Month: July 2019

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.

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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.

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