Minister’s Message – Good Friday 2024

Bible reading: Mark 15:25-39.

Message.

When I was eight, my parents took me to a performance of J S Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion”. It’s one of the greatest works of Western choral music, but I didn’t find it a profound experience, either musically or spiritually; in fact, it was deadly dull. The music was too advanced for me; the concert went on for ever (although there was a break for tea in the middle); to cap it all, the piece was sung in German so I didn’t understand a word! Since then, I have come to appreciate the “St. Matthew Passion” more, and I’ve enjoyed hearing and also singing its companion piece based on St. John. Both take their hearers on a spiritual journey through Good Friday. The Passion story is told in the words of the Gospel; solo arias provide reflective meditation on what is going on; and there are hymns in which the audience can join.

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Minister’s Message- March 10, 2024

Bible reading: Exodus 1:8-2:10.

There are many characters in the Bible whose names are instantly familiar: Peter and Paul, David and Bathsheba, Ruth and Naomi, Isaiah and Jeremiah, even (if you’re into stories of abuse and murder) Jael and Sisera. I’m sure that most of us can name many more. But I’m now going to mention four people that most of us would struggle to recognise: Jochebed and Amram, Shiphrah and Puah. Yet, without these four people (and one other, whose name we aren’t given), the Bible story would have come to a full stop at the end of Genesis.

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Minister’s Message – March 3, 2024

Bible reading: Exodus 20:1-18.

The Hebrews have left their slavery in Egypt and are gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai.

God spoke, and these were his words: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves. Worship no god but me. Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation, but I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.

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