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One of my all-time favourite Christmas films is ‘It’s a wonderful life’.  It tells the story of George Bailey, a man who gives his life to helping others, but falls on hard times.  Despairing of everything, he thinks about ending it all, when he happens to meet an angel, Clarence Oddbody, who shows him, in … Read more

We all want to be like someone.  When I was a child, I wanted to be like John Robertson.  John was a skilful winger who played for my favourite team.  For my 6th birthday I got my very first team kit – a visual feast of red nylon, for those who pine for the heady … Read more

We live in a society that loves making laws.  We pass between 25 and 50 new Acts of Parliament each year, and rarely repeal the old ones – although one major clear out in 1867 took 1,300 statutes off the book.  This love of creating rules and laws runs throughout every area of society – … Read more

When I used to work in London, I had a very difficult client, who for a while made my life a misery.  Nothing was ever good enough, and whilst the work we did for her was generally of a high standard, I remember one particular occasion when I made a small mistake and got a … Read more

Yesterday we looked at Jesus’ groups of people who are blessed.  This was revolutionary enough – however, it doesn’t end there.  Jesus goes on to describe four other groups who are the opposites of those blessed (vv24-26).  What are we to make of these? The context here is a long-standing misunderstanding of the Law by … Read more

So Jesus has just picked his cabinet – if you’ll pardon the political analogy – and it’s time to set out his manifesto.  The crowd that has gathered is remarkable, not least for its geographical breadth: Jerusalem and Judea are in the southern part of Israel, Tyre and Sidon are so far north that they … Read more

Things work better in a team.  It’s pretty much universally true: whether in companies or 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 … 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 here: why did God command every human to rest for one day in every seven?  What … Read more

Being in the presence of a truly holy person can be an uncomfortable experience.  Back in 1995, I recall meeting one of the holiest people I’ve ever met – someone who really lived the apostolic life we read in the pages of the New Testament – and feeling both terrified and strangely drawn into their … Read more