EASTER DAY March 31, 2024 Acts 10:34-43 I Corinthians 15:1-11 Mark 16:1-8 When we think of Easter, what first comes to mind? Easter eggs? The bunny or the French bells that shower chocolate eggs from the sky for the children? Roast lamb and simnel cake? Beautiful flowers and hymns? All these traditions are important parts…
Good Friday 2024 Christians through the ages have tried to express their thoughts and feelings about what happened in Palestine on this day almost two thousand years ago by using paradoxes. A paradox is a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or idea that at first sight is opposed to common sense, but often turns out…
Palm Sunday March 24, 2024, Mark 11 :1-11 Palm Sunday always brings back memories of childhood. I suppose the hot cross buns left the greatest impression; more so than the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I liked the palm crosses we made, and it was always fun to see a donkey walk into church.…
Lent V March 17, 2024 Jeremiah 31 :31-34 Hebrews 5 :5-10 John 12 :20-33 John’s gospel is full of little stories about Jesus meeting people. You might almost say that the story of Jesus’ life, is told through these meetings – more so perhaps than in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Here are a few examples:…
Lent III March 3, 2024 Exodus 20:1-17 I Corinthians 1:18-25 John 2:13-22 While we were cleaning up the three panels at the front of the church, we discovered that they are exactly one hundred and fifty years old this year. In gold letters, they spell out the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed and the Ten…
Epiphany II January 14, 2024 I Samuel 3:1-20 I Corinthians 6:11-20 John 1:43-51 When we read the Bible, we often get the feeling that God is constantly talking – either to individuals or to groups of people. At the end of our readings, we sometimes say ‘This is the word of the Lord’, and we…
Epiphany January 7, 2024 Isaiah 60:1-6 Ephesians 3:1-12 Matthew 2:1-12 How would you begin a story about a child who was to become not just a king or queen, but the greatest king or queen of all time? Maybe you’d want to begin with who that person’s ancestors were, to set them in historical context,…
Christmas Eve December 24, 2023 Isaiah 9 :2-7 Titus 2 :11-14 Luke 2 :1-20 I will never forget the first Baptisms I ever presided over. The children I baptized would be in their late twenties by now, and hopefully they will have no memory of the occasion! The baptisms took place in Birmingham, England when…
Chantons Noël 2023 Looking around the church this evening, I’m aware that many of us – perhaps even the majority of us – were not born in the United States, let alone native New Yorkers. We have come here for many reasons: for work, as exiles from political or religious persecution or war, because…
Advent I December 3, 2023 Isaiah 64:1-9 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 Certain seasons in the church’s year are known for their wonderful music, including Advent. Churches hold Advent services at which famous hymns like ‘O come, O come Emmanuel’ are sung. I won’t name the church, but the advert for their Advent service went…