Songs of Life: Psalm 88
read more
This Psalm has been described as the darkest, the most depressing, and the saddest of all psalms. And unlike other psalms of this type, this is the only one, in the whole Bible that does not end with praise or a declaration of hope in God. It ends as it begins: in grief and despair.…
Pentecost: Acts 2:1-12
read more
I believe in the Holy Spirit. It is a one liner in the Apostles’ Creed, but expanded in the Nicene Creed to: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has…
Ascension – Luke 24:45-53; Acts 1:1-11
read more
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose…
Songs of Life: Psalm 74 – Judgment
read more
How does this garden make you feel? I like it. It is structured, ordered and symmetrical. There is balance and everything has its place. Now I am not a very well organised person and so I think that is why this garden and gardens like it appeal. It reflects what I am not and often…
Songs of Life: Psalm 8
read more
We begin a new series today, running through to the end of July entitled ‘Songs of Life’. If you go to the website and scroll through the banner pictures you will find one with that title and then click on it and it will give you the psalms we are covering. The psalms - described…
Breakfast on the Beach
read more
Breakfast on the beach John 21:1-25 We are still reflecting and thinking about the resurrection this morning. It is after all, the most significant event of the Christian year and we believe that it is the pivotal point of history. Luke and John take time to underline the fact that Jesus rose from the dead,…
The Conquering Hero
read more
Palm Sunday 2019 BREXIT - it’s an event of stark contrasts and huge misunderstanding. The conflicting statements we get from our politicians lead us to believe that no deal will be absolutely fine because everyone wants to trade with us or a complete disaster because no-one will want to trade with UK outside the EU.…
Looking on the heart
read more
1 Samuel 16:1-13 Looking on the heart Image is everything. We may try to deny it, but it is endemic in society and it affects everyone. Do I look good in this? Are my glasses designer? Is my hair great? Am I toned, tanned and slim? Have I got the right footwear, a cool watch…
Tested in the Wilderness
read more
Tested in the wilderness Luke 4:1-13 Read Genesis 3:1-15 Who is Jesus? Luke tells us right at the start: You are my Son whom I love; with you I am well pleased. The supplementary reading from Genesis in the light of the account of the temptations quite clearly places Jesus as the one man who…
When you pray Prayer is the universal cry of humankind. It is often a cry of desperation or anger or last resort. Down through the centuries and in every culture, prayer has been offered to gods, to demons, to nature, to the sun or moon. There is an inbuilt desire to communicate with that which…
Discipleship – it’s a challenge Luke 6:27-49
read more
In these verses Jesus says some very challenging things for those who profess to be Christians. So how seriously do we take the words of Jesus here? Or how readily do we say we need to apply some common sense because Jesus couldn’t possibly have meant us to take these words literally. Are we really…
Rejected at Nazareth
read more
Luke 4:14-30 Rejected at Nazareth So here we are at the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. In all the gospels Jesus emerges from the wilderness and straight into mission - and some sort of confrontation soon follows. We will be thinking about the temptations Jesus faced nearer to Easter. We tend to focus…