5th Sunday of Easter            Year A                                                            7th May 2023 Lectionary Readings; Acts 7 v55-60; Psalm 31 v1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2 v2-10; John 14 v1-14. Do we need a visual aid to explain a mystery? In the hymn, popular with children of all ages, ‘Our God is a great big God’, (Singing the…

4th Sunday of Easter – Year A                                                                                  30th April 2023 Lectionary Readings:  Acts 2 v42-47;     Psalm 23;     1 Peter 2 v19-25;     John 10 v1-10.        Whose ‘voice’ do you trust? In the passage from Acts we are told ‘that they spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other.’…

The Third Sunday of Easter – Year A                                                                     23rd April 2023 Lectionary readings: Acts 2 v14a, 36-41;      Psalm 116 v1-4, 12-19;       1 Peter 1 v17-23;        Luke 24 v13-35. Strangers no more. In Luke’s account, two disciples on the way to the village of Emmaus, are joined by a  ‘stranger’ who they later discover is the…

Second Sunday of Easter                              Year A                                                 16th April 2023 Lectionary Readings:  Acts 2 v14a, 22-32;    Psalm 16;    1 Peter 1 v3-9;    John 20 v19-31 Faith in Jesus leads to true life. The readings this week open with Luke’s account of Peter’s speech to a crowd on the Day of Pentecost. Peter, accompanied by the…

Easter Day                                                     Year A                                                 9th April 2023 Lectionary readings: Jeremiah 31 v1-6,      Psalm 118 v1-2, 14-24;      Colossians 3 v1-4;      Matthew 18 v1-10. God keeps his promises. The prophet Jeremiah was active before and during the time of the Babylonian invasion. Jeremiah wrote, Some time ago, the Lord appeared to me and told me to…

Palm Sunday                                                 Year A                                     2nd April 2023 Lectionary readings: Isaiah 50 v4-9a;      Psalm 31 v9-16;      Philippians 2 v5-11;      Matthew 27 v11-54. Majestic humility. The (second) prophet Isaiah was preaching during the time of exile in Babylonia. The OT reading, appears to be related to an individual, possibly the prophet himself. It could also relate…

Fifth Sunday in Lent                        Year A                                                 26th March 2023 Lectionary Readings:   Ezekiel 37 v1-14;    Psalm 130;    Romans 8 v6-11;    John 11 v1-45. The breath of Life. Life comes from God. He created us and gave us breath. Today’s readings echo the creation stories found in Genesis. In the second creation story; The Lord God…

Fourth Sunday in Lent                                 Year A                                                 19th March 2023 Lectionary Readings:   1 Samuel 16 v1-13;    Psalm 23;    Ephesians 5 v8-14;    John 9 v1-41. Recognising God at work. I wonder what young David made of the prophet Samuel anointing him as the next king? One minute, tending a flock of sheep, the next, commissioned by…

Third Sunday in Lent                                   Year A                                                 12th March 2023 Lectionary readings:  Exodus 17 v1-7;    Psalm 95;    Romans 5 v1-11;    John 4 v5-42. Hunger and thirst. All human beings need food and water in order to survive. Our readings today speak about hunger and thirst in two senses, physical and spiritual. The people of God…

Second Sunday in Lent                     Year A                                                           5th March 2023 Lectionary readings: Genesis 12 v1-4a;   Psalm 121;   Romans 4 v1-5, 13-17;   John 3 v1-17. Abraham’s example. Long ago and far away, (about 4000 years ago, in Southern Iraq), God spoke to man named Abram (later Abraham). Abram put his faith in God’s plans for…