Tag: God
-
I Believe in Miracles: Finding Abundance in Small Churches
We move away from parables of hell and damnation this week, and into the territory of miracles, much more fun! This is one of my favourite miracles, it involves a picnic and wise and generous children: what’s not to love?
-
I’ve Got a Brand New Combine Harvester: Separating the Wheat from the Weeds.
Today’s passage is one of those ‘oof’ passages. If I wanted to preach brimstone and hellfire sermon this would be the perfect text to base it on. I don’t. Instead I am trying to work out how a loving and just God deals with freewill but also sin. I am trying to see the love…
-
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…
-
Daddy Cool: A Reflection on Fatherhood in Faith
Father’s Day isn’t a Christian festival in the same way that Mothering Sunday is, which means that we don’t tend to celebrate our dads. Today let’s do that. Let’s, with thankful hearts to our heavenly Daddy, give thanks to all the Dads: all who have fathered us, who have been strong role models for us,…
-
Let it Flow: Embracing the Holy Spirit
It is true that Holy Spirit comes with power and drama, but She also presents herself in other ways: as a dove, as a stream of cool and refreshing water, as a friend. If you find yourself thinking that the Holy Spirit isn’t for you, then maybe it’s time to think again.
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
The Hidden Angels of Lent: A Reflection on Temptation
The Easter angels may not be as flamboyant at the Christmas ones, there is no singing, no heavenly choirs, no grand announcements or lifesaving warnings. No visions or messages spoken in dreams, but they are there. Hidden away without dazzling lights, golden wings, or halos made from tinsel, dressed in civvies and disguised as servants,…
-
Ashes to Ashes: Understanding Lent, A Time for Reflection and Renewal
Lent feels miserable. Just as we are coming out of the doom and gloom of Winter and Spring is upon us, the church sends us spiralling back down. But does this have to be the case? We could think of lent as a health spa for the soul. What do we need to be cleansed…