St Ninian's Stonehouse

What happens when an unhelpful idea takes hold?  When a lie is told often enough that people believe it’s the truth?  Or perhaps worse, don’t care?  And what does Jesus have to say about that?  Or what does Jesus do about it?

Listen…. Really listen. I wonder what God has to say to you today?  Or is God is done speaking?  because I don’t think God is quiet at all.  Perhaps we just need to be better at listening?

Everyone’s has a point of view these days.  We all have our own perspective on the world and sometimes we’re not all that open to hearing something new or thinking about something we think we know about in a different way.  And then Jesus comes along and tells some people just like that, just like us, that he can turn their worlds upside down.  Want to know how?  Come and see…

Who is this Jesus? All of a sudden he's is all grown up and ready to start… but first he goes to be baptised. But why? And what can we learn about Jesus from this?

you wait… and you wait… and you wait.  You wait for years… and all of a sudden the thing you wait for happens.  It's there, right in front of you. But what do you do now?

Incarnate. It matters that God becomes human. That God slips into skin and moves into the neighbourhood...

John was a witness to someone even greater... are we? Stewart has been unwell this week so we delve into the archive...

The writer of Mark’s Gospel seems not to have been interested in Christmas.  He jumps straight in to the story with a strange man out in the wilderness, at one of those threshold places where the story of their people took a new turn generations before.  Today the same story calls us to another threshold… But will we step through it?

It's Advent... and so we wait.  But we don't wait for Christmas... so, what do we wait for?

When we call Jesus 'king of kings' what do we mean? And what does that mean for us? Join Stewart as we explore Matthew 25:31-46.

I wonder what you think God is like?  It’s one of those big questions and our answer to it shapes our response to all kinds of things, probably more than we imagine.  Do you think God is an angry absentee landlord?  Or kind and loving?

What does God require of you as we stand in silence to remember?

What’s your reaction when leaders set hard rules and then don’t follow them?  Should we ignore the rules too?  But what if the rules are good rules?  Rules to help us live well together or to keep us safe?  And what does Jesus have to say about it?

What’s the most important commandment? It seems like such a straightforward question, especially if you know about these things. It’s got to be the first one… Right?

Should you pay tax?  For most of us the answer is,”Yes, we have to.”   But for some people the answer is “only if you have to.”  And this was a question in Jesus’ time too.  Should you pay tax to the Romans?  It’s a trap.  It’s a question that Jesus is supposed to stumble over.  But he doesn’t.  Instead, he sets his own trap.

Weddings are fascinating!  Who gets invited and who doesn’t can cause family rifts that echo for generations.  If you do get an invite there’s the dilemma of what to wear!  Who else will be there?  What table will I be at? A king throws a wedding party for his son and the people he has invited don’t show up!  Worse they assault the people who brought their invitations… You can bet he’s going to be...

They say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Speaking truth to that kind of power can be dangerous. But if nobody ever does then nothing will every change.

On who’s authority? It’s a good question. One the should ask. But why would you ask. question when you’ve already made up your mind what you think. But as usual the answer from Jesus is an even better question.

How much is enough?  And when you think about your answer to that are you wondering how much is enough for you?  Or are you thinking about how some people have too much?  Or are you wondering what a fair share for everyone would be?

Forgiveness is hard. Really hard. And yet Jesus seems very serious about how important it is.

Do you argue a lot?  Get frustrated by other people who are obviously wrong?  Wonder how we ended up in a world where everyone takes sides? What can we do about it?  How can we settle our arguments in a way that’s fair?

Have you ever felt on such a high one minute only to be brought down a peg or two the next? To be praised one minute and chastised the next? Well, in today’s reading that’s exactly what happened to Peter.

Jesus asks, 'Who do people say I am? And what about you? Who do you say that I am?' Identity is a big deal. We all want to be known… and known for the right things, but who is Jesus? And what difference does that make to me? Stewart Cutler explores a big question for all of us.

Clean hearts. There’s a phrase that gets used often in churches. But what does it mean to have a clean heart? Today Jesus takes on the idea that it is practices and rituals that make our hearts pure… It’s not the things that go in but what comes out that shows what we are really like. But then the very next thing he does is have a really awkward conversation with a woman from a different culture t...

When Jesus walks on the water we’re less than surprised. Sure, it’s unusual, but he’s the son of God and earlier that day he fed 5,000 men, along with all the women and children there with a few loaves and a couple of fish and he healed many diseases. So when Peter is bold enough to get out of a perfectly good boat so he can do some water walking we need to ask some big questions about what’s goin...