Pastors Pen

‘…her name, was Noya’ August 21, 2022 Scripture: Based very imaginatively on Luke 13:10-17 Slowly and carefully the ‘bent old woman’ picked her way over the very familiar paths towards the Temple across town.  She had left early today, partly in order to avoid the teasing and taunting of the local teenage bullies who made […]

…interpreting the ‘present time’ August 14, 2022 Scriptures: Isaiah 5:1-7, Luke 12:49-56 In truth, these scriptures are at best difficult, and at worst nearly impossible to fully understand, or at least to become comfortable with. To be sure, they raise some interesting questions. Such as, what is it Jesus and the writer of Isaiah were

‘daily walk’August 7, 2022 Scripture: Luke 12:35-40Today’s reading from Luke is one of those passages that seemsfairly straight forward at first. Upon closer examination however I thinkit may in fact yield much more. The language of the text however, is abit tied into conventions and customs of Jesus’ time, so it may help if weopen

Our Lord’s Prayer Part 2 July 31, 2022 Last week we began to look closely at the prayer Jesustaught his disciples as recounted in both Luke’s and Matthew’sgospels. We looked at the introduction and the first threepetitions which are directed towards the plans and purposes ofGod. We saw that the word ‘our’ which begins the

The Lord’s Prayer – Part 1 July 24, 2022 As a young child there were two prayers we recited each night before going to sleep. One was a short one my dad had written and the other was the Lord’s Prayer. Night after night, those prayers were the last thing we did, and were such

Listen, and then follow July 17, 2022 Scripture: Luke 10:38-42 When we first hear this passage it seems as though one of these two women is doing the ‘right thing’ while the other has busied herself with tasks that may not be quite as important. It seems that Martha has been rebuked for caring about

‘Go, and do likewise…’ July 10, 2022 Scripture: Luke 10:25-37 This story is one of the most widely known, and oft-quoted ones in the gospels. In truth, it is one from which the lead character comes up, perhaps more than many other biblical figures in casual conversation, even to the extent of having ‘Good Samaritan

Don’t forget to eat your Wheaties! July 3, 2022 Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-14 I find as I get older, that certain things sort of stay with us, tucked away in our memories. And though they may not always be remembered verbatim, the awareness of their somewhat hidden presence pops up once in a while. As

Count the Cost June 26, 2022 Scripture: Luke 9:51-62 Three times Jesus had individuals come up to him that day on the road and tell him they believed in him and wanted very much to follow after him. However, every one of them offered that support with a particular condition…‘I will follow you Jesus ,

‘Can’t we just talk…again?’ June 12, 2022 Scriptures: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31, Romans 5:1-5, Jn 16:12-15         Today is set aside in the church calendar as ‘Trinity Sunday’…the Sunday when we reflect on the nature of our God and in particular on the belief that our God has three parts or three persons or essences in