Busy but bursting with brilliance

Life's been pretty full-on over the past few days. but excellent.

On Saturday, Robin and Sarah got married and it was lovely to conduct their wedding and share in the celebrations afterwards.

On Sunday morning, we had a storming baptismal service. three young people were baptised in a packed church. Their testimonies were amazing - each one of them has clearly had a profound encounter with God and want to live their lives as followers of Jesus.

There were a lot of people there who don't usually go to church and afterwards a number of them said that if they'd known church was like that, they'd have taken it more seriously. So, we'll see if any make a return visit sometime soon. It will mean that we'll have to make some changes - which is a good thing!

One of the things I take away from the service is that something fast-moving, lively, with many people involved and nothing lasting more than five minutes, does seem to scratch where lots of people itch.

We also had a good later service with a number of visitors and returnees and a good atmosphere as we reflected on prayer and broke bread together.

And then today, I started teaching New Testament at Spurgeon's College. Well, to be strictly accurate, the college's  full-time NT lecturer has gone to Durham and they've asked a couple of local ministers to help out. So, I'll be teaching two hours a week for this year on Monday mornings from 8:30am. And today's session went really well. A good class of 15 alert students, who asked good questions and made intelligent contributions. So, I'm looking to sharing the journey through 1 Corinthians and the life and though of Paul with them.

Tomorrow, I think, I'll need a lie-down!

More thoughts on weddings

Giles Fraser was on fine form on yesterday's Thought for the Day (available now on the BBC website), waxing lyrical about the absurdity of some modern weddings. With a price tag for the couple averaging £20,000, he pointed out that even attending a wedding these days could cost a guest - if you include the present (usually from some overpriced store list), travel, overnight accommodation and an outfit - upwards of £500.

He added: 'And yes, I blame the media here, not the happy couple. For the pervasive influence of the media on the look and feel of weddings - not least those weddings that are featured in celebrity magazines - has encouraged an atmosphere of narcissism and self-promotion to work its way into the very fabric of the modern wedding celebration. Little wonder that, at their worst, some weddings can feel like an overblown vanity project, all justified by foot-stomping references to "my special day"'.

And today, as if to prove Fraser right, the editor of one of the wedding magazines was on the programme defending the amount spent on the day because it was so important for the bride to feel special on her special day.

Since when did feeling special have anything to do with the price tag? Surely feeling special is about knowing that today you are committing yourself to the man you've chosen to spend the rest of your life with because you're head over heels in love with him, in the presence of those people who have made you the person you are - your family and friends - and who will stand with you, supporting this choice you have made through all the ups and downs of married life.

This is what we saw on Saturday at David and Ruth's wedding where family and friends came together to create a truly memorable day for a couple they loved dearly. And it really was a special day despite the bill being a fraction of the twenty grand average; special because at the heart of it was the commitment of two people in love, pledging themselves to one another in the presence of those who love and support them.

Nick and Hannah's awfully big adventure

We were at Nick and Hannah's wedding yesterday and it was everything a wedding should be. There was so much joy and good will on display you could almost taste it.

I conducted the ceremony at church which went really well (I think), a good balance between the formality of the words and the joy of the occasion. We then had tea, coffee and cakes for anyone who'd been at the service in the church hall. It was heaving and the happy couple got to talk to most groups who had come.

We then decamped to Sundridge Park for the reception - fabulous surroundings and excellent food. And we were joined in the evening by a load nore people for yet more food and dancing.

Undoubtedly the weather helped since we could be meandering and chilling outside, especially during the long evening, but there was such a great atmosphere. I really enjoyed catching up with people I see at church but rarely have time for more than just the briefest of conversations.

Sitting chatting and laughing, sharing memories and stories, reminded me yet again that church is about relationships; it's about what happens when people make connection with each other and share their hearts with one another.

In many ways the wedding service itself captures something of this with its stress on committed relationships, on the couple coming together within a community that will support and offer strength to them in their developing relationship. Well, yesterday certainly lived up to that. It was particularly lovely to see the way that the two families were knitting together around the love of these two young people.

So, I wish Nick and Hannah many long years of joy and pray that their relationship may be a beacon of hope to many.