Posts from August 2020

Posts from August 2020

WEEKLY PASTORAL ADDRESS 30/8/20

Dear Congregation, Alec Motyer asks the question, ‘How far back in your life can you trace the hand of God?’ He adds ‘If you have never done this, I venture to think you will be surprised!’ Well that is a challenge too good to pass up on, don’t you think? Perhaps we will discover that we are not, and have not been as conscious of the hand of God on our lives as we ought.…

WEEKLY PASTORAL ADDRESS 23/8/20

Do remember the contemporary Christian hymn by Leonard E Smith, ‘How lovely on the mountains…” that has the chorus repeating the simple yet profound phrase “Our God reigns”? This is how it starts…               How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him Who brings good news, good news Announcing peace,…

WEEKLY PASTORAL ADDRESS 16/8/20

Dear Congregation, Earlier this week I was reminded of the hymn “Count your blessing, name them one by one…” It is so easy to be overwhelmed by the restrictions on movement and its impact on life… but are their blessings? Surely. I decided to keep an eye on at least one each day this week. Day by day I have noted the blessing discovered and enjoyed that day. Monday: A…

WEEKLY PASTORAL ADDRESS 9/8/20

Dear Congregation, I’ve just done the unthinkable – no, calm down, I am not talking about sin – I just added ‘covid’ to my computer dictionary. The spell checker keeps flagging it, and I have been matching that with the ignore option. In adding it in to the dictionary it seems like a tangible acknowledgement that this is not only an increasingly frequent word in our day…

WEEKLY PASTORAL ADDRESS 1/8/20

Dear Congregation, On Friday towards the end of the memorial service for [one of our congregant’s] sister, we sang “Jesus loves me, this I know…” and you know how that incredible statement is supported. It is not supported by my ego, nor by the compassion of my friends who treat me kindly and warmly. Nor is it undermined by my failures or inconsistencies. It is a…