމމgVE h3oNh~CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh0:CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJCCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhropCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh<5CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhqrCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhOCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh_EOCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh6CJOJQJ^JaJ'();JL[bcz|}~ͼͫweޫwTޫTCw h3oNh`CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhS_jCJOJQJ^JaJ#h3oNhsYWCJH*OJQJ^JaJ#h3oNh~CJH*OJQJ^JaJ h3oNhP CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh*`CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh~CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhgCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhA"CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh6CJOJQJ^JaJ/01234mlsͼͮＮ{jYHY h3oNhtCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhOCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhgCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh{CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhHCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhH^CJOJQJ^JaJhQPCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh}CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhsYWCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhA"CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhqrCJOJQJ^JaJ#(34NTUVkpr޼xgYxYHH h3oNh/CJOJQJ^JaJhQPCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhtCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhS_jCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh*`CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhiCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh}CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhHCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh+CJOJQJ^JaJ2 ?!@!&"$$&&((-+.+U,V,4-.//1 7$8$H$gdF" 7$8$H$gdM_ 7$8$H$gd, 7$8$H$gdi 0 7$8$H$gdi 7$8$H$gdsYW1 4 = s | ;!ͼޫ﫚xxggYHH h3oNh*`CJOJQJ^JaJhQPCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhsYWCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhi 0CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh,CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhj[CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh0:CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhtCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh/CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhiCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhkeCJOJQJ^JaJ;!!@!g!k!v!w!!!!!!!!""%"&"4"""""""""## #!#.#1#5#޼ޮޝޝޝ͝{jYjj{{jj h3oNhi 0CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh!]CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh*`CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh{CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhj[CJOJQJ^JaJhQPCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhtCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhP^CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh,CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhXICJOJQJ^JaJ"5#6#O#V#W#Z#t#{#|#}##$$$$$$&$+$D$R$\$h$l$y$~$$$$%%%&%﫚xxxjjYx h3oNh%Q%T%U%Z%%%%%%%%%%%%%& &&&&޿ͮ͝{{mm\KKm h3oNhXCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhXCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhkeCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhF"CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh.oCJOJQJ^JaJ'''''''''''( ( (O(P(q({((((((((((D)J)Z)])^)|)))޿ޮ޿޿ޝͿͮ{{j{Y{ h3oNhF"CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh.oCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh=MCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh*`CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhaCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh}CJOJQJ^JaJhQPCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh{zCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhWf>CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhM:CJOJQJ^JaJ")))))){*|*-+I+k+l+{++++++++S,T,U,V,Z,,,,,,,,,,,,пбР~~ޠޱm\m\\m\ h3oNhCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh*`CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh3CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh1I1J1K1S1T1_1f1u1v1}1111112Ｎ{j޼Y h3oNh!!CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh*CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhgCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJMCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh3CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhM_CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh: dCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhyCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJCJOJQJ^JaJhQPCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhDCJOJQJ^JaJ55555555666 6 66 6'6^6h6m6n6q6u6666666666ͼＮ͏~~m~mmm\m h3oNhyCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhtdCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhi 0CJOJQJ^JaJhQPCJOJQJ^JaJhsICJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh8BCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh: dCJOJQJ^JaJ66666677P777777777777777)8Ϳͮ{{jYHH h3oNhJCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh!jCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh{zCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh8BCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh?CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJMCJOJQJ^JaJhsICJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh: dCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhM_CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhCJOJQJ^JaJ)81828A8B8J8K8S8Y88888888888!9#9;9>9U9b9c9g9p9w9z99999:пጝ{jjjYY h3oNhiCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh!jCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhyCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhH^CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh: dCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh")CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh\9CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhJCJOJQJ^JaJhsICJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhtdCJOJQJ^JaJ":::F:G:H:I:r:s:u:v:w:|:}:~:::;;;&;B;K;e;g;h;i;k;l;n;o;п{Ќ{{j{j{{YQMQMQhSjhSU h3oNhZrCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhE_CJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh!jCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhHCJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNhgCJOJQJ^JaJhsICJOJQJ^JaJ h3oNh")CJOJQJ^JaJo;q;r;t;u;{;|;};;;;;;;;;;; h3oNhZrCJOJQJ^JaJhF30JmHnHuhF3 hF30JjhF30JUjhSUhSt;};~;;;;;;; 7$8$H$gd,h]hgdF" &`#$gd.$21h:pc/ =!"#$% @@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontRi@R  Table Normal4 l4a (k@(No ListHH _B{ Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJ4@4 F"Header  !.)@. F" Page Number3~EFefw{BC]c d v FGNO0&  (){|12?@& -#.#U$V$4%&''))+--..//c1d1F2u2v2d3e3h3j3k3m3n3p3q3s3t3}3~333330000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000@0000000000000000000000@00@0I00@0I00@0I00@0I00I00I0 0I0 0@0@0I00${BCv 3K00zI00I00A00A00K00丷@0K00rI000 $$$$$'NFT';!5#&%&'),.02356)8:o;;!"$%&'()*,-./012345789:;<=v21t;;#+6>;  '!!8@0(  B S  ?*@<4PA<5XB<_C<OD<<E<^F<G<dYH<cI<nZJ<XK</bL<`M<|cN<O<1111122F2G2H2I222227373e3g3h3h3j3j3k3k3m3n3p3q3s3t3|3333\dh3h3j3j3k3k3m3n3p3q3s3t333rqM}>XP gKqrt_XI /3!!A"F"y"P&") -i 0R13F3<5\97>Wf>8BJCsGGsI=MJM3oN_EOQPGQdT?ABCDEFGIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[]^_`abcefghijknRoot Entry FqǛpData @1TableH&WordDocument4~SummaryInformation(\DocumentSummaryInformation8dCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q