"When Augustine came to Britain he found in the province of the Angles seven bishoprics and archbishoprics, all flilled with the most devout prelates and also a great number of abbeys."

Before proceeding, there is an important point which I think needs to be made. No matter how illustrious the history of this country, and no matter how far back we can trace Christian ancestry in this country, we have to bear in mind that unless we personally embrace and adopt the Christian faith for ourselves then it is of very little value or consequence for us.

John 3v16 reminds us how:

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life".

The Scripture does not say that whosoever has Christian parents or Christian ancestors, but "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". Our eternal destiny is determined by whether or not we personally accept Jesus Christ as Saviour from the consequences of sin in our lives. .

Welsh manuscripts, indicate that Augustine was met on his arrival in Britain by an already established Christian church. There is a statement by a number of Christian bishops, protesting that Augustine was attempting to bring the then established Christian church under the authority of the Roman Pope.

" Be it known and declared that we all individually and collectively and in all humility are prepared to defer to the Church of God and the bishop of Rome and to every sincere and godly Christian so far as to love everyone and according to his degree in perfect charity to assist them all by word and deed in becoming the children of God. But, as to any other obedience we know of none that he who you term the Pope or bishop of bishops can demand. The deference we have mentioned we are ready to pay to him as to every other Christian but in all other respects our obedience is due to the jurisdiction of the bishop of Caerleon (a town in Wales) who is alone our ruler under God to keep us right in the ways of Salvation."

In Britain we can claim to have the very first Christian king.

In St Peters' church Cornhill, London, an inscription on a brass plaque in the vestry informs us that there was a Christian king in the land as far back as A.D. 179. That was some 400 years before Augustine came to this land,

"Be it known to all men that the year of our Lord God 179, Lucius the first Christian king of the land then called Britain, founded the first church in London. That is to say the church of St Peter upon Cornhill and he founded there an archbishop's see or seat and made the church the metropolitan or chief church of the kingdom. So endured the space of 400 years unto the coming of St Augustine the apostle of England: the which was sent into the land by St Gregory the doctor in the church at the time of king Ethelbert".

The venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, records:

"The Britons preserved their faith which they had received under king Lucius uncorrupted, and continued in peace and tranquillity until the time of Emperor Diocletian in A.D. 284."

Great Britain was amongst the first of all nations to adopt Christianity. This particular issue was contested on a number of occasions. As Christianity became popular and spread throughout Asia and Europe, other nations wanted to claim that they were the first nation to become Christians, and so the primacy of Britain as one of the first of all Christian nations to adopt the faith was contested.

This issue was debated at no less than four church councils. The first of these was at Pisa in A.D. 1409, the second at Constance in 1417, the third at Sienna in 1424 and the fourth at Basle in 1434. On each of these occasions it was re-affirmed that Britain was of all countries the first nation to nationally adopt and accept the Christian Faith.

The 3rd century theologian Sedulius states, "Christianity was privately confessed elsewhere , b ut the first nation that proclaimed it as their religion and called itself Christian after the name of Christ, was Britain".

Tertullian was Bishop of Carthage and a theologian of the third century. He opposed some of the teachings of Sabelius, but admits: "Regions in Britain that have never been penetrated by Roman arms have received the religion of Christ."

The fourth century theologian John Chrysostom, states: "The British Isles, which are beyond the sea, have received the virtue of The Word, churches are there founded and altars are erected".

Eusebius, in the 2nd century advises us that: "The Apostles passed beyond the ocean to the isles called the Britannic Isles".

Notice that statement: the “Apostles” passed beyond the ocean. Which Apostles? He is referring to the very Apostles of the New Testament, the ones who were the first disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Taliesin, who lived from A.D.500 to A.D.540, was a Celtic Arch druid and Prince Bard. He wrote: "Christ the Word from the beginning was from the first our teacher and we never lost His teachings. Christianity was a new thing in Asia but there was never a time when the druids of Britain held not its doctrine."

Gildas, the Anglo-Saxon historian, wrote: "Ye certainly know that Christ the True Son afforded His light and the knowledge of His Priesthood to our Island in the last years of Tiberius Caesar."

That must be A.D.37-38. If what Gildas says is true, then Christianity arrived in this country within a very few years of the Resurrection, Ascension and the Day of Pentecost, those important events that took place in Palestine many miles away.

Bishop Usher, stated that "The British national church was founded A.D.36".

The Italian historian Polydore Vergil names some of the disciples who came to these islands: "Britain, partly through Joseph of Arimathea and partly through Figatus and Damanus, was of all kingdoms the first to receive the gospel".

Notice now the reference to Joseph of Arimathea.

In his exhaustive work, (The Three Conversions of England ) Robert Parsons states: "The Christian religion began in Britain within 50 years of Christ's Ascension"

Henry Spellman, in his Concilia similarly claims: "It is certain that Britain received the faith in the first age from the first sowers of the Word".

Why did this happen? If the Christian church came to this country so very early after the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of our Lord, then why?

I want to suggest to you that all this was a fulfilment of the declaration Jesus made to his disciples:
"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts1v8)

Look at the order of events, Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, (Acts 2). The evangelists then preached further into Judea; and then Philip to Samaria. But what about the "uttermost part of the earth"? It is an interesting phrase that Jesus used. In the Greek it is referring to a distant land. At that time the British Isles was a distant land just outside the boundary of the Roman Empire, the uttermost part of the earth.

But how did it take place? We have looked at references to the Apostles coming to these islands and to Joseph of Arimathea.

Joseph of Arimathea in the Gospels was described as wealthy, and apparently according to the Talmud, an Uncle of Christ's Mother. He took the body of Jesus from the cross and buried it in his own tomb. He would know better than anyone else that Jesus was in fact really dead, and he would be one of the most substantial and authoritative witnesses to the resurrection.

A Roman Catholic historian Cardinal Baronius, had access to Vatican manuscripts. Under the heading of A.D 35 in his Chronicle he makes reference to Joseph of Arimathea. Baronius records in A.D. 35 that he and some of the apostles were pushed out from the shores of Palestine into the Mediterranean in a boat.

The boat docked at Marseilles but Joseph and others then went further following an ancient trade route to the southern coast of Britain and finished up at Glastonbury.

You may ask how can a boat finish up at Glastonbury? Impossible! It is not impossible, because at that time Glastonbury was a lake village which could be accessed by boat via the estuary of the Bristol Channel. Joseph arriving at Glastonbury was responsible for bringing the message of Christian Faith to Glastonbury and establishing a mud and wattle church.

Do visit the Glastonbury Abbey site. The exhibition there tells the full story.

The legend further identifies a Celtic British King granting twelve Hides of Land for this sacred purpose in Glastonbury. This is supported by a reference to this allocation in the Doomsday book.

The conversion of pagan Celtic druids was not as difficult as it may seem, and led to the early formation of a Culdee church amongst the ancient Britons.

The British scholar Charles Hulbert in his study of religions in Britain makes interesting reading, he says: "So near is the resemblance between the druidical religion of Britain and the patriarchal religion of the Hebrews that we do not hesitate to pronounce their origins the same."

The Cassell`s History of England relates that the druidical rites and ceremonies in Britain were almost identical with the Mosaic ritual. Again suggesting that it would be quite easy for the druids to accept the Christian Faith. The Druidic religion appears to have been a curious mixture of Paganism and the Hebrew traditions. Moreover, the high places which are referred to in the Book of Kings on which the ancient Israelites erected altars to false gods, are also seen in Celtic countries, altars erected on top of earth mounds.

In our country there are many mounds that were originally Druidic altars. One such is believed to be Glastonbury Tor where St Michael's tower now stands.

Often when driving towards what is a typical British town, the parish church is prominent, not only due to its imposing tower or spire, but because it is on a mound or hill previously the site of pagan worship.

The way in which Christianity came to our islands in the first century is remarkable, but let me re affirm, that it is up to us personally to embrace the Christian Faith. Jesus said to Nicodemus, who came to him by night "You must be born again". None can enter the Kingdom of God except they be born again.

Today, as was the experience of the first disciples, the ever living Jesus Christ can dwell in our hearts by faith.

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