The hard work of sowing seed in what looks like perfectly empty earth has a time of harvest. All suffering, pain, emptiness, disappointment is seed: sow it in God and He will, finally, bring a crop of joy from it.

The task of the prophet is not to smooth things over but to make things right.

One way to define spiritual life is getting so tired and fed up with yourself you go on to something better, which is following Jesus.

Neither the adventure of goodness nor the pursuit of righteousness gets headlines.

If we get our information from the biblical material there is no doubt that the Christian life is a dancing, leaping, daring life.

"Sabbath is not primarily about us or how it benefits us; it is about God, and how God forms us. It is not, in the first place, about what we do or don't do; it is about God - completing and resting and blessing and sanctifying. These are all things that we don't know much about......But it does mean stopping and being quiet long enough to see - open-mouthed - with wonder - resurrection wonder.....we cultivate the "fear of the Lord". Our souls are formed by what we cannot work up or take charge of. We respond and enter into what the resurrection of Jesus continues to do."

I cannot fail to call the congregation to worship God, to listen to his Word, to offer themselves to God.