Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at God

The story is told of a farmer who didn’t believe in Jesus. One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a service at their local church. He refused to come saying: ‘Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That’s ridiculous!’ So, they left him at home. During...

The story is told of a farmer who didn’t believe in Jesus. One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a service at their local church. He refused to come saying: ‘Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That’s ridiculous!’ So, they left him at home. During...

‘John’s Gospel is like a pool in which a child may wade and an elephant can swim. It is for the beginner in the faith and for the mature Christian.’ (Leon Morris). The Apostle John is usually credited with the authorship of this Gospel, writing in Ephesus at the end of the First Century. His...

Over the decades the decorations on my home Christmas tree have come and gone. From an eclectic colourful mix of baubles and home-made items when the children were young, to a radical change to ‘contemporary’ and ‘sophisticated’. It didn’t last long, as quite frankly they seemed a bit dull, lifeless and lacking real meaning. We quite rapidly...

Christmas is a great time of year, but it’s not without its challenges! After one family had put up 250,000 Christmas lights outside, they didn’t dare boil a kettle for fear of blowing the system! The challenge of over-indulging We all remember the episode of the Vicar of Dibley, where she had to consume four...

All over the world, doors are being slammed shut this Christmas. As the wars in the Middle East, in Ukraine and in Sudan rage on, millions are losing their homes and places of safety. Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and would-be immigrants are on the road, seeking refuge anywhere they can find it....

A well-known atheist was being interviewed on Radio 4. When asked how he spent Christmas, he said that he went to Midnight Mass at church. “But you’re an atheist”, his interviewer protested. “Yes”, he replied, “but what they celebrate at Christmas is the most beautiful story ever told.” That ‘beautiful story’ tells of a Creator...

War and Peace From the Vicar What’s the Big Idea? – An Introduction to the gospel of Luke Reflecting Faith: Wall paintings Whole Life Discipleship:  ‘Growing Up Together’ Should Christians go to war? HYMN:  The story behind ‘To God be the Glory!’ Choose your god ** Editor:  Canon Paul Hardingham considers the reality of warfare...

John Lennon wrote: ‘Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace.’  But on Remembrance Sunday, we should reflect on war past and present, and consider the real way to peace. The way of war: ‘What causes...

John Lennon wrote: ‘Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people living life in peace.’  But on Remembrance Sunday, we should reflect on war past and present and consider the real way to peace. The way of war: ‘What causes...

Luke is the third of the synoptic gospels. The gospel and Acts were both written for Theophilus, a Roman official, who acted as Luke’s patron to ensure that his gospel was copied and distributed. It was intended for a wider audience, to help both Gentile believers and unbelievers understand who Jesus is and that the...

Prior to the Reformation, English churches were highly decorated with interior wall paintings.  As one author wrote, ‘They were aglow with colour and images covering every flat surface’. Painting pictures seems to be a basic part of people.  We see that in newly discovered caves where people from the distant past have made sketches and...