I was invited to lead a workshop at Holy City in Glasgow last night.  I mentioned before that I was delighted to be asked but now terrified…

Well, it wasn’t that scary!  In fact, I liked it a lot.

I’ve known about Holy City for ages and it’s been on my ‘I’d quite like to go to that’ list but I’ve never got round to going.  I’m so glad I did, even if it took an invite to get me there (perhaps a lesson in that?).

People gather from 7pm for a chat and around 7.20pm new songs are taught for the worship later in the evening and the workshops are plugged.  Then at 7.30pm people choose their workshop and go there for an hour.

There was a great variety of workshops last night, all around the idea of ‘telling’.

Mine was called ‘Telling Signs?’ and I tried to encourage people to talk about what signs of new life they were seeing outside the church and to ask what the church’s response to those should be.  I think it was a good discussion but in many ways the ‘Emerging Church’ is so nebulous that it’s difficult for people to grasp which part we are talking about… or to want to categorise these communities at all.

Worship was the most subversive act I’ve seen in a church for a long time.  We thought about telling… and those who because of a decission by the General Assembly are not allowed to tell and the issue they are not allowed to tell of… sexuality.

Deep words, beautiful music, conversation and actions in an amazing space with great people.

I’ll be back… next term.  And if you find yourself in Glasgow on the last Sunday of the month then you could do much worse than spend some time at Holy City.

I’ve been invited to lead one of the workshops at Holy City in Glasgow this Sunday evening.  The stop this month in the journey to discover the demands, delights and dilemmas of discipleship is ‘Speaker’s Corner’.

The blurb for my bit says…

‘Telling signs?’
‘Emerging Church’ is one (of many) tags given to odd, quirky, marginal forms of being church that exist in or outside of the mainstream? What and where are they? What do they mean? And do they matter? A man who has his finger on the pulse of such things is STEWART CUTLER. He is Children and Youth Development Officer for the URC in Scotland.

Like all these kinds of invitations I’m delighted to be asked then gripped by fear about what to do!  I might talk about that.  It seems kind of apt…  After all, it is Pentecost.

Come and join us at 7pm in Renfield St Stephens, Bath Street, Glasgow.

Last week’s sermon focused on John 15: 9-17 and used some material from the excellent OneKirk worship material and from the equally excellent Lawrence Moore’s blog, Disclosing New Worlds.  As always, youth thoughts and comments are wel,comed.

Last night the Together @ MCT community walked the road to Emmaus with those two disciples who met Christ when they least expected.

Here are a couple of the stations:

1. Crosses
It’s only been a couple of weeks
Since the joy of Palm Sunday
With singing and shouting and hallelujahs

It’s only been a couple of weeks
Since the joy turned to fear
With betrayal and suspicion.

It’s only been a couple of weeks
Since the sky turned black
And He said “It is finished”

It’s only been a couple of weeks
Since the tomb lay empty
And death was defeated

It’s only been a few weeks
But how quickly that Easter feeling fades
And real life returns to normal

So think back
To all that has happened:

“The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.  In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”

3. Looking back at what has been

“Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

The followers of Jesus had watched it all go wrong
But there was hope…

Are we shaped by our past?

Do the things that have happened to us make us who we are?

Or do we start afresh each day?

“… it is the third day since all this took place.”

Do we listen to what Jesus tells us?
Do we believe what we hear?

“In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.  Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.“

They saw a vision of angels who said he was alive!
And yet we are on the road heading the other way.

God can be scary sometimes.
What is hard about believing in Jesus for you?

6. Disappearing

[Light a candle]

It must have been great
To be there with Jesus
Eating
Talking
Sharing

The light of the world
There
With you
His face lit by the flickering candle

…and he disappeared from their sight.

[Blow out the candle]

And he was gone
Just like that

And they were alone again.

For that moment when the candle is not lit everything seems darker
But them our eyes get used to the light
And we realise that it isn’t as dark as we thought
That there is still light in the world

And that we can be that light

How will you shine?
How will you make someone else’s life lighter this week?

I feel sorry for Thomas.  He gets some bad press, mostly so John can make a point to his readers I think.  I’m not even sure Thomas had doubts.  I think he had questions, so that’s where this week’s sermon focuses… on questions.

I was at Lanark Greyfriars and the readings were John 20: 19-31, 1 John 1:1 – 2:2 and Acts 4: 32-35

As always, your comments, suggestions and most of all questions are very welcome.

I’ve posted the text for this sermon about Mary of Bethany and Judas before but I’ve never recorded it until now.

I often feel that Holy Week is one of the most overlooked parts of the Christian year.  That’s all the more strange because it is at the very heart of our faith.  Today is the day when we remember that Jesus gathered  with his closest friends in an upper room to celebrate the Feast of the Passover.  During the meal Jesus broke bread and shared a cup of wine and in doing so gave the church the sacrament of communion.  Remember me.  Sad that in Holy Week, of all times, we forget.

We welcomed Lucy Moore to Saughtonhall Church in Edinburgh today to lead a Messy Fiesta, or Messy Church training day.

Gettin Messy

Messy Church grew from the problem lots of churches face… how to engage children AND their parents.

So, they gather children and their grown ups after school on a Thursday to play, make, cut, stick, glue, colour, play and create TOGETHER.  Then a short worship session and then a meal around tables TOGETHER.

Sounds simple.  So why don’t more people do it?

Has the sermon had its day?  Is there still a place for preaching?  Jonny Baker explores preaching in a thought provoking piece he wrote about a year ago… Preaching: throwing a had-grenade in  fruit bowl

I have to say that I don’t think preaching is done yet, but then you might expect someone who stands at the front of a church most Sundays to say that.

My biggest complaint about lots of preaching is that it is mostly average at best.  I know it’s hard to hit the heights every week but it seems to me that most of the complaints I hear about preaching are really about quality.  Most of us enjoy listening to a captivating speaker for much longer than 10 or 15 minutes.  I regularly listen to Rob Bell talk on his podcast for an hour and I’m disappointed when it’s over.  And that has no visual aids.

So, here’s my plea to anyone who gets to stand up in front of any group of people to speak.  Look on that 15 minute slot as the most important 15 minute presentation of your life, without the associated stress obviously. Would that change how you approach it? Should you expect people to disagree with what you said? What would you like them to go home thinking about?

In Jonny’s article he say:

Mike Riddell suggests that ‘The purpose of the sermon is to unleash the power of scripture in a way that leads to personal and corporate encounter with God.’ (p119 God’s Home Page).  I like that.  I’d add that it should open up the possibility of transformation which maybe is implicit in his definition.  One other goal of preaching/teaching is education – enabling people to learn.

Is that what you get on a Sunday?  Is that what you set out to do on a Sunday?  What do you think about preaching?

This is a sermon preached on Sunday 8 March on Mark 8: 31-38 (Lent 2B).  As always, I’d be glad to hear your thoughts.