Stewart Weaver » Thoughts and Sermons

Christmas Services for 2011

stewart — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:10:30 +0000

ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SERVICES AT ST PHILIP’S

Sunday, 18^th December 2011 ( 4^th Sunday of Advent)

9.30am Communion
11am Nativity Service
7.30pm Quiet Advent: a time of prayer, reflection and contemplation following the Ignatian approach
The Examen.

Saturday, 24^th December 2011 (Christmas Eve)

4pm Carols for Kids: for our youngest revellers!
6.30pm Family Christmas Eve Service: for children, including a shadow nativity this year.
11pm Community Carols: Christmas songs, jokes, silliness.
11.30pm Watch Night Service: quiet welcome to the Christ child.

Sunday, 25^th December 2011 (Christmas Day)

9.30am Communion
10.30am Christmas Day Family Service: share a story and your gifts.

Unsettled God

stewart — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:41:49 +0000

Genesis 3.14-24

As we continue our journey through Genesis we come to the end of chapter 3 (Gen. 3.14-24). It is the description of the curse upon the snake and upon the ground, the pain of mankind in tilling the soil and the pain of woman in childbirth. It hardly makes for pleasant reading. Not a lot seems promising.

It might be a good chance to take a look back at the first three chapters before we begin to look ahead to chapter 4 and all of the issues thrown up by Cain and Abel.

One of the commentaries notes some of the larger themes. Lawrence A. Turner, in a Genesis commentary explicitly conceived and written to emphasise the interconnections in the book, notes some of the major themes after the first 3 chapters.

1. Chaos to… click here to read more

Divine Craftsman

stewart — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:25:28 +0000

Our organist recently recorded a service as part of a degree for the Royal School of Church Music. She shared with me the final 20 minutes of our service on 18 September. It included a reflection on Genesis 2.4b-14, a part of the second creation story. It includes too a few squawks from children in the congregation: baptismal families who wanted to stay to hear a few musings from the local ministers.

Download audio file (Sep-18-2011.mp3)

or…

Right click here and choose “Save as…” to save to your computer.

Listen, enjoy and let me know what you think.

Arking in the Firth of Forth

stewart — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:06:33 +0000

Noah’s Ark was the focus of our last Messy Church. So, we decided to do something different. We decided to make our own ark (of sorts…) and sail it on the Firth of Forth. Armed with an old church door, 6 seriously big water jugs, some rope, some scissors and some willing helpers, a remarkable construction was made. Now, all we needed was someone to sail it. Someone silly, foolish, naive. Someone with anti-freeze in their blood. Who else?

Newsletter 2 September 2011

stewart — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:45:37 +0000

ST. PHILIP’S E-NEWSLETTER

2 SEPTEMBER 2011

COMMENTS FROM THE EDITOR

We’re just about to enter the new session:

lots of organisations starting,

meetings are now underway,

and a sense of excitement.

So, the St. Philip’s E-newsletter to get us on track

(note subtle reference to controversial local issue….for

further subtleties, see joke below)

WORSHIP NOTICE

Don’t forget: worship is now at 11.00AM this Sunday!!!

(If you happen to arrive early, go to the Centenary Hall and we

can provide a cup of coffee for you. Hospitality: the 11^th Commandment!)

THOUGHT

‘What is love?’, the novitiate asked the abbot.

‘The total absence of fear’, replied the abbot.

‘What is it we fear?’, asked the novitiate.

‘Love’, replied the abbot.

WORSHIP

Your minister will begin a year of Genesis. This Sunday it will be Gen.1.1-19. Does God create… click here to read more

Splintered God

stewart — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 07:55:46 +0000

Last Sunday (17 July) I offered a few musings from my handwritten bullet points. In my responses to questions that had come my way I take it that I struck a chord amongst members of the congregation. I was thus asked to ensure that something was put on the web. Here are some of the notes expanded into something resembling a reflection or meditation.

Sunday 17 July 2011

‘I know you haven’t seen much of me lately at church. I’m having lots of difficulties with my faith. When I think of something like the Holocaust, I’m not sure what I think of God. How could God let that happen? Where was God?’

A few days ago as I walked home from the hardware store, lugging a 7 litre tub of masonry paint, I… click here to read more

Jesus: A Parabolic Life?

stewart — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:52:31 +0000

For months now we have been looking at the parables of Jesus.
‘Why?’, you might ask.
After all, there was an advertisement for a course on preaching the parables. It suggested that parables were an absolute delight to the new minister and inexperienced preacher because of their self-contained nature, vivid characters and compact story. For those with a bit more experience, they can be a nightmare. Here we go again!! What more can I possibly say on this parable? How can we get anything out of it???

It has been said that particular parables, like the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan, are succinct summaries of the Christian faith. Hold these in your memory and act on them and you are on the path of love, grace and faith. Hold these in your memory and you will be in tune with… click here to read more

Newsletter 27 May 2011

stewart — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:12:26 +0000

ST. PHILIP’S E-NEWSLETTER

27 MAY 2011

COMMENT FROM THE EDITOR

Your editor was rather busy last Friday and thus no newsletter.

Busy today and thus a late newsletter.

And this week your editor has been participating in the events at the General Assembly. Historic events, perhaps.

Time will tell.

INTRODUCTORY JOKES

Because last week’s edition was cancelled, it only seems to be fair to add a couple of extra jokes. Your editor seems to have a penchant for Tim Vine’s one liners….

Most of my ginger friends are well read.

My friend started throwing words at me that started with ‘th’. I missed this, there and then, but I didn’t see that coming.

THOUGHT

The reading for this week is the parable of the true vine from John 15, in which Jesus compares himself to the vine, tended by God… click here to read more

Purpose Driven Life Discussion 4 May 2011

stewart — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:18:00 +0000

And now a summary of our discussion on 4 May.

Purpose Driven Life

4 May 2011

Charis House

At the meeting today there were some fascinating points brought up and an excellent discussion. Here are some of the topics.

The Glory of God: In one section of the book, we are told the following:

The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God. It is the

reason for everything that exists, including you. God made it all for his

glory. Without God’s glory, there would be nothing.

For one of our number it was an excellent summary of God’s glory, references to which are found throughout the Bible. For another, it conjured up thoughts about the risen Christ as St. John tells us in Revelation. Interestingly, a 21^st century Californian pastor in his discussion reflects one… click here to read more

Discussion: Purpose Driven Life 27 April 2011

stewart — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:16:32 +0000

I was invited to lead a discussion of Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven Life’ at Charis House, the local headquarters of Crossreach (the social service arm of the Church of Scotland). Below is a summary of our first discussion.

Thoughts after Charis House 27 April 2011

Summary.

On Wednesday 27 April a number of us met at Charis House to discuss the beginning of Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven Life’. There were a number of reasons people came along: explore faith in a different or more accessible way; to discover a bit more about Rick Warren’s work and thinking; to refresh ourselves in his thinking and our own faith.

We started with the first chapter and its primary thought: it’s not about you. To find our purpose in life, to find fulfilment we are asked to discover what God’s purpose is for us. Finding ourselves by starting with ourselves is… click here to read more