An Adventure in Ministry

In the afternoon we spent some time at the Southern wall of Jerusalem. Here we looked at some of the ruins left from the period of the second temple. We stood on the steps where Jesus would have definitely walked when he came to Jerusalem for festivals.  We sat and considered how the area may have looked when the temple was still standing and what it means for us. Helen set a picture of what the temple would have been like at feast days. The sights and sounds, the hustle and bustle, the mayhem of it all. She then said. "The temple doesn't sound or smell like the house of prayer we imagine today." This really challenged me. I expect a house of prayer to be calm and peaceful but that isn't always the case, God can also be in the hubub.  I also considered that the bible says we are the temple of the holy spirit. Sometimes in church we can discount people because we don't believe they can become our vision of the temple, calm, ordered and compliant bu...

Today our journey started at Yad Vashem, Israel's holocaust memorial. It is set in a beautiful hillside in Jerusalem and the aroma of rosemary, a herb representing remembrance, fills the air. We are shown round the museum by a guide called Debbie, whose parents went onto the Kinder transport to Britain and survived the war.  Our first stop was to the Children's hall of remembrance, a truly moving place, where the light of five candles are reflected with mirrors around the room. The effect is like a million stars sparkling. As we passed through, the names of the children were read aloud, a seemingly never ending list of names.  We then went into the main museum which followed the story of  6 million Jews who were led to their death. Our guide brought this number to life with stories of individuals who were victims of the holocaust, some who died and some who survived the horrors.  As we made our way through room after room packed to capacity w...

We entered Jerusalem through the Lion gate. We then walked to the ancient pools of Bethesda. We sat in the gardens of the church and read from John Chapter 5. we considered how in verse 8 Jesus told the man to: "Get up, pick up and walk!" For me, however, I considered how the man had been looking for healing wherever it could be found. He couldn't even get into the pool but he was desperate to cure himself.  When Jesus saw him, his first words were, "Do you want to get well?" So often we look to other things to give us the healing only Jesus can give. We need to look ONLY to him and faith that we will Get up, pick up and walk! We went inside a beautifully simple church and sampled the acoustics singing 'Praise my soul, the king of heaven' it gave me goosebumps!  We then stood and looked over the ruins of the pool of Bethesda. At the side of the pool was a plaque that read: 'Jesus is all-powerful, omnipotent; He alwa...

Our final destination of the day was 'The Garden Tomb'. It was a little place of quietness and peace in the bustle of Jerusalem. We arrived and was greeted by a lovely English guide who took us through the three stages of the place.  We sat and overlooked the place believed to be Golgotha, as the guide explained the torment Jesus would have endured during the last moments of his life. He reminded us that through his death, we have life and forgiveness.  Looking at Golgotha, one thing that struck me, was the way that there was a Muslim cemetery that has been built on top of Golgotha. On the side of the wall, just above the place Jesus would have been crucified, was emblazoned, in Arabic, 'Allah is God' For a little while I got a bit angry, but on reflection, two things occurred to me One - that if the worst another faith can do is to put death next to the place that God conquered death, then what a mighty God I serve!  Two - It is inter...

We soon started our ascent to Jerusalem, and as we did the psalms of ascent that David wrote. The final Psalm of Ascent 134 rang in my head:  Soon I had my first glimpse of Jerusalem. My heart started beating fast...Wow!  We drove into the city and sat on the Mount of Olives. Surprisingly it was very quiet and we didn't need to push through crowds. As we sat overlooking Jerusalem, the presence of God was tangible. This is the place where Jesus ascended to heaven and this is the place he WILL come again! We sat and contemplated this and sang Amazing Grace. It was overwhelming and I wept. Wept with joy at his amazing grace, wept with thanks that I was here and wept with sorrow for Israel, for our world and for humanity.  We soon after descended the mount to the garden of Gethsemane. The trees stood in the garden were from the same roots of the ones that would have stood the night Jesus was arrested.  As we sat outside the church o...