Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at God

Here is a hymn that is so well known and loved that it has simply burst the bounds of Easter, and gets sung regularly at other times of the year. It has two stories behind it. First, the music. The rousing music did not start out as a hymn, but instead was written by Handel...

Palm Sunday From the Vicar With Jesus in Paradise Christian Basics No 4: What about the Resurrection? The empty tomb and the Risen Christ Handel’s Messiah Reflected Faith Series: Togetherness Easter Reflection ** Editor:  Canon Paul Hardingham considers the crowds of Jerusalem… Palm Sunday It must have been a dramatic sight on Palm Sunday when...

It must have been a dramatic sight on Palm Sunday when Jesus approached Jerusalem to the adulation of the crowds. The Bible tells us that ‘A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him...

It must have been a dramatic sight on Palm Sunday when Jesus approached Jerusalem to the adulation of the crowds. ‘A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted,...

‘Easter is not primarily a comfort, but a challenge. Its message is either the supreme fact in history or else a gigantic hoax.’ (CS Lewis). As we celebrate another Easter, what is the significance of Jesus’ resurrection for us? As Paul writes, ‘if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still...

‘So they (the women) went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.’ That’s how some early manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel finish. It’s an unexpected twist, when you consider the confident announcement at the outset: “The beginning of the good news...

The original idea was not Handel’s, but his collaborator’s, Charles Jennens, a passionate Christian who wanted to demonstrate that Jesus really was the ‘Christ’, or Messiah.  This was being denied by Deists in the 18th Century, who believed God created the world and then stayed distant from it. Jennens combed the Old Testament for texts...

Thoughts on the Crucifixion accompanied with a painting This is not a nice picture. In fact, it is pretty horrible. But then that 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ was pretty horrible. It was controversial for its goriness and violence. Yet the director Mel Gibson deeply wanted it to be true to life, without...

Last month we began our Lenten journey with ashes on Ash Wednesday, reminding us of our beginning and our ending; and this month we will conclude that time with Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. Such a relatively short time for so great a distance. I’m reminded of this by the opening words used in Church...

“When you die, that’s it. Nothing. Out like a light.” That’s what the man in the pub said, and his mates all nodded, though the one whose mother had died the week before wasn’t really quite so certain. Still, it seemed to make sense. After all, we know what ‘dead’ means: dead leaves, dead batteries,...

Two donkeys were walking the streets of Jerusalem. One said: “Just a few days ago I came down that hill carrying Jesus, and the people were all singing and shouting and throwing down their cloaks and palms for me to walk on. But today they don’t even recognise me.” The other donkey replied: “That is...

Observing Lent From the Vicar Look at you Reflected Faith Series: the Ashing Service Christian Basics No 3: Why the Cross? When the angel came to Mary The story of the yellow ribbons ** Editor:  Canon Paul Hardingham considers the spiritual disciplines Observing Lent This month sees the start of Lent, the 40-day season of...