The tragedy in Gujarat, when so many people were killed when the plane crashed, has been very much in my mind and in my heart. When I lived in Belfast the church I attended had a big connection with Gujarat. One of the church members was the great great grandson of the first Presbyterian Missionary,…
There is a song sung by worship group ‘Casting Crowns’ that explores what might happen if God’s church really prayed. One verse says: ‘What if the church, for Heaven’s sakeFinally stepped up to the plateTook a stand upon God’s promiseAnd stormed Hell’s rusted gates?’ God promises to listen always. God’s promises are there to be…
Read: Revelation 4:1-11 Church buildings often tell stories of the life a community both now and in the past. For a visitor, a few moments spent in a church may make immediate connections with the life of a place, more than a museum ever will. The first question on approaching a place of worship may…
Today’s thought for the day is brought to us by Cynan Llwyd www.christianaid.org.uk As God delights in the natural world, so should we. Something to read O Lord, how manifold are your works! Psalm 104:24 from full reading Psalm 104:24-35. Something to think about There are 300,000 species of beetles in the world. There are…
This week, our 10 minute service reflects on Isaiah 55:1.
Several years ago, while undergoing radiotherapy, I was given what I once described as “information overload”. However, over a few days, I read everything in the various documents and became interested in one particular phrase. “If you feel tired, the best thing is to get up and do something.” This was the opposite of what…
We have recently had scaffolding up outside our house (again), as our chimneys needed repainting. When he climbed up the ladders to start the job, our decorator found a family of jackdaws nesting in one of the chimneys. Fortunately, this is a “redundant” chimney so there was no debris in our fireplace. The chimney was…
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C 22nd June 2025 Lectionary Readings: Isaiah 65 v1-9; Psalm 22 v19-28; Galatians 3 v23-29; Luke 8 v26-39. ‘But the people were terrified’ (Luke 8 v35d) In the gospel reading for today we read of Jesus healing a man possessed by ‘many demons’. This poor man had been…
We have just spent a wonderful week in the North East on holiday with our eldest daughter and our grandson. I had two main objectives for the holiday: the first was putting the new mobility scooter through its paces and secondly, as my daughter puts it perfectly, making memories for our grandson. During the course…
My home town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland has been featuring on the main news over the last couple of days. Unfortunately, it is for all the wrong reasons. There has been rioting and destruction of property and quite a few policemen have been injured. It is being blamed on racial attacks. Many of the…