“Shout for Joy “Featuring The Mustard Seed Girls Choir – Director Lucy Stimson- Maynard recorded at Holy Rood Church, Stubbington – unreleased

Thank you so very much to St Peter’s Church in Ravenshead who hosted Risen! The Musical so wonderfully on Saturday, May 14^th. The cast had a brilliant time, loved the cake and food you so kindly provided and most of all were chuffed with the fantastic comments received from you regarding how blessed you were with Risen!

The featured song today is another unreleased track from the “Vaults” and features words taken from Psalm 100.

For some weeks now I have been considering why there is suffering in the world and an aspect of this I would like to consider today is how we should respond to people that are suffering? Suffering can come in many forms and recently I read in the United Christian Broadcast’s (UCB) publication “Word for Today” how we should respond to suffering because of hunger, thirst, poverty and imprisonment (I would humbly suggest especially false imprisonment )

Jesus says in Matthew 25 – 35- 36 (New King James Version)“I was hungry an you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.” The early Church Father Chrysotom pointed out “We do not hear I was sick and you healed me or I was in prison and you liberated me.” So that does away with the excuse “How could I heal a sick person or liberate someone who is enslaved?” Jesus said “I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” These words of mercy are simple deeds and yet in these simple deeds we serve Jesus. So the truth is we serve Jesus by serving needy suffering people. Some of them are refugees or living on the streets. Maybe they’ve made mistakes or been caught up in circumstances they can’t control. You can’t help all of them, but you can help some of them. And when you do you serve Jesus.

All this reminds me of a famous story which I will tell next week.