Love Wins

There’s an irony in the fact that a new book by the American preacher and church leader Rob Bell called ‘Love Wins’ should have stirred up such a bitter debate amongst evangelicals over the last month or so in America. In many ways, this has been their equivalent of the debate sparked off in the …

A Cash Conundrum

Since coming back from Sierra Leone, I’ve found myself in a bit of a conundrum… Not surprisingly I’ve been thinking a lot about money; how to raise it, how to give it to our friends there, and how to enable them to become more self-sufficient. One story that keeps coming to mind, however, is that of …

The Heart of the Problem

Notes from a sermon on Mark 7:1-23 preached at Wormley Free Church on 27.02.11 Out, damned spot! out, I say! So cries Lady Macbeth as she scrubs away at the blood she imagines staining her hand after the murder of King Duncan and Banquo, Macbeth’s former friend. But alas, in her fevered imagination, the mark will …

Take Nothing for the Journey

Notes from a sermon preached at Wormley Free Church, 20.02.11 Do you think you could be a missionary? Do you think you have what it takes to make a difference for God – if not upping sticks and travelling to some foreign country, maybe here in Wormley?  I don’t know about you, but there are …

Confession Time

Three ministers were on a train returning from a conference they been to together. The closing session had been about the dangers of temptation, and so in the spirit of mutual support they decided to share their weaknesses with each other so that they could become mutually accountable. They all agreed that it was a …

Re-imagining Relationships

At church we're working through Mark's Gospel on Sunday mornings between Christmas and Easter, and I've decided to read it as my devotional reading each day as well during this time. Reading it again, I've been struck by many things, and I'm only a few chapters in! It paints a picture of Jesus far from …