Sorted Magazine

Tag: Rev Andy March

  • Rev Andy March: “A wonderful insight”

    Digital Editor’s Note: I’m pleased to welcome Rev Andy March as our Guest Writer. Todays’ post is a short extract from Andy’s new book Wonder: An Advent and Christmas Collection – Halwill Publishing.

    Rev Andy March writes: I once heard a story about a cockney from the East End of London who had a real dilemma because he was in love with two very beautiful women. And he couldn’t decide. One was called Sharon, and she was blonde and very beautiful, and the other was called Maria, and she was a brunette and also very beautiful. He wasn’t a churchgoer, but not knowing whether it was Sharon or Maria, he thought: “Well, I’ll go into a church and pray.” So, he went into a local Catholic Church and he knelt down by the altar and he said to the Lord, being a Cockney East Ender, he said: “’oom shall I ‘ave?” And he looked up, and he looked at the stained-glass window and he saw in gold letters: Ave Maria!

    Mary remains a source of great fascination, devotion and inspiration for art and literature, and yet we know so little about her. In a day and age where we love to know everything about everyone, the gospel accounts are so tantalising; frustrating, even. We know very little about these people who, after all, played such a significant part in world history.

    It’s therefore so precious that Luke has recorded these glimpses into the domestic life of Mary and her most famous son, Jesus. In fact, at the beginning of the Gospel Luke writes: “I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account” (v3). It is likely that Luke chapters one and two were based on Mary’s own reminiscences, giving us a wonderful insight into the domestic life of Mary and her relatives.

    Main Photo Credit: Ken Cheung via Unsplash

  • Rev Andy March: “There’s so much mess and pain in this world”

    Digital Editor’s Note: I’m pleased to welcome Rev Andy March as our Guest Writer. Today’s post is a short extract from Andy’s new book Wonder: And Advent and Christmas Collection – Halwill Publishing

    Rev Andy March writes: What an amazing night it must have been 2,000 years ago, especially for those shepherds who were serenaded by those angels and told the most incredible news; today, in Bethlehem, a Saviour has been born for you, and you will find him, in all places, in a manger. The angels chose shepherds to be the recipients of this good news, even though they weren’t very important, in fact, because they weren’t very important. You see, the wonderful news of Christmas is that we all matter to God. Each of us. We are so important to God. This good news of great joy is for you and me too, God became human, giving the world the greatest possible gift of a Saviour, this is good news for everyone, because we all need a Saviour.

    There’s so much mess and pain in this world that we don’t know what to do about. The good news is that God saw that the world was in a mess; he saw how we hurt ourselves and each other and that we get so much wrong so often and that there was nothing we could do about it. So He stepped in, became human to do nothing less than save the world. This makes all the difference to us, because we can see that we are deeply loved. God loved us enough to come and save us. That’s the first thing.

    The second is that we are never alone, Jesus came to be God with us. Incredibly he gives us the chance to become his children, all those who receive him become children of God, which means we join a worldwide family, the church, we’re just a tiny part of that. The third is that we can have peace. If Jesus is our saviour then all the mess we experience in our lives, all our worries, we can hand over to him.

    Main Photo Credit: Jaka Skrlep via Unsplash

  • Rev Andy March: “I love Christmas”

    Digital Editor’s Note: Wonder: An Advent and Christmas Collection is a profound and often humorous collection of reflections, monologues, poetry, sermons and sketches. In this new book Rev Andy March invites us, whether we’re lifelong Christians or new to faith, to take a fresh look at this world-changing story and become lost in wonder once again. I’m delighted to welcome Andy as today’s Guest Writer. Look out for extracts from his book during the month of December.

    Rev Andy March writes: “I love Christmas. I think I look forward to it almost as much as my children. I love almost everything about it, the cheesy music; the lights that illuminate the dark December streets; the carol services and nativity plays; the carols and Bible readings; going to church at really strange times of the night; the Christmas trees and decorations … I could go on. I love telling stories, particularly Bible stories, and finding ways for these timeless and ancient truths to hit home today, whether for a hall full of schoolchildren, an all-age congregation, or occasional visitors to church at carol services. If I can find a different way to convey essential truths, I will, even if it involves looking silly (which it often has, as I’ve dressed up as angels, wise men and even adorned donkey ears, much to the embarrassment of my children!).

    Wonder: An Advent and Christmas Collection is the fusion of these two passions and the result of a decade or so of my work in Church of England parish ministry. Most of these pieces have been written for church all-age and carol services as well as “ordinary” Sundays, and school services. They were written to be read aloud and performed, so you may want to try this yourself!

    Whether you’re someone looking for fresh inspiration as you plan your own services, or a Christian looking for something to inspire your own worship and devotion, I hope this book is a blessing to you.

    Wonder: An Advent and Christmas Collection is not designed to be read front-to-back like a novel. I see it more as a selection box to be dipped into and enjoyed! The stories are gathered into four parts:

    Part One: Telling the story
    A collection of monologues and sketches that seek to tell the familiar story in a new way, often from the perspective of the characters involved. These would be perfect for use in services and would work as stand-alone pieces.

    Part Two: Proclaiming Good News – the message of Advent and Christmas
    This includes sermons I have preached over the years. The “Carols by Candlelight” sermons try to reflect the year’s events in some way and link it to a particular aspect of the Good News of Christmas.

    Part Three: Responding to the Story
    Poetry, which often forms my personal expression of worship in this season. My greatest challenge as a “professional Christian” is that I can be so focused on communicating the Good News to others that I fail to appreciate its meaning for myself. These poems flow from those times when I stop, reflect and worship.

    Part Four: Reflecting on the Story
    An Advent and Christmas devotional that starts on December 1st and ends on January 6th, containing Bible verses I selected and reflections I wrote on Twitter. You may want to use this to accompany your own devotions, perhaps at the end of the day.

    In the foreword Andy Kind, Comedian and Author writes: “The joy of writing, when you shake off the norms and the preconceived, is that really you can write whatever you want to. “Unclassified” isn’t a low grade – it’s a sign of pioneering out-of-the-boxmanship. Andy March has done that with this book. Having preached at his church, I’ve seen first-hand Andy’s commitment to people and kingdom ideas, telling the old, old story in new and innovative ways. This new work is the fruit of Andy’s labours working “in the trenches” of local church. It drips with experience, wit and wisdom – an impressive addition to his growing output and legacy. For devotion and inspiration, via his own perspiration, here you’ll find a one-stop shop for Christmas word feasting. An advent calendar of tasty word; a buffet of delectable sound bites. Don’t get too fat, now, will you?”

    Andy’s book is available here

    Main Photo Credit: Tyler Delgado via Unsplash