Part 2: GLORIFY MY NAME

This is part two of Keith Finch's thoughts for Sunday 24th May 2020

I wonder if that Glory shines in your life, I always attempt to reflect my Christian belief in my everyday actions, I imagine that we would all say the same, that is why we try our very best to behave in a way that we believe God though his son Jesus wants us to. We have over the last few weeks been asked to express our thanks to all those that are committed to helping us through this crisis, some of us do that with on-line messages, some of us clap for the NHS & all those people out there that are doing so much for us. But I would like to reflect on whether we think we have somehow done enough, just as I would say if spending time in worship on a Sunday is not IT, the action itself allows us to gather together so we can go out of those doors refreshed with Gods spirit to be active Christians in our community, in a way it is a catalyst that enables us to reach out with that strength of purpose that enables us!
 
Gods Glory is everywhere but not always visible, sometimes Glory is hard to recognise, as it did for the disciples on the mountain top. Sometimes Glory is hidden, as it was for the suffering Christians. But the Glory of God persists (this message is magnified in these times we are living in and through) 
 
And as I mentioned at the start, do we attempt in some small way to reflect God though Jesus into our lives and the way we behave day to day?
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In another of the lectionary readings for this Sunday: Acts 1: 6-14, here Jesus says goodbye to his disciples, reminding them that the next major thing to happen to them will be when they receive the Holy Spirit, not his next resurrection appearance , not the liberation of the nation. We have all said goodbye to someone in our lives in fact we are doing this all the time, on some occasions that “saying goodbye” stirs up deep emotions, a young person going off to University, going off on their Gap Year, the day your son or daughter gets married. How do we say goodbye, it depends on the circumstances. I remember the day my daughter got married I was a very proud father, but at the same time both my wife & I were well aware that in some ways we were saying goodbye. There are a thousand other examples we could use.
 
In this week’s reading from Acts, Jesus is about to go away. How do you think the disciples and their friends were feeling? In fact, the words we heard today were part of Jesus’ prayer for the disciples before going away. Can you recall any of the things he prayed for?