Sunday's coming!

Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11 So now with three candles lit on the Advent ring we have to admit that December the 25 th really is nearly here, and we don’t have much longer to prepare ourselves for Christmas and all that it will bring. Isaiah brings us the promise of the Good News of God’s coming. This will be good news for the oppressed, the broken-hearted, the captive, the prisoner, and those who mourn. Isaiah promises a day of good news for those who long for justice, blessing and joy. Prophesying to people who were probably standing in the ruins of their city, Jerusalem, wondering how they would ever get life back to normal, Isaiah promises that God will come and all will be well. This city will once again be God’s city, this place will once again be God’s place. It might not look like it to the people of God who have returned from exile, but even in the midst of the rubble, God promises he is at work and his messenger is told to declare good news. ...

Isaiah 40: 1-11, Mark 1: 1-8 Today’s reading from Isaiah starts with the words that are the first you hear in Handel’s Messiah: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God”. Of all the things our world needs for Christmas, maybe “Comfort” should be top of the list. The weather finally feels wintry, so I’m sure I’m not the only one who has turned to comfort food, comfy warm clothes & seeking the warmth and comfort of home after a hard day. And if this week, in your warm home at the end of a cold day, you have turned on the radio or the TV, or read a newspaper, you may be more in need of comfort than ever. Tragedies – for families, for whole countries, for the most vulnerable, abound: the terrible story of the death of Charlotte Bevan and her baby daughter in the Avon Gorge; continued suffering in Syria, talk of financial cuts that will take social services down to the lowest level since the 1930s. It seems our world is in a terrible state. W...

I'm deeply indebted to David Lose of "Working Preacher" for his comparison of Mark's passion account with Jesus' parable - I would hate anyone to think such a brilliant idea is my own! Isaiah 64: 1-9; Mark 13: 24-37 I’m going to begin by showing the 2014 John Lewis Christmas advert, or if that isn’t possible, reminding people of it. Once again this Christmas we hear the gospel according to john Lewis. “Give someone the Christmas they’ve been dreaming of”. Monty the penguin gets what he really wants for Christmas – real love. But is Monty the penguin himself real? It depends how you look at him – in the eyes of the little boy who is his friend, of course he is real. And the love the boy has for him is real, and the new penguin for Christmas – she’s real too. “It’s real love” croons the background music.  And if that isn’t the real meaning of Christmas, I don’t know what is. But you won’t find real love at a John Lewis stor...

Based on Philippians 2; 1-11: for the closing worship of the day to celebrate one year on from the signing of our ecumenical declaration of intent on November 16th, 2014. We meet here, one year on from the signing of the declaration of Ecumenical Intent for Cornwall & it’s a good time to ask what has been, what is and what shall be. It’s good, too, to look at Paul’s letter to the Philippians, in which he writes about what has been, what is & what shall be: Paul says of Christ  - What has been : He had the nature of God, but emptied himself, gave up all he had, became like a human being. What is : As a human being was humble, he walked way of obedience – even to death on a cross What will be :  God raised him to the highest place & gave him the name over every other name. Then (although it is first in the reading, I think it is as a consequence of their identity as followers of Christ) Paul says of the church in Philippi –...