The Vicars Blog

REMEMBRANCE  SUNDAY 11TH  November 2013 As we gather here today our thoughts and thanks quite rightly will be foremost for those who have given their lives in previous conflicts; for today is their day when we remember the sacrifice of their deaths,...

THE ‘I AM’ SAYINGS OF JESUS  - ‘I am the True Vine’ John Ch 15 vv 1 – 8 Did you know that farmers and Jesus have something very important in common; they share a common goal, a common hope. Now, you’ve all heard, I’m sure, those jokes that start, ’What’s the...

This week we’re continuing our series on Jesus I am sayings in John’s gospel and looking at Jesus’ claim to be the gate for the sheep which you’ll find in verses 7 and 9 of today’s gospel reading. Firstly in order to understand these verses its helpful to know a bit...

After last week’s brief introduction, we begin this morning our look at the first of the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus in St. John’s gospel. ‘I am’, says Jesus, ‘the bread of life.’ The passage or ‘discourse’ containing this first saying stretches from verse 22 of chapter 6...

I am sure that most of you here have seen William Holman Hunt’s painting ‘The Light of the World’ representing the words of Revelation 3: 20.  It’s a wonderfully romantic vision of Jesus in all his Pre Raphaelite splendour holding a very Victorian looking lantern...

First of all good morning to you all and welcome, especially if you’ve come today because it’s Back to Church Sunday. Over the past three weeks we’ve been looking at John’s Gospel and focusing on a series of seven I AM statements which Jesus made about himself. This...

Talk at the Open Air Service – Sunday 2nd September 2012 One of the really sad things in life is surely that so many people think that Christianity is boring. And where do they get that impression from? Well, sadly, from some Christians and from some of the Church...

The Role of the Collects in the Life of the Church The role of the collects in the life of the Church is to help establish in the hearts and minds of worshippers that which is essential for sound belief.  Now in the Christian understanding of that word ‘belief’...

Luke 6; 46 to 49 In the run up to today’s gospel reading Luke tells us that Jesus has spent the night on a mountainside praying and then he’s selected the 12 apostles. On his way down from the mountain, Jesus comes to a level place where a great multitude of people...

Happiness has been in the news recently with the government publishing its happiness index.  Most people are motivated by a desire to be happy in life and accordingly they try and do and achieve things which they think will make them happy. Many seek happiness in...

I’m a harvest worker and I remember that day so well. It was hot and dry and dusty. The teacher had been in a strange mood the past couple of days. He’d spent the whole night in prayer and he seemed sombre and quiet. Not full of joy like he usually was.  Now of...

I was talking with a clergy friend who asked me what I had been preaching about recently on Sundays at Brenchley.  I replied that we were doing a short series on the letters of John. ‘Oh’, he said, ‘some tough lessons there! Are they still coming?’ Well I have to...