The Anglican Church of All Saints

Click here to read the sermon for Third Sunday of Lent – Isaiah 55 1-9

25th March – Tuesday

11am – Lent Course (in the Parsonage) – details below

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26th March – Wednesday

10am Said Eucharist – Celebrant & Preacher Mtr Fiona Jack

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30th March – The Fourth Sunday of Lent (Mothering Sunday)

Don’t forget to put your clocks FORWARD Saturday night or Sunday morning

11am Sung Eucharist – Celebrant & Preacher Mtr Fiona Jack

Join us for a Bring and Share Lunch after the 11am Service. 1pm for 1.30. Bookings to Kath 615222311 or Jane 676506957 or after the Wednesday or Sunday Service, If you are willing to bring food, please let Kath or Jane know, so that we can make a list to avoid duplication of food items.

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1st April – Tuesday

11am – Lent Course (in the Parsonage) – details below

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2nd April – Wednesday

10am Said Eucharist – Celebrant & Preacher Mtr Fiona Jack

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5th April Saturday

10am – 2pm Car Boot Sale – Admission 1€ – please note no dogs allowed

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6th April – The Fifth Sunday of Lent (Passiontide begins)

11am Sung Eucharist – Celebrant & Preacher Mtr Fiona Jack

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Lent Course 2025

This year’s Lent course will be based on the 2010 film The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It is entitled The Long Road to Heaven, and consists of five 90-minute sessions featuring film clips and discussion. These sessions continue in the Parsonage at 11am on March 25th, as well as April 1st and 8th. Do consider coming along – each session is self-contained, so it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been to previous ones.

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Dates for your diary

Sunday 20th April. Easter Day

Buffet lunch – 1pm for 1.30pm.
Catering by Kelly from the Orchard Garden
Booking now. Tickets €18 from Jane Stewart after the Sunday Service or on WhatsApp 676506957.

Third Sunday of Lent – Isaiah 55 1-9

Today, we’ve heard a powerful message from Isaiah. This passage is all about the invitation of a lifetime! It’s about choosing God’s way over our way and finding the kind of abundance that truly satisfies our souls. It’s like getting invited to the most amazing and abundant feast, and the best part is that the price tag says, “FREE.” Who doesn’t like something for free?

Why does this passage fall in Lent, we might wonder? All this talk of abundance and rich food, at a time when people are giving up chocolate or wine?  It seems to me perhaps that the overall thrust of Lent is about hunger and thirst. rather than self-restraint.

Isaiah is a favourite of mine, in case you hadn’t guessed. .To give you a bit of context, this passage is thought to have been written from Jerusalem, after the return of the people of Judah from their exile in Babylon. It wasn’t a prosperous time, and there’s evidence that many of them were literally having to sell their children into slavery to survive. It was also a turbulent time in the Southern kingdom of Judah which was under threat from surrounding nations. There was idol worship, oppression and marginalisation of the poor. As the French say plus ça change, plus c’est la la même chose – the more things change, the more they stay the same.  We can recognise some of these shortcomings in our own world; worship of celebrities or material possessions, the dominance of particular groups because of their race or background, the ever- increasing gap between rich and poor almost everywhere.

Those who truly thirst and who truly hunger for God and the ways of God understand this invitation. The invitation, though, is to do more than simply drink from the waters.  It is also about participating in the work of God. It is a work directed at more than simply the interior life, but a work that begins in the interior and has implications for all of God’s world. Lent calls us to “seek the Lord” and to “call upon him”. Lent is an invitation and a reminder that this surprising work of God is open to us all — whoever we are— if we will return to the God who abundantly pardons.

So we have an invitation to “Come to the waters”.  This invitation is for everybody everywhere – the only requirement is to be thirsty -it’s a free gift to all who desire it. And what’s on offer doesn’t stop at water -wine and milk are also freely available, the former perhaps more to the taste of some of us in this congregation, including me!  God does not only offer to quench the thirst, but to revive the body and nourish the spirit.   It’s a call to put aside the things which do not truly satisfy.

The food and drink imagery gives us a tangible example of the abundant richness of life that is available to all people – rich and poor, oppressed and blessed, shackled and free – wicked and righteous.  The question is – in a desert of uncertainty, are we thirsty for this gift?  The writer tells us “Come buy and eat”.  The response to this invitation is to accept it, to approach the waters. We must use what we have been given and when we receive this extravagant gift we are transformed.

Returning to God is about choices.  We are all gifted with free will to choose for or against God. On a spiritual, individual plane, there are healthy choices we can make for our own souls, choosing that which gives life rather than that which does not nourish.  We can choose how we spend our money – and from whom we withhold it, for example. Choosing not to support an unethical company is a tangible way we can make a difference as individuals.  On a broader scale, we know that the world produces enough food to feed everybody if only it were shared out equally.  Yet many subsistence communities abroad have been forced to give up farming, displaced by cash crops that feed richer nations, while they themselves depend on expensive, nutrient-low imports.

Here’s a true illustration of how the choices we make can affect everything. A young entrepreneur was chasing her dream of launching an eco-friendly clothing brand. To start with she took shortcuts; cutting costs, rushing marketing, even exaggerating her products’ benefits just to make quick sales. But instead of feeling fulfilled, she’s feeling empty and frustrated. Her business felt like a rollercoaster of inconsistency and broken promises.

Then one night, she remembered something her grandmother used to say: “If you want real success, build something on truth and love. Do it God’s way, and the rest will follow.” That line struck a chord. And right then, she made a choice. She decided to shift her focus—to do things God’s way. Instead of going for a quick buck, she committed to quality, honesty, and generosity. She even started donating part of her profits to causes that matter to her.

Guess what happened? Over time, her business started to flourish! And not just financially. Her reputation soared her joy returned, and customers were drawn to her passion and integrity. She discovered that when you choose God’s way, you experience a kind of abundance that just can’t be achieved by doing it our way. Let’s not miss verses 8-9 where God says: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” God’s way of doing things is so much higher and better than anything we could ever dream up on our own.

How can we take seriously this vision of abundance? Justice in Scripture is always rooted in time, place and story. It’s about people and the image of God within them – an image damaged and distorted by sin – our own and that of others.  When we choose the things that are not life-giving, we fail to come to the waters. I wonder if we might reflect – how has God been abundant in my life? How might I be able to share this abundance with others? We are encouraged to listen, to come and take our fill. God’s invitation is wide open. His abundance is ready and waiting. Let’s choose his way today and watch how his blessings overflow in our lives. Amen.

Mtr Fiona Jack
Chaplain

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Please click this link to read previous sermons: https://allsaintstenerife.org/all-saints-midweek-letters/