It is a great many years since I first attended a performance of Bach’s St John Passion. Having just been part of a performance of the work I have been as moved this time as I was originally by one simple phrase from the final chorale: ‘And as in death’s repose I lie, watch o’er…
Jesus said, ‘Here are my hands’, as he sat with his friends around the supper table. He took the bread in his hands, and tore the loaf apart, and handed it gently to all of them, urging them to eat, to be part of his body. In his hands he held the cup of blood…
This week, our 10 minute service reflects on Luke 24:1-8.
Luke 13: 31 – 35 A few years ago, we visited New Zealand and Australia, and our hotels, in both Dunedin, NZ, and Manley, Australia, were right opposite surfing beaches. I am not a surfer, although I have done a bit of body boarding in my time, but I do know that if a surfer…
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…
Jesus always showed the other side of the question, and turned hard held values on their head. Paradoxically, with Jesus, it wasn’t a case of what you see, is what you get, more a case of, ‘do you get what you see’? Is it surprising though that we don’t always get what Jesus means? The…
Easter Letter from Rev. Derek Grimshaw.
Coming home from a meeting a few weeks ago, I inadvertently timed my journey through the heart of the town to coincide with the end of a football match at Portman Road, not my best idea ever. The match had only just finished and I was thankful that the crowds of fans now filling the…
A shortened version of a message I read on Facebook goes like this: “A young woman watched her new neighbour hang out her washing and she complained to her husband that the clothes were not properly washed as they looked dirty. She considered telling her neighbour and was even going to offer her some washing…
When our sports team wins a cup or our country wins a battle, we arrange a victory parade. The open topped bus is driven slowly through the town, with the smiling heroes on top waving to their adoring fans. It’s a tradition that seems to have started in Roman times, when, on the day of…