Rev Matt iBlog

I am feeling good because I've just completed a 2.5 mile run (20 minutes). This is really a big deal for me because I trying to keep fit. However, I could do with some chocolate right now. During my run, I was praying and I reflected on how people treat others. I've heard people have a go at people's weight or appearance. For example, people say to me that I'm bald or put a few pounds on! I remember my late Grandad Greaves wearing a hat because people would make fun of him being bald and this really upset him. Most of us have probably laughed at someone's appearance, at someone's accent, made a crude observation, weight, hair, clothes etc. I have in the past and I'm truly sorry. At some point in time, we've all been the target of insulting comments. Here's the thing... it's not a joke to mock someone's appearance. I loved watching the British drama called 'Fat Friends' by Kay Mellor. The drama follows a woman's obsession...

After a busy Christmas period it was time for me to lead my first covenant service.  The covenant service, is when the Methodist Church celebrate all that God has done, and affirm that we give our lives and choices to God.  The traditional Covenant prayer (below) is a serious response by the congregation. The prayer embraces the whole of our life, in all its parts. I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will,  rank me with whom you will;  put me to doing,  put me to suffering; let me be employed for you,  or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty let me have  nothing: I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. I enjoyed leadin...

This is my first Christmas as a Methodist Minister. I was warned that Advent and Christmas can be very busy. They wasn’t kidding!! This week I’ve done seven home communions, finished preparing six services which I will be taking between Sunday and Christmas Day, two advent bible studies, planning a New Years Eve service, and the lovely admin with a broken MacBook. I’m already thinking about my two Covenant Services in the New Year. I think the song ‘It's the most wonderful time of the year’ by Andy Williams should be replaced with ‘It’s the most busy time of the year’. However, it is so easy for us to run around without remembering the true meaning of Christmas.  Our theme at Muswell Hill Methodist for Advent and Christmas this year is ‘Hope of the World’ taken from the carol, 'Born in the night'.  The final verse begins: ‘Hope of the world, Mary's child'.  I want to briefly share some encounters of hope I’ve seen in my first few month...