ST. PHILIP’S E-NEWSLETTER
3 DECEMBER 2010
COMMENTS FROM THE EDITOR
Brrrrrrrrr.
THOUGHTS
Your editor recently encountered a quote from Soren Kierkegaard, the introspective Danish theologian/philosopher who in the name of the individual’s relationship with God/Christ rebelled against overriding systems. He had little time for accepted, established church in 19th century Denmark and became a thorn in the side of the respectable. This quote is salutary for those of us who approach Christmas with ambivalence: beautiful celebrations of the Christ’s birth alongside tinsel and tat.
Original Christianity relates itself so militantly to this world that its view is: not to slip happily and comfortably through this world but to take care to collide in dead earnest with this world…Thus there is a world of difference, a heaven of difference between the respectable church life-view (which is actually Epicurean, one of the enjoyment of life, zest for… click here to read more
ST. PHILIP’S E-NEWSLETTER
26 NOVEMBER 2010
COMMENTS FROM THE EDITOR
Yesterday was a big day for our cousins across the pond:
Thanksgiving!
THOUGHT
The quote last week prompted some interesting responses. ‘Simplicity is complexity resolved’ said Constantin Brancusi, the Romanian sculptor.
One person wrote back with this comment, which hangs above his desk: ‘if things seem simple, you’re not looking hard enough’.
I then wondered if we could summarise St P’s purpose in one simple sentence. Here are some responses:
‘To bring souls to the kingdom.’
‘To make us all a people of compassion in God’s world’.
‘To reach out to all showing the love of Jesus’.
‘To share the love.’
Peter Nielson, a Church of Scotland minister, does a great deal of work encouraging churches to think through mission. He once asked numerous scholars to summarise their views on the purpose of the church. Though much… click here to read more
Are the parables of any relevance anymore?
This question keeps nagging at the back of my mind every time I try to put together yet another sermon or reflection.
Sure, they’re great tales and they carry within them profound insights into human nature. They carry within them reflections of God’s grace and love provided, depending on one’s theology, by the Word of God. Or, if one is from another end of the spectrum, from the genius of religion, the travelling preacher, teacher, healer and rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth.
I have heard many, many reflections on the parables which elucidate the context in which they were written. Many of these insights add powerfully to an understanding of the parable. For example, when the younger son tells his father that he wants his share of the inheritance, it was in essence a means of telling… click here to read more
This was sent to me by Linda Small, a member of the congregation. A wonderful reflection on a powerful parable.
When more is not enough; the Parable of the rich fool
“Do not be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own…” (Luke Chpt 12, vs. 15, New Living Translation)
In the 60’s the rock group, The Rolling Stones, delivered those wonderful song lyrics, “I can’t get no….SATISFACTION and I try and try but I can’t get no ….”
How often have we found ourselves thinking, that what we have is not enough? Satisfaction has for some, become a fleeting feeling, that comes and goes with each new purchase, promotion, house, car, prize or accolade, which once obtained, has a propensity to lose its shine or appeal.
As Jesus describes the man in the Parable of the rich fool, can one assume… click here to read more
ST. PHILIP’S E-NEWSLETTER
8 OCTOBER 2010
COMMENTS FROM THE EDITOR
Your editor has been awash with lots of deadlines and headlines, jokes and folks, and will thus provide today the bare bones of the e-newsletter.
Two humorous, witty puns.
A thought.
A short summary of worship.
More witticisms.
PUNS
The largest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
(and there’s more below!!!!)
THOUGHT
Your editor continues to plough through some of the thinking of Karl Barth. Like starting the day with a marathon and a few hundred press ups. But there is always food for thought. Below is an interesting quote to come from a theologian whose focus is so clearly on Christ and the Biblical witness of the revelation… click here to read more
The newsletter for this week ends with a joke. Perhaps it would be good to start a reflection with a joke. Here it is:
The father of the bride stood up at the reception to deliver his carefully prepared and crafted speech.
‘I would like to thank you all for coming here today to celebrate my daughter’s wedding’, he said. ‘Just for your information the seating arrangement has been specially organised. All of the people who brought large presents are placed at the front and those that bought cheaper, smaller presents at the back.’
A shocked silence.
‘There is a special thanks for Uncle Fred, who is at the back for the oven glove’.
Another stunned silence.
‘The bride would like to thank Uncle Fred for her present and would like to ask him if he would be willing to save the other glove for their Silver Wedding Anniversary’.
Last… click here to read more
A recording of my sermon from the 12th September 2010. Thoughts on David Brackenridge’s 3 Peaks Challenge, Virtual Communion and the Kingdom of God…
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
The parabola is the path, neglecting air resistance and rotational effects, of a projectile thrown outward into the air.
Short, fictitious narrative by which moral or spiritual relations are set forth.
Thus the Encyclodedia Brittanica tells us about a parabola and a parable.
This week we begin a year-long focus on the parables of Jesus and we begin with the parable of the Sower as described in the Gospel of Mark (chapter 4). Perhaps Mark knew something we don’t know: did he intentionally provide to us a story, a narrative, an illustration in which parable and parabola are so beautifully intertwined?
We see the woman or man out in the field with the collection of seed for sowing. In gentle, rhythmic movements the seed is taken in a closed hand from a bag, the hand is removed, the arm swings and the seed flies, parabollically, onto the ground. The ground… click here to read more
Promises of Stars
Pius Mau Pialiug, a master-navigator, died on 12 July, aged 78.
Few, if any of us, will have heard his name. He was a Micronesian and in 1976 he sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti, 2500 miles in open sea. Without a compass, without any mechanical assistance for navigation. From the earliest age he was introduced by his grandfather into the means of navigating with all that nature had given us. His grandfather held his tiny body in tidal pools so he could learn how waves and wind blew differently from place to place. He soon learned other lessons. He could read how far he was from shore and its direction by the feel of the swell against the hull. He could detect shallower water by colour and see the light of invisible lagoons reflected in the undersides of clouds. Sweeter-tasting fish meant rivers were near and groups… click here to read more
Why didn’t God create a better world?
A question posed by a member of the congregation. Tempting as it is to respond with a Gallic shrug and say, ‘Ask God’, a response (not an answer! too presumptuous!) is required.
Let’s look at the texts for the day. A description of the Fall in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve want to be like God: knowing good and evil, eternal life. They take the fruit and eat. Then, banishment from Eden and so much that follows stems from that fateful decision. Original sin often is mentioned and sin is often seen as the focus on the self, cutting oneself off from God. The middle letter in ‘sin’ is ‘I’. Me first.
Genesis emphasises, however, that the created world is good. God calls it good several times in Genesis 1 and twice (I think) calls it very good. God perhaps could have created… click here to read more