How do the words we have considered speak to us in the way we live our lives as disciples of a living God and how can we help others to turn to him? In the words of the hymn "Jesus bids us shine" we are each called to do our bit in our own location: "You in your small corner and I in mine." Are there things you and your friends might do to make the world a fairer place?

If you are a member of a Christian community, in your own life how do you feel about other voices and beliefs? What God is doing in our lives and in the world may seem, to all appearances such a small thing: we read of a baby in a stable, an itinerant lone teacher on a hill, 11 ill-equipped disciples, an anonymous cross. And yet today: orphanages, schools, hospitals, homes for the elderly, hospices for the dying, shelters for the homeless, community projects and places of worship are all scattered across the world in the name of the baby born in a stable who died on the Cross.I try to thank my staff weekly as recognising and encouraging them is part of caring for them. I know what it's like to have no encouragement at all; it leaves you questioning whether you are doing a good job and doubting whether what you are doing is right – making you feel no one cares. It’s an awful place to be, one in which you feel undervalued and unappreciated. Do you agree that this story is written from someone who looked at the world many years on and sought to find the beginnings of the darker place which that world has become?

But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.' (vs 18-19) But then, the writer envisages the next change. God looks upon the people and decides they need to be divided and scattered across the face of the larger world. God confuses the languages being spoken, the people scatter, and the world which the writer sees around him, and indeed which is the same world we live in today, came into being. God, as you care for and encourage the spring flowers to burst through the soil after winter's sleep, may we care for and encourage others to grow and flower into the best possible version of themselves. Amen.

We all need to be cared for and looked after and part of that is being encouraged. The writer to the Hebrews knew this and emphasises God’s care and calls on readers to encourage one another daily to keep the faith. The book of Hebrews is believed to have been written prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70AD, so this is one of the later books of the New Testament writings and its focus is upon an ageing Church that was beginning to lose its enthusiasm for what was still a fledgling Christian movement.

Would it not be helpful to pull these scattered fragments together or to identify some underlying principles? The notion of ‘love’ comes to the rescue. Love is expressed through each and every rule and regulation. Love is the sum of them all ( verse 9). Love is their common purpose and goal – "the fulfilling of the law" ( verses 8 and 10). Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. (v. 9) The account of Christ’s actions and subsequent exultation, and the way belief and action are linked, form the core of the early chapters of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. The demands to live in a certain way are a necessary obligation laid upon all Christians. We can claim to be ‘in Christ’ because of what Christ has done and not because of any action of our own. So, according to Paul, our faith and subsequent behaviour is the result of what Christ has done for us, not the cause of it. The American Christian band, Casting Crowns, have a lyric that runs: What is a positive recurring theme in the letter is the reminder to recall the words they first received of the holy prophets, the apostles and Jesus himself; an exhortation to keep the faith in the face of adversity and not to be distracted from it. Today is Remembrance Sunday, when many of us will gather with our local community at war memorials. The nation will fall still and silent at 11am. It shall be the profound silence of a people gathered to remember. And some of us will be truly remembering what it is like – for we have served and know the sights and sounds and smells of battle. And some of will be remembering what it is like – for we have loved and lost family and friends in conflict. And some of us will be remembering what we have been told, what we have been shown, what we have been taught about wars and conflicts that have affected the wider community of which we are a part. We shall indeed be a part of the profound silence of a people gathered to remember.

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In what instances might we find ourselves tempted to be envious because somebody displays mercy or generosity? There are images in the story of wedding, water and wine. The prophet Isaiah mentions the coming salvation with symbols of wine (I saiah 25:6) and wedding feast ( 62:4-5). The water held in jars for ritual washing in this story foreshadows the 'living water' Jesus speaks of by the well in Samaria ( John 4) and connects the person of Jesus to ideas of purity and life. The steward also exclaims how the best wine is kept for last and perhaps we can find a similar thought in the last words of John Wesley, "The best of all is, God is with us".

Whether it was the disciples at the Last Supper who worried what the next few days and weeks would hold for them, or the later persecuted followers of Christ, they could take comfort in the knowledge that what they were to experience was because they had been specifically “chosen out of the world” ( v. 19) by Christ. Also, they wouldn’t be left alone, for “the Advocate comes who I will send you from the Father” ( v. 26). Moreover, Jesus had experienced this hatred first ( v. 18), so those who followed had the example of someone who had travelled the road ahead of them. God reinforces his promise to Abraham when he says "I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore." ( vs 15-17) It's quite a promise, no matter how many centuries you let pass. Bearing in mind that Christians speak of God as being loving, gracious and generous, what are your images or ideas about any possible future judgement? John’s Gospel begins with these words, which are simple and yet profound. We are told three times that the Word ‘was’ – not that the Word ‘came into being’ or ‘became’, but simply that the Word ‘was’. There is no beginning for the Word; the Word was always there, and always will be. This is the same divine presence who is called "I am who I am" ( Exodus 3:14). The words sum up God’s unending being. This second letter of Peter is thought to relate quite closely to the letter of Jude (the penultimate book of the New Testament) and it may be that one is dependent on the other, or that they have used a common source. They were both written to counteract the influence of false teaching in early Christian communities. Although attributed to Peter, it is now thought unlikely he was the author and that it was probably written after his death. The language and ideas are certainly very different from those used in the first letter of Peter, suggesting different authorship. It was not uncommon at the time for speeches or letters to be linked with important or heroic figures in this way.What can we, as followers of Jesus, do to play our part in rebuilding God's one world which was envisaged in the beginning? However this is where the problems begin, for it seems that whereas the offering of a lamb was well received, God was less pleased with the crops of the ground, causing Cain to feel resentful towards his brother. It would seem that while the lamb had been the best of those available, although it's not spelled out, Cain's offerings had perhaps not been the best of the crop available, hence the response he received from God for his gift.