3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Pastor Reg Quirk
Have you ever thought about the old proverbial question: ‘What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable abject?’? Because our study of Scripture this morning will lead us to that very question. But first we should look behind the story reported in this text, where we must see two quite separate scenes developing. The […]
7th Sunday of Easter
Pastor Reg Quirk
On Thursday of last week, the church celebrated the Ascension of Jesus. As the account was read from the Acts of the Apostles, we were there with the disciples at the moment Jesus finally left them. And he left them staring up into space. After Jesus himself had disappeared into the clouds, they were still […]
3rd Sunday in Lent
Pastor Reg Quirk
Resurrection This prophecy of Ezekiel is mysterious. It envisages two categories of people. There are those who are righteous. And there are those who are wicked. It is a simple, black and white world that the prophet sees. It prefigures the parable of Jesus, speaking of the last day, when the Son of Man “will […]
The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Pastor Reg Quirk
I recently received an e-mail containing nothing except a short quote from George Burns. “The secret of a good sermon”, it said, “is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.” I notice that the message was also sent to several of my colleagues, […]
1st Sunday after the Epiphany
Pastor Reg Quirk
There is a brass plaque set on the wall of Westfield House, overlooking the shared grounds it shares with our congregation in Cambridge. I shall recount its story. In 2005, an Old Testament specialist, named Deomar was called to be a tutor at Westfield House. In fact he had lived there while doing his PhD […]
Last Sunday in the Church’s Year
Pastor Reg Quirk
Resurrection It may be that, like me, you are not so familiar as you might be with your Shakespeare. Perhaps, for example, you don’t remember the plot of the Merchant of Venice at the moment. Suffice it to say that it is very complicated, with some uncomfortable religious overtones, and nobody emerges from it with […]
19th Sunday after Pentecost
Pastor Reg Quirk
The lectionary happens to throw up on this day – the day when St Columba celebrates its 50th anniversary – a Gospel lesson in which Jesus teaches about marriage. Not the obvious lesson for such an occasion, but, in the end, not one that is totally irrelevant either. But we’ll get there in due course. […]
