It's not very often I am invited to do a guest preach, because most Sundays I am either preaching at the church I serve or, nowadays, am teaching at or facilitating a college residential event.  So it was really lovely to be able to accept an invitation from a church I last preached at almost exactly 22 years ago! (Strictly it's 21 years and 51 weeks but what's a week between friends?!).  Back then, I was an as yet 'unsettled' ministerial student, wondering what lay ahead... now I am entrusted with the care of ministers in training in a very different world.

For most of my ministerial life, the services I've led have been audio-recorded, and for fourteen years, they were shared effectively as a podcast; and for nearly four of those years, I led worship either on Zoom or in a hybrid format. For the last two years, no recording has taken place, there is no record of what I said (except in the scripts on my laptop).  So it was a bit of a change today to be streamed live on YouTube and not only to listen, but also to watch back this evening.

Listening back, I reckon it was an okay sermon, in a decent, traditional kind of service.  The hymns - all bar one chosen by the church musicians, one by me - all fitted the theme and were sung well by the congregation.

I always appreciated being able to listen back to my services, to reflect on what I had said, to hear what others heard, so it was a blessing to do so today.

Should you wish to listen/watch, you can click on the embedded video  - but there is no expectation whatsoever that you will.   

Every now and again - and very infrequently - I am invited as a 'visiting preacher'.  It can't happen that often because when I was a full time minister I preached at least 43 Sundays a year, and as part time I preach 20-ish and teach anything up to another 12.

It was nice to be invited to preach at a church I visited twice, possibly three times, as a student... and scary to realise just how long ago that was!

Tomorrow it will be just seven days shy of twenty-two years since I last preached at this church - and my goodness what a lot has happened on those years!

In 2022, I was invited to preach on Elijah passing on his mantle to Elisha - it was a half decent sermon, with some good ideas.  Tomorrow I've been invited to preach on the end of Hebrews 11 into Hebrews 12 - it's an okay sermon, with some, imo, appropriate questions.

I find it fascinating looking back at my old sermons, often quite impressed by them ('I was clever once'), often noting how similar they are to those I write now, even if language, style and details of theology have changed, and often wondering what someone might draw out as my 'one sermon' (according to some people, we all only have one!).

So, tomorrow I head off to Manchester, to talk about one of my favourite passages of scripture, saying pretty much the same things I have been saying for quarter of a century, and trusting that somehow, God is in it all. 

The danger of sorting stuff out is that it inevitably makes work!

It all began when I had to clear stuff out of the spare room so that the plumber could get better access to the boiler to do the service... even if it did turn out that what he actually meant with his snippy remark last year was that the boiler is poorly located, not that my furniture was in the way.  Ho hum.

When I started to move furniture back, the metal IKEA rack/drawer thingy that was *only* around twenty years old gave up the ghost.  I was left with a stack of fabric drawers and no rack to hold them.  Ho hum some more.

So this morning, supervised by Sasha, and to a lesser degree, Sophie, I built a flat pack blanket box into which I successfully decanted all the towels, blankets and spare bedding from the drawers, along with a some more that had been stacked up on the spare bed.  Result!

Even if I did have to go and by a new cross head screwdriver because whoever last borrowed mine clearly hadn't returned it.... and I did actually throw out a few bits that survived the last cull...

My 'Vicar School' leave is now complete, though I still have a couple of day plus one more Sunday of 'church' leave.

Nothing very profound here, just the recognition that sorting stuff is never as quick or easy as I think it will be... that and the fact that I really am getting old when I have bits of household stuff I bought new forty years ago!

If there was one phrase that stood out when I began to study missiology a quarter of a century ago, it was this one from David Bosch... the, at once, obvious, and, all too often, overlooked truth, that mission comes in many shapes and sizes.

This month here in Railway Town we will be living that reality...

On Saturday 16th, we have 'Shoes and Brews', when we are opening our premises to receive gifts of school shoes/trainers that we will pass on to a local charity.  The kettle will be on and there will be snacks to enjoy.  I think last year we gathered around 30 pairs of shoes, enabling a whole class-equivalent to be kitted out for the return to school.

On Sunday 31st, we are teaming up with the town's volunteer 'Clean Team' for a 'Litter Pick-nic', to clear litter from the streets around the church, and share time together over food.  This is a new one, and I hope a fun one, as we serve our immediate neighbours in a practical way.

Mission as service, as loving our neighbour, as clothing those who need clothes... good news lived out.... mission in many modes.        

Yesterday I had a day out with a very long-standing friend, including a wander along a canal where we passed these ducks who, until I got out my phone to snap their photo, were very much in a row.

Apparently the origin of the phrase about getting one's ducks in a row is something of a mystery.  My sense is that, in life, approximate alignment is about as good as it ever gets... just when I might think my ducks are in a row, one of them moves or something disturbs them.

This summer has been characterised by much that's unexpected, so if my metaphorical mallards are as well aligned as the ducks in the photo, I reckon I'm doing okay!