{"id":2538,"date":"2019-01-21T11:12:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T11:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=2538"},"modified":"2019-03-04T15:43:08","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T15:43:08","slug":"sermon-20th-january-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-20th-january-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 20th January 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third Sunday of Epiphany – evening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 20th January 2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Epiphany 3 – evening
\n1 Samuel 3. 1-20
\nEphesians 4. 1-16<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\nListening for God\u2019s Call….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week is the week of prayer for Christian Unity. Here we will focus on that particularly next weekend, when we join with our fellow Christians in the Covenanting Churches of Wolverhampton West. (4 pm at Christ Church, Tettenhall Wood)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And most Christians do believe that God calls us into unity with himself \u2013 even if we choose to maintain our distinctiveness in worship and theological understanding \u2013 something that I have always thought must both amuse and sadden God by turns! Jesus told us that he came \u201cThat they might all be one\u201d. That doesn\u2019t of itself mean that we have to be all the same; identical; carbon copies of one another… If creation teaches us anything, it is that God delights in Diversity, and we are only just beginning to understand that and to delight in it alongside him. But all Christians should be able to accept that we are all on our journey to find God. I for one, am eternally grateful to my brothers and sisters in Christ in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Baptist, Methodist and all sorts of other denominations. There are times when I unashamedly borrow from their understanding, their words, their prayers, their music and singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo listening for the call of\nGod is something we can all do in different ways…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNow, I don\u2019t know if anyone\nhere has ever experienced the feeling that God has spoken to\nthem?….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIf tonight\u2019s story about the\nyoung Samuel teaches us anything, it is that \u2013 if God is truly\ncalling us \u2013 he will be patient and persistent. So we don\u2019t have\nto worry that we might miss the call. Samuel thinks that his\nGuardian, Eli, is calling him for help in the night. Not just once,\nbut three times before they both realise that God has a particular\nmessage for young Samuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd not one he really wants to\nhear. It is a message that must have brought disappointment and\nanguish to Eli, even if he realised only too well how the actions and\nwords of his two wayward sons \u2013 and his failure to correct them \u2013\nmeant that he was justly deserving of God\u2019s justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut when you hear God speak to\nyou, it may not be only words of comfort and reassurance. There may\nwell be a cost to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nClergy often speak of feeling\nthat they have been forced to pursue ordination in the church of God\n\u2013 kicking and screaming. No-one in their right mind would want\ntheir life turned upside down. Face a future of managing on a\nstipend, rather than pursuing worldly wealth; perhaps have to uproot\nfamily and move across the country either to train or to find that\nplace where God seems to be calling us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI have just passed my 10th<\/sup>\nAnniversary as your Vicar. And while I cannot claim that I heard God\nspeak clearly to me telling me to apply for this job, I know that\nwhen I first heard the name Pattingham and then heard the nature of\nthe other half of my role, I just knew that there was a good fit with\nmy background and abilities. So while I had not been looking for a\nmove from my previous post, I felt compelled to at least apply… and\nGod looked after the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n(So any complaints that you\u2019ve\nhad to put up with me for 10 years should be addressed to him, not\nme!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOften I am asked by people \u2013\nespecially those outside the church, \u201cWhat made you want to be a\nvicar then?\u201d It is impossible to answer that question in one\nsentence, but the truth is that I was not at all sure I did want\nordination and all that goes with it. All I did know was that while I\nhad contemplated moving jobs or training for a new career, never\nbefore did I feel that I wanted to move house and home. I was very\nsettled in Oxfordshire. But then, when my vicar spoke to me about the\nprospect of ordination, all those doubts and questions disappeared.\nAnd I knew that for my own peace of mind, I had to at least allow the\nchurch to test my vocation. And there have been times since when I\nhave asked God for reassurance that I did make the right choice in\nlife, (because I am human and we all go a bit wobbly at times!) and\nhe never fails. Something or someone lets me know that I am in the\nright place at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut enough about me. What\nabout you? Where is God calling you to be? What is he prompting you\nto do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNot everyone will be called to\nbe a priest or a prophet. God also calls people to be farmers,\nteachers, doctors and nurses, accountants and carers, shop assistants\nand hairdressers, mechanics and welders, designers and auditors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nLike I said, God loves\ndiversity \u2013 but it is the same God who calls us, whether or not we\ncare to listen for, acknowledge and respond to his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo in the week ahead, may you\nbe aware of God calling you, speaking to you, asking you to play your\npart in building up the body of Christ in love. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Third Sunday of Epiphany – evening Sunday 20th January 2019 Epiphany 3 – evening 1 Samuel 3. 1-20 Ephesians 4. 1-16 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs Listening for God\u2019s Call…. This week is the week of prayer for Christian Unity. Here we will focus on that particularly next weekend, when we join with our fellow Christians … <\/p>\n

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