Sunday's coming!

Christmas Eve Busy time, Christmas, isn’t it! Sometimes you have to work hard just to keep going and keep smiling. So it was good to sit down in front of the TV last night and watch “A grumpy guide to Christmas” – though those who know me well might say I don’t need any tips on being grumpy! But right there in the middle of all that grumpiness there was a profound theological truth – just when you think you’ve finished work for the day. One of the grumpy old men was being scathing about the so-called wise men and their gifts – gold, he said ‘well fair enough coz it’s worth a bit’ ‘and maybe incense is good to get rid of smells’ ‘but what’s with myrrh – that’s what people use on dead bodies: what is he saying there? ‘congratulations on being born,kid – you’re going die?’… Well... yes. The amazing truth of the incarnation – of God becoming a human being in Jesus, is that God was accepting not only the whole risky process of entering this world, and the painful business of learning to liv...

How to tackle this? Every year I try and every year I marvel at the wonder of the true joy of Christmas. At the Christmas eve midnight service tomorrow I will probably use this: The Wicked Fairy At The Manger 
by U.A. Fanthorpe 
My gift for the child:

 No wife, kids, home; 
No money sense. Unemployable. Friends, yes. But the wrong sort –
 The workshy, women, wimps,
 Petty infringers of the law, persons
 With notifiable diseases, Poll tax collectors, tarts;
 The bottom rung.
 His end? 
I think we’ll make it
 Public, prolonged, painful.

 Right, said the baby. That was roughly 
What we had in mind. Whilst on Christmas Day I will use a tatty old wooden orange box to reflect on the amazing contrast of the baby in the stable - the king of heaven made flesh. Of course I have tomorrow morning & most of the afternoon to sort myself out! Hope the mystery is opened to you this Chirstmas, faithful readers! Happy Christmas.

Here's another sermon I'm not going to use (actually from 3 years ago.. I'm going to be using Lythan's very apt reflection on Mary's story instead - it's good to have talented friends! Mary – the voice of a prophet Luke 1: 39 – 45 & 46 -55 I deliberately split this passage up into two to give us some sense of time passing. Often we hear the story of the angel appearing to Mary & rush into this visit to Elizabeth & Mary’s little speech which is sometimes called the Magnificat – as if it all happens in the space of the 5 minutes it takes to read it all. But let’s just pause and think. Imagine you’re a young girl, you’re betrothed to Joseph, a nice reliable carpenter – and one day an angel appears and tells you that you are going to have a baby which will be God in a human form. Your first reaction is not ‘My soul tells out the greatness of the Lord’. Your first reaction is probably shock, disbelief, even horror. The angel tells you that there is anot...

Things have gone a bit pear-shaped this week - the upshot being that I'm not preaching a 'main' sermon this week. Here are the notes as far as I'd got: Well, what are you lot doing here? You’ve come to try to save yourselves have you? – worried that God will put a black mark against your name if you don’t come to church? Or maybe you just had nothing better to do this morning? Or perhaps you’re looking for something that will make you feel more Christmassy? You know, it’s no good just sitting there looking and listening unless you’re really wiling to do something! I bet you’re wishing this sermon wasn’t going to be about John the Baptist – his style is abrasive and his words are hard to hear. And I decided not to call you a brood of vipers! It’s hard at first to understand what John is doing. The crowd he is addressing is filled with the people who have bothered to come out into the desert to hear what he has to say. It feels a bit like the teacher who rants at the mem...

The readings are Zephaniah 3:14-20 Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:7-18 This is my VERY busy week, but I'm held in thrall by John the Baptist's words - and the challenge to not just observe the events of Christmas but allow them to work in us and change us. Wondering about 'You brood of vipers!' as an arresting way to start the sermon! (No, I'm not kidding!). I still think John the B is a great antidote to the 'theme park' Christmas we're offered in so many places. I'm wondering quite when I'll find time to write the sermon - but will try to post it here when I do!

Readings for this week are Malachi 3:1-4 Philippians 1:3-11 Luke 3:1-6 Last week's Advent 1 readings were about warnings of the End Times - a reminder that God is in charge of human history, and that the coming of Jesus is part of a larger plan. Advent has a timeless quality, in that it relates to then (the birth of Christ), now (our preparations) and what is to come (God's unfolding plan & eventual kingdom in its fulness). Although (due to St Andrew) I didn't have to preach on it, I tried to think about it, as part of celebrating the whole of Advent. This week I'm not preaching at all (due to some social plans - but also a welcome deep breath before the hectic next few weeks), but again I have wanted to think about Advent 2 as a part of the whole. So Malachi reminds us of the astringent nature of God's message and God's messenger - Refiner's fire & fuller's soap. Luke's gospel tells us of the coming of John the Baptist - possibly a man in ne...

St Andrew’s Day and first Sunday of Advent I recently had reason to watch again the film ‘The Miracle maker’ – a clay animation version of the life of Jesus which was made about 15 years ago. In the film Andrew is voiced with a Scottish accent – perhaps a nod at his position as patron saint of Scotland, as well as his role as a ‘simple’ fisherman. Whilst Simon’s first reaction to Jesus is shown as rather scowling and uncertain, Andrew’s expression is one of open acceptance, even slight amusement, as Jesus begins to talk to them. Depending on which film you watch or which version of the gospel you read, you build up a picture of Andrew as someone who is very ready to follow Jesus even before he really knows what this might mean, and who encourages others to come and join the adventure too. In John’s gospel he is a disciple of John the Baptist, and when John tells him to follow Jesus, Andrew asks Jesus ‘Where are you staying’ ‘Come and See!’, says Jesus – and after spending the rest of t...

I've been reading 'Simple Church' by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger. It's based on research done on churches in the US, so you have to 'translate' a bit, but the basic premise is that churches which are growing are simple. They are based on loving God, loving others & serving the world... all that these churches do falls into one or more of these areas of focus, and the church stands back from time to time to ensure that all 3 areas are in balance in the life of the church, and that people are encouraged to move from one area to another, and to give each of them balance in their lives. I am very drawn to this - and can't help seeing a link with the simplicity and enthusiasm of Andrew. Though he hasn't really sussed who Jesus is, he is happy to follow, and keen to draw other along, too, though he was just a simple fisherman. Maybe we need a simple Advent, a simple christmas and a simple new year??

Yet again these things come together for our four churches. I think I'll take the St Andrew's readings: Deuteronomy 30:11-14 Romans 10:8b-18 Matthew 4:18-22 & at the moment I'm thinking along the lines of our responsibility to go into a stressed and anxious world with the good news of the advent hope. Deuteronomy says 'the word is very near you' - whilst Romans underlines our responsibility to others. As disciples we are also apostles - sent out with good news. Andrew could not have understood quite what it was that Jesus was bringing, but nevertheless wanted others to share in it. I hope that we have seen enough of the joy of Christ's coming to want to share it, too - even if Advent reminds us Jesus' kingdom is not yet fully come... I think I want to encourage people to watch & pray this Advent and to be bold to enjoy & share Christ.

Last day of the liturgical year (which means Advent next week - ulp!) and also baptisms in both churches. But here's my go at it! Christ the King (John 18:33-37, Revelation 1: 4b- 8) I wonder if you’ve ever been asked what you think God looks like? I love the story of the little 8 year old, busy drawing away, who was asked by his teacher ‘what are you drawing?’. ‘I’m drawing God’ he answered. ‘But no-one knows what God looks like’ said the teacher to which the boy replied, ‘They will when I’ve finished!’. Trying to describe or draw, or even talk about God is very difficult. But somewhere in there you would want to include some kind of ‘Wow’ factor. The book of Revelation is the very last book of the Bible, and is an account of a series of visions to one man, John of Patmos. In writing down these visions, John tries to describe how amazing God is. In the reading we heard, he describes God as the one who was and is and is to come, and calls Jesus ‘the ruler of all the kings of the...

As it happens I did most of my thinking about this sermon away from the computer - so here are the notes more or less 'fully formed' Mark 13; 1-8; Hebrews 10, 11-14, 19-25 After today there are just 5 more Sundays until Christmas. If you’re anything like me that thought makes you panic slightly: each year there seems to be more things to think about – cards, presents, food & drink, and Carol services galore. And those are just the material preparations that need to be done – there is also the need to be spiritually ready for the coming of Jesus Christ – the rule of all things and prince of peace. It might seem when we look around at the world that we will never be ready for Jesus – the world seems, in so many ways, to be in a mess. News of the financial crisis, the state of the banks, and growing unemployment all fill the bulletins. We might be struggling with personal worries about our health, or about family, or about work. And sometimes it just seems the world is going t...

Tonight is our annual service for those who've been bereaved. I'll post the sermon below. Again, it isn't a great theological treatise, but I hope it will be appropriate for those who are at the service. Memorial service (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-5) I hope we find those words from the Wisdom of Solomon comforting. Of course there is terrible pain when we lose someone – we miss them, in ways that might change as time passes, but we never stop missing them. Many people who have been bereaved have commented to me that the pain doesn’t go away as time passes, it just changes with the months and years. But the Christian hope is that although we feel the pain of loss, those we have loved are ‘In the hands of God’. We cannot know for sure, this side of death, what it might be like to be in the hands of God, but we know what it means to feel secure, to feel loved, to feel comfortable and relaxed – and the Bible promises that heaven is like all the good things we know in this life. ...

The sermon below may seem very simple. there are various reasons for this - there is so much that could be said on Remembrance Sunday, but actually so many people are lost in their own thoughts and find it hard to listen; there is always a timing issue, so that the 2 minutes' silence comes at the right point; and the service I'm leading will have (who knows how many) brownies, cubs & scouts in it, so I don't want to 'go on' too much. And in any case, I'm a fairly simple soul... Remembranc e : Isaiah 52: 7-12 Romans 8: 31-39 After about half an hour here in the church we’re going to gather outside to read the names on the war memorial, and to stand for 2 minutes’ silence. Thanks to the wonders of the internet and the British Legion ‘Roll of Honour’ we can find out a lot about the men whose names are on the memorial. There are 15 men who died in the First world war & 9 who died in the Second world war. They’re called ‘world wars’ because so many countries ...

Revelation 21: 1-6a John 11: 32-44 On first hearing, today’s readings for All Saints Day might seem to be about the rewards which are waiting for God’s saints. The story of Lazarus, raised from the tomb by Jesus after 4 days, is an extraordinary one. Lazarus is a friend of Jesus, who is moved to hear of Lazarus’s death. His subsequent rising is a source of great joy to his sisters, and perhaps a sign of how much Jesus loved him. You could say that the story illustrates the resurrection which awaits all the friends of Jesus…they will not be allowed to lie forgotten and decaying in the grave. I am reminded of the story of St Cuthbert – one of the Celtic saints of Iona. He had been dead and buried for nearly 200 years, and was greatly revered both in life and in death as a great man and a saint, when there was a danger of Viking attack on the Island of Lindisfarne. In order to prevent his body from falling into the hands of the Vikings, the monks of Lindisfarne exhumed Cuthbert’s body, on...

Might want to look at these again tomorrow sometime - but this is basically what I feel I have to say. Mark 10: 46-52 Perhaps we hear this story as yet another healing story: miraculous and wonderful for the man who regains his sight, but just another example of Jesus helping and healing someone who needed it. But the story contains a most intriguing question: ‘What do you want me to do for you?’. Jesus asks this question of blind Bartimaeus – a man who cannot work because he cannot see, and so who has to beg for a living. A man so low-down the social pecking order that when he first calls out to Jesus people around tell him to shut up, they don’t want him bothering Jesus, the great teacher & healer. What does blind Bartimaeus want? He wants to see, he wants his life back, he wants the gracious power of Jesus to change him. He wants to be healed.. and he is. And at one level that’s all we need from this story – a story of Good News for Bartimaeus. But this story can tell us so much...

.. still half-baked. I'm frustrated because as minister of 4 churches I preach at 2 of each on alternate weeks - so I can't draw a parallel I'd like to draw between last week's gospel & James & John 'Master we want you to do whatever we ask of you!' and Bartimaeus 'Have mercy' - to which Jesus responds 'What do you want me to do'. And I'm struggling to work out what I want Jesus to do for me - is that because I'm too rich.. or too blind?

Readings for the day are: Jeremiah 31:7-9 Hebrews 7:23-28 Mark 10:46-52 It is often the case that the Gospel reading strikes me first - and within this I am struck by Jesus saying to a blind beggar 'What do you want me to do for you?'. As teenagers of my association might say 'Like, Duh!' - he's blind, so can't work, so has to beg: it's hard to imagine that anything other than 'sight' would be what he wants. But as I think about myself, and others who need to hear the Good News, isn't it worth stopping to wonder 'what do we want Jesus to do for us?". And I wonder whether those things we might think of are things we need Jesus to do, or whether we can do them for ourselves. Not sure where I'm going with all this at the moment - and whether I want to stray into what the church needs to be doing to serve people around us - do we need to ask 'what do you want?'..

Whoops - a busy week, so here is what I preached this morning: Mark 10: 35-40 ‘The baptism Jesus is baptized with’ I am very lucky in having two big brothers. I love them both very much, but neither of them would dream of coming anywhere near a church. One, Frank, refers to my faith in God as a ‘teddy bear’ to make me feel better about life, and the other, Paul asked me once ‘if Jesus is meant to be God why is he so cryptic in what he says?’. I thought of both my brothers as I read today’s gospel reading. James & John are brothers, and they don’t get it either. Jesus is a homeless teacher and healer but they believe he is the son of God and they see a chance of grabbing a bit of the limelight which is surely to come. ‘Allow us to sit with you in your glory, one at your right hand and one at your left’ – they want the prime places of honour with Jesus. And then Jesus seems to get cryptic ‘Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?’. But ...

Ouch! The Word of God. Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” Years ago, before I had Eleanor, when I was moving into a flat, a friend of mine gave me this knife (It's a very sharp, broad-bladed kitchen knife) . She had 2 young children and she was terrified that one of them would get their hands on it, so she wanted to get it out of the house and gave it to me. Perhaps I’m not such a caring mum, or maybe it’s the difference between having one and having two to look after, but all through having Eleanor as a baby and then a toddler and now as a very sensible teen-ager, I have kept this knife. Yes, it’s sharp, yes it’s a bit scary, but it’s a really useful knife – especially for cutting meat – and I’ve never yet hurt myself with it, because I’m always really careful how I use it and it always goes back in this cardboard sleeve before it goes back in the drawer. The letter to the Hebrews warns us that the Word of God ...

So to the gospel.... The young man recognizes that Jesus is the Good Teacher who can answer the most vital question: ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Firstly Jesus puts the young man’s focus back onto God… only God is good. Maybe he could have stopped the conversation right there – “you ask ‘what must I do?’ Remember how good God is, and stop trying to earn God’s love”. But Jesus wants to help this young man…so he points out ‘You know the commandments’ – better than that, this young man has actually kept the commandments. Then comes the bad news ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ We might well understand why the young man, who is rich, goes away grieving. We might wonder, though, why Jesus is so harsh on this young man who, after all, has broken no commandments. Mark is keen that we realize why Jesus speaks like this : his gospel tells us: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and...

Ouch! The Word of God. Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” Years ago, before I had Eleanor, when I was moving into a flat, a friend of mine gave me this knife. She had 2 young children and she was terrified that one of them would get their hands on it, so she wanted to get it out of the house and gave it to me. Perhaps I’m not such a caring mum, or maybe it’s the difference between having one and having two to look after, but all through having Eleanor as a baby and then a toddler and now as a very sensible teen-ager, I have kept this knife. Yes, it’s sharp, yes it’s a bit scary, but it’s a really useful knife – especially for cutting meat – and I’ve never yet hurt myself with it, because I’m always really careful how I use it and it always goes back in this cardboard sleeve before it goes back in the drawer. The letter to the Hebrews warns us that the Word of God is like this scarily sharp blade. What's important...

This week's readings: Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 My initial thoughts are - The bit about the Word being like a sword. What's important is how you handle it. If you use God's word as a weapon the chances are you'll get caught yourself and find you are the victim of its sharp edge. At the same time if we are forgetful of the Word (stick it in a drawer and try to forget about it) it can damage us as we try to go about our lives and suddenly come upon it. What we need to do (there had to be third point, yes?) is handle it with respect and care and use it where a little 'trimming' is needed in our lives. So to the gospel. How is the sharpness of the Word challenging us? What do we need to trim away? perhaps not just 'stuff' but attitudes to stuff, or to law, or to others? I think I'll be taking my sharpest kitchen knife to church on Sunday. to illustrate the point!

8am 4-10-09 This is one of the hardest parts of Mark’s gospel – but if we find it hard. how much harder was it for Jesus.? To test him he is asked the question ‘ Is it lawful to divorce or not?’ Jesus’ response is “What does Moses say?”. Moses lays down the law – and the law is clear that there is a means of getting a divorce – and yet this is a ‘live’ issue for Jesus’ time (as it is for ours) – because there were some husbands who were effectively abandoning their wives using the legal system. Jesus can’t support the law which allows a wife to be abandoned simply on her husbands say-so, and yet in Jesus time as in ours there are marriages which have failed and which need to end. So Jesus does not answer the question directly, but stresses the seriousness of the marriage bond. Jesus warns that divorce cannot be treated as a state of eradicating the marriage, ‘as if it never happened’ – and so he teaches that it is like adultery to enter into a 2nd marriage – these may be Rabbinic shock...

Reflective service using Psalm 8 & Hebrews 1: 1-4, 2: 5-12 It’s not often that I base a sermon or reflection on just one word. but I am so struck by the word in the psalm, which is quoted here in the letter to the Hebrews – the word ‘mindful’. The psalmist asks God ‘What are human beings that you are mindful of them?’. There are people who find it hard to believe in a God at all – and some who will try to say that you have either to believe in a creator or in an evolving universe. But most people, looking up at the stars, getting a glimpse into the marvels of the universe, find that it is hard not to believe that there is a creating force at work. But the psalmist does not stop at the idea that there is a God who created the stars, our earth, and everything in it. He says that this God is mindful of human beings – there is a relationship between this great creator God and the people he has made. And to help these people to be mindful of the God who loves them, the writer of the let...

The Mark reading is particularly knotty this week - so here's a short reflection for the 8am service! Taking responsibility.. for one another Mark 9: 42-50 “If your hand causes your downfall.. cut it off”. Can these really be the words of Jesus? In our world we are a familiar with Islamic Shariah law as a proposed punishment for theft – cutting off the hand of a thief - and the thought of it is awful and barbaric. But Jesus is not suggesting a form of punishment – he is not talking about what we should do to others – he is using dramatic language to encourage people to take responsibility for their own actions. “If your foot causes your downfall – cut it off”. In other words, have nothing to do with the sort of excuse for behaviour which says ‘it wasn’t my fault, it was my roving eye, my lousy childhood, my physical urges – that made me do it. Jesus wants us to take responsibility for our own bodies and what we do with them. But Jesus is also clear that our responsibility d...

27-9-09 Harvest I’m probably betraying something about my age if I say that one of my favourite funny films is ‘Ghostbusters;. I was reminded of a particularly silly line from it when I looked at today’s psalm. One of the ghostbusters , Ray Stanz, is investigating a building and says ‘listen…do you smell something?” Were you struck by the similar line in the psalm ‘Taste – and see that the Lord is good’. Maybe it is a deliberate mixed metaphor – taste and see: or maybe the writer of the psalm means that we can use many of our sense to find that God is good. We have certainly used our senses today. We felt the refreshing splash of the water of baptism – promising Daniel the love and presence of God with him always. We see around us the bounty of harvest – and perhaps smell it, too, if we’re lucky: the apples are always my favourite smell, and the flowers look gorgeous too. Our senses are full of the wonderful things the earth has produced, and we have heard the reading from Joel remindi...

Harvest celebrations on Sunday (27th Sept) and a baptism, so I'm going with the theme of 'taste and see that the Lord is good', and basing worship on the 5 senses 'taste, hear, smell, feel & see that the Lord is good'. we have the water of baptism to feel, the Word of God to hear, the harvest goods to smell, the communion to feel (& taste) & everything around to see... that the Lord is good. I'm taking the year B harvest readings but adding in Psalm 34, so my readings are: Joel 2: 21-24 & 26 Psalm 34: 1-8 Matthew 6:25-33 I want the service to have a really celebratory feel. OK - better go & think some more.

With apologies for late posting! Following Jesus (James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37) Who’s the best? Who’s the greatest? The new Guinness Book of Records has just been published. I know this because various news bulletins have been full of amazing people – the tallest man in the world (8 foot 1), the woman with the most body piercings (4,225) and the person with the longest fingernails (over 28 feet long). I admit I find every edition of the book fascinating: who is the fastest, the first, the best. The first title for the followers of Jesus – even before they were called ‘Christians’ was “followers of the way”. What would it mean to be the best follower of the Way? Jesus’ disciples, in the Gospel reading that we heard, give a great example of what it does NOT mean. ‘What were you talking about while you were on the way?’ asks Jesus. The disciples say nothing – they are ashamed. If you listen carefully you can actually hear feet being scraped on the floor in that reading. It’s on...

Readings for this coming Sunday are: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 about wisdom and about greatness, and the values of the gospel. My thinking so far is about walking more closely with Jesus - reflecting on the bit in James 'draw near to God and God will draw near to you' - how do we get close to God, how do we live better lives, how do we nurture wisdom. There is something stirring in me about the dangers of the celebrity culture and the denigration of gentleness and peace... Will hopefully find time to think about this more carefully tomorrow.

Racial Justice (Mark 8: 27-38, Isaiah 50: 4-9a) You might wonder why we need to bother with racial justice Sunday, here in leafy Whittlesford. But I honestly think that as Christians we all have a responsibility towards understanding other people and challenging those aspects of our society which, sadly, are still racist. A few years ago, when I was living in Oxfordshire a member of my church was hosting a young man from the Gambia, Isaac, who had come to the town to have an artificial leg fitted. He had lost his leg when he had broken it playing football and an infection had set in. While he was waiting for the leg to be made after an initial fitting, he used his time to learn about provisions for teaching blind children in the UK – because he was a teacher of blind children back home. He was fascinated by the gadgets available for teaching blind and partially-sighted children and very quickly worked out how he could make those things simply and cheaply for his pupils. But he didn’...

Mark 7: 24-30; James 2: 1-10 Next Sunday is marked by some churches as Racial Justice Sunday. You might wonder why the churches feel they ought to get involved in action against racism. But today’s reading from the letter of James certainly states quite clearly our responsibility as Christians to the ‘other’ or the ‘stranger’. James writes: “If you are observing the sovereign law laid down in scripture ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ that is excellent. But if you show partiality, you are committing a sin and you stand convicted by the law as offenders.” Racism, exclusion of any kind, judging others by their skin colour, or clothes, or background, is a sin. It is laid down in law that we are to love our neighbour, and in the story of the Good Samaritan Jesus makes it crystal clear that our neighbour is the foreigner in need we come across on the road just as much as it is the person rather like us who happens to live next door. And yet what a puzzling Gospel reading we had. This same ...

So apart form being away from home, trying to sort out a final draft of the wedding sermon & get ready for Sunday (given that Saturday is all mush too exciting!), I'm fairly relaxed this week! here is first draft of Sunday's (baptism) service: 30-8-09 If you stop to think about almost anything you do in life it can seem a bit strange. I spend quite a bit of my leisure time staring at an electrical device which produces a changing patterns of dots on a screen – we call it television: it brings me news reports, amazing scenery, and the everyday goings-on in Albert square, to inform & entertain me. And then there’s church – singing together, listening to a book which is thousands of years old, and perhaps oddest of all – sprinkling water on a baby. Why do we do it? What does God want from us? Well there are people who might say that God wants us to be good. Help old people across the road, remember birthdays, come to church, that sort of thing. These are the sort of people...

Thought some people might like to read this sermon I've written for a family wedding on August 29th - a week on Saturday! This is draft 2 - probably will get worked over again before the Big Day! What does love look like? (Ruth 1: 15-18, 1 Cor. 13: 1-8a, 13.) We are here today to celebrate love – but what does love look like? I tried Googling ‘love’ to see what images came up: predictably there were hearts, red roses, kisses… less predictably pictures of Courtenay Love, Swizzels Love Hearts and some rather interesting diet advice with graphic images of love handles. So let’s leave the internet to one side and ask what this wedding service teaches us about what love looks like. I love the part of the wedding service in 'Worship from the URC' in which is written in the opening prayer, of the bride and groom: ‘Make them today a sign for us of your love in all creation’. One answer for ‘what does love look like?’ is here right before our eyes – in Grace & Stephen. Love lo...

With apologies to those who read this each week (and with thanks for your faithful support) - I'm off on a church holiday on Saturday so won't be preaching on Sunday 23rd but I will be getting ahead for Sunday 30th and will post ideas here asap. I think the focus for the 30th will be James 1:17-27 and Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 The contrast between living 'religiously' and living in a way which is 'Godly' is what jumps out at me from the readings. I'm wondering whether to grasp the nettle of high profile 'debates' within the church and how they detract from following Jesus... will keep thinking.

True bread Proverbs 9: 1-6 John 6: 51-58 Yet again the lectionary reading from John presents us with Jesus saying ‘I am the bread of life’. If we ask ‘what does the bread of life mean’, there is no simple answer – there are many answers, or many layers of answers, and it seems that John’s gospel wants to take our understanding deeper and deeper. Alongside the listeners of Jesus wondering ‘how can Jesus be bread?’, we heard today from the book of Proverbs. This contains a collection of wise sayings and also many exhortations to take time to listen to the words of the wise and to become wise. The passage we heard uses the image of wisdom personified as a lovely woman, inviting people into her house to eat and drink and learn how to make the right choices in life and live as wise people do. Eating & drinking is used as a symbol of fellowship, of companionship – by ‘eating and drinking with Lady Wisdom’ people are committing themselves to seeking wisdom itself. Similarly, by eating...

T he sharp-eyed will see overlaps between this sermon, last week's & next week's - but given the readings what chance so I have! and given that I'm at 4 different churches, and trying to fit in some time off, maybe it's forgiveable. Bread Bread Jesus says ‘I am the bread of life’. Hang on a minute – didn’t Jesus say that last week – and maybe even the week before? In the film 'Groundhog Day' Bill Murray plays a TV reporter who keeps waking up to the same day over and over again, the same events, the same things said. We seem to be stuck in a kind of Groundhog day in John’s gospel – we seem to hear Jesus saying the same thing over and over again. I was at a meeting of ministers last week where we were all bemoaning being stuck with 'I am the bread of life' - but then we began reflecting that perhaps Jesus has a reason for stressing the point. Bill Murray has to learn to behave differently in Groundhog Day - maybe we need to think differently about Jes...