St Ninian's Stonehouse

Memories are sparked by many things, but so often the catalyst is a smell. When Mary pours a pound of perfume over Jesus’ feet she is not only anointing him for burial but also leaving a scent that will trigger memories of this moment throughout the years. So, gather round… and let’s do some remembering.

The prodigal son… a story about forgiveness, grace and even resurrection… isn’t it?  Well, maybe… but perhaps it’s about something more immediate?  Perhaps it’s about the people who are right in front of us that we have lost but we just don’t know it yet.

Anne Thompson explore Luke 13:1-9 and wonders why bad things happen to good people and what should our response be?

When threatened, Jesus talks about himself as a mother hen protecting her chicks from a fox. I wonder how we would describe ourselves? What is our identity?

When Jesus is led out into the wilderness he faces temptations. But why? What is the tempter trying to prove? And how does Jesus pass the tests?

There on the mountain top Jesus is revealed in all his glory. He is seen for who he really is, God’s son. This is a moment where the whole story comes together. A turning point. This is the moment where everything changes.

Turn the other cheek.  Love your enemies.  Pray for those who treat you badly. You can imagine the people listening.  What?  What did he say?  Doesn’t he know that not how the world works? Yes.  Yes he knows exactly how much that’s not the way the world works and that’s why he wants to change it… but perhaps not in the way you think!

What should we make of a list of people we’d rather not be on being blessed and the list of people we all strive to be being warned that they should be very, very careful? It’s a question I don’t think we spend nearly enough time thinking about because it seems like we have settled for an answer that is far from what Jesus spells out for us. That’s what we’re tackling in our time together today.

I wonder if you know the story of how Jesus calls his first disciples? My memory of the story is Jesus walking along the shore and he sees Simon and Andrew mending their nets and he says to them, ‘follow me’. And they do. And a little further along they meet James and John and he says the same to them. And they leave their nets and their father, Zebedee, in the boat. But that’s not quite what happ...

What happens when you realise that this whole thing isn’t going to be how you expected? That thing you have waited for and dreamed of for so long turns out to be… hard. That’s the challenge of today’s passage where we find out what the people of Nazareth think about what Jesus has to say to them about God’s priorities.

When Jesus stands up to read the scriptures in his hometown you could hear a pin drop.  Breath is held… eyes are focussed and everyone is waiting to hear what he will say. I wonder if that’s how we feel when we read the bible?  Exited… full of anticipation of what we might hear and learn?  I hope so… but I’m not sure it is. Today in our time together I want to explore why reading th...

You will do greater things than these. Jesus said that to his disciples.  To the ordinary men and women who followed his teaching and tried hard to live the way that he taught them. When we are faced by a story where Jesus does something we might even go as far as to call unbelievable, I wonder where that leaves us?  Inspired or despondent?  Hopeful or hesitant? Today we’re going to...

I often wonder if we read some of the stories in the Bible so often that we stop seeing what’s in them.  If we stopped being amazed by the big stuff and we completely overlook some of those small but hugely important details?  In the middle of all that's happening Jesus is praying... and that should tell us something important!

I wonder what we make of the idea of ‘God with us’?  Maybe it’s easier to understand when that’s a baby in a manger.  But what it if it’s more than that?

When Jesus is posted missing his parents are frantic... but where else would he be?

We celebrate the gift of a child... God with us!

we wait for the birth of the Christ-child

Mary's song takes a perhaps unexpected twist though…. so before we get all starry eyed and sentimental… this is two pregnant women discussing the downfall of all earthly empires!

John the Baptist calls them a group of snakes... and this is the good news?  How?

How do we prepare the way? What would the refining fire find in us that needs removed? What would the fuller’s soap wash away?

Advent is here.  The long wait has begun.  But the wait isn't for what you might think...

Their conversation is pure political theatre.  It’s a dance of very carefully spoken words.  Questions asked but never quite answered.  Charges are made and identities confirmed, but not in a way that helps Pilate.  Are you a king?

This week we remember on this Sunday closest to Armistice Day when the guns of the Great War fell silent and we will explore what it means to remember and why it is so important for all of us, not just to honour the past but to shape the future.

A widow is watched placing 2 small coins, all she has, in the temple treasury.  Why is it that this woman finds herself in this position?  Why does she only have two small coins left?  And why is she there giving her last to a system that very obviously doesn’t care about her?

One of the scribes has been watching and we hear that he’s impressed with Jesus so he goes to talk to him. The scribe asks what seems like the most obvious question ever… which is the greatest commandment? So… which is the greatest commandment? What would you say? And why doesn't Jesus say what he probably should?