I had a brief conversation with someone in the street outside our church building today - socially-distanced of course! How strange that we have to think of being 'socially-distanced' when talking to someone outside! A year ago, such a thought would have been unheard of, but it seems that even outside, if we are not careful, it is possible to spread the coronavirus. There could be something in the air that is harmful - even deadly...

The Bible is the Word of God. It is absolutely crucial to life. Christians ought to be Bible readers, but the Bible ought to be read by everyone. These days it is easy to find copies of the Bible both in book form and online. What is harder is to establish a habit of reading it. The Bible as a whole speaks to us so we should read from all of it. To help and encourage you in Bible reading I post below links to some really useful resources...

The turning of the calendar from December to January, marking the start of a new year, is seen by many as an opportunity for a new start in life. You may be into New Year resolutions or may be you want to put in place changes of lifestyle - veganuary perhaps, or dry January, or a new exercise or weight-loss regime, or a stop smoking campaign, or want to sort out your time-keeping or get rid of a bunch of old clothes and other accumulated stuff from your home - there are so many ways you hear of people wanting to get a bit of a reset at New Year.

Big news stories get big announcements in the media designed to capture as much attention from as many people as possible. The biggest and best news story in all history certainly got a big announcement, but, strangely, it was made just to a small group of obscure men...

Tier 4. Not unexpected, but no doubt disappointing to many and also troubling because of the escalating problem with Covid-19 that has caused this latest change to the rules. Whatever disappointments we suffer, and not just from the pandemic because life throws up many disappointments, the Gospel, which means 'good news', is of 'great joy that will be for all people'. This is what the angel of the Lord told the shepherds in Bethlehem's fields on the night Jesus was born. The story is told by Luke...