The still of the night

The still of the night. People often speak of the still of the night. A beautiful image of peace and calm. What tranquility. What a joy to be caught up in such a place. And yet, the still of the night often seems the most tumultuous of places. A place filled with darkness, filled with fear and doubt and questions, with worries that you can do nothing about... Until morning... Until light comes... But that light will come. In fact that light is there... And recognising that, we come full circle, and can think once more, of the still of the night. In the light things always seem better. With the light, life is always better. The light doesn't mean we won't see darkness, but that we will know the light will prevail in the end... Walk in the light... And sit and lie in the light... And know that light always...

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Characters around the cross reflection

Today I want to think about some of the characters involved around the cross. Some played important and good roles, others were those who turned on Jesus, and sought to hurt him. I want to begin with a short reflection about Jesus written by Gregory of Nazianzus, A.D. 381 “Who was Jesus? He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life. Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water. Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest. Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King. Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons. Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears. Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world. Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd. Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.” The Power of Numbers...The Crowd Mark 11:1-10 : When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent tw...

Marriage thanksgiving

Today we have dedicated this service to giving thanks for the gift of marriage… All of us I’m sure will join with me in offering prayers to ask God to continue to bless married couples everywhere, but marriage itself can never be taken in a vacuum. The Bible tells us and human nature dictates that actually we are all part of a much bigger family, married, unmarried, old or young, and as such each of us have commitments to each other. And that commitment must surely be to love… If you have a sense of humour, and I’m sure you all do (!) you may like to hear some of the things the Bible says about love in marriage. In the book of Genesis (29:20) we read that Jacob worked for seven years for Laban to earn the right to marry Laban’s daughter, Rachel. We’re told that the 7 years of work seemed to him just like a few days because he loved her so much! He worked seven years for her father so that he could marry her. I am tempted to say he had it bad! Moving on a little, The Song of Songs in ...

Philemon!

We don’t often hear readings from Paul’s letter to Philemon—and that’s largely because we’ve just heard almost the entire letter this morning. It’s one of the shortest books in the Bible, but it’s packed with meaning and challenge, as well as grace. Paul wrote from house arrest in Rome to Philemon, a wealthy Christian in Colossae. Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, had fled to Rome and there, he encountered Paul and was led to faith in Jesus. Now Paul writes to ask Philemon to receive Onesimus back - not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. And Paul doesn’t just ask - he offers to pay back any debt that Onesimus owes. There are several themes that rise from this short letter. First, the issue of slavery. It’s troubling to us of course, and rightly so. Though it was accepted in Paul’s time, we know that no one should ever be owned by another. And tragically, slavery still exists today - in forced labour, human trafficking, and exploitation. But the gospel speaks into this. It pr...

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