Guided by God: Council of Saints

Holy Trinity Church, Huddersfield, 15th September 2019

A dry morning’s walk to church, despite the weather app on my smartphone predicting otherwise. I was playing percussion in the later service, I arrived during the sermon of the first service in order to be ready for the second. The sermon was carried through to the welcome area. “Christian life is often seen as a journey, but it’s not a journey we are supposed to walk alone. That line summed up the second service nicely.

We were asked to pray for several people: With schools back, the children’s and young people’s group leaders were asked to stand and were prayed for.

Next, it was the Life Group leaders turn. Life Group is our name for small groups of up to 12 people that meet mostly in people’s houses. e have over 120 of our congregations who are part of these groups, which is very good for a church of our size, but the chance to join a group was still plugged. (If you are in a church with groups such as this and not part of a group, I would recommend that you join one if your personal circumstances allow.)

Next was Ruth. Ruth is a missionary we support in Mozambique who is part of our congregation when she is in the UK. For the last six months, she has been back here and is about to go back to Africa. She spoke to us about her time looking after boys in an orphanage and the next stage of helping these boys back into society. It is always a pleasure and a blessing to hear from Ruth.

Now onto the sermon from Vicar Mike. This was the third week in the Guided by God sermon series and it was confirmed what I suspected last wee Council of Saintk all the items start with the initials CS. This week was Council of Saints.

Advice.

Men are notorious for not asking directions and spend time driving around lost. It has been estimated to be about a tankful of petrol per driver per year, a small but significant percentage will not ask for directions at all.

When looking for advice as Christians we should be asking the saints. Saints are people who follow Jesus.   Vicar Mike, when asking about going into full-time Christian ministry, was advised to find three people wiser than he was.  We have to be open to the guidance of others.  Ask people who have been there, in a similar situation to the one you are facing. Seek wisdom. Seek people who know God. Listen to people.  Choose people who have nothing to lose.  You are responsible for the decision you make. He also said that our Life Groups are a good place to ask.