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As some of you know, many years ago I studied art history; my particular area of study was the Italian Renaissance – or as my friend bluntly (but not entirely inaccurately) put it: ‘brown pictures of Mary.’  It’s certainly true that, next to Jesus, there are far more pictures of his mother Mary than of … Read more

Many people will do anything to avoid giving God the credit!  It’s just human nature.  I remember a miraculous healing at the prison twenty years ago, when an inmate’s blood pressure plummeted overnight – he went from permanent tinnitus to the BP of a fit young man in his 20s (he was an ex-smoker in … Read more

Not many people have robes nowadays – at least , I don’t think they do!  It’s a garment associated with authority or magnificence, isn’t it?  Our late Queen even had her own Mistress of the Robes, a post which dates back to the 16th century, albeit now it’s more ceremonial than literal. And this is … Read more

Things work better in a team.  It’s pretty much universally true: in companies, in organisations, and certainly in churches.  We need people to journey with, to share life with, and also to work with. Jesus might be the Son of God, with all the authority in the universe and a mission to save the world … Read more

In the early nineteenth century, Holy Trinity Clapham was probably the most interesting church in the country to attend.  As many of you may know, debates over the slave trade dominated the public discourse at this time, dividing national opinion – and this church in Clapham was the epicentre of this division.  The leading lights … Read more

If yesterday’s story needed a bit of explanation – why was rubbing grain an issue? – today’s passage is rather more straightforward.  We’re still looking at Jesus’ encounters with the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath, and the fundamental question we posed yesterday still applies: what is the point of the Sabbath?  Why did God give it … Read more

It’s easy to miss the wood for the trees.  We all do it at times – and it’s just as likely to happen in matters of faith, too.  What is the point of the Sabbath?  That’s the million-dollar question for us today and tomorrow: why did God command every human to rest for one day … Read more

We’re currently in the midst of redecorating some rooms.  We’ve lived in our current house for ten years, and over time numerous walls have got marks which need a bit of touching up.  The problem is that, even if we had bought some new paint which exactly matches the colour in theory, we all know … Read more

‘Let me tell you how it will be: it’s 1 for you, 19 for me.’  So sang the Beatles as the first lyrics on their iconic 1966 album ‘Revolver’.  The opening song is ‘Taxman’ and is essentially a rant about the 95% top rate of income tax for high earners in the UK, which of … Read more

As we conclude our week, this is a brief moment to recap, by reflecting on the final half of the last verse of our week: ‘This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”’ Three times in this opening section of Mark, the people are ‘amazed’ – by Jesus’ … Read more