Search Results
How easy to distort the Jesus Spirit
How easy to distort the Jesus Spirit
by Andrew Pratt
How easy to distort the Jesus Spirit, to lose his ways in empty, so called, praise. We brush aside his life of liberation, commitment, just a hollow passing phase. Astonishment might greet the face we offer, purporting to portray the grace of Christ, our frowns sometimes betray t…
Hymn: We have drunk wine from the grapes in this vinery
Hymn: We have drunk wine from the grapes in this vinery
by Andrew Pratt
We have drunk wine from the grapes in this vinery grapes that have hung in the sun, now a sign: Jesus taught plainly, with words of simplicity, 'you are those branches and I am that vine'. Look at it this way, imagine a scene with me: look at the gardener tending each branch. Tho…
It all feels so unjust
It all feels so unjust
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: It all feels so unjust Sixth Sunday of Easter 1 Peter 3: 13 – 22 It all feels so unjust when they slag me off, makes me cynical. I hardly want to believe anymore. Call themselves Christian? And they tell me how to behave? Should look at themselves. It all feels so unju…
No magic, but a simple need
No magic, but a simple need
by Andrew Pratt
No magic, but a simple need was met when Jesus joined a feast, a wedding was well underway until the wine ran low, then ceased. While Jesus never looked for fame his mother called him to her side to ask that he would help them out, assuming grace would now provide. He wasn't such…
Over mountains, through the valleys
Over mountains, through the valleys
by Andrew Pratt
Over mountains, through the valleys let the voice of God be heard, singing, crying in a language often vivid or absurd. God translate your message for us, so that we might understand all your heights of grace and glory, as we worship hand in hand. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: CROSS OF…
Flawed and fickle priests and people
Flawed and fickle priests and people
by Andrew Pratt
Flawed and fickle priests and people - hymn Third Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30 Flawed and fickle priests and people, like young children playing games, running, squabbling, teasing, laughing, calling one another names. But the children's understanding Jesus t…
Hymn - So stunned by what she heard then saw
Hymn - So stunned by what she heard then saw
by Andrew Pratt
So stunned by what she heard then saw, a voice was calling out her name, and turning she was shocked by joy for Jesus walked into the frame. Not long before she’d watched him die, the victim of a murderous act, she saw him lose his grasp on life, a witness to this dying fact. Ver…
Joseph wept, his brothers found him
Joseph wept, his brothers found him
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Joseph wept, his brothers found him Proper 15 year A Genesis 45: 1 – 15 Joseph wept, his brothers found him, found the one that they had sold, stunning grace would now confound them, family bonds would last and hold. Famine brought them to his table, desperation drove them …
Making much of clever counsel
Making much of clever counsel
by Andrew Pratt
Making much of clever counsel lawyers sought to trip and flaw. Jesus answered with God’s wisdom, offered grace to cut through law. God of Jesus, God of Moses, God of Hannah and of Ruth; God of Dorcas, God of Peter, help us understand your truth. Verse 3-4 follow Tune: ALL FOR JES…
Now take away the stone, he is not dead
Now take away the stone, he is not dead
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: 'Now take away the stone, he is not dead', Fifth Sunday in Lent John 11: 1 - 45 'Now take away the stone, he is not dead', the people looked amazed, yet some with dread. For Lazarus was buried four long days, the stench said this was more than just a phase. Yes dead is dead…
Job for Everyone - Insight Lies in Submission to the Lord
Job for Everyone - Insight Lies in Submission to the Lord
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Insight Lies in Submission to the Lord Job 28: 1-28 In two weeks I have to preach at the seminary’s baccalaureate service (a kind of commissioning service, I could call it for U.K. readers). Each year as I have listened appreciatively to the baccalaureate sermon, I have wondered …
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Now I Know
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Now I Know
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Now I Know Genesis 22: 11- 19 In 1969, as the Vietnam war reached its peak, the Canadian Jewish poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen recorded a song about “The Story of Isaac.” The first two verses imaginatively retell the story from Isaac’s angle, but then the song ricochets into a…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Third Sunday of Epiphany Luke 4.14-21 Gaze on the scene in the synagogue. The men crowd in, some who normally wouldn’t bother to attend, but today have rediscovered their piety in the urge to see what the fuss is about. They arrive early so they’ll get a seat with a view. The…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - When the Apostate King's Son Gets Sick
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - When the Apostate King's Son Gets Sick
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When the Apostate King’s Son Gets Sick 1 Kings 13:33-14:20 Last night a friend of mine was blowing a fuse concerning the sermon at her church a couple of Sundays ago. The preacher was talking about Jesus’ healing of the man who had been lying sick by the Pool of Siloam for thirty…
friends, FOES and families - Ash Wednesday: in order to know what is in your heart
friends, FOES and families - Ash Wednesday: in order to know what is in your heart
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
ASH WEDNESDAY: in order to know what is in your heart Mark 1.12, 13 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart. (Deuteronomy 8.2)...
Gazing on the Gospels year c - Easter Day Year C