I can’t let the beginning of the new year go by without first wishing you a happy (happier?) one; and second, commenting on the plethora of advice on how to have a better year than the one that just...

I have a clear picture in my mind of when I was a year and a half old, as I stood on the sidewalk of our new home. I was waiting for my father as he unlocked the front door. I instantly fell in love...

For many, Christmas includes the tradition of giving gifts. Have you ever watched someone open a gift and recognised that it wasn’t what they wanted? Is it wrong to want more? We are often...

An epiphany is an experience of a sudden and striking realisation, often used to describe a scientific breakthrough or philosophical discovery. So when Archimedes jumped into the bath and yelled,...

As the young man talked, his audience, who were mostly kids, quietened and stilled. They were gripped by his story, his honesty, and openness. He talked about the time when his parents told him that...

This week, we are blessed to celebrate the coming of another year with fireworks, parties, and cheers of ‘goodbye’ to 2024 and ‘hello’ to 2025. At the start of a new year, many people use the...

I love it when my neighbours put up their Christmas lights. In the winter, our road is very dark very early and we have no streetlights. The colourful lights are welcoming and seem to be showing the...

Sitting there quietly in the large emergency room was anything but joyful. I watched as people slowly and constantly showed up seeking aid; the young, the old, all with their levels of pain or...

Here we are at the beginning of another year, and it’s time again to think about making some resolutions that are actually going to make a positive difference in our lives. I know that New Year...

New Year Resolutions – some of us do great with them. Some of us don’t make any resolutions. And some of us might want me to change the subject. I get it. It has been reported that only 8.9%...

When I was growing up one of my musical heroes was the Brummie Roy Wood. In the 1960s he was a founder member of the rock band The Move and in the early 1970s, he was instrumental in forming the...

What is the ultimate goal of the Christian life? Let me suggest that the essence of Christianity can be summed up in a Latin term: Coram Deo.1 This phrase refers to something that takes place in the...

For a lot of people, much of the enjoyment of Christmas comes through watching the delight of family and friends as they open gifts. For most of the year, we know gifts come with no strings attached,...

As I drew on my paper, the name Emmanuel [Immanuel], came to mind. My drawings are a form of stress relief, and a way to concentrate on the one true God who loves us all and desires our...

During the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Easter people, even if they are not Christians, hear the name of Jesus Christ. Some people will think deeply about him while others will give him a passing...

Each December as Christmas Day approaches, I am transported back to my childhood and the many fond memories of how this wonderful time of year was spent. I was blessed with it being full of...

The name Mary is Mariam in Greek, but another form is Miriam, who as we know was the sister of Moses. Miriam was a courageous woman and loved to sing. She sang passionately of God’s victory when he...

In the beauty of the incarnation, we witness the depth of God’s love. Jesus, born into our world, took on our humanity, placing himself in our skin and on our side to reveal divine love for all...

In this sacred season of Advent, as we gather in hushed reverence, we are reminded that love is at the heart of it all. Our header scripture calls us to sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever...

On the evening of 15th April 2019, the people of Paris stood in horror, watching their beloved Cathedral Notre Dame engulfed in flames. Many of us, as we watched those awful pictures relayed around...

The Christmas season is upon us and the sounds of jingling bells, songs of winter sleighs and roaring fires, and of course, peace and goodwill toward all are in the air. We like to think peace, love...

How impatient we were as children to discover what lay in those boxes under the Christmas tree with our names on it. My brothers would rip into the boxes from the biggest to the smallest, and I...

Throughout Luke’s two-volume work: his gospel and Acts, he keeps coming back to the same question ‘What should we do?’1 This is a good question for us to consider during Advent, in the lead up...

As we are about to enter the third week of Advent, we are invited to pause and reflect on the deep joy that comes with the approaching fulfilment of God’s promises. This season of waiting prepares...

In the tender embrace of Advent, we find ourselves on the cusp of a wondrous journey. Like the first light of dawn, joy begins to illuminate our hearts.  In Isiah chapter 61 we hear the...

I experience God through praying, especially during this season of Advent. As we eagerly await the celebration of the birth of Jesus, I am reminded that prayer teaches me about waiting. God’s...

It’s been raining a lot the past few weeks. Water has been running down from the road and carving little channels in the unpaved part of the driveway. The water goes where it wants, regardless...

Do you remember your first introduction to the gospel, to the words written in the Bible, or to a revelation of the Bible? To learn and to know something we must first be introduced to it. I did not...

You, like me, may be unfamiliar with the word ‘liminal’. I confess that when I came across it recently, I had to grab a dictionary and look it up. Apparently, it means: ‘between or belonging to...

As we are about to enter the second week of Advent, we continue our journey of preparation. This season, we are called not only to prepare our own hearts but also to be messengers of blessing to those...

In the quiet moments of Advent, we find ourselves in the wilderness, where the hustle and bustle of the world begins to fade away. It’s here, in this sacred space, that we encounter the promise of...

A little over two years ago, the world watched as Queen Elizabeth, who had reigned over the UK for 70 years, was laid to rest. It was a time of sadness for the country, but especially for her family....

Commands seem like such a negative thing. The human nature within us will tend to rebel against being told what to do. As a child, we received a lot of messages to not do or touch things. We did of...