Lent 2015
16 March, Luke's picture of Jesus - introduced by Ros Lukins, David Baldwin was excited by the way Luke described Jesus as a man of prayer, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Luke valued the ministry of women, perhaps even proclaiming a prophetic role for Mary. With 43% new material compared to the other synoptic gospels, Luke also shows a different side to stories, eg the shortening of the Beatitudes to 'Blessèd are the poor', '~ those who hunger.' The role and adoration of the shepherds is given special attention. This week, those greeted by the new interior of St John's were given the early opportunity to reflect listening to sacred music including 'His Spirit is here' (Choralerna) and 'Come Holy Spirit' (Taizé).Hymns included The Servant Song (Richard Gillard) Bless the Lord (Taizé) and Graham Kendrick's 'The Servant King'. Listen again via Soundcloud
This year's Lent Lecture series looked at Four Portraits of Jesus. Mondays from 23 February at St John's, PE11 1JQ; organised by CTSD; all were made most welcome.
The talks and worship were led by members of local churches; art, sacred music, well-known hymns, prayers and favourite Gospel passages accompanied the talks.
23 March, John's picture of Jesus - introduced by Lesley Pemberton, David Baldwin explained why the gospel was written (John 20.31), looking at how the two major groups of chapters - the Book of Signs (2-12) and the Book of Glory (13-20) invite the reader to see Jesus and respond, believe that he is the Messiah, and through faith in him we might have life in all its fullness. Hymns included 'Meekness and majesty', 'Tell me the old old story' and 'We have a gospel to proclaim' along with readings from Psalm 134 and John 20.19-end. Steve Weatherly-Barton brought sacred music by The Soul Stirrers, 'Jesus gave me water'. Listen again via Soundcloud
9 March, Mark's picture of Jesus - introduced by Frances Garland, David Baldwin offered a rapid summary of the gospel attributed to Mark, noting how the writer starts with Jesus as an adult, containing fewer stories but many in vivid detail, drawing the reader in to engage with the story.Hymns included 'The day thou gavest', 'Christ's is the world in which we move' by John Bell and 'O for a thousand tongues to sing'; this week's sacred music was 'Every valley shall be exalted' from The Messiah.
Listen again via Soundcloud
2 March, Matthew's picture of Jesus - introduced by Steve Weatherly-Barton, David Baldwin described the comparative links between Jesus and Moses, Matthew wrote for the Jewish and Gentile audiences, from start to end, fulfilling and completing God's redemptive work.
Hymns included 'Lord of the dance', 'Will you come and follow me?' and 'Thine be the glory'; inspirational music came from Michael Card singing 'El Shaddai' (Youtube) and Beth Nielsen Chapman's version of 'Shalom Aleichem' (Lyrics/Youtube). Listen again via Soundcloud
23 February, Introduction to different pictures of Jesus – and how the four Gospels portray Jesus. Introduced by Peter Garland, speaker David Baldwin highlighted how the gospel writers offer different perspectives, different images, different sides of a person.Hymns included 'I will sing the wondrous story', 'Open or eyes, Lord', 'How sweet the name' & 'O love that will not let me go'; Jimmy Webb's version of 'I will arise' (Youtube) was played as inspirational music following the talk. Listen again via Soundcloud
