Spirit & Life

The Rock of Ares, the Areopagus, near the Acropolis, was a magnet for educated Athenians. At the very heart of Athen’s historic (even in Paul’s time!), civic and cultural centre, amongst temples and the high court, people gathered to philosophize, debate, theologize, explore, and articulate values and meaning.

The Early church – creating a safe space for all people, sharing their goods so all had enough, meeting together as friends over a meal, learning together to understand more and sharing in prayer with a God who loved equally and unconditionally.

Please don’t give Thomas a hard time! We all have our ways of processing and accepting, of grieving and overcoming fears, whether they are unfounded or very real.

No fearsome warrior nor well attired prince; no regime, with barked orders or a fixed ‘one size fits all’ world view; no ‘club’ approach with limited membership; no weapons, or financial gain.

Morning birdsong is a complex mix! A cacophony of joy, demand, chatter and consternation, equally delightful and compelling, as it is disturbing and surprising.

A classic gathered community of relatives and friends, grieving together, illuminates the humanity that binds us all.

Psalm 23, John 9: 1-41Ephesians 5:8-14You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord's people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light, for it is the light[a] that brings a rich harvest of every kind of...

Exodus 17:1-7 John 4:5-42In Samaria he came to a town named Sychar, which was not far from the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by the trip, sat down by the well. It was about noon.A Samaritan woman came to...

John 3:1-17There was a Jewish leader named Nicodemus, who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. One night he went to Jesus and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent by God. No one could perform the miracles you are doing unless God were with...

2 Peter 1:16-21We have not depended on made-up stories in making known to you the mighty coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. With our own eyes we saw his greatness. We were there when he was given honour and glory by God the Father, when the voice came to him from the...