Sharing some thoughts

For some people the gospel reading that we have just heard (John 1:1-14) is an essential part of Christmas. Unlike any of the other gospels John doesn’t try and give us a biography of Jesus. The nativity story as we know it from the other gospels isn’t told as John sets out a bigger picture.  In his majestic words he talks of ‘the word’ – ‘in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God’ and later, ‘the word became flesh and lived among us…’ It’s beautiful language and it spoke to the various audiences that would read this gospel – the word was a term used by  Jewish and Greek theologians and philosophers  – in Hebrew scripture the word was an agent of creation, the source of God’s message to his people through the prophets. In Greek philosophy the word was the principle of reason that governed the world, and in Hebrew thought the word was another expression for God.  As John writes of Jesus as the word he is powerfully challenging people to re

Today is the last Sunday in Advent. We’re nearly at Christmas  –   most of the shopping has been done, most of the cards delivered, but we have a few precious days of advent left – a time to reflect again on what it’s all about.  And our readings today really help us to do that. In the Old Testament we heard from the prophet Micah (5:2-5a) with the incredible prophecy that it was in this little town of Bethlehem of Ephrathah that the Saviour would be born. Much of the Book of Micah is a book about injustice and even judgement. It’s about people who claimed to believe in God but whose lives didn’t show any evidence of it making a difference.  From this small town  of Bethlehe m  God would reveal once again his incredible power with a child born to change the world. God didn’t need grand  palaces,  he didn’t need to use political power or wealth. He simply showed his love in offering a relationship.  So often it’s easy for us to be distracted in doing what we hope will be gr

From Helen Have you ever had that feeling of being  away from  home ?   I remember someone looking after a dog for their friend. Their friend lived in Germany and as they looked after the dog they found him very badly behaved. They tried every type of command they could think of. ‘Sit’, ‘come here’, ‘behave’ nothing worked until they realised that the dog understood German not  English !!  Who would have thought  it If I said to you, ‘home sweet …’ what would the next word  be ?  If I said, ‘Home is where the ……… is,  ‘ what  would be the missing word ? How about, ‘there’s nowhere like ….. ’. Home is a beautiful word, it is a word that conjures up lovely images. It may be a nice cuppa, it may be a family meal, it may be your bed,  it  may be your favourite armchair or settee. Home is an incredible word. I have noticed that sayings about home are generally very positive and the statement home is where the heart is probably sums up that type of feeling. Our Old Testament reading

I’m sure it won’t come as any great surprise to any of you if I tell you that I was as a baby very well behaved, which of course I am today as well ! I didn’t cry very much at all and I apprently listened when people spoke to me or made the sort of funny noises people often make to babies and I smiled quite a lot of the time too ! I responded well when people made noises ! I’m no great scientist but I know that sounds are heard in many special ways – often people will talk to children before they’re born and the unborn child often moves as a response;  or playing music can sometimes calm down a child kicking in their mothers tummy. Words and sounds can make a big difference and that is something that was well known around the time of our gospel reading today (Luke 3:1-6). The Jewish people had relied on prophets sharing the word of God with them for many years and the words of these prophets had been shared down from generation to generation, but it seemed that God had been si