New Kid on the Blog

The Ten Commandments... parts Five & Six   Yes, it has been a while, and I have lots of stuff I could be posting - but as I had a specific request to put the text of a talk I did this evening on line here it is.... I should say that the version I did this evening had a fair amount of improvisation around this text, particularly towards the end when my prepared notes became a bit sporadic...  Ten of the Best – the 10 Commandments for today   Respect….  The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said ‘That about which you cannot speak, is that about which you must remain silent’… Time to sit down then, maybe….   Nahhhhh, when has not knowing something ever been a barrier to a good sermon…. so here we are Commandments 5 & 6 (at least in the Jewish and Protestant translations of Scripture) are -  12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder...

Time to get Deep Stuff Blog back up and running... This week is our Big Bible Week, where we are celebrating the gift of Scripture... so here's my overview talk which I presented this evening.  These are my own notes so its a bit warts and all....... The Big Bible overview I want to start with a little ‘word association’ exercise – it’s quite a simple one, I’ve only got one word that I want you to consider – Bible.  What comes to mind when I say ‘Bible’ – anyone? more/....

Busy, worthwhile, rewarding, hard work - all very appropriate descriptions of the past week. Again and again I am struck by the privilege of being here, and also recognising just how much there is to do. Admittedly, some of it is stuff I have chosen to do, but there is no end of things I could choose to do on top of what I am already doing, there is so much going on in these villages! One of the things I have chosen to do is to lead these Lent talks, some of which have taken quite a lot of time to prepare and put together, including this week! Text is available at New Kid Deep Stuff as always, and here is a taster, just in case you fancy a little bit of Theology to keep you thinking.... Lent 2009: The Apostle’s Creed Session 4 I believe in Jesus part 2 I want to begin tonight’s thoughts by restating a couple of things which I perhaps didn’t make completely clear last week. I have spent some time thinking about the nature of these evenings and some of the discussions that have come ...

This evening saw the start of our Lent series of talks, for which I have prepared talks on various aspects of the Creed. The audience/congregation were very good, they engaged with the material and, I hope, got something from the evening. I was somewhat concerned about the format, ie that I spoke to/at the group then gave them some time to talk about the issues raised amongst themselves, and I am sure that some would have preferred more discussion, but for the purposes of this evening I wanted to throw some ideas out and start a process that may well continue in a different way in weeks to come. So here is the introduction to this week's thoughts, the theme being the Creed! I believe Congratulations on making it to the first of our talks for this Lenten period as we grapple with the Apostle’s Creed. As it was my suggestion that we follow this series over these five weeks it is also my responsibility to say why I think, or even ‘I believe’, this is a good idea, and what I hope wil...

A longer talk, part of a series on parables, as always continued on New Kid Deep Stuff Luke 15 Coming home – the parable of the lost son Jesus was a consummate storyteller. It may seem obvious to us now, but the way he used parables was, though not unusual in the ancient world, certainly striking and filled with a depth and meaning upon meaning that even now through the ages resonates with us as we try and know him more and seek his will and the Kingdom of God that he proclaims. And today we are faced with one of the most striking and, in some ways to the leaders of his day, disturbing parables that he told. The parable of the prodigal son, as it is known, or perhaps more accurately the prodigal father or the lost son (as it is headed in the New International Version that we have here). Of course, like most Biblical passages, it helps to have a bit of background, a bit of context to add to our understanding and, whilst we could probably never know the definitive meaning of any parable ...

This is out of the usual pattern of sermons, we have been covering Old Testament figures under the very broad title 'Heroes of Faith' - seeing in these often deeply flawed individuals inspiration for our own journey of faith. This is the end of the series.... Heroes of Faith - Samson Judges 13-16 We probably know a number of stories about Samson, perhaps like me you heard the stories of Samson in Sunday school and were presented with a great hero of faith, almost a kind of Old Testament ‘Superman’ – missing only a cape and pants outside his tights. He is renowned for his strength and his long hair – and being tricked by the dodgy Delilah! My My My Delilah… [more]

Sunday's talk for our Evening Worship.... Team Evening Worship 3rd Feb 2008 Exodus 13.17-14.en d Discipleship: To be a Pilgrim I can remember a day my life changed – after a few hours of delay (something for which my wife is still struggling to find complete forgiveness) I found myself driving at a slightly faster speed than I am used to up the road past Wood Green to Hinchinbrooke Hospital, where I rushed through the corridors with a very pregnant, very ‘in labour’ wife and voila – well, not really ‘voila’ there was a fair amount of pushing, breathing, pushing and even some shouting involved – just under an hour later (yes, I had left it a bit late) a little person appeared who (along with her brother) has never let life be the same again. [more]

A talk I gave last week about why I am a Christian! Men’s Group Jan 2008 Jesus – What’s the point? Over my time as part of this group I have experienced different types of talks, and in your time coming to this group and attending Church generally I am sure you have heard most of the types. For example - There is the sonorous, theological type of talk filled with gravitas and tackled slowly and at great length. There is the excitable, babbling type of talk with very few pauses for breath - lots of enthusiasm and very little substance. There is the worthy type which endeavours to change us all for the better, said in great earnest with lots of meaningful looks. There is the intellectual type of talk where the speaker spouts Greek, Hebrew, Latin, odd sounding German words and generally makes very little sense. There is the classic ‘fire and brimstone’ talk-come-sermon designed to scare the hearers witless and spoken with great and powerful voice and much feeling. [more]