The resurrection of Jesus is the most confronting and terrifying news imaginable, and all we can do (after trying to run) is surrender ourselves to his grace.
The resurrection of Jesus is the most confronting and terrifying news imaginable, and all we can do (after trying to run) is surrender ourselves to his grace.
Though we get caught up in violent rivalries like Herod, God breaks through with the promise of a new kingdom where all are honoured.
Faithful witness to the Coming Christ is not expressed by trying to force the world into our concepts of righteousness, but by joyously, prayerfully, and thankfully cooperating with the liberating work of the Spirit, even in the face of violent opposition.
God’s action in the world and in our lives is constant and faithful, but rarely flamboyant or unambiguous. Discerning God’s activity is therefore a learned skill.
Our anticipation of new life in Christ, though not removing all grief, allows us to find hope in the mercy and love of God.
When fidelity to Christ’s call is failing to bear the expected fruit, but is bearing good fruit, however humble, the call may be to persevere in hope.
The promise that God will bring new life from a dead stump challenges our haste to chop down whatever seems to be in our way.
The coming Christ will do whatever he can to get through our defences.
The whole story of the universe, from creation to ultimate redemption, is held in God’s hands and revealed in the crucified and risen Christ, and all our stories are gathered safely into that larger story.
A sermon for the Great Paschal Vigil preached by the Revd Andrew Woff
The life Christ call us to is not found by seeking to recover the past or escape from the past, but by opening ourselves to the new things God will do.
God comes to us, in seemingly insignificant places and borne by easily overlooked people.
If the message of Christmas is real, then our preparations for it need to be radically life-changing.
A growing incidence of cataclysmic violence is not a sign of God’s activity, but it does call us to hold on to our hope and look for God’s action in small signs of life coming from death.
Christ’s grief gathers up our griefs and achieves the promise of a day when tears will be no more.
The Spirit of God is acting to bring life out of death and hope and vitality out of despair.
Hope is the melody of the future – Faith dances to it today
The unfailing love of God is with us, even in the tragedy, confusion, and anguished questions and doubts.
God is with us to comfort and revive us in the face of horror, but also to challenge us to turn things around.
Jesus meets us with not just words of hope, but with actions of authority and integrity.