good morning and welcome on this saturday morning the 7th of november and i'm here as normal in saturn saturday mornings with the animals and winston is very avid for his breakfast and so the very first thing we'll do is give them their breakfast and then i'll explain the new regime for the animals here on this lovely autumn morning as the piglets have breakfast and also we have what it give me here we go there we are we have time to enjoy everything going on around us as well as reflecting on the images of our particular reflection at the moment which is a glorious one and it's a glorious morning i can see the half moon it's waning now it's just stopped being give us and it's about to go into crescent form up in a blue sky there and the sun is rising behind me and on this autumn morning everything is glorious most of the leaves have gone but there's a wisteria here in front of me in full leaf so as we join together let's just think back on 7th of novembers in years gone by but if you'll excuse me because at the moment we're in lockdown i'll just say happy 50th birthday to a member of our family harvey this morning so happy birthday harvey we shan't be with you today but virtually we can say this on our broadcast this morning and many of you will be contacting friends and family in the same kind of way and then we'll look back to see that in 1665 the newspaper the london gazette the world's longest running journal had its first edition on this day and also on this day captain james cook was born the english navigator and cartographer marie curie was born who was so very important in the development of so many cures for uh med for for conditions and we give thanks for her and also on this day alexander mckenzie in 1873 becomes the second prime minister from canada and we wanted just to point out the births of a canadian singer-songwriter joni mitchell who was born in 1943 a special favorite in her music of my partner here on the camera and therefore we put a link on because she's she sings about the fragility of the planet and and human life so if you'd like to click on to that then you will hear some of her songs and uh apart from that we remember in 1916 the um death of henry ward ranger an american painter and academic who was head of the artist colony at old lime in connecticut but the real dwayne of that colony was a lady called florence griswold who uh whose descendant frank griswold became the primate of the episcopal church in the united states of america and frank and phoebe are strong friends of us here and we say hello to them and think of them in in their life in philadelphia today philadelphia being at the moment a very important center of the waiting for the result of the american presidential election so we pray for the american people too and that colony at old lime meant that artists could come and florence griswold made sure that they could stay at a very cheap rate and enjoy each other's company and her house which has now become a national museum was is covered with the paintings that they did on the walls when they couldn't pay they painted something for her and she out of her generosity made sure that nobody was turned away who had creative gifts and could enjoy the old lime colony there in connecticut well let's start our prayers on this day oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise your faithful servants bless you they make known the glory of your kingdom blessed are you sovereign god ruler and judge of all to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of this age that is passing away may the light of your presence which the saints enjoy surround our steps as we journey on may we reflect your glory this day and so be made ready to see your face in the heavenly city where night shall be no more blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind and as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this seventh morning of the month is psalm 36 sin whispers to the wicked in the depths of their heart there is no fear of god before their eyes they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their abominable sin will not be found out the words of their mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit they have ceased to act wisely and to do good they think how to mischief upon their beds and have set themselves in no good way nor do they abhor that which is evil your love o lord reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds your righteousness stands like the strong mountains your justice like the great deep you lord shall save both man and beast how precious is your loving mercy o god all mortal flesh shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings they shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house they shall drink from the river of your delights for with you is the well of life and in your light shall we see light oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you and your righteousness to those who are true of heart let not the foot of pride come against me nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away there are they fallen all who work wickedness they are cast down and shall not be able to stand so we come to our reflection and the reading for it is revelation chapter four after this i looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which i had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said come up here and i will show you what must take place after this that once i was in the spirit and behold a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne and he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian and round the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald round the throne were 24 thrones and seated on the throne were 24 elders clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their heads from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peels of thunder and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire which are the seven spirits of god and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass like crystal and round the throne on each side of the throne are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind the first living creature like a lion the second living creature like a calf the third living creature with the face of a human person and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight and the four living creatures each of them with six wings are full of eyes all round and within and day and night they never cease to say holy holy holy is the lord god almighty who was and is and is to come and whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne who lives forever and ever the 24 elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever they cast their crowns before the throne saying worthy are you our lord and god to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created a very different image from the first three chapters of the revelation to john and a wonderful image a few days ago we remembered that on november the 4th in 1922 howard carter discovered the top of a stone staircase leading down to what would be found to be the tomb of tutankhamun and because his patron lord kanavan was not present he kept that staircase concealed until the 26th of november when lord konavan was there and then they went down to the door which still contained its seals from a pharaoh who had ruled egypt 3200 bce so many years before and he then um puts into the door up whole he drilled and it's that point um i think i should have said 3200 years ago rather than but my dates are always rather bad um i drilled a hole and in that hole he inserted a candle and you remember how lord carnavan said do you see anything and he said yes wonderful things it was only the antechamber i only bring that up because that image is an image really this morning that we could use of the way in which the door standing open in heaven the writer john who gives us his vision is using that image of the worship of heaven if you could say to him did you see anything and he would say yes wonderful things and he shares them with us they are wonderful they are terrifying but the greatest image of all is the great throne do you remember how we've said that this whole book of images is talking about the glory we give to god the creator without beginning without ending and that glory is given only to god and not to the emperor and all of that is part of the story which unfolds unfolds as we go through the book of revelation and see the struggle of the christian church against the demands of the imperial state and other cults and terrible persecutions are in store but the one who conquers and overcomes will be given the vision and the reality of what john is seeing in glory well let's remember that this is a book of pictures and whenever jesus himself in his earthly life tried to say the kingdom of heaven he never said the kingdom of heaven is he said the kingdom of heaven is like and so often then drew an earthly picture wonderful earthly parables of seed being sown or a samaritan a hated samaritan stopping as the one to help the wounded person all of these pictures of of of uh leaven being kneaded into the lump when bread is being made and and the dragnet pulling all sorts of fish from this was the stuff of our lord's teaching because nothing could describe the glory of the kingdom of heaven and our lord's mind and imagination had been formed by the scriptures and so much of what is in the book of revelation comes from those old testament scriptures the images given again and again an image from isaiah this lesson this morning of the courts of heaven is full of it holy holy holy remember isaiah's vision i saw the lord high and lifted up around him stood the cherubim each one had six wings we're dealing with images from there from ezekiel and from daniel and those images have to be reborn reused for every generation in those days there were no moving pictures for folk to see the words had to form the images together with daily life and the wonders of creation nowadays our our heads are filled with images that we see but each generation has to take these images and recreate them you remember i said that austin farah's book on the the revelation was called a rebirth of images think of a kaleidoscope and how with the stones you have the precious stones or bits of glass you have that goes into the kaleidoscope in a mixture and you hold it up to the light and turn it and the configurations change all the time and again someone could say what do you see i see wonderful things well think of revelation rather like that we shall see jagged things with light shining through them made wonderful and coloured things of no worth with light shining through being made wonderful and today we're given a picture of the courts of heaven heaven throughout the book of revelation changes its imagery of the imperial court with singing and adoration and worship going on to the one who lives forever and ever and ever or it's a battleground and in the midst of this vision there is the potential for god's creation to be corrupted as represented by the sea of glass in the beginning of the creation to which we belong the heaven and the earth were formed and god saw all things that they were good but with the potential for corruption and notice when we come to the creation of the new heaven and the new earth at the end of the book of revelation you find that the sea has gone there's no more sea because the sea was the place of danger which was always threatening creation and at the same time this say spiritual sea is where the monsters will all come from of evil which need to be defeated if you use a military um term or or um argue down if you use the terms of the court where the satan is the accuser you can think of a a thousand different images the important thing is to hold on to the fact that every day those images must be reborn in us and we'll use different metaphors and our lord's parables to help us do that it was all that this writer had in all possibility he didn't know the gospels because they hadn't been written down but he would have known the stories of jesus and the parables and he would have known the handed-on traditions of the church in terms of the breaking of bread and the meeting together and he would have known the fact of persecution so all of those things become intensely important and we could go on but notice that heaven is full not only of those who sit around the throne of god the angelic elders and everyone there but is also filled with creatures the the the uh lion and the normally ox but the word moscos generally means something like a young spring say let's say calf and or heifer and the the per the human person and also the eagle in flight all of those images of god's creation and we remember also that the greek word oranos can mean both that spiritual heaven but also the sky under which i am sitting at the moment the beautiful blue sky all of those things will be reborn in our book of images as we look this morning at the courts of heaven through the the kaleidoscope which john gives us in this revelation before the story goes on this is a day in 1918 when the american baptist minister who was one of the world's greatest evangelists billy graham was born on november the 7th 1918 he died in 2018 aged 99 and when he died and uh was tributes are being paid paul ryan speaking for the united states said he was the pastor of america one of the the greatest things to me about billy graham is the way in which his faith developed it became more and more and more embracing so that so many different traditions could take strength from his insights and one of his quotations is being a christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like christ but another and this is very significant for us is i've read the last page of the bible it's all going to be all right well this is our journey to get to the last page of the bible in short episodes and as with yesterday one could talk for a very long time about this particular chapter four but there are two other quotations of his which i love one is god has given us two hands one to receive with and the other to give with and the receiving is not only a physical act it's also new truths new images new beauties of creation which god is showing to us ready for that new creation of a new heaven and a new earth to which we are leading in the revelation to john and then an amusing one a real christian is a person who can give their pet parrot to the town gossip and i think that's that's a a a funny one for us to think of um so all those things this morning but remember the rainbow the emerald rainbow is speaking of the greenness of all creation above god's throne speaking of promise and one things of the statement in the old testament scriptures as is his majesty so is his mercy god receives our adoration but gives plentifully of his mercy every day as we develop our imagination but also the reality of our christian life in suffering in sorrow in joy and in companionship so let's think of those that we're going to pray for today bring your own thoughts on this saturday morning and in the anglican communion we are thinking now yesterday um i looked at the wrong section so i prayed in the anglican communion for rumbeck and the bahamas and the turks and caicos islands and kuwara those are actually the prayers for today so i'm going to give you the prayers for yesterday as well and that was for the diocese of ruacha in tanzania and joseph ngomi the bishop then his people the anglican diocese of europe which is based in england with robert innis the bishop there and his diocese across europe and those who worship there in anglican churches there and also the episcopal church diocese of europe with mark eddington the bishop there and all his people the ones he cared for so these were yesterday's prayers and today's uh rebecca the bahamas the turks and caicos islands and kuara with their bishops and people and also here we continue to pray for the um area of westbridge and we think of the parishes of charter and upper hearts with stelling and all the people who live in those parishes so let's say the prayer for today bring your own intentions wherever you are almighty and eternal god you have kindled the flame of love in the hearts of the saints grant to us the same faith and power of love that as we rejoice in their triumphs we may be sustained by their example and fellowship through jesus christ our lord amen so together in our different languages we say the prayer our lord taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men moment of silence on this lovely awesome morning here for our own prayers the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and of his son jesus christ our lord and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men perhaps i should say you would have noticed a difference this morning um we've uh separated the boys from the girls for obvious reasons and so winston is over here with me and the uh three little boy piglets and clemie is over there with the four little girl piglets and uh most of the birds who can fly either side really but are over there together with our white duck who is both sides at the moment and she has begun to lay for us beautiful and very large white eggs as well as making the loudest noise in the garden get