Christian Aid Week sermons

Christian Aid Week sermons TOGETHER WE RE STRONGER THAN THE STORMS. We ve provided these sermon notes to inspire your preaching during Christian Aid Week. You ll find a sermon in full from Pastor Clément Joseph, who works for one of Christian Aid s partners in Haiti, as well as notes on the readings for Sunday 13 and Sunday 20 May. We ve also provided two inspiring stories from Haiti for you to tell when you deliver your sermon. Feel free to add, take away or rearrange the sermon notes to suit you and your church. During or after the sermon, in solidarity with displaced people like our neighbours in Haiti, create a Home of Hope. Download a template from caweek.org/resources and ask everyone to write their message of solidarity on the brick templates. Pray for people who have lost their homes in disasters. Don t forget to complete your Christian Aid Week service using the rest of our resources. Download your order of service (includes suggested hymns and songs), prayers, an inspiring all-age talk and this year s film at caweek.org/resources Contents 1 2 3 4 Stories page 2 Any time before or during Christian Aid Week page 4 Notes for Sunday 13 May page 7 Notes for Sunday 20 May page 9

1 Stories Marcelin Marcelin has endured relentless disasters, and lost everything when Hurricane Matthew hit. Now, he s forced to live in a 2x2m concrete block with his family. There are no windows or doors, and the only furniture is a single bed. It s a tiny, claustrophobic space which Marcelin shares with his daughters Ketia (18), Linda (16) and Keshna (15), in constant, sweltering heat. They re not just survivors they re fighters. But they can t take much more. Marcelin s wife left over ten years ago. Since then he s fought hard to raise his children alone, cooking, cleaning and caring for them. But he can t afford to send all his daughters to school anymore, and he struggles to even provide enough food. Sometimes they go hungry. A new home would give them a fighting chance to build a better life. It s the first step to making sure they thrive, not just survive. Just 210 would be enough to train a local builder in Haiti, meaning they could build safe, comfortable homes for people like Marcelin and their families, giving them a fighting chance to build a better life. If another hurricane went through, we d just die. Marcelin is worried about his daughters all the time. He s anxious that they could be exploited by predatory men in exchange for the food they desperately need. And his daughters worry that his hunger puts him at risk of serious illness. He doesn t eat enough for someone doing such hard labour, and they re scared he could get sick and die. Marcelin calls on God to give him faith and strength to care for his children. But if another hurricane comes through, he expects them all to die. If we can build Marcelin and his family a new home, it would give them a safe place to weather the next disaster. It would provide the strength they need to keep going. Marcelin and his daughters are forced to share a tiny concrete block. 2

1 Stories Vilia Vilia and her family lived in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit Haiti in 2010. Her home was destroyed, and her mother was killed. Vilia went back to her hometown in the south of Haiti with her husband and seven children. But life was a struggle, and they had nowhere safe to stay. Christian Aid s partner KORAL realised how dire Vilia s situation was, and reached out to help her. We built her a new home, one safe and strong enough to stand up to natural disasters. On that terrifying night in 2016 when Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti, Vilia s house was the only one in her area sturdy enough to survive. One by one, her neighbours fled to her house and she welcomed them in. Fifty-four people sheltered safely from the hurricane in Vilia s house she potentially saved fifty-four lives that night. I formed a chain of solidarity so that we could eat together, share with each other and sleep together, until they went back to their own homes, or found a shelter, she said. Vilia is incredibly grateful for the help she s received, and she s used her new home to help others. Faced with incredibly difficult challenges, Vilia finds her strength in God: I stay connected with God, I pray. I pray every time something like this happens. You have to put your knees on the ground, pray and call out to God. Only God can do anything in these situations. There s nothing that our God cannot do. Thank you, a thousand times, thank you. Vilia s life has been transformed by the house Christian Aid s partner built. 3

2 Any time before or during Christian Aid Week Sitting with displaced people: a sermon from Haiti Readings Genesis 41:53-57, 42:1-5. Matthew 2:13-23. At 3.30pm on 12 January 2010, Pastor Clément set out from his home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti s capital city. He was travelling to Gros Morne, a town 160km away in the north of the country, because his mother had died three days earlier. He was returning to the town where she was born for her funeral the next day. Two hours later, at 5.30pm, he was just 15km from Gros Morne when he heard that there had been a major earthquake in Port-au-Prince. He tried to make contact with his family, but couldn t get through. He was anxious and tired, but, carried along by sadness at his mother s death as well as happy memories of her, he continued his journey. When he got back to Port-au-Prince, he found his wife and children. They were struggling in truly horrific conditions. The earthquake killed thousands of people, and Pastor Clément s family saw the streets strewn with the bodies of those who could not afford a simple burial many had even started to decompose where they lay. Fortunately, their own house was still standing, but they were afraid to go in, so they were forced to search for a safe place of shelter. For two nights they stayed in a temporary camp in the suburbs, before crossing the border to the neighbouring Dominican Republic, to a town called Jimani. There, a local pastor helped Clément to find a house which he could rent for his family. Clément then went back to Port-au- Prince to help those in desperate need. He coordinated the response of one of Christian Aid s partner organisations, the Social Mission of Haitian Churches, and set up four camps in the grounds of churches. These camps welcomed in those made homeless and vulnerable by the earthquake, and provided urgently-needed shelter for more than 20,000 people. One evening, Clément returned to the Dominican Republic, feeling completely exhausted. He spent a few minutes with his family, then went out to a nearby town square where many homeless people were forced to wander. It was there that he met Benito, a young Dominican man, who showed Clément his sleeping bag and the corner where he had spent the previous night. Assuming he had been visiting Haiti when the earthquake hit, Clément asked him how he had managed to survive. To Clément s surprise, Benito told him that he had travelled to Haiti s border to live alongside people displaced by the earthquake. He had wanted to send money to help, like many people around the world. But because his family was poor and he didn t work, he had nothing to give. Benito came to Jimani to be with the Haitians, to sleep alongside them and to share their suffering. This encounter with Benito made Clément think deeply. Can anyone really be sure that they won t be affected by circumstances out of their own control? Can we really be sure that we ll never suffer in the same way as displaced people? 4

More than 65 million people in the world today have been uprooted from their homes. If we consider their status in society and how much money they have, we might be tempted to believe that the rich (and most of us are, by comparison, rich indeed) are never affected. But when we remember the Bible, we should perhaps be wary of believing that anyone is totally secure based on their wealth. The Bible is, after all, full of people who seem rooted and prosperous, but then become displaced, often against their will. Take Abraham and Sarah, in Genesis 12, who God commanded to leave their country and family. They become migrants, displaced people. During his journey, Abraham struggles to feed and protect himself and his family. Vulnerable and frightened, he is even willing to compromise the honour of his wife Sarah in exchange for protection and support. Sarah s story exemplifies the powerlessness of many displaced people today: to ensure the safety of her family, she has no choice but to be taken into the Pharaoh s household as a wife, disguised as Abraham s sister. In Genesis 42-44, Jacob, who was a very rich man, was forced to send in ten of his sons to Egypt in search of food. And Jesus, as a baby, is taken far away from his home country in the arms of his parents, fleeing violence. Mary and Joseph can only protect Jesus from the atrocities of Herod by fleeing to Egypt. The millions of people on the move today include those of all faiths and none. Among them are men, like Abraham and Jacob. But the serious dangers of journeys far from home are even greater for women like Sarah and Mary, and children like Jesus. We re part of the church of Jesus Christ. In his example, Christians are called to show love to all especially to the most vulnerable. Jesus love invites us to open our arms to displaced people: to stand in solidarity with people fleeing war, persecution and the devastation of natural disasters. This Christian Aid Week, we re standing up for displaced people. We re opening our arms to people who have lost everything in Haiti, forced to leave their homes after unimaginable disasters. The money we raise will transform lives just 210 could pay to train a local builder in Haiti, meaning they can build safe homes for displaced families, giving them a fighting chance to build a better life. We are all called to help those who suffer the most in our world. Like Benito from the Dominican Republic we can all use our gifts and resources to stand in solidarity with those in need. Please give generously this week your gifts of money and time will help people in Haiti and around the world to start piecing their lives back together. If your church is collecting house-to-house this Christian Aid Week: Many from our church will be collecting in our neighbourhood this week. We re answering Jesus call to help our neighbours, no matter where they are in the world and we re showing his amazing love in our community. Every street you walk down and every door you knock on will help uplift and relieve the suffering of the most vulnerable. And as we build a Home of Hope using these symbolic bricks from Christian Aid, as we add our messages of hope and solidarity, we re showing how our gifts, prayers and actions build a better future. We re building a future where every person on earth is safe and able to thrive, treasured as a child of God. 5

Download bricks of hope for everyone in your congregation to build a Home of Hope at caweek.org/resources The gospel speaks to us all. It gives us a mandate to show Jesus mercy to the most vulnerable, those who suffer the most. May the Lord God, with his abundant grace and mercy, unite and strengthen his church to restore hope in this broken world. Thanks to Pastor Clément Joseph, Director of the Social Mission of Haitian Churches, for his personal story and sermon. An alternative insight You could draw out the story of Pastor Clément and his meeting with Benito to explore how Jesus is with us in all we experience. Readings Psalm 23. Matthew 11:25-30. Luke 24:13-32. Pastor Clément found Benito sitting on the streets of Jimani, a town in the Dominican Republic. Although Benito was very poor himself, he had travelled to be alongside those who were suffering. He reminds us of Jesus, who came into the world to be with us in our struggles and our pain. Jesus even went as far as the Cross, experiencing the depths of suffering and the ultimate despair, separation from God. When we are lost and afraid and simply can t understand why God allows us to suffer, Jesus puts his sleeping bag down next to us, like Benito did. And he calls us to be his presence to others in their suffering. When we are lost and afraid and simply can t understand why God allows us to suffer, Jesus puts his sleeping bag down next to us, like Benito did. And he calls us to be his presence to others in their suffering. As we raise money, pray and give our time during Christian Aid Week, we re being there for our neighbours who need us in Haiti and across the world. We re standing in solidarity with them through their suffering, and we re helping them to have hope for the future. 6

3 Sunday 13 May Witnessing God s unconditional love Readings Acts 1:15-17, 21-26. Psalm 1 1 John 5:9-13. John 17:6-19. In the passage from Acts, the early church is eager to bring its leadership team up to full strength and they wanted someone who had seen the Risen Lord to bear witness to his resurrection. A witness, after all, must be someone who has personally experienced the thing about which they bear witness. So what does witnessing mean today? Unlike Joseph and Matthias, we were not there at Jesus baptism or his resurrection. As disciples, how then do we bear witness? How do we tell people about the transforming work of God? How do we spread the message that Jesus came to bring good news, life in all its fullness, as we read in John 10:10 a life full of justice and free from poverty? The newly chosen disciple would, along with the 11 others, have special responsibilities. He would have a crucial role to play in growing the Kingdom of God. Is God calling you to take on a special responsibility? Are you called to join with others in a shared ministry, to work as a team and to lighten the burden for others? In John s gospel, Jesus is worried about the challenges that his followers will face when he s gone. They will need to take over, continue his ministry and lead the work to transform the world. They will now become witnesses. Jesus prays for the disciples saying: I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. Why doesn t Jesus pray for the world? After all, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. Instead, Jesus prays for his disciples because he is entrusting them with his mission and his mission is to the world. When we bear witness to the good news, we join Jesus mission, and we live out God s declared love for the world, a love so strong that he even went to the Cross. This Christian Aid Week, we witness the transforming power of love in Vilia s life. Tell Vilia s story here it s on page 2. This transformation was made possible by ordinary people like us who joined together to put their faith into action. They did what Jesus prayed for his followers to do. This Christian Aid Week, Kingdom-builders from all walks of life and Christian traditions come together to step out in mission for the world s poorest people. From house-to-house collections, sponsored walks and church collections to Big Brekkies, abseils and quiz nights, we are united in our belief that the world can and must be changed. Together, we raise vital money to support our poorest brothers and sisters around the globe. We pray for justice as we witness at the heart of our communities. 7

This Christian Aid Week, Kingdom-builders from all walks of life and Christian traditions come together to step out in mission for the world s poorest people. Together, we raise vital money to support our poorest brothers and sisters around the globe. We pray for justice and we witness at the heart of our communities. As Jesus prayed for his disciples, pray for your church. Pray that every person will have the courage to bear witness to God s unconditional love this week. Pray that we, like Matthias, will be equipped to witness to the life and resurrection of Jesus, and the transforming power of God. Pray for everybody in your church who has a special ministry this week: your Christian Aid church representative, house-to-house collectors, event organisers. Ask God that they will be well supported by the church family. Where there s a need to share the load, as it was with the 11 other disciples, pray that others will feel called to step up, like Matthias did. Pray that we ll all have the courage to stand up in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are in need. It might feel difficult to speak out for people suffering in other countries when there is still so much need closer to home. But we are called by God to love our neighbours near and far, whoever they are and we can make a difference for poor communities like Vilia s around the world this week. Pray that when ordinary people like us take small acts of courage, compassion and love, then change will happen. Prayer suggestion Gather the Christian Aid Week disciples of your church and say a commissioning prayer over them, just as Jesus prayed for his disciples. You ll find a commissioning prayer in the prayer pack, download yours at caweek.org/resources 8

4 Sunday 20 May Be transformed and moved to act in love Readings Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14. Psalm 104:24-34, 35b. Romans 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21. John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15. Haiti hits the headlines periodically, usually when disaster has struck and the people desperately need help. But even when the media is silent, life can be unimaginably tough for most Haitians. Hurricanes strike most years, and even the weaker ones are destructive. The really strong ones leave complete devastation in their wake. Houses, animals and the things people rely on to earn a living are swept away. Haitians are strong, resilient people they re fighters, not just survivors. But they re only so strong. There s a limit to what anyone can endure. You might like to tell Marcelin s story here. With unimaginable natural disasters hitting Haiti again and again, it s easy to imagine just giving up. But there is hope and we can help our neighbours rebuild their lives. You might like to tell Vilia s story, or show the Christian Aid Week film here. Sometimes it can be tempting to doubt how much of a difference we re making. But Scripture assures us that our work to bring God s Kingdom closer is right and that it will ultimately win. People like Marcelin, battered and weakened, surviving against the odds, can be given a new future. Vilia was in an utterly desperate situation, but with help from Christian Aid s partner she has found new strength for herself, her family and her neighbours. The transformation in Vilia s life is the good news. This is God s resurrection love in action. On Pentecost Sunday, we re commissioned to take the good news far and wide. And God, when sending the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that first Pentecost, did it perfectly. It was synchronised with the Jewish Harvest festival Shavuot, where there would be people from different parts of the world present. Why did God do that? To signify that the gospel and the liberating power of the Holy Spirit is intended for everyone. The good news isn t just for people in one place, but for every one of our neighbours including neighbours across the globe. Acts conjures up an amazing scene of people from so many different places who, though they speak their own language, can all of a sudden understand each other through the Holy Spirit. How can we capture this community through God today? Look at all that is happening in our world, and open your hearts to what you see when we do this, we see that language is no barrier to understanding what needs to be done. Pain, fear, sorrow and injustice transcend all languages. Love, joy and justice transcend all languages. 9

Though most of us can t understand the Haitian creole that Marcelin speaks, we can empathise with his story. The anxiety and pain he feels as he tries to bring up his three daughters in a desperate situation is clear despite the language barrier. His situation is so desperate, he fears that his family simply won t survive another hurricane. And Vilia s transformation proves that we can reach out with God s love for all. Thanks to the work of Christian Aid and its partners, Vilia and thousands like her can be lifted up, given a life safe from the fear of disaster. The salvation of the world is about the love God gives us and how we respond to it. Salvation is when we open ourselves to this love and how we are changed in the process. And opening ourselves to God s love means answering Jesus call, the command for us to not just love God, but to love our neighbour too. As a church and as individuals we are led by the Spirit to respond to Jesus command. And through Christian Aid we can show love to our neighbours in a radical way to people in far off lands who, though they speak different languages, are our sisters and brothers. The Holy Spirit still wants to work in our lives at Pentecost. The Spirit can help us love like Jesus, reach out to the nations, and build the Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven. As we encounter the same Holy Spirit that moved on that first Pentecost, how do we respond? As descendants of the same church, how do we live as today s apostles? For the first Christians, Pentecost was a time of gifts, of wonders and of sending out. Nearly 2,000 years later, it could be the same for us. The first Pentecost was a single, memorable, inspiring event, but what it started has continued every single moment since. The momentum hasn t stopped today, even though we only set one day aside each year to remember it! And although Christian Aid Week arrives just once a year, the work continues day-in, day-out, because the world s poorest people still need our help. We ve seen the desperate situation Marcelin faces every day in Haiti. How is God prompting us to act? As Jesus hands and feet in this world, will we take action and stand with Marcelin? Or will we walk by on the other side? Ways for your church to respond How will your congregation respond to the stories and thoughts you ve shared today? Use this opportunity to celebrate the specific things that have happened in your church and community for Christian Aid Week, or speak about ways your congregation can play their part in the coming year. You could tell everyone how important regular, monthly giving to Christian Aid is it means we can help poor communities to lift themselves out of poverty throughout the year. One way you can pledge to bring lasting transformation to your neighbours every month is through Christian Aid s Kingdom Journey: caid.org.uk/kingdom-journey invite everyone in your church to join! Eng and Wales registered charity no. 1105851 Company no. 5171525 Scot charity no. SC039150 Christian Aid Ireland: NI charity no. NIC101631 Company no. NI059154 and ROI charity no. 20014162 Company no. 426928. The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid. Christian Aid is a key member of ACT Alliance. Christian Aid December 2018. J43512 Photos: Matt Gonzalez-Noda