Sunday's coming!

           Matthew 14: 22-33, 1 Kings 19:9-18   If you ever have one of those days when you feel down and sorry for myself   - “it’s all up to me” “I’m the only one bothering…” “no-one else cares”... I recommend the life of   Elijah, and especially the part of his story we heard today.   Things are not looking too good for Elijah. The people of God have abandoned worship in favour of idols, many of God’s prophets have been killed, and Elijah is threatened too. “I alone am left” says Elijah, and he’s ready to give up.   Then the earthquake, wind and fire pass by, followed by God’s presence in the stillness. And Elijah is told to go and anoint new kings, and anoint Elisha as a new prophet – and God promises “I will leave seven thousand in Israel, who have not worshipped Baal”.   Elijah feels alone, rejected, threatened, but in fact he is NOT alone. God has a plan, and there are 7,000 people on God...

CWM Sunday    (Isaiah 44: 6-8; Matthew 13: 24-30) Many people are fascinated by family history: the stories of long-gone relatives, the people we are proud of and the ones we’d rather forget, the events that make us glad of our genes and the things that fascinate or appal us.  My dad had two aunts – Annie & Ethel, both school teachers - who decided to explore the Whitehead family tree, until they reached a predecessor who had been transported to Australia for sheep-stealing. Just as I thought it was getting interesting - they decided to stop researching at that point ! Today we are invited to explore something of our Christian family as we celebrate Council for World Mission Sunday. We are reminded that we in the URC belong to a worldwide family of 36 partner churches. But like so many family histories – it’s not straightforward. The beginning of our ‘family life’ is rooted in the evangelical awakening of the 18 th century: the time of John & Charles Wesl...

     Zechariah 9: 9-12, Matthew 11: 25-30   When my grand-daughter Rose was about three we had a family holiday in Suffolk. Suffolk is, famously, rather flat and so on the Sunday morning we decided to walk the short distance to church from the house where we were staying. After about 5 minutes, Rose was flagging and complained “I need to be there now. I only have TINY legs. You need to carry me”.   I’m sure there are times we can all sympathise with Rose. When the journey seems long. When our legs feel tiny. When we need help & we want someone – something – to carry us.   I think that’s why the poem “footprints in the sand” is so popular. In case you haven’t heard it, or you’d like to be reminded of it, it goes like this:   One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, One belongin...

 Genesis 22: 1-14      As the “spare Granny” of two teenagers, I have been following news stories about “our children” with a mixture of interest and horror – and perhaps you have done the same. How much time should your people spend on social media? I heard a young man interviewed who said he spent 14 hours a day on his phone… when does that leave time for talking to other people, or developing his own thoughts and ideas? How do we help children and young people who are subject to abuse? There have been terrible recent stories about the lack of curiosity among medical staff or social workers about children’s injuries. One commentator said “no-one was losing sleep over what was happening in this child’s life”. As followers of Jesus Christ, what do we have to offer into society’s discussion of how to treat young people?     Let’s look closely at the story of Abraham, being told by God to sacrifice Isaac. Perhaps we’ve heard it so ofte...

Jeremiah 20: 7-13     Matthew 10: 24-39    Today we celebrate the Chapel Anniversary – 203 years since The foundation stone was laid June 25th,1823. I wonder how you feel about the passing years? It’s good to look back & I hope there are many happy memories. But we might also feel that we’re not what we were – and we’re not really sure where we’re going. And yet we know that the same God has been present for Jesus’ followers and loving them, throughout those 203 years   Today is also Father’s Day. How you feel about that might depend on things like what kind of father you had, or whether you knew your father, or whether you have been a father yourself.   And both the anniversary & Father’s Day might colour how we feel when Jesus calls God ‘Father’, which he does very often in the gospel accounts. What sort of Father does Jesus declare God to be – how can we better understand what Jesus means when he refers to God as ‘your h...

As it happens, I have written this Sunday's worship notes for the United Reformed Church. They are available Here    I will also post my own sermon notes, as usual.