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Sacrifice

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.

Christ the King ’25

We have in our readings today two thing we might assume are opposed, and they often are in our world; power and authority, and sacrifice. Often we think of them as opposite ends of the spectrum. But in Christ they’re brought together.
Paul in the opening of his letter to the Colossians which we heard is praying that God would strengthen the believers there, because he has brought them out from the power of darkness and into the kingdom of light; the kingdom of Jesus. And Paul immediately segways into who this Jesus is, and he doesn’t go in the direction we might expect. There’s nothing about his humble birth, earthly ministry, teaching or miracles. Rather what we have is a celebration of Jesus’ supremacy, how he is above all things. It’s something well worth dwelling on on a Sunday like Christ the King.

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?

Good Friday ’25

On Good Friday we welcomed Canon Dr. Tudor Griffiths as our guest preacher to consider Jesus final hours before his death. In it he pondered power, the finality of death, and the need to sit in the silence of the tomb and not rush on to Easter.

Palm Sunday ’25

Today Jesus rides into Jerusalem as a King, but not the sort of king they were expecting. As he rides, in triumphal procession, his disciples sing his praise, they speak of his power, and of the peace that he brings.

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?

Ash Wednesday ’25

Lent, despite what it’s become in the wider mindset, isn’t New Years mk 2, another chance to have a stab at cutting down on chocolate (a resolution which you managed to break at approximately 2pm on January 1st). Lent goes much deeper than that. We can easily default to ‘Lent is about giving stuff up’ without really thinking any further about why. So what is Lent for?
It’s an annual trumpet call to return to God, to come back when we have wandered off. Lent is about coming back to our first love.

Trinity 17 ’24

There are two conversations happening as Jesus and the 12 are travelling. Jesus is explaining to the 12 about his coming betrayal, death and resurrection. He’s letting them know again what the endgame is here…The second conversation happening on the road is between the 12. They’re arguing about who is the greatest, who is the most important…The two conversations couldn’t be more different. Here’s Jesus saying ‘I’m going to be betrayed, die and rise again’ meanwhile they’re going ‘great Jesus, now which of us gets to be deputy, how should we organise ourselves into different rankings’.

Trinity 7 ’24

Rumours are growing about this Jesus, and all that he’s doing. And people are beginning to theorise about his importance, who he might be. But Herod, the pretender King who sits upon the throne, he recognises in Jesus something of what he has encountered before, he recognises in Jesus something of the forerunner, something of John the Baptist. And we see in this short narrative both the cost of discipleship, and the response we might find to the Gospel, to Jesus.