Christ Church Huntingdon Blog

Do you wish it could be Christmas every day? Yes or no. Have a think this morning. Would you like Christmas every day. I think for many of us the answer is no. Turkey Tinsel and trimmings every day. We’d certainly put on the pounds. New presents would be nice, but we’d be stuck in a kind of groundhog day of constant new amazon deliveries. And also I think I’d get a bit bored of the Christmas music with crooners singing out “have yourself a merry little Christmas” day on day.  But for the Christian actually there is a sense in which it is Christmas every day. When Jesus came into the world it wasn’t a one hit wonder. He came as the light of the world, and he brought a new dawn for those walking in darkness. That new day was permanent. Christmas (in the sense of the new gift of life through Jesus Christ, and the spirit of generosity that he brings) is for every day. I have a pair of socks with Christmas puddings on that my sister gave me last year. And I don’t just keep them for Chri...

Weddings have been really strange this year, haven’t they. I’m going to a wedding on Saturday in London, and yesterday we heard that London is moving to tier 3 Covid restrictions, and so there won’t be a reception. It was bad enough only having 15 guests there and nobody being able to sing during the service, and having to social distance all the time – but now it’s even worse. And the groom called me, just after the new tiers had been announced, and I asked him how he was doing. And he said “Yeah, I’m fine really. We’re going to get married – that’s the important thing. And I’m really excited.” See a wedding is great fun because it’s a party, and you get to see all your friends, and eat lots of cake, but really, it’s about two people who love each other making promises and starting a life together. That’s what marriage is all about, and so we can be thankful this year, that even though weddings are weird, marriage doesn’t change And it makes sense that we’re excited by weddings,...

I don’t know if you heard the news article yesterday, but a stolen key has been returned to English Heritage after nearly 50 years. The location is St Leonard’s Tower in West Malling, Kent. It’s the site of a well-preserved Norman tower that could go back nearly to the time of William the Conqueror. For around 50 years, the key for the tower was missing. That is until a few days ago, when English Heritage opened the post to find the missing key and a note saying “Borrowed 1973, Returned 2020, Sorry for the delay, Regards”.  Well English Heritage were so intrigued by the anonymous note that they put a message out there on social media encouraging the sender to get in touch. They’ve said that unlike library books, there is no fine for late return of a key, and in fact they would like to reward the honesty of the person who returned the key with free membership of English Heritage. I love that. It’s always satisfying when something from many years before turns up. But for me there’s s...

Well we are all glad that there’s some light at the end of the tunnel for this second lockdown, with more explanation of the three tiers yesterday, and more announcement to come on Christmas on Thursday. But for some businesses, it’s touch and go right now. I heard yesterday the story1 of a pub owner in Middlesbrough who has built up her business over 34 years. She has great staff and great customers, and a real determination to survive, but she said about the hospitality industry, “we are on our knees right now”.  Well our hearts go out to business owners particularly in restaurants, pubs, and cafes, who are really struggling right now. But there was something in what she said that made me think. “We are on our knees right now”. Maybe she just meant we are really struggling, and don’t know what’s going to happen. But “on our knees” can also be a reference to prayer.  It’s not that you have to pray on you knees, you can pray while you cook the dinner, while you walk the dog, w...

I think mountains are amazing. My fiancée is from the Lake District and I went to visit her in August and we went up a couple of mountains (technically I think they were fells) and saw some amazing views, and some very adventurous sheep along the way. Now, these were only really little mountains, but it was still pretty hard going up them, we were both pretty worn out by the end of the day. And when you climb mountains, there are lots of things that can help you – a bottle of water, some walking boots, a friend to encourage you, and some snacks, is what we had. And they helped us get to the top of the mountain, and down the other side. And sometimes life feels a bit like climbing a mountain, doesn’t it. You’re putting in a lot of effort and not really getting anywhere. And we need help, we need our metaphorical walking boots. Maybe for you that’s a certain piece of music, or a hobby, or a person that helps you get through everything that’s difficult about life, helps get you up the...

Well in recent news reports we are hearing of some apparent success in the testing of a vaccine for Coronavirus by Pfizer and BioNTech. This is great news, and we all long that it might be the ray of sunshine we have been longing for that heralds the dawn to an end to the current difficulties that we are facing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the fear of Covid became a thing of the past, and that we might be able to return to some normality, including being able to see loved ones, businesses back on track, and an end to the restrictions, the fear and anxiety. Scientists seem to be quietly optimistic, while all the time explaining that there’s a long way to go before we can know for sure. Well, we hope and pray that it might be a reality, and meanwhile, continue to follow the necessary restrictions that we are facing in this second lockdown. Did you know that Christians have discovered a different kind of vaccine? Not for coronavirus, but for life! There’s so much good in the world, but sa...

  Good morning friends. My name is Charlie Newcombe, I’m the minister at Christ Church Huntingdon.   I have to say I’m slightly envious (if a vicar can admit that) of some members of my family who are currently in the outermost parts of Scotland on a fishing trip. It’s become a kind of family tradition, and I’ve been fortunate to join them on previous trips. Hours spent casting a fishing line into a loch or river in bonnie Scotland, hoping that eventually one of the elusive Scottish Salmon will take the bait. There’s nothing like the excitement when you get a big salmon on the end of the line, as some of the team experienced yesterday as seen on WhatsApp.   There’s a lot about fish in the Bible. They come in the Old Testament in the story of Genesis and the creation of the world. They come in the story of Jonah, who was of course swallowed up by a big fish, and they come in the New Testament, in the story of Jesus miraculously feeding thousands with one boys’ lunch (o...

Good morning friends. My name is Charlie Newcombe, I’m the minister at Christ Church Huntingdon.   Well the kids and teachers are going back at school. Next week you’ll see uniforms on the bus, bikes on the high street and kids at the school gates. It’s 6 months since they have seen a lot of their classmates, and so they’ll be excited, and perhaps some parents who thought they never had to teach algebra and fractions will breathe a sigh of relief that home-schooling is over. Schools are in the headlines at the moment: 1) Tens of thousands of pupils didn’t return to School in Scotland a few weeks ago. 2) Pupils are three months behind in their learning due to lockdown. 3) Will next year’s GCSEs and A levels be delayed? But I think the big question is will the mixing of people caused by a return to school bring a second wave of coronavirus cases. there’s a real feeling of uncertainty in the air. It’s a worrying time for parents and for teachers. What do the next few months hold...

These times of social distancing have been hard, haven’t they? One of the things that I have discovered is that everyone is missing hugs with relatives. If you want a lovely little video , look at the moment caught on the BBC website where Scottish grandchildren Noah and Isaac could hug their grandparents Bobby and Ellen Bell near Motherwell for the first time, as restrictions up there unlocked last week. One of my neighbours specifically mentioned that she was missing hugs with her grandson. And how do you explain to 1-year olds that they have to stay 2m if possible from their friends and wider family? That’s all part of why coming out of lockdown is so much more complex than going into it. We all need human contact, and we all need physical human contact too. And that’s what makes one particular little episode in Luke’s gospel so amazing. It’s a time when Jesus met a man with leprosy. Now this was of course 2 millenia before the Coronavirus, and yet “lepers”, as they were c...

The speaker over these 5 weeks has been me, Joel, a man who lived 3500 years ago in the land of Israel! I lived during a national crisis when locusts devoured our crops and affected everyone in the land. And so there are some parallels with life in your day in the Huntingdon area living through Covid19 and the resulting financial crisis. I thought it would be good to share 5 lessons that we had to learn in our day that might be helpful in yours. I’ve summed them up as follows… Look around . Survey the damage. Take a long, hard look at what has happened. Look down . Mourn and weep and wail for the devastation that has come. Financial, emotional, even the toll on human life itself. Look up . Let this crisis make you think about the important things of life and death. May it point you back to God. Look out . Days of natural disasters can point us forward to the bigger day when God comes in judgement, when no-one who is unforgiven will be spared. So turn back to God through...

My name is Joel, and for these five Tuesday mornings I’ve got a message for you taken from my book (in the Old Testament) first given to people living in a time of crisis. The parallels are staggering. For us the crisis 2500 year ago was a locust plague and the damage they caused across the land devouring the crops. For you it’s a virus and the damage it is causing devouring human life and finance. But if you are willing to listen just for a few moments, there’s something we can learn from God for times like this. The first thing is Look around . We looked at that week 1. For us it was locusts eating our crops, and I encouraged people to look at the damage and devastation. The second was Look down . Mourn that damage that has been caused by this crisis. Third Look up . Any time of suffering and natural disaster should make us look up to God in order that we might turn back to him. And today’s message is Look out . Any crisis should teach us that we can’t carry on ignoring God ...

My name is Joel, and these podcasts are called “A Scroll from Joel”. Let me tell you about our time of crisis. It was a terrible time. There were locusts all over the country. Swarms of the things. They were chomping through all our food supply. It was terrible. There hadn’t been a time like it. God had warned it would happen if we turned our backs on him, but no-one believed it. Vines, fruit trees, crops, everything was gone. It was eaten up by the locusts- a punishment from God for the way we had ignored him and his ways. You see I want to share with you in 2020 with this crisis that we learned from our crisis so many years ago. The first 2 weeks ago was look around - survey the damage, and see the devastation the locusts, or for you the Coronavirus has brought you. The second last week was look down - mourn the devastation and the loss of life. We had to do both of those things. Look around, and look down. But also we had to look up . And that’s the message for today. Joel...

My name is Joel BenPethuel but you can call me Joel. I doubt you’ve ever heard of me before, but I’m actually an Old Testament prophet. I lived 2500 years ago and you can read my book in the Bible. I lived through a locust plague. A terrible national crisis. But I learned from it lessons that I want to share with you in Huntingdon in the bigger international crisis that the world is facing today. And if my message last week was summed up in the words “Look around”, the message this week is “Look Down”. And what we are thinking about today is tears. Now I wouldn’t be surprised if I get taken off the radio for being too negative, but I’m giving you full permission to be sad, even to shed a tear! That’s what I mean by “look down!” Now I know that’s not a very British thing. Stiff upper lip and all that. But out in the middle East where I come from, we are a bit more expressive about our emotions. It’s good to have a good cry. And in the first chapter of my book I tell people to ...

My name is Joel BenPethuel but you can call me Joel. You won’t have heard me on the radio before, because I lived 2500 years ago. I have my own book and it’s simply called “ Joel ”. You can find it in the Old Testament part of the Bible. And for these 5x Tuesdays in June, I’m your guest on HCRfm to share with you some of the message God gave me for a time of crisis. We’ll call it “A scroll from Joel”. I know you guys in Huntingdon in 2020 are going through a hard time, and it’s not easy. You haven’t been able to see your families much, you haven’t been able to live a normal life, and a lot of people have been ill and some have even been dying. I know that some things are returning to normality but there’s still a lot of fear and worry about. People are calling it an unprecedented crisis. That’s why I think you might be interested to hear my story. Do you know, we also had an unprecedented crisis 2500 years ago when a massive locust plague wiped out all our crops? What God said...

It’s a wonderful thing to know that someone is listening. We know that in many areas of life. It’s true in Radio . I’m sure Ray will be encouraged to know that you are listening. Why not send him an email or a message just to encourage him and thank him for what he’s doing her on HCRfm. There are two kinds of feedback in radio. Noisy screechy sounds when the technology goes wrong and you hear feedback in that sense. But there’s a good kind of feedback when listeners get in touch and show that they are appreciating what they hear. It’s true in sharing problems . It’s great when someone is listening. As the saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved. Sometimes just having a listening ear to hear you out can put a lot of problems in perspective. And just in human relationships . Ignoring your partner is a sure way of hitting problems. It’s amazing sometimes how selective our hearing and listening can be. When the wife calls you to help with a job away from t...

I guess many of us have seen a lot of memes: thoughtful statements and short videos that have been doing the rounds on social media during this pandemic. One of the most thoughtful ones is “The Great Realisation” . I wonder if you have seen it. It is a poem spoken by a young dad to his son looking back on the pandemic, and talking about the good that came from a very dark and difficult time. Here’s an extract… But while we were all hidden, amidst the fear and all the while, The people dusted off their instincts, they remembered how to smile. 'They started clapping to say thank you, and calling up their mums. And while the cars keys were gathering dust, they would look forward to their runs. And with the sky less full of planes, the earth began to breathe. And the beaches brought new wildlife that scattered off into the seas”. It’s given people a lot of hope, partly because it speaks of a better world beyond the coronavirus and also because it implie...

Well we’ve all been at home, with just a few brief daily excursions to the shops or for exercise for around 6 weeks now. Do you remember 6 weeks ago, Boris Johnson saying very forcefully to the country, “Stay at home”. Actually a lot has happened for Boris in that time, just a few weeks later he was in intensive care, and a few weeks after that he was rejoicing at his home with the birth of his new son. But all this time, most of us have been obeying the advice and staying at home. How are you finding it being at home? Perhaps for some home feels like a wonderful place of safety and refuge away from it all. You feel safe at home. Maybe you have a garden, and since it’s mainly been sunny, you’ve been quite happy. Maybe you’ve been able to get on with home decorating or home improvement. Home is a good place. For others maybe life is boring or even hard at home. Perhaps your home is small, perhaps you don’t have much space. Perhaps you don’t get on well with the people in your h...

My first podcast in this series was called “there is someone who understands”. Today I’d like to think about how there is someone to whom we can be thankful. Again I’m speaking about Jesus Christ. When I last spoke on HCRfm we were just about get a very clear message from the Prime Minister saying “Stay at home”, and now for days the country has been in a state of lockdown. It’s very strange… Never before have I had so many emails from CEO’s of companies and supermarkets telling me what they are doing for me. Never before have I had to limit the number of times I go out of my house. Never before have we had to broadcast a livestream church on the internet from a living room on a Sunday. It’s been very hard for some… Teenagers whose exams have been cancelled and their work seems wasted. Young couples who have had to put their wedding plans on hold. Those front-line workers in the police, NHS and supermarkets who are working harder than ever. Those facing financial un...

We are living in strange times. Yesterday for the first time ever there was a duck in our back garden here in Huntingdon. It seems that normal life has gone out of the window even for the birds as well, and they are as confused as the rest of us! As the government changes its tactics to discourage as much movement and social contact as possible, for many there’s an increased sense of anxiety. The stock markets are tumbling. The schools are weighing up whether they can continue. The supermarket shelves are emptying. When my wife went into Aldi, shelves were empty on many items, except for one Mexican brand of beer- guess which one? Corona! Others are confused rather than worried. Even listening to the traffic reports on our much loved HCR104fm it’s clear that hardly anyone is driving around as most people are working from home. Exactly what will the next few weeks look like for all of us? Well can I encourage you this morning with the first of what I call “good news for troubl...