just the rev

brill time away! three nights with my wife minus the kids! Stayed at Eastbourne and visited Brighton. Last Sunday's fountain was a cracker...thanks to all who came and took part. for those of you who missed it....
FOUNTAIN 8

DREAMS

The order

1. Andy Hunter’s “Strange Dream’ and Runner Image Looped
2. ‘dream images’ with 6 feet under music
3. intro:


if you were to dream as the bible dreams…

on the road away from all that you’ve known – you might dream of a stairway to heaven
in the dark prison of a mighty king – you might dream of squeezing the blood of grapes or birds devouring baskets of bread
in the despair of knowing your fiancé pregnant – and not by you – you might dream of an angel bearing a promise
in the guarded house of an occupying power – you might dream of a warning against the destruction of innocence
if you were to dream as the bible dreams

so
when dreams excite, ignite, inspire
when they daze, confuse, or leave you breathless
when they hang around, annoy, irritate and itch
when they take you down or take you apart
- a dull presence throughout the day
- a rude awakening, a sharp reminder
ambiguous, ambivalent, patterned, chaotic
remembered, treasured, half-forgotten
recorded, buried, secret or spoken
what do we do with our dreams?

4. field of dreams clip
5. words “all desires known” and lead into art

sometimes the church prays
almighty God
to whom all hearts are open
all desires known

all desires known
do we believe when we pray

is desire a dirty word?
are dreams best forgotten?

do we dare bring our dreams & desires
into the presence of the living God
that we might look at them in holy light
that we speak of them in holy conversation
that we might discover what of our desires and dreams
may be God’s gifts to us
and so the invitation is this
that now, this evening,
we use what materials we have
to bring our desires to God
creator, redeemer, holy spirit
and ask,
perhaps for the first time,
what will you do with our dreams?

6. Art time
7. Joel reading

“After this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions.”


8. Smoothie sharing (giving our dreams to God)




God of our imaginations
Creator of our dreams
We are sorry for the times when we make Your will a narrow pathway
When so often it is a broad meadow for us to enjoy and stretch our legs in.
We come before you now with the hopes, desires and ambitions of our hearts and we give ourselves, all that we are and have, back to you.

(put the fruit/ingredients into the smoothie makers)


As we do this we remember the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us. We remember the one “who had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what…He didn’t claim any special privileges…Instead he lived a selfless, obedient life and then he died a selfless, obedient death…..”

It was Jesus who said, “Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds onto life just as it is, destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.”

(Blend the fruit)

For the dreams that have gripped us over the years and as yet have not materialised, Lord give us and strength and patient hope.

For the dreams that have appeared to be tantalising close to fruition only to seemingly slip away for ever Lord give us your healing touch and the courage to dream again.

(pour out juice and pass round in small individual cups)

Final prayer/’blessing’ to background music

May the earth beneath our feet hold us
May the sky above the hills beckon us
May the wind in our hair unsettle us
May the fire in the sun warm us
May the waters of the sea bathe us
May the art of God inspire us
May the love of Christ seduce us
May the breath of the Spirit touch us forever and forever
Amen




9. u2’s still haven’t found what I’m looking for on rattle and hum DVD


the waves on the beach were huge...been feeling a bit of Psalm 93....just got to keep reminding myself that when the waves crash in God is bigger!

oh the joys of being a curate in the C of E! this weekend I got to drive three Indians and a Goth to Church...never a dull moment! My thanks to the Rev. J Perkins for this cartoon. Things are shaping up for the next fountain this weekend. Hope you are going to be there!

courtesy of Mr Brain McLaren wrestling at the moment with three approaches to stopping apparent church deriliction.

three approaches/options are:
1. a renewed church (temporary-catch up change)
2. a restored church (obsession with small NT church detail becomes the raison d'etre)
3. a re-invented church

answers on a postcard if you can guess my choice!


oh by the way....next time you feel the pull of a christian bookshop (!!) you might check out Richard Passmore's "Off the beaten track". its a top book despite the last chapter being written by a ginger looney from Gloucester!

have committed the ultimate sin this week...I have started taking myself too seriously.
thanks to my bro for the cartoon. ("Suddenly Jay was slain in the Spirit, ensuring them a win in the battle ofthe praise bands.")
my mission this week is to chill and believe that God is bigger (much much bigger) than any crud that comes flying my way.
Preached on Sunday about Church not finishing for the week at the end of the service but only just beginning. We are the Church. Church need not be so Sunday/building orientated....Mr Churchill said "we create our buildings then our buildings create us..."

in order to have creativity we have to endure a certain amount of mess - this card reads "like a lot of creative people van gogh didn't seem to see the clutter"!.

was really chuffed that the Bishop agrees with me. he said recently: "we need a culture of permission, where new things will spring up and some very old ones come back into fashion, and the result will be a much less tidy church, much more difficult for the bishop to hold together, but a Church in which the Spirit is moving and fresh shoots of growth appearing."

rock on!

not much to say about stuff at the moment - as you must of noticed! feeling a bit emotionally and physically knackered. This evening was Deanery Synod. I think I was the youngest there by 10 years and the average age may of been 60ish. Mission kind of was on the agenda in the guise of talking about a church school...but in a few years time there won't be anyone alive to be on the dreary synod. Can't really decide whether this is a good thing or not! Churchy stuff not really gripping me much at the moment in case you hadn't guessed.