After introducing the concept of Near Death Experiences, last week, Don continues with more information about this interesting phenomenom which gives support to our established doctrine of life after death.

As we celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead, Don Battley gave us the fruit of his reading about Near Death Experiences (NDEs) - a phenomenon which has been under investigation for some decades now and encourages us in our belief that there is life after this life.

This sermon delivered by Rev. Don Batley as part of a series for Holy Week, explores how Jesus faced his impending death and what this teaches Christians about dying well. Don emphasises accepting the inevitability of death while finding hope in eternity, with a teaser for future discussions on resurrection and near-death experiences

In today's sermon Wendy explores the story of Lazarus, focusing on Jesus' delay, weeping, and conversation with Martha, revealing God's plan for resurrection and life. She highlights the importance of expressing grief, the hope of eternal life, and the call to share this hope with others.

Going through Lent, our Gospel readings focus on the testamonies of people whose lives were changed by Jesus.  Today, it is turn of the blind man who was healed and came to faith in the Lord.  
Ian brought out three main points: Sickness is not the direct result of personal sin; Jesus healed and taught his disciples to heal including us; Unbelief can easily blind us from seeing what God has done.

Focussing on the reading from Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 5, Peter considers the work that suffering alone can do our lives for good.  

We are a community in grief as one of our men died yesterday from cancer - too young and too quickly!
Instead of the intended Intergenerational service, we held a simple service acknowledging our shock and grief together.  

This Lent, we’re invited to step into the wilderness with Jesus and see how he faced real temptation and came through victorious. From the very first human sin in the garden to the challenges Jesus endured, we’ll explore the doubts, desires, and pressures that test all of us. More importantly, we’ll see how Jesus resisted by trusting God’s Word and how we can do the same in our lives today.

As we continue through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us some hard sayings.  How do we understand what he says about anger and murder, lust and adultery?  Peter offers an approach to guide our response in obedience and realism.

How do you respond to Jesus calling us to be salt of the earth and light of the world?  How do we address injustice and human need?  These are the topics raised in our readings today.

We talked about school together, gave thanks for a special teacher. We thought about the teaching of our special teacher, Jesus, and which of the Beatitudes we might focus on personally.  There was a blessing of students and of teachers.  Finally, the children got the ring in the new school year on the chapel bell according to their year number.

Epiphany - the celebration of the revelation of Christ continues with his calling people to repent and calling disciples to follow him.

Anne invites us to reflect on where our minds and hearts are truly focused. Through the lens of hospital visits and everyday concerns, it reminds us that while life often feels uncertain and beyond our control, we can trust that God is at work for our good. Drawing on Isaiah’s Servant Songs and John the Baptist’s witness, it points to Jesus as the faithful Servant, the Light for all nations, and the Lamb of God who brings salvation and hope.

As we hear about Jesus being commissioned for his role we can be confident that with Jesus, we must expect the unexpected and know that as we follow in faith, we too will hear the same voice of the Father guiding us and directing us in his way.

As Christmas draws to a close, we enter Epiphany - the church season celebrating the revelation of Christ.  The sermon focuses on revelation to us including us into the church and glorifying God.

The events around Jesus' birth are full of instructions given to Joseph by dreams.  Joseph is told in a dream that Mary is carrying a child by a miraculous intervention, the wise men are told not to report back to Herod in a dream.  In a dream, Joseph is told to flee to Egypt with the child and Mary.  And again, when it is time to come home, he is instructed through a dream.  Might we hear God through dreams today?

Christmas Day - our celebration of the birth of Christ.  We focus on the beginning of the Gospel of John and the wonder of who the baby born in Bethlehem actually was...

As we approach Christmas, Peter looked at the genealogy of Jesus and drew our attention to four women mentioned there who are surprising to find in a first century genealogy.  

A quiet Advent service:  The Great Antiphons were seven prayers used in the seven days leading up to Christmas for at least 1500 years.  They are the basis for the hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."  In our meditative service, we examine the scriptures on which they are based, we hear the Latin chant and after two minutes silence, we sing the verse of the hymn.

In the Advent season, looking at the coming of Christ into public ministry, we find John the Baptist in prison and doubting whether Jesus is actually the Messiah.  He did the right thing - he asked the Lord about it!  

In the last of the series on the Beatitudes, we looked at the Persecuted.  We heard the stories of three people persecuted for their righteousness: St Perpetua, Corrie Ten Boom and a contemporary North Korean man who had to flee from his homeland.  We also started a daily prayer programme, praying for Christians in the 25 most difficult countries for Christians to live in.

Today is Advent Sunday - the start of the new church year, the start of the lead up to Christmas, the time to focus on the first and second arrivals of Christ.  Today, our focus is particularly on the second coming.  Jesus, said we cannot know the timing, but we can live so we are always ready.

The Sunday before Advent is traditionally known as Stir-up Sunday from the words of the prayer set for the day, "Stir up your people ..."  It is taken as a reminder to prepare the Christmas pudding.  Wendy took a creative look at this tradtion considering the pudding ingredients and what they might symbolise in our common life together, ably helped by two of the young people mixing the ingredients before us.

Come back during Lent, for a taste of the resulting pudding!

Today, we continue with a report on the Kondoa trip from Helen and Julia.  The team dealt with spiritual and physical challenges, but through it all God's faithfulness was sure.

This week Ian and Andrew shared first part of our Kenya and Tanzania Mission update. On 5th October, a mission team from St Stephens travelled to Kenya and Tanzania for teaching and outreach with the Anglican dioceses of Mombasa and Kondoa. The trip, part of an ongoing partnership with the young and growing Kondoa Diocese, involved long travel, cross-cultural encounters, and powerful ministry experiences. The team led seminars on being filled with the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, healing, and overcoming ties to witchcraft, seeing lives transformed through prayer and renewal. The mission highlighted the vitality of the African church, the deep hunger for the gospel, and the shared joy of partnership in God’s work across nations. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week, when Julia and Helen will share their experiences from this remarkable journey.