This week in my household we opened the first doors of our advent calendars with great anticipation. The word “advent” means “expectant waiting.” This season is marked by waiting and anticipating something big, something better.
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I hope you are following the COP26 summit in Glasgow this fortnight? Sometimes I’m left wondering what my family and I can do that would really make a difference?
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Our nation has been struck by the tragic murder of MP Sir David Amess a week ago. I can’t help noticing how the Christian faith and church has featured strongly in our nation’s response.
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Check out this prayer guide from the Baptist Union Environment Network - a really useful resource as we approach COP26.
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If you’ve visited Sheffield city centre in the few weeks or so, you can’t fail to have noticed a new level of life, vibrancy and busyness has returned.
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What a crazy season we have all just been through! This September it feels a lot like pressing ‘restart’ on church, almost like we are beginning it all over again. We commend you for holding firm in your faith thus far. Let’s go further together.
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Ecclesall Road enjoyed a vibrant sight this week as about 20 joyful, chirpy teenagers swayed and nudged into position for a group photograph. off to a christian youth camp. As I waved my teenagers off for the weekend, I was so grateful for all youth providers in our city and towns.
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Nobody walks down the aisle expecting to have an affair, but I wonder how many people prepare themselves carefully to be married or in a long-term relationship?
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Few things bring our country together these days. This week, England is united by football and our shared experience of COVID. We can be good news people in the midst of a bad news world.
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The effects of the COVID pandemic run long and deep. However, there is a second pandemic running alongside that may be just as widespread and damaging: we are in the midst of a crisis in mental health.
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Ask any Sheffielder over a certain age about Whitsunday, it was one of the highlights of the year. in 2021 one church threw a party like the old days, for the local neighbourhood whether they had a faith or not.
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On Tuesday we experienced a crazy thunder and hail storm, I expect you remember it! Sheffield folk took to social media, and our main comment seemed to be ‘Really? In May?’. Perhaps we were catching up on some April showers we missed.
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A Christian’s foundations are Faith, Hope and Love. We centre on all three at Easter time and all three mature and deepen at times of uncertainty as to the future just like we’ve experienced through this COVID19 crisis, when it feels like a loss of control and a lot of disappointment to work through.
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A lot can happen in a year and a lot can be lost. Many are struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are grieving and experiencing loss. Bring God the pain, be honest, but don’t walk away then.
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They say that the two certainties of life are death and taxes but I would argue there is a third, and that is that each and every one of us will suffer at some point, and probably at many points during our lifetimes. Suffering is inevitable but it is never the end of the story.
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Grief has been one of the hardest parts of my life but at the same time one of the most precious parts. Without grief I am not sure I would have known such richness and depth in my life. It has grown my capacity to love, to feel, to care.
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We all have lost something over this last year. We’ve lost out on quality time with people we love, others will have lost jobs, and many of us will have lost friends and family to Covid. It’s important to remember this loss as we come to lament and soon to celebrate Easter.
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As the COVID19 pandemic unfolded there developed a loneliness epidemic. Zoom or Whatsapp provide incredible connection, but they are no substitute for human contact. I believe this pandemic has taught us again the lesson that we really need each other. As Christians, community is at the heart of our theology.
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We all know that at times, it is OK not to be OK. When we lament we take time acknowledge our situation, hurts and needs and to turn that into prayers and petitions to God.
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This week a friend of mine who is a practice nurse in a GP surgery told me a heart-warming story. The Covid19 vaccination offered hope that 2021 could be the start of a new chapter.
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