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Down to the Core
Down to the Core
by Jane Bingham
A meditation on the image of an apple core and a reflection on personal faith. Down to the core I am down to the core The very last remnant Chewed within an inch of all that I am The flesh seemingly spat out by those who do not value me I am down to the core Forced to draw on the…
Poem/Reflection: Community of faith
Poem/Reflection: Community of faith
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem/ Reflection: Community of faith Silent contemplation, solitary reflection, praising God in isolation; all these have their places in our lifelong experience of faith. They are life-saving when there is no alternative and helpful when the need to escape from the troubles of l…
Imagining the Lectionary: confronting the reality of evil (Easter 7B)
Imagining the Lectionary: confronting the reality of evil (Easter 7B)
by David Perry
Imagining the Lectionary: Confronting the reality of evil (Easter 7B) Reflection accompanying image “Demon locked within” My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (John 17:15) Jesus never prayed that his disciples would f…
The Lord now lives
The Lord now lives
by Michael Docker
The Lord now lives; the world has turned The Lord now lives; the world has turned: Life that had ended now revives. The Lord now lives, and we are turned From sighs of grief to sing, 'He lives!'; From fearful nights, from angry days, From clouded minds and wayward wills To richer…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - God's Love, God's Power - In Us
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - God's Love, God's Power - In Us
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Love, God’s Power – In Us Ephesians 3.14-21 Love and power, power and love: these are the themes of perhaps two-thirds of the novels, plays and poems ever written. The love of power has laid waste continents and empires. The power of love has driven weak people to do powerf…
Here is hope in desolation
Here is hope in desolation
by Andrew Pratt
3rd Sunday in Lent Romans 5: 1 – 11 Hymn: Here is hope in desolation Here is hope in desolation: pain that speaks of sacrifice bringing deeper faith among us, mirrored God, embodied Christ. Here within this turmoil, testing, every sinew of God’s grace stretched in tension, peace …
Hymn: Here in the midst of greatest loss
Hymn: Here in the midst of greatest loss
by Andrew Pratt
Here in the midst of greatest loss, reflecting on what might have been, Naomi gave a kiss of peace, a kiss of comfort, yet release, but Ruth would learn what love could mean, yes she would learn what love could mean. The love these women would exchange was not ephemeral or weak, …
Hymn: What does it mean to love our God
Hymn: What does it mean to love our God
by Andrew Pratt
What does it mean to love our God,to see the Christ in those around, to seek God's heaven on this earth, while all around is shaking ground? How can we face the present time of chaos that we meet and find, while Jesus says we need to love with all our soul, our strength and mind?…
Impartial God, beyond your death
Impartial God, beyond your death
by Andrew Pratt
Impartial God, beyond your death your grace remains a sign, that nothing now in all the world can breach your love's design. We praise that universal love, that lives beyond the cross, that makes our falt'ring joy complete, yet holds us still in loss. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: KING…
If all the world could live as if
If all the world could live as if
by Andrew Pratt
If all the world could live as if the love of God was in each heart. If every one in every place became as one, they could not part. A vast community of love would come to being on the earth, while everyone of every creed would value one another's worth. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: B…
Once a prophet pictured Israel
Once a prophet pictured Israel
by Andrew Pratt
Once a prophet pictured Israel Once a prophet pictured Israel, like a vineyard, overgrown, no more fruitful, judged and broken, left to ruin, overthrown. In the tone hear disappointment in the prophet’s call and cry, seeing bloodshed wound his nation, justice now a living lie. Ve…
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr C Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33 One does not think of the apostle Paul as being very personally involved with those he taught or of having much of a sense of humour, but both are demonstrated in his letter to Philemo…
Churning waves unsettled Peter
Churning waves unsettled Peter
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Churning waves unsettled Peter Proper 14 year A Matthew 14: 22 - 33 Churning waves unsettled Peter, startled, he was sinking fast, he'd been walking on the water, seemed this moment could not last. Jesus reached a hand to save him, lifted him above the swell. Fainting faith…
Hymn - So stunned by what she heard then saw
Hymn - So stunned by what she heard then saw
by Andrew Pratt
So stunned by what she heard then saw, a voice was calling out her name, and turning she was shocked by joy for Jesus walked into the frame. Not long before she’d watched him die, the victim of a murderous act, she saw him lose his grasp on life, a witness to this dying fact. Ver…
Hymn: Sometimes the Bible seems unreal
Hymn: Sometimes the Bible seems unreal
by Andrew Pratt
Sometimes the Bible seems unreal, its people like a saintly race, they speak with such integrity as those immersed in Godly grace. And how can we, within our time, aspire to such a perfect goal of innocence and purity, when needing love to make us whole? Verses 3-4 follow Tune: B…
Hymn: Upon this groaning, quaking earth
Hymn: Upon this groaning, quaking earth
by Andrew Pratt
Upon this groaning, quaking earth we find the evidence of grace, for here, our God, you nurtured love, brought faith and hope within this place. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: ABENDS Metre: LM Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 5/5/2012 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.c…
Exodus and Leviticus - How to Celebrate