Genesis 18:20-32 Luke 11:1-13 ‘Please, Grandma!’ begs Chloe. She wants an ice cream, and Grandma thinks it’s too close to tea time. The stage is set for some fierce bargaining. Chloe promises to eat all her tea if she can have an ice cream now, this minute. Grandma suggests that she can have the ice…
2 Kings 5:1-14 For much of his career, F.W. de Klerk was a sound conservative, solidly pro-apartheid politician. He rose through the ranks, yet became the one to dismantle apartheid, in direct contrast to his earlier policies. Likewise, Mikhail Gorbechov was a solid communist, who worked his way through the ranks. Once he had become…
Luke 10:1-20 What a good job Jesus isn’t in charge of organising the rotas! Can you imagine? Everybody’s milling around in the foyer after the service, and then Jesus steps into the middle of the room, clearing his throat and holding up a clipboard as he says loudly, “excuse me, can I have everyone’s attention…
Proverbs 15:1-4 Galatians 5:22-26 Matthew 5:38-45 One New Year’s Eve at London’s Garrick Club, British dramatist Frederick Lonsdale was urged by his friends to reconcile with a fellow member. The two had quarrelled in the past, and never restored their friendship. “You must,” they said to Lonsdale, “it is very unkind to be unfriendly at…
2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13:1 Luke 7:36-8.3 In the winter of 1642, a tiny baby was born prematurely to his widowed mother in a rural Lincolnshire hamlet. When he was three, his mother remarried and left him the care of his grandmother. He grew up to be Isaac Newton, who laid the foundations much of modern…
Matthew 20:25-28 “His simple message of love has been turning the world upside down ever since. He showed that what people are and what they do, does matter and does make all the difference. He commanded us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves, but what exactly is meant by ‘loving ourselves’? I believe…
Galatians 1:1-12 People can get angry about the smallest things. Of course it never ever happens to me – I never turn into Victor Meldew, and irascible is not my middle name, but I do see people get angry so often about such trivial things. Road rage is common, for instance, although you can understand…
I Kings 17:17-end Psalm 30 Galatians 1:11-end Luke 7:11-17 In 1886, Karl Benz drove his first car through the streets of Munich. He named his car the Mercedes Benz, after his daughter, Mercedes. The machine angered the citizens, because it was noisy and scared the children and horses. Pressured by the citizens, the local officials…
1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43 Galatians 1:1-12 Luke 7:1-10 I dreamt death came the other night And heaven’s gate swung wide; With kindly grace an angel came To usher me inside. Yet there to my astonishment Stood folks I’d known on earth, Some I had judged as quite unfit Or of but little worth. Indignant words…
Ephesians 5:15-20 24 May is as close as you get to a holy day in the Methodist Church, because 24 May 1738 was the day on which John Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed”, and he was at in a house in Aldersgate Street that evening, and so the Sunday before 24 May is always celebrated…