Kemsing with Woodlands

Arrogance is ugly. We don’t like it when people get above their station.

We hate it in our political leaders. We hate it the world of work. One office I worked in, middle managers were the most annoying people to work there. Promoted one step above the rest of us, they then thought they owned the place. And we should hate it in the church, hate it in ourselves.

Because, yes, arrogance exists among Christians, in churches, too.

Introduction: Divisions

I love these opportunities we have to come together to worship. Three congregations, that normally meet on two different sites, worshipping our one Lord Jesus together.

Church unity is a precious thing. Too often, churches are divided.

The early chapters of 1 Corinthians are an impassioned plea by the apostle Paul to the Corinthian church: Please don’t divide around human personalities.

Over the past few months, I’ve got to know some churches in a largish town. There are several. St Paul’s. St Peter’s. St Apollos. And Christ Church.

The churches have experienced almost explosive growth, tripling in size in just 5 years. Many of those converts came from some surprising backgrounds. Some were thieves and pickpockets from the criminal underworld. Others worked in the somewhat seedy sex industry in the towns. Others were previously very active participants of other religions before they converted.

One of the crises in the modern world is hunger. Actually, it’s not new: There have always been people who are desperately hungry. In parts of Africa, crops have failed year on year, often because of a lack of rain. But even in our own country, some struggle to find enough to eat.

It’s Mothering Sunday. Even more desperate than hunger in general is the mother who cannot feed her children, or who feeds them by not eating enough herself. It’s a sad scene, and one that is far more common, and maybe far closer to home, than we often realise.