Second Sunday of Advent
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight” ’,
Advent 4 – Fourth and Final Sunday of Advent
That, I believe, is what God wants to offer each one of us as God calls us out of fear, and deeper into trust and discipleship. Let’s be honest, there are real risks to following God and obeying his calling – risks of uncertainty and sacrifice and it can be frustrating trying to listen to God in prayer, and making time to read and understand the Bible, and making time for Church and serving our brothers and sisters
Third Sunday of Advent (B)
So what might mission mean for us? The options are endless. It might include something active and direct, like a role in church, helping at a night shelter, visiting the sick or the lonely, or volunteering at a food bank. But it might also be something less obvious, like some simple words of comfort to someone who is fearful.
The Baptism of Christ
Today we’ve jumped forward thirty years in a week and we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Mark’s Gospel, which we heard this morning, begins with the Baptism with very little preamble. In fact, all four Gospels mention this important event.
Christ the King Sunday
Our ideas of kingship are sometimes unhelpfully skewed because human power and authority can mislead us: If we think of world leaders today, presidents and politicians, we might think kingship is about ego; hiring people who agree with us and firing those who don’t; pushing our own agenda for our friends and having the freedom to say and do whatever we want. This is the opposite kind of leadership which Jesus has over our world. His Kingship is the upside-down logic of God: where all are welcome, the meek are blessed, the poor are fed and the homeless find home.
Second Sunday before Advent
Many of us carry muddled and unhelpful images of God within us. Images from childhood perhaps of a God who looks for ways to punish the tiniest of slip-ups, or a God who is so distant and uncaring, that they created the world and then walked off letting us get on with it.
There is little intimacy in such images, little space for growth or delight. For others of us the pendulum has swung the other way. Jesus, God-with-us, is a gentle, kind friend – almost like a teddy bear, a comforter in times of desperation, who fits easily into our comfortable lifestyles all within our control.
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