St. Paul's Church, Constable Lee

08/06/2026

Here's Rev'd. Samuel's sermon from yesterday. Many thanks Samuel.

"Sermon on the First Sunday After Trinity at St. Pauls Church at St. Paul’s Church

“May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer amen.”

Today is the first Sunday after Trinity, and according to church calendar, because we as a church we have entered Ordinary Time, the Church's time of year, where we will learn more about the miracles of Jesus. This period will end with Advent. But today in our church here it is not an ordinary Sunday. It is a very special one for our worshiping community, and for the church in Rossendale because today we are going to baptize, Betsy and Justin.

If we look at the church history, we could come to know that as long as the church has existed, baptism has been an integral part of the church worship. In early church new believers are welcomed into the church through baptism, meaning baptism has been an important component of the church from its existence and if we recall the last words Jesus that he spoke to His disciples just before his ascension, that are written in the end of the Gospel according to Matthew, we can see a clear threefold instruction over there: make disciples, baptize those who believe, and teach them (new believers) His commands. That is why we as a church baptize people because it is the commanded of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is why we are here at this to baptize Betsy and Phillip.

On this Sunday the reading we just heard from the Gospel according to Matthew, on a bird’s eye view it seems that it does not have any connections whatsoever with baptisms we are having in our church today. But if we dig a bit deeper into it, or if we could see today’s reading with a different lens, we can easily resonate it with the joyous occasion of this morning.

If we recall today’s reading in our minds, one thing is very clear that, from verses 9-13, it is an event of calling of Jesus’ disciple Matthew. Matthew was a Jew, but according to other Jews he was in a wrong profession, he was a tax collector, and being a Jew and a tax collector was not considered good in Jesus' time. Because according to NIV Quest Study Bible,

“Tax collectors, they were a group of Jews despised by other Jews for collaborating with the Roman government that ruled over them. Tax collectors paid the authorities for the privilege of collecting taxes; then they overcharged people, skimming off the top to line their own pockets. As a result, other Jews saw Jewish tax collectors as both traitors and thieves.”

So, if we recall this whole event in our minds, we could see that, one thing that is very clear in this whole event was that how Matthew was obedient to Jesus. As soon as Jesus called Matthew, he followed him. He didn't say anything, he didn't ask anything, he left everything behind, he didn’t think about his future that how will he survive, he just left everything and obeyed Jesus. Matthew was a rich man. Yes, it is a different matter that he did not acquire that wealth through the right means, but he was still a rich man. But as soon as he heard Jesus' call, he left everything and followed him. What I want to say it that there are so many characteristics of baptism, and obedience is one of them, and that characteristic is very evident in our today’s reading, specially from the verses 9-13.

The command to obey God is not new. Rather, this command has been given by God since the time of creation. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve to obey Him, then in the Ten Commandments, God told us humans to obey Him and our parents. In addition, there are many other places in the Old Testament where God has commanded us to obey Him. But the difficulty and reality are that as humans, we turn away from this commandment. Instead of obeying Him, we separate our ways from God by thinking and saying that we do not have to obey Him, but rather we will live our lives on our own.

But one thing to remember here is that it is by obeying Him that we get eternal life. Yes, there is no doubt that obeying God is a difficult task, but remember that this task is difficult but not impossible.

But, the example of Jesus is before us. His entire earthly life is before us, how he obeyed God, he was obedient to him even to the point of death, even death on a cross, and in return God raised his status so high that he gave him a name that no one else has received to this day. He made him so famous that all people bow before him and pray to him through him.

And we, as a church baptize people because we desire to obey Christ's command, and we also desire people because we want people to obey Jesus because thanks to Him, we will find eternal life. And that is why we are here today for this service, not only to baptize this Betsy and Justin, but also to make promise that we will as church, parents and Godparents will guide, protect and direct this little girl to Jesus. We are here to make promise that we will obey Christ in at every step of our lives, and we will live such a life in front of Betsy that she can see how obedient we are towards God. But we can only do this if we practice it ourselves in our daily life.

Baptism should be a time of celebration for the believer, for the family and for the church, but not just celebration for sake of celebration, rather, because through baptism God has included us in His family, and we are to glorify His name with our lives. As today this young child is about to join God’s family today, we need to spend our lives in front of her, in such a way that through our lives she can recognize Jesus so when she grows up, she will also obey Christ in every step of her life.

May God bless you all.

Amen."

08/06/2026

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

Here's Jayne's talk from our Messy Church service on Trinity Sunday.
Very many thanks Jayne, we had a lovely time crafting and thinking about our God, 3 in 1

"One God, Three Persons
Today is Trinity Sunday so we are thinking a little about what The Trinity is. I’ve had to do lot’s of research and asking Google about a lot of this because It’s a difficult one, but the good news is this: today is not about passing an exam or solving a puzzle. It’s about knowing something wonderful about God.
Christians believe there is one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not three gods. One God.
Now, people have tried for hundreds of years to explain the Trinity with pictures and comparisons. Google said to do the analogy of the clover 3 parts but one leaf, or the analogy of water that could be liquid, steam or ice. but most comparisons do not really work very well. So today I am not going to try to “solve” the mystery of God. Because God is bigger than our words.
There are many things in life that are real and important even though we cannot fully explain them.
Think about love. We know love is real. We feel it.
We see it in kindness, forgiveness, hugs, patience, and care.
But can anyone completely explain love?
Or think about music.
A song can make us cry, or dance, or feel peaceful. But how does that happen exactly?
Some things are bigger than words.
Christians believe God is like that too.
The Trinity is not meant to be a maths problem. It is a way of describing how we meet God.
We meet God as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit.
We hear about the Father in the story of creation.
The Father who made the world,
who knows every star in the sky,
who knows each one of us by name and knows how many hairs each of us have on our head. Quite a low number in my Andy’s case ………
We meet God in Jesus, the Son.
Jesus who welcomed children,
healed the sick, fed hungry people, forgave people, and showed us what God is like.
And we meet God as the Holy Spirit —
God with us now.
The Spirit who comforts us when we are afraid,
guides us when we are unsure,
and gives us strength to love and serve others.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God.

One of the clearest places we see this in the reading Pauline has just read for us about the baptism of Jesus.
Jesus is standing in the river Jordan. The Holy Spirit comes down like a dove.
And the Father’s voice says, “This is my Son, whom I love.”
All three are there together.
And notice something important: the whole moment is full of love.
The Father loves the Son. - The Son obeys the Father. - The Holy Spirit is present with them.
Christians believe that God is love — not just loving sometimes, but loving in God’s very nature.
And that matters for us. Because it means we were made by love. It means the heart of the universe is not cruelty or selfishness or anger. The heart of the universe is love.
And the Trinity reminds us that God is always reaching out towards us.
The Father creates us. - The Son comes to us. - The Spirit stays with us.
Sometimes people worry because they can’t fully understand the Trinity.
But the truth is, none of us fully understands God. - And that is okay.
If God were small enough for us to fit completely inside our minds, then God would not really be God. Children understand this better than adults sometimes.
A child can know they are loved without understanding everything about their parents.
They trust the love first. And perhaps that is how faith begins for us too.
Not with understanding everything,
but with trusting the God who loves us.
And the wonderful thing is this: the Trinity is not just an idea for church services or theology books. - It changes how we live. - If God lives in loving relationship, then relationships matter.
Kindness matters. - Forgiveness matters. - Community matters. - We are not meant to live only for ourselves. - We are made to love God and love one another. Every time we show kindness, - welcome someone, - help someone, - listen to someone, or forgive someone, - we reflect something of God’s love into the world.
So today, do not worry about trying to explain the Trinity perfectly. - Simply remember this:
There is one God, - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Father - who created you. The Son - who loves you and came for you.
The Holy Spirit - who is with you every day.
One God.
Perfect love.
Always with us. - Amen."

03/06/2026

Get ready for Woody Church & Churches Count on Nature on Saturday 13th June :-)
We'd love to see you there.
Children (under 16s) you must bring a responsible adult with you please.

First webinar in our FREE Churches Count on Nature series on Monday 8th June 12 - 1pm will be Sharing Stories to Grow Hope presented by Operation Noah
This webinar will include stories of local groups making a difference for biodiversity and climate on church land, as well as looking at the broader impact we can have by sharing the stories with others.
Register now at www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/events/webinars/sharing-stories-to-grow-hope/ If you can't make it on the day you will be sent the link to catch up during the following week.

28/05/2026

Here's Lesley's talk from the Pentecost Sunday service.

Many thanks Lesley.

"Our God of covenant love

What are God’s covenants?

Our God has always longed for a living relationship with his human creation

God initiated the covenants and the promises, while His people were expected to respond in obedience and faith.

One of the key features of the Old Testament covenants is that they can be accompanied by signs, seals, and rituals that symbolize the agreement.

The idea of a covenant in the Hebrew mind was not merely a legal agreement, but also a relational and spiritual bond. It involved mutual commitments between parties, with each party having specific responsibilities and expectations

As we know God cannot go back on His promises because that is against His very nature.

God’s covenants are proposed in love and bring blessing as he seeks our allegiance

So today we will look at how God in His love has through the ages provided a way for His people to share in His blessings and protection through covenants. Initially this was with His chosen people Israel, but later, since Jesus’ death and resurrection, all believers are included.

The Garden of Eden – that place where God and humanity could live in perfect harmony, the idyll.

But then sadly Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God cursed the serpent for its part in the fall (Gen 3v14-15) “Because you did this, a curse will be put on you. You will be cursed more than any tame animal or wild animal. You will crawl on your stomach, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your descendants and her descendants will be enemies. Her child will crush your head. And you will bite his heel.”

This hints at a once and for all solution to come and alludes to Jesus God’s own Son.

Anyway, Adam’s family multiplied, and God became very unhappy with how the people were behaving so He told Noah who was devoted to Him to build the ark ready for the flood. Only Noah and His family with all the animals on the ark were saved from the flood. God covenant promised that He would never judge mankind in the same way again, a rainbow was God’s sign of this covenant promise. (Gen 8 21-22) The flood signalled a new start for humanity.

God’s plan for a people of His own and a covenant promise for Abram

Some generations later, God called Abram from modern day Iraq. Abram did as God instructed so God made this everlasting covenant with Abram where God promised that Abram would be a great nation, a blessing to others, and that all the people on earth would be blessed through him.(Gen 12v2) He also promised He would give Abram the land he specified forever (Gen 12v7)(Gen13v16-17)and that He would be Abram’s God and God of all his descendants. For this Abram was required to live in obedience and right living. The sign of agreement to the deal for Abraham and His descendants was circumcision. (Gen17v1-27) To seal the covenant, God put Abram in a deep sleep and walked among specified slaughtered animals Abram had prepared. (Gen 15v1-18) By doing this God took on to fulfil not only the promise to but also take on the curse if it didn’t work out.

God covenants for His special treasure the Jews if they followed His laws - the 10 commandments (1225-1446) BCE Exodus 19v5

Some generations later, God had His hand on Moses all his life. From the time he was rescued as a baby from the river by Pharaohs’ daughter (Exodus2v1-10) to leading God’s people out of Egypt through the Red sea on dry land. ((Exodus 14v1-31) After reaching Mount Sinai on the other side of the Red sea, God called Moses up the mountain to talk. There God made a covenant promise to make the Israelites His own special treasure, a kingdom of priests that would belong to Him alone (Exodus19v5-6)and would bless them if they followed His laws including the 10 commandments (Exodus 20v1-17) which God said were to teach the people what was right and what was not. (Exodus 20v20) There are jews today who believe this is the best part of their history..like a marriage ceremony between God and His people.

God covenants with King David that His descendants will have everlasting rule of Israel (1010-970 BCE)

Again, some generations later, God promises King David that his family and his kingdom will continue forever before Him, and King David’s rule will last forever. This promise is fulfilled in Jesus , the Messiah, who is the David’s descendant. So, this covenant points forward to the eternal kingdom of Christ, which is established in the New Testament through His life, death, and resurrection...and Jesus, reign will never end. King David also wanted to build a temple for the ark of the covenant and God’s presence instead of the tent it was in. but God said that King David’s son Solomon should build the temple. ((2 Samuel 7:12-16)

Temple worship and Holy of Holies

God dwelt in the Holy of Holies among His people in the temple.

First temple built - King David’s son Solomon 833 – 423 BCE according to God’s specification with the Holy of Holies room set aside for God alone

Second temple – Ezra and Nehemiah 349 BCE – 69 AD

Throughout the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) are refences to a messiah who will come to save His people. (e.g. Joel2v28-32)

Many very specific prophecies about Jesus’ life, ministry, nature of His death, and His resurrection have all been completely fulfilled. (Isaiah 52 v13-15, Isaiah 53v1-12)

Jesus Messiah bought our way back to God

When Jesus was born temple worship was very much alive

God fulfilled His covenants to both Abraham and David by sending His only son Jesus whose kingdom will never end and through Him believers in every nation can be brought into the covenant of Abraham.

Jesus life was a ministry of obedience to God the Father

Obedient to God His Father always and lived a sinless life

Showed us how to live according to God’s laws

Ministered to people in love and compassion

Trained up young men in teaching and to minister like He did (apostles)

Sent them out to practice

Told them about His death and resurrection in advance of it happening

He was crucified and was resurrected as foretold in the Hebrew scriptures

Told disciples to stay in Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit

Jesus identified Himself as the promised Messiah (John 4v25-26) - He even told us how He could be recognised

Isaiah 35v4-6

Then the blind people will see again.
Then the deaf will hear.
6 Crippled people will jump like deer.
And those who can’t talk now will shout with joy.
Springs of water will flow in the desert.
Streams will flow in the dry land.

Sacrificed Himself in death to buy back those who follow Jesus

The significance here is that Jesus was crucified for each individual believer, to satisfy the just payment for each of us individually for God to forgive our sin. (Isaiah 53 v 11-12)

Because He was sinless, death could not hold Him down, so He exercised His given authority to take life back up again. (John 10 v 17)

He resurrected to demonstrate He was alive, never to die again. (Rev 1v18)

God’s masterplan hinted at in Genesis had bought a way back to Himself through His Son Jesus for the people who chose to follow Him…jews and gentiles

Heaven must have so rejoiced!!

The Holy Spirit

Jesus spoke about and said of the Holy Spirit

Help us and be with us forever (John 14v16)

Teach us all things and remind us of what Jesus has said to us (John14v26)

He will testify about Jesus (John 15v26)

Jesus has to leave for the Holy Spirit can come (John 16v7)

Sometimes called Helper comforter advocate companion

So today we celebrate Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus death …and what a day this is! The Jewish festival of weeks (Shavuot)

Today is heavens announcement of prophecy fulfilment:

Ezekiel 36:25-27 NIV

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Joel 2v28-29

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Birth of a new era, God living inside us. (1 Cor 6 v19) We are the temple of the Holy Spirit if we follow Jesus. This is not about our worthiness, we could never be sufficiently holy, but Jesus’ sacrifice being complete and acceptable to God on our behalf – its great news!

The Holy Spirit is not just an external helper but the presence of God bringing a transformation of will and behaviour in believers’ lives and spiritual empowerment within

So, on this particular day, The Holy Spirit came in power on the Jesus followers assembled in the house transforming them from being terrified disciples into warrior evangelists

The coming of the Spirit was heaven’s declaration that the sacrifice of Jesus was accepted for all time.

The wind from heaven represented the breath of God filling His people with divine life.

The tongues of fire were the presence of God resting on each believer – they did not consume the believers because Jesus’ work was completed

God no longer had to dwell behind a curtain in the temple. Jesus’ death and resurrection changed everything!

The coming of the Holy Spirit was heaven announcing that believers’ hearts were the new temple, the dwelling place of God through Jesus.

If We, like the earliest believers, seek God and pray for God to fill us with His Spirit, we too can be spiritually empowered with supernatural gifts and resilience to grow those beautiful fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

God’s church has been born!

Never has our God of covenant walked away from us, ever. Instead, He chose to make a way not to just dwell among us but actually in us-to transform us and empower us to be more like Him from within – How utterly amazing is that?!!!

Boldness replacing fear

Increased sensitivity to sin

Increased desire for holiness and truth

Hunger for and awareness of God’s presence

Giving of spiritual gifts

To summarise, God had a plan from the very beginning to come and live in and among His people which He fulfilled through Jesus according to His word.

So a reading to finish

Romans 12v2 CJB

12 I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you. 2 In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the ‘olam hazeh (this world). Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed. "

27/05/2026

There is a quote people say a lot that goes something like, “Instead of telling God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big your God is.” And I think sometimes phrases like that can become so familiar that we stop actually thinking about what they mean. They just sort of float around on coffee mugs and wall signs while the rest of us are over here stress eating shredded cheese at 11:30 at night wondering if our lives are one minor inconvenience away from complete emotional collapse.

Because let’s be honest here. Most of us are very good at telling God how big our problems are. We have PowerPoint presentations ready. Spreadsheets. Charts. Supporting documentation. We can explain every possible outcome of every possible disaster that has not even happened yet. Meanwhile God, who created the universe, is probably looking at us like, “Yes, I know. I was there for all of it.”

And I am not saying we should not bring our problems to Him. Absolutely do. Scripture says to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. God is not annoyed by your prayers. He is not up in Heaven sighing because you cried again over the same thing. Thank goodness too, because some of us have been praying about the same situations long enough that if persistence earned airline miles we would all be taking free vacations to Hawaii.

But I think sometimes we spend so much time staring at the mountain that we forget who made the mountain.

David did not walk out toward Goliath because he thought Goliath was small. That giant was huge. Everybody else there agreed on that point very strongly while staying a safe distance away from being flattened into human pancakes. David simply believed God was bigger. Moses stood in front of the Red Sea with an entire nation panicking behind him, Pharaoh’s army coming toward him, and approximately zero visible escape routes, and somehow God still made a road through the middle of the water. The disciples stood there staring at five loaves and two fish like they were trying to calculate how many microscopic sandwich portions everyone was supposed to receive and Jesus just calmly fed thousands of people anyway.

Ephesians 3:20 (ESV) says, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Far more abundantly than all we ask or think. Meanwhile half of us are over here acting like God is pacing Heaven nervously saying, “Oh dear. Another unexpected problem. I did not realize gas prices, inflation, family drama, health problems, and emotional exhaustion were all happening at once.”

Then I started thinking about something else. What if every person on earth had to write their biggest struggle on a piece of paper and put it into one giant jar. Every heartbreak. Every diagnosis. Every financial burden. Every marriage problem. Every fear people hide behind a smile. Every prayer that still has not been answered. Every grief that randomly hits at 2:17 in the afternoon because someone heard a song or smelled a smell or remembered a moment.

And then imagine everybody had the option to walk up to the jar and trade problems with somebody else.

I think most of us would walk up there pretty confidently at first. Because from a distance, everybody else’s life always looks easier. Their marriage looks happier. Their kids look more obedient. Their finances look stable. Their faith looks effortless. Their house looks cleaner. Their Instagram captions sound emotionally balanced. Meanwhile you are standing in your kitchen wearing mismatched socks wondering if coffee counts as a personality trait.

But then you would start unfolding what other people are carrying.

You would find out the smiling couple is barely holding their marriage together. The person who seems strong all the time cries themselves to sleep. The family that “has everything” is drowning in medical bills. The person who makes everyone laugh is secretly exhausted. The woman who encourages everybody else just lost someone she loved. The guy who always seems calm is carrying anxiety so heavy he can barely breathe some days.

And I think most of us would slowly fold up somebody else’s paper, put it back in the jar, pick up our own struggle again, and quietly say, “Actually...I think I’ll stick with mine.”

Not because our problems are easy. Some of them are absolutely crushing. Some people are carrying things right now that would break other people completely. But there is something about the burdens we have already learned to carry with God beside us that somehow becomes familiar terrain.

The enemy loves convincing people they are uniquely doomed. That everybody else is fine except them. But this world is full of hurting people trying to survive things you know nothing about. Some people are just better at hiding it than others. Which is exactly why we need a Savior who is actually bigger than all of it.

Not a tiny decorative God that exists to make nice wall art and inspirational captions. I mean the God who walked out of the grave. The God who defeated death. The God who still heals people, changes hearts, parts seas, restores broken things, and somehow keeps carrying humanity despite the fact that collectively we make some truly questionable decisions on a regular basis.

Including the fact that some of y’all willingly answer unknown phone numbers. Which already proves human beings are capable of living by faith.

So yes. Tell God your problems. Cry. Pray. Be honest with Him. Scripture is full of people doing exactly that. But maybe stop talking about your problems like they are bigger than your God.

Because they are not.

17/05/2026

Spring colour.
Thanks Andy for the photos