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Love

Easter 6 ’26

We’re following up directly on last weeks passage and as a reminder we’re in the middle of a big chunk in John’s Gospel referred to as the ‘farewell discourse’ this is a long conversation Jesus is having with his disciples at the Last Supper the night he was betrayed… And the question we are faced with in todays portion is this: how do we reveal our love for Jesus? What is it that shows we love Jesus?
Now if I asked you that question over tea and coffee later, without today’s Gospel reading, what do you think you’d say?

Good Friday ’26

No matter the darkness you find yourself in, Jesus is already there.
As we stand at the foot of the cross we stand in darkness. Literal darkness; we read that darkness covered the land from noon until Jesus’ death three hours later. And metaphorical darkness as Jesus goes down into the very depths with us. And as we stand here in the darkness, we find that Jesus is here with us. And that no matter the darkness we face in our lives, Jesus is already there. The darkness of life’s hardships, the darkness of sin, and the darkness of death.

Lent 5 ’26

…And it starts with the news that Lazarus is ill, it’s noted that his sisters are Mary and Martha, who we’ve met in the other Gospels, and they send word to Jesus that ‘the one you love is ill’. From what we can tell from the Gospels Jesus becomes good friends with this little family of 3, and so naturally they send word to him, he’s a miracleworker and his friend is ill, why wouldn’t you contact him.
But by the time he gets there Lazarus is dead. Indeed Jesus knows he is dead before he gets there. And we have repeated on the lips of both sisters a declaration of faith and of despair ‘if you had been here my brother would not have died’.

Christmas Night ’25

Now, neither I nor Glen are going after Santa here, Santa is certainly odd when you think about it, but actually, how often do we think of God like this? When you think of God are you thinking of Santa in the sky? A big bearded man in a far away place, ‘he see’s you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he’s watching and waiting to catch your next mistake’. How do you picture God? Christmas is a cry against a Santa Claus image of God.

Feast of the Holy Cross ’25

We have at the heart of our Gospel reading today the very core of the Gospel. The most famous verse in the Bible, indeed you could summarise the whole Bible in this one verse (but you still need the rest to unpack this summary). ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life’. It’s such a familiar verse to many of us, but it’s an utterly lifechanging verse if you grasp it. It speaks of the cross: the reason for the cross, the one who goes to the cross, and the results of the cross.

Trinity 12 ’25

Following Jesus, being a Christian is free. It’s less about what we have done to earn it and more about what Jesus has done for us. It’s the free gift of God bought at a great price, we often emphasise that. And yet it also costs. Being a disciple means our lives changing, the grace of God is costly in how it changes us. And might that cost be too high?

Easter 6

We’re continuing on from last week’s sermon with another part of Jesus’ farewell discourse, the discussion he’s having with his disciples during the Last Supper. And again one of the theme’s Jesus is speaking on is the theme of love. Last week it was love for one another, now it’s our love for him that’s in view. And so having last week asked a question from a 90’s dance anthem; what is love? I thought this week we’d keep that theme too with a question asked by the Bee Gees in the 70’s, and again by Calvin Harris in 2015: How deep is your love?

Easter 5 ’25

Jesus tells us today that the hallmark of his disciples is our love for one another. Which means we’re faced with the same question posed by Haddaway in his 90’s dance hit: What is love?

Lent 5 ’25

Our Gospel reading today goes to the heart of worship. Are we caught up in wonder and love, or are we cold and calculating when it comes to how our hearts relate to Jesus?