Come for everything is ready now. Friends this week we are celebrating Pentecost and the Platinum jubilee How appropriate that the call from our gospel good news reading is “ come everything is ready now” And when you give a banquet invite the poor the crippled the lame and the blind. How wonderful that this week Rochdale Soup Kitchen that began as a little seed at Thrum Hall Methodist has now got national recognition. The days when soup was served from the back of a car made by members of the congregation who also baked cakes to share too. Generous hospitality that has bloomed and blossomed …and spread like the flames of Pentecost touching so many lives each week . There is the blessing that is spoken in the passage of scripture set for today You will be blessed because they cannot repay you You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. This prophecy of Jesus is for us to take up .. We are to bless those who cannot repay us for true kingdom work. How often do we truly do that ? It seems to me that more often than not we want to do things that will bring in a profit!! Today we celebrate the birth of the church This weekend we celebrate the commitment of our monarch I wonder if you knew that on her coronation day she held an orb and a sceptre. During the course of the ceremony the original orb was replaced with one with a dove perched on top. A recognition that the holy spirit was the factor that was going to make a difference. Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God . You may not be what they say a royalist but this declaration of the spirit of God being a crucial component to her life as monarch has got to say something as an example for us. I truly believe the queen despite having lead a life of privilege does have a strong faith that carries her through and she is prepared to speak of it too. She has also played hostess and provided hospitality to many people . Marilyn and Vida when they visit the place on behalf of the soup kitchen will also no doubt acknowledge the faith that got them there on the amazing journey. Does this not inspire you too to make a difference in the ways you can. We are here gathered in this place/scattered in the communities where we live I hope that you will let God’s Spirit rain down on you right now I hope that it will inspire you to invite a guest to your home not expecting anything in return but that God would speak to them Just a little aside …My family have decided that each Sunday we do a Sunday dinner we will invite a surprise visitor …this was decided before the inspiration of my message today so I know it is actually a challenge from God and I pray that blessing will follow I challenge you to send out your invites too. If you can’t cook take them out for a meal or a picnic or something. ( we all know what can happen at a picnic) The call to come because everything is ready now is prophetic and we must remember God is with us and for us. We all need to tell the parable of our great dinners. Meet Share Eat . Happy Birthday Church Thank you to our Queen. And above all thank you Jesus !! Every blessing and Happy Birthday Church . we have just celebrated our 50t anniversary .. and It is Pentecost. Blessings, Helen