Suzanne GrimmettThose who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest and sacrificial. Dietrich Bonhoeffer These words from Bonhoeffer make a hard teaching. It is not a teaching we can brush off lightly, … Read more
Mark 10.17-31 Sunday 10th October 2021 ©Suzanne Grimmett Nobody can argue that pleasure doesn’t feel good- that, after all, is pretty much the definition of the word. But how does getting what we want or what makes us feel good stand up in terms of lasting value? Today in the Gospel we encounter a rich … Read more
Our prayers break on God like waves,And He an endless shore,And when the seas evaporateAnd oceans are no moreAnd cries are carried on the windGod hears and answers every soundAs he has done before. Our troubles eat at God like nails.He feels the gnaw of painOn souls and bodies. He never failsBut reassures He’ll heal again,Again, … Read more
Mark 10.2-16 ©Suzanne Grimmett If fish were to tell the story of life they would find it impossible to describe outside the experience of water. If birds were to try to explain the world, they could not help but draw on the perspective from the skies. If an echidna were to ask the questions of … Read more
This week in our services we will hear the curious story of Job. (Job 1.1, 2.1-10) It is the section where God and the Satan essentially have a kind of a wager over whether Job, a faithful servant of God, could be turned from God if Job were to experience great suffering. This was never … Read more
Every week in our services we stand and speak in unison the ancient Nicene creed. “I believe in God…” we say, but unfortunately many cultural assumptions about belief rob us of the power of what we are actually doing in this corporate ritual. We think about “belief about” in a modernist sense as assent to … Read more
SERMON Proverbs 31.10-31 Psalm 1 James 3.1-12 Mark 9.30-37 Welcoming the little ones home ©Suzanne Grimmett You have a story growing inside you, but it is a story with a definite beginning, and you probably have a birth certificate to prove it. This may be how we document our existence to the relevant authorities, … Read more
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs?(James 3: 12a) This excerpt from the letter of James we will hear this week is talking about the power we have to do harm to one another with … Read more
The logo for this year’s Season of Creation is “Abraham’s Tent”. Abraham and Sarah opened their tent as a home for three strangers, who turned out to be God’s angels (Genesis 18). By creating a home for all, their act of radical hospitality became a source of great blessing. Abraham’s tent is a symbol of … Read more
Where are her daughters? ©Suzanne Grimmett Many years ago I had an experience that made me realise some of my own blinkered view of the world. I came into adulthood as an educated white woman in a teaching career. I had not even noticed that in the public square I was used to being … Read more