Reflection given by Revd Maggie Hindley Sunday 29th November 2020 A friend far away who is coming, traumatically, out of a traumatically abusive marriage, messaged me this week: One day, if I get there, I might be able to go right back to the beginning! That’s what’s needed to understand where I am today. Even […]
Given to St. Andrew’s Ealing and Wembley Park URC by Revd Sue McCoan, Sunday 15th November 2020 Bible readings: Matt 25:14-30, Judges 4:1-7 The parable of the talents is a familiar story to many of us. The two servants who make the most of their talents are rewarded; the one who hides his talent is condemned […]
Reflection I mentioned earlier that, for the next 2 Sundays, our zoom services will be in the evening at 6pm, and then on 9th August we meet again online in the morning. But some of you will be going back to your own churches, as they reopen for worship; some who have been regular participants […]
Reflection: ‘Good soil’ by Revd Sue McCoan Our bible reading this morning is a very familiar story. As we often do these days, we will hear it in two parts; and we will hear the first part now, before we start reflecting. Bible reading: Matt 13: 1-9 Jesus told parables, teaching stories, set in everyday […]
Reflection 5th July by Revd Sue McCoan Yesterday was hailed as Liberation Day – or, in some of the papers, Super Saturday. After 100 days of lockdown, the pubs are open again! Hurrah! Also hairdressers and hotels and other businesses and, somewhere in the small print near the end of the article, places of worship. […]
Hymn: Let us build a house where love can dwell © Marty Haugen 1994 Reflection by Revd Sue McCoan No prizes for guessing, from the hymn, that the theme for today is ‘welcome’ – the way we are made welcome, and the way we welcome others. It might seem like tactless timing, given that […]
Reflection by Revd Sue McCoan Last week, we reflected on freedom, partly because we were feeling the lack of it. This week I am reflecting on ‘Glory’, and after 2 months without a hairdresser I’m a bit short on that too. When I think of glory, it goes with splendour and majesty – pictures of […]
Reflection by Revd. Sue McCoan If you’ve been watching anything on commercial TV lately, and you’ve seen the adverts, you will almost certainly have seen the one inviting people to pick this year’s crops. For umpteen years now, most of the soft fruit and summer vegetables in this country have been picked by seasonal workers, […]
Reflection by Revd Dr Elizabeth Welch I can remember speaking at an ecumenical conference some years ago and mentioning the Trinity. During the question time a Methodist minister commented ‘oh that’s the Sunday Methodist ministers have off and the service is left to the lay preachers.’ Well I was pretty impressed that Methodist lay preachers […]
Reflection by Revd Sue McCoan ‘When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place’. Familiar words, that start our bible reading for today, Pentecost Sunday. We’ll hear the reading shortly. But in preparation for that, I’d like to reflect on what Pentecost meant before it became known to us as […]
Reflection by Revd Sue McCoan Last week, we reflected on freedom, partly because we were feeling the lack of it. This week I am reflecting on ‘Glory’, and after 2 months without a hairdresser I’m a bit short on that too. When I think of glory, it goes with splendour and majesty – pictures of […]
Reflection given by Revd Sue McCoan I’m sure we’ve all been aware, over the last couple of months, of our loss of freedom. Last weekend, in anticipation of the government reviewing the lockdown on Sunday, there were headlines in the papers like ‘Freedom Monday!’ Yesterday, there were people gathering to protest against lockdown, demanding freedom […]
Reflection by Revd Sue McCoan I wonder if you remember the TV sitcom ‘Are you being served?’, set in a department store. If so, you will remember Mr Humphries, played by John Inman, the sales assistant in gents’ clothing who was outrageously camp. Mr Humphries could always raise a laugh, when a customer asked how […]
Reflection by Revd Sue McCoan This week, we leave the Easter story. For the next few weeks, up to Pentecost, we’ll be looking at some of the things Jesus said about himself, and about his followers. Today, we have Jesus using the image of sheep and shepherds. There are a lot of shepherds in the […]
Reflection April 26th Revd Sue McCoan We are a month into the lockdown now. We are over the initial shock, the sudden change of the way we live, shop, work and worship. It’s been tiring enough just keeping up. But now we have time to adjust, to look around, to draw breath. We hear encouraging […]
Sunday 19th April – Reflection by Revd Sue McCoan Here we are, a week after Easter. I hope you managed to find some joy and celebration despite the strange times. In our bible reading, though, we are back on Easter Sunday. It’s evening, and the disciples of Jesus are in lockdown for their own safety. The […]
Easter Sunday Reflection Today is the day of resurrection. But to help us think about Easter and what it means, I’d like to take us back a little earlier, to the day before Easter Day. Holy Saturday. What happened on Holy Saturday? Nothing. Jesus died on a Friday. We know that because all the gospels […]
Sunday 5th April – Palm Sunday Reflection given by Revd Sue McCoan to the joint online congregations of St. Andrew’s Ealing, Wembley Park and Holy Trinity Perivale The Old City of Jerusalem is an intense and bustling place, at least in normal times. Narrow, often steep streets, little alleyways, shops and cafes teeming with life […]
Reflection – Sunday 29th March How quickly life has changed! The Sunday before last, we met for worship as normal, apart from some extra hand hygiene. A week later, all churches were closed and all meetings cancelled. We know we are not alone; we hope the restrictions will be lifted before too long. But for […]
Reflection for 22nd March 2020 by Rev Sue McCoan 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Psalm 23 The link between these two readings is David. David the shepherd boy, minding his dad’s sheep; David the musician and songwriter; David who went on to become the celebrated king of Israel. The story of David being chosen as king […]
