Reflections from the belly
A reflection on Jesus’ time of testing for the beginning of Lent, shared with Westgate Baptist Community. (Listen here.)
If. It’s a very small word with a very big weight. If only I were a better person … If I just prayed more … If I tried a bit harder … If I really trusted God … Again and again I hear some version of this, sometimes from other people, sometimes from the voices in my head.
Continue reading “Luke | No ifs about it!”
A reflection given to Canterbury Baptist Church on 7 July 2024. This congregation is facing a move, as their property is about to undergo a major redevelopment. And while there will be much to gain (don’t even mention the toilets), there will also be a great deal of loss. Given all this, I reflected on the theme of God’s dwelling place. Listen here.
Where does God live? What does God’s house look like? Does God live at church? These are big questions often asked by small people, but I wish more big people would ask them. Because I reckon many big people haven’t really worked out the answers, even though the questions have been floating around for thousands of years.
Continue reading “John | God’s dwelling place”
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained, saying, “If only we had died by God’s hand in Egypt, where we sat by the stew pots and ate our fill of bread; but you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill the whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:2-3)
Once upon a time, there was a pastor who was beginning to feel stagnant, and stale, and trapped. She waited and waited for God to open the door of a small inner-city church; but at last, and to her shock, God called her to serve a regional crowd instead. “Who am I to do this?” she asked as she doubted and wrestled and argued with God. Finally, however, she obeyed; and she moved and began working among the people there. But after a year or so of people gathering and growing, and miracles abounding, she began to grumble. Continue reading “Exodus | Hungry people, heaven’s bread”
God meets us in liminal spaces, when all our defences are down. (Listen.)
I think we can all agree: Sanctuary is at a threshold. Many will affirm that we have indeed lived into our name and created a sanctuary for hurting, wounded, tender things. Many will also affirm they have sensed the holy spirit moving in this place, and have experienced healing and renewal. But somehow, it isn’t enough. Continue reading “Genesis | The god of betwixt and between”
Being God’s children is never in question. It’s what we do next that counts. (Listen.)
‘Since you’re the son of God,’ says the devilish examiner in Matthew’s story, ‘turn these stones to bread.’ Use your power for your own ends. Whip up a miracle, and feed yourself. ‘Since you’re the son of God,’ says the examiner, ‘jump off The Pinnacle.’ Create a spectacle, sell tickets, hold a circus. Let everyone see God’s angels save you: it’ll be great advertising for your little movement. And anyway, it’s all in scripture. According to Psalm 91, ‘The angels will catch you and raise you up — you won’t even stub your toe!’ (vv. 11-12). Continue reading “Matthew | So you’re God’s child. Now what?”
John the Baptizer has strong words for religious leaders; but, in the kingdom of heaven, even the most vulnerable person need not be afraid. (Listen.)
Sin. For many of us it’s a dirty word. Because many of us are recovering Christians. We are recovering from churches which preached judgement and condemnation, triggering fear and shame. We are recovering from feeling manipulated; we are recovering from the threat of hell; we are recovering from bad theology. We are recovering from mincing moralism which taught us to be afraid of our own desires. We are recovering from abusive shepherds and church leaders who stole our innocence away. We are recovering from all the ways the word ‘sin’ has been wielded like a weapon, to make us compliant and afraid. And yet, we are here. Continue reading “Matthew | Like an arsonist”
Jesus’ resistance to the devil is grounded in knowing himself beloved. (Listen.)
*If.* It’s a very small word with a very big weight, and I hear it all the time. If only I prayed hard enough … If I were a good enough Christian … If I read my Bible more … If I just tried harder … If I really trusted God … How many times have I heard some iteration of this, sometimes from the people I listen to, sometimes within my own head? Continue reading “Luke | If you are God’s child …”
Repentance is about changing your mind, and accepting the freedom which this new perspective brings. (Listen.)
Once upon a time, long long ago, I had a great-uncle who was slightly mad. He used to parade up and down a major traffic bridge wearing a sandwich board; on it, large letters proclaimed, ‘Repent!’ I don’t know about you, but this sort of thing makes me twitchy. It’s like the time I was sitting in a tram quietly minding my own business, when a bloke I knew to be an intermittently violent psychiatric patient loomed over me and aggressively demanded, ‘Have you been saved?’ To which I replied, ‘Yes, of course,’ and immediately scrambled past him and shot off the tram.
Continue reading “Mark | Change your thinking, claim your life”
The ancient story of a wilderness-wandering people invites us to ponder how God sustains us during shutdown. (Listen.)
Day after day, week after week, month after month, we have been walking in the wilderness of shutdown. School has changed. Work has changed. Church has changed; and so has everything else. Most of us are still spending time with too many family members and not enough friends; many of us are lonely, anxious, exhausted, overwhelmed. Babies are being born; children are growing; grandparents are ageing, all without loved ones attending every step. Significant milestones are passing by without our usual rituals: Birthdays. Graduations. Anniversaries. Even deaths.
For churches grappling with the loss of physical gatherings and an uncertain future, the story of Jesus’ ascension provides a model for discernment. (Listen.)
Here at Sanctuary, yet again we have ‘gathered’ to worship via Zoom. It is wonderful that we are able to do this: To see each other’s faces and chat before and after the service; to lead each other through the liturgy; to hear the Word of God proclaimed; to pray together; and to be reminded that, through the power of the Holy Spirit which transcends time and space, we continue to be the church. Continue reading “Acts | How can we be fed by the body when the body as we know it has disappeared?”
Alison and the whale 