Last week, like many diehard fans, I finally got to see the latest James Bond film Spectre. As the lights went down and I chomped through the popcorn, I felt myself being drawn into the drama as Daniel Craig once again (for the last time?) did battle with the forces of evil—uncovering the cunning schemes […]
I am told that there are ‘only’ 83 days, 15 hours, 41 minutes and 46 seconds until Christmas. Although the autumn term has only just started, there is already a sense that Christmas, with its relentless build up to the frenetic worship at the altar of Mammon, is just around the corner. Christmas is the […]
Evangelicals have not usually been strong on the liturgical year, possibly because of Paul’s language about ‘observing special days and months and seasons and years’ in Gal 4.10. But, like many evangelical Anglicans, I have come to appreciate the sense of rhythm and shape that calendar gives to the year; after all, even in our […]
Last Sunday I was speaking at St Ann’s with Emmanuel, an inner-urban church in Nottingham, using the lectionary gospel reading of Mark 1.1–8. I trace here the move from the text itself to the all-age talk and activity, and include details of the PowerPoint presentation I used. Features of the text The most striking thing […]
Here are some thoughts on making sense of the lectionary readings for Advent 1: Is 64.1–9; Mark 13.24–37 ‘Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!’ Isaiah’s cry of desperation resonates with the cry of many today. If only God would make everything clear! If only he would remove uncertainty, and bring clarity! […]
As it is still Advent, it is still worth reflecting on how we make sense Matt 24 (the reading for the First Sunday of Advent). There appear to be two main ways it is read. 1. Both two main sections, Matt 24.1–35 and Matt 24.36–51 are about Jesus’ second coming at the end of the […]