Readings – Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon – Rev. Kate McFarlane So, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Christmas is over. The gifts have all been safely bought and safely given. Do you struggle with present buying? I certainly do, because it’s a minefield isn’t it? The ill-matched gift: you give a valuable present to someone … Read more
Readings – Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 46, Colossians 1:11-29, Luke 23:33-44 Sermon – Rev. Gillian Webb As a few of you know I celebrated a special birthday last week and I received a card which noted some of the key events on the year I was born. I would have believed that Queen Elizabeth 11 had been … Read more
Readings – John 14:27, James 3:17-18, Sermon – Rev. Kate McFarlane Most Holy Spirit who didst brood Upon the chaos dark and rude And bid its angry tumult cease And give, for wild confusion, peace. These are the words we have just sung, a prayer for peace to be given where there is darkness, rudeness, anger … Read more
Readings – Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 121, 2 Tim 3:14-4.5, Luke 18:1-8 Sermon – Rev. Gillian Webb Recently I read a book by Robert Harris called the Second Sleep. The book began with the journey on horseback of a priest that had been given the task of conducting the funeral of an elderly cleric in an out … Read more
Readings – Genesis 28:10-17, John 1:47-end Sermon – Rev. Kate McFarlane When you went back to school each September, were you ever given the task of writing a piece entitled ‘What I did on my summer holidays?’ I used to dread it, feeling I never had much to say, but this year I had one brief … Read more
Readings – Exodus 32:7-14 , Luke 15:1-10 Sermon – Rev. Kate McFarlane My sermon today has been such a struggle. There were points where I doubted whether you’d get one at all. At first sight the readings didn’t seem too bad; the lost coin, the lost sheep. They’re good stories, old favourites, but then…what new can … Read more
Readings – Isaiah 58:9-14 , Hebrews 12:18-29 , Luke 13:10-17
Sermon – Rev. Kate McFarlane
So it’s Sabbath morning. The congregation are excited. They can’t wait to hear today’s preacher. This is a special day, a red letter day. From this preacher’s lips the people will hear what they have longed all their lives to hear; how to know God, how to be happy, the meaning of life itself!
Readings – Luke 10:25-37
Sermon – Rev. Kate McFarlane
I admit my heart sank when I looked at today’s readings and saw the Good Samaritan. If I had a pound for every assembly, family service or toddler group I have been to on that theme, I would be considerably more wealthy than I am.
The story’s a cliché now, isn’t it, so well known that even Microsoft capitalises the ‘Good’ along with the ‘Samaritan’ when you type it in. We all know the plot; we’ve all been told a bald ‘message’; see the unlikely person as your neighbour; it’s your Christian duty to help someone in need. We’ve been there, heard it all before, got the t-shirt.
Readings – Isaiah 66:10-14 , Ps.66 , Gal.6:1-16 , Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Sermon – Rev. Gill Webb
On Friday the news reported that a group of five men and three women had been found guilty of modern slavery. These people had ruthlessly exploited vulnerable people from Poland to come to Britain with promises of a better life and what they really found was misery, degradation and daily abuse. It is hard for us to believe that others can seemingly prosper without any conscience through the misery of others. As they bought their expensive cars they had no pity on those living in the same city and controlled by their rigid rules.
The hope in this story is that the perpetrators will face justice and punishment while those who have been abused may find a better life and enjoy the freedom they have been denied.
Readings – Acts 11:1-18 & 22-31, Romans 5:1-5 , John 16:12-15
Sermon – Rev. Gill Webb
With the recent coverage of all the 75th anniversary events to mark the D-day landings in Normandy I watched again the film the Monuments Men. If you haven’t seen the film it is about an allied task force that was given the job of recovering the stolen art works that the Nazis had taken from across Europe and attempt to return these pieces to their original owners. Hitler had planned a massive museum to be built in his home town of Linz where he would exhibit the greatest collection of masterpieces that would eclipse any other collections across the world. In his Fuhrer Museum he planned to display paintings and sculptures from a multitude of famous artists. He took these priceless pieces forcibly from homes, galleries, town halls and churches without a moment’s thought.