{"id":361,"date":"2026-04-26T17:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T17:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/?p=361"},"modified":"2026-04-26T17:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T17:54:16","slug":"worshiping-working-witnessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/2026\/04\/26\/worshiping-working-witnessing\/","title":{"rendered":"Worshiping, Working, Witnessing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A sermon for 26 April 2026 (Vocations Sunday)<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>, Bramley St Peter <\/strong><\/strong>
Readings: Acts 2:42-47 \/ John 10:1-10\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our theme this year, you may remember, is \u2018complete unity\u2019, how we come together as a congregation. In last week\u2019s reading, we heard that Peter\u2019s Spirit-inspired preaching resulted in three thousand people being converted to following the new way of Jesus.\u00a0 Three thousand! Just imagine it, they went overnight from being a group of disciples perhaps not much different from ours in size, to being a megachurch. One with no building ready to meet in, no established leadership, no hymn book, not even a Bible as we know it \u2013 just the Jewish scriptures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What were they to do? What did it mean to be \u2018Church\u2019, to follow the risen Christ into a completely new way of knowing God? Luke\u2019s second volume following his Gospel tries to answer this question of \u2018what it means to be Church\u2019 as he tells their story. We will be having a whole sermon series on the Acts of the Apostles through May and June, but let me give you a taster of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s reading follows on immediately from that reading about the mass conversion. It tells of how this crowd of people, far too many to all know each other personally, some of whom would have seen Jesus in person and others only just heard about him for the first time, went about following Jesus and doing his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, they were a Worshiping people<\/strong>. \u2018They remained faithful to the teaching of the Apostles, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers\u2019. \u2019They went as a body to the Temple and praised God\u2019. But three thousand could not meet together anywhere else, so \u2018they met in their houses for the breaking of bread\u2019. They had both large corporate acts of worship, and cell groups or house churches where people could get to know each other and worship in small groups day by day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, worship was at the heart of what they did. If we do not join in regularly with the worship of the Body of Christ, be it in small groups or large services, we are missing out on what creates that unity that we seek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Gospel reading, when Jesus talks about himself as the Good Shepherd, he says that he came so that we might have life abundantly. Not just existing, but living as God intended. That is what we can experience when we are caught up in the rich, active worshiping and praying life of the church. We need this as a solid foundation for what comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, they were a Working people. <\/strong>Some of that work was to build up the church, and some of it to serve the community. But at the heart of it was sharing. This was no mere bring-and-share lunch, although it does say \u2018They shared their food gladly and generously\u2019. But in addition, \u2018they sold their goods and possessions and shared out the proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed\u2019. As the Church continued to grow, we read in later chapters of the appointment of deacons to organise the work of the Church while the Apostles continued to preach and lead the prayers [Acts 6:1-7]<\/em>. Others \u2013 both men and women \u2013 headed up the small churches that met in their homes. So everyone was treated equally, but different people had different gifts and found their own specific role in the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, the Gospel passage speaks to this. Jesus said that he is the gatekeeper for his sheep, so that we might come in and go out, and find pasture. He does not corral us in to the sheepfold, safe and happy but disconnected from the world outside. No, he wants us to go out to our daily life at home or work, active in his service, while remaining in his care, then coming back into the sheepfold \u2013 into the church – to be fed and sheltered when we need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirdly, they were a Witnessing people. <\/strong>The world around them, at least the city of Jerusalem to begin with, was not unaware of these thousands of new believers and what they were doing. This passage tells us that \u2018The apostles worked miracles and signs\u2019. OK, not everyone is given the gifts of healing and prophecy, but some of us might.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In subsequent chapters of Acts, we learn how they did just what Jesus had commanded as they healed the sick and fed the hungry. In addition, they preached the Good News both to individuals and to crowds, to ordinary folk and Temple authorities. The result? People continued to be drawn in, converted, baptised and find their place in the Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, Jesus\u2019 image of himself as the Good Shepherd supports this. The sheep do not listen to the voice of a stranger, he says, and strangers come only to seek and destroy. They follow Jesus because they know his voice. In a world with many competing voices, many of them dangerous to those who are drawn to their false messages, it is important that we make the voice of Jesus heard. The one who knows each person by name and loves us infinitely, who speaks the words that person needs to hear. Words of truth, not deception. Words that build up and do not tear down. Words of gentleness and inclusion, not of domination and exclusion. If we offer to the world around us an example of lives built on integrity, on sharing, on caring for each other, then people will see that and want to be part of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three things, then, that make us like the flock Jesus wants to pastor. Worshiping, working and witnessing. Sticking together, finding our gifts and using them, being an example of abundant life to those around us. Coming in, going out, and finding pasture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today is designated by the Church of England as \u2018Vocations Sunday\u2019<\/strong>. At one time, it was all about identifying people who God was calling to ordained ministry \u2013 that is, to become priests. And for some people, that is still their calling. But the intention of Vocations Sunday now is much wider: to enable each disciple of Christ to find their rightful place in his body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some will be called to the task of worship through an authorised ministry. Clergy like Julia and Adrian, lay ministers like myself, worship leader or occasional preacher. Supported of course by welcomers, musicians, singers, and those who lead prayers or read the Bible in church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Christians will be called to support the Church\u2019s work outside the Sunday service. Some may be paid for doing this work full time such as youth workers or chaplains, many others will do it voluntarily and part time: home group leaders, helpers in children\u2019s groups, intercessors. spiritual directors, counsellors and pastoral assistants, for example. And of course there are the \u2018backstage roles\u2019: administrators, cleaners and caterers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are the many ways of being involved in the church\u2019s witness and outreach: working for a Christian charity, volunteering at a foodbank or as a street pastor, and so on. The Church Army is the Church of England\u2019s team of trained evangelists \u2013 a specialised calling, but as urgent a need as ever it was. Overseas mission is very different from what it was in previous generations, but God does still call Christians to work for him in a different part of the worldwide Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people find their Christian vocation early in adult life or even in their teens, for others the call comes later. I started in my twenties when the Vicar gave me the chance sometimes to speak for a few minutes at the more informal evening service, and I went on to be a volunteer speaker for a Christian charity. By my early thirties I felt called to do something more full time for the Church. I explored various avenues, joined a Christian community for three years and eventually found a paid job with the Church of England that used my secular training as an engineer. I did that for twenty years. During that time I also offered myself as a lay minster which involved three years of part-time training. Recently I have retired and am now asking God if there is anything else he wants me to do for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your journey will be different, because we all have different origins, gifts and other commitments. But whatever and whenever it is, Jesus has a place for you in his Church. While it is easy to sign up to a coffee or cleaning rota, a call to a more weighty and long-term role such as lay minister, youth worker or vicar needs careful prayer and advice to make sure it is right. For the more formal roles, the Diocese has advisers <\/a>who can guide you on this journey of discernment. But if anything you have heard today makes you want to find your role, the first step, along with praying about it, is to have a word with me or Julia. Let\u2019s finish by saying \u00a0a prayer together:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God our Father, Lord of all the world,
through your Son you have called us into the fellowship
of your universal Church:
hear our prayer for your faithful people
that in their vocation and ministry
each may be an instrument of your love,
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sermon for 26 April 2026 (Vocations Sunday), Bramley St Peter Readings: Acts 2:42-47 \/ John 10:1-10\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Our theme this year, you may remember, is \u2018complete unity\u2019, how we come together as a congregation. In last week\u2019s reading, we heard that Peter\u2019s Spirit-inspired preaching resulted in three thousand people being converted to following the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[144,181,7,180],"class_list":["post-361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermon","tag-calling","tag-good-shepherd","tag-john","tag-vocations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions\/363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}