John 19:25-27 Being Lent, we gather at the foot of the cross, yet today is Mothering Sunday – originally a pagan festival, held in honour of the Mother goddess Cybele. After Constantine converted to Christianity, the Roman Empire began to celebrate it as a Christian Festival, honouring the Blessed Virgin Mary and Mother Church. During…
John 13:34-35 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Today is a Sunday most preachers dread. It’s almost impossible not to offend or upset someone. Some celebrate, and others endure. For some it is an especially joyful occasion to give thanks for mothers, for others it is a difficult and painful time, in so many different ways. A teacher…
Genesis 12:1-4a John 3:1-17 Leaving the known for the unknown takes a lot of courage, so Abram did something pretty remarkable when he upped sticks and took his wife and family (and all their possessions) into the unknown – trusting that the Lord would indeed bless them in their journeying and on into a promised…
Matthew 9:9-17 Thirty years ago this week the last long national strike began, when Arthur Scargill led the miners out. A big part of English culture certainly used to be that the most respected and honoured manual worker was the miner. I suspect that if you lived in Surrey, the miners’ strike didn’t make a…
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 Matthew 4:1-11 Adam and Eve’s choice There days we can choose our GP and our Dentist, we can choose which consultant and which we’re referred to, we can try and choose our children’s schools, we can choose all manner of telephones (remember the days when you could have a black one a…
Exodus 24:9-18 2 Peter 1:16-21 Psalm 99 Matthew 17:1-9 I expect some of you are wondering why you’re here! The Westminster Shorter Catechism is one of the historical statements of our faith. I’m sure you all know it well, but just to remind you, it begins by saying that, “man’s chief end is to glorify…
Genesis 1:1-2:3 Romans 8:18-25 Matthew 6:25-34 A man was very surprised when a good-looking young lady greeted him, as he couldn’t remember ever having seen her before. She realized that she’d made a mistake, and apologized, saying, “I ‘m so sorry. When I first saw you I thought you were the father of two of…
Matthew 5:13-20 Now, I know what you’re thinking. Being salt of the earth – and being light to the world. Aren’t they, very much, opposites? Salt – a mineral so useful that people could be paid in it. When pure it’s shiny, white, bright. When bought by somebody who thinks it’s more “organic”, “natural” to…
Luke 4:16-24 Psalm 119:129-131 Romans 10:14-15 From Yes Minister: Jim Hacker: The department prepared this. “No loss of amenity” it says. Sir Humphrey Appleby: No, Minister, not no loss of amenity; no *significant* loss of amenity. Jim Hacker: Well, same thing. Sir Humphrey Appleby: On the contrary, there is all the difference in the world. Almost…
Luke 2.22-40 On 12 February 1809 a baby boy was born in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor on a farm in Kentucky. He grew up to be a man of rugged determination. And although he had less than a year of formal education, he succeeded in becoming a lawyer. However he really wanted to make…