Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to people of good will.We praise you,we bless you,we adore you,we glorify you,we give you thanks for your great glory,Lord God, heavenly King,O God almighty Father. This is the first verse of a Christian hymn “Gloria in excelsis Deo” (Latin for “Glory to God in the highest”) known…
I love games with words. No doubt that says something about the way my mind works but I can gain lots of entertainment from deliberately mispronouncing or misusing words. We are in the season of nativity plays where the scope for misquotes is broad as junior thespians do their best with complicated words they only…
This week, our 10 minute service reflects on Luke 2:13-14.
At this time of year, we always see lots of new Christmas adverts. I like to listen to and watch them, to see if I can pick holes in them! This year the Morrisons one has been my favourite, one of the reasons I like it is because it is funny, the oven gloves are…
A recent daily Bible reading was from Colossians chapter 3, including verse 22. 2Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.” The phrase “when their eye is on you” took…
Third Sunday of Advent Year C 15th December 2024 Lectionary Readings: Zephaniah 3 v14-20; Philippians 4 v4-7; Luke 3 v7-18. Jumping on the bandwagon. ‘Crowds of people came out to be baptized, but John said to them, “You snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgement? Do something to show that you…
Today is the day when the conception of Mary is remembered. As we continue on our Advent journey we give thanks for Mary and her role as the mother of Jesus. The bible reading set for today speaks of a different aspect of parenthood- that of adoption. Paul writes of how we have all been…
In a recent sermon I spoke about the difference between the signs of Jesus’ second coming and those present when he came for the first time, born as a baby in Bethlehem. Describing his second coming, Jesus said: “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in…
Like numerous other people I attended the ABBA show at the weekend. I found it amazing and actually had to keep reminding myself that these “people” on stage were not real. My eyes were telling me one thing but my brain was telling me something else. I had a wonderful time, made even more special…
Around the time of Jesus ‘birth, the shepherds on the hills around Bethlehem would have had the essential job of caring for the sheep probably destined for slaughter in the Temple. A necessary job but one with little respect – maybe comparable to the toilet cleaners at a pop festival – someone has to do…