Tag: Church
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Feed me Seymour! Lessons from the Parable of the Sower on Nourishing Your Faith.
As I walked home in the cool of the day, a member of the team shared with me that she was going to water her pots. It wasn’t just a daily chore for her though, it was a time of reflection and meditation at the end of the day, listening to the ‘rain’ falling from…
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Come One Come All: A Reflection on Faith and Service in Matthew 9:37
As Christians we are all called to serve. It is in our baptism vows which as adults we renew and take on for ourselves at confirmation. As a church we are to be a family, and yes many families are a little dysfunctional, but the best ones pull together each with their own roles according…
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Are We Gatekeepers or Gateways in Faith?
This passage is one of those occasions where we cannot simply take the black and white text at face value. There are hues and shades hidden beneath the words which (some) of Jesus’ listeners would have understood, but even then, many were confused. They had the cultural knowledge of the time we have the hindsight…
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Everyone is Awesome!
Rarely does Jesus see things the same way we do. Jesus sees the hope and potential when we pull together. When we stand for what we know is right and true, when we follow Him and don’t give up just because life seems too hard.
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Hands-On Easter: A Unique Retelling
The wonderful thing about the fingers and thumbs Easter story is that it is unique to each of us. Each retelling involves our own hands, our own fingerprints, our own calluses and scars. When we tell the Easter story using our own hands we own it for ourselves, and invite Jesus into our story as…
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Why Palm Sunday Matters: Choices in Faith
The donkey is important, not just because of the fulfilling of the prophecy, but because of what is left out of the narrative, because it was such an ordinary thing to happen. We rely on historians outside of the gospels to inform us that Jesus’ triumphal entry wasn’t the only one that took place during…
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Celebrating Mothering Sunday: Traditions and Gifts
‘It’s not Mother’s Day,’ my mum would tell me, ‘It’s Mothering Sunday’. I never quite understood the difference. One apparently was American and the other British, but that’s only half the story. In other countries, Mother’s Day is simply a day to give thanks for and to celebrate our mothers, in the UK it is…
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Shine Jesus Shine: Simeon and Anna, Celebrating Light in Darkness
It’s the last big celebration of Christmas and Epiphany, wrapping up with Candlemas on February 2nd. As we wind down, stories of Mary, Jesus, and the traditions of both Christianity and Celtic cultures remind us of returning light and the shift toward spring. The journey moves from joy to reflection, preparing for Lent.
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O come, O come, Emmanuel: Understanding the Hebrew Roots of the Christmas Story
This year I learned Jesus was probably born in a family home, not a stable. Let’s open our hearts to him and find compassion in a broken world.
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Prepare Ye the Way: John the Baptist’s call for Repentance and Harmony
It’s the second Sunday of Advent and the focus is on peace, reflecting on prophets and their tough messages. The author shares a fondness for indie band The Wonderstuff and relates lyrics to today’s gospel. They urge Christians to reconsider their interpretations of scripture and promote harmony, urging us to be peace-bringers this season.