In Lamentations 2 we read of the depth of the disaster that has afflicted Jerusalem as the Babylonians have overcome the city, destroyed it, taken many into captivity, and caused many women and children to die. The grief and the pain and the loss are unimaginable.

Lamentations 2 invites us into the pain and encourages us to look forward with eyes of hope in the Gospel.

Lamentations is often thought of as a depressing book. It chronicles the pain of the people of God after their exile from Jerusalem and Jerusalem's destruction in 587 BC. What can we possibly learn from this dark and dull book? Christopher Wright says, "in a world where the tide of human suffering threatens to overwhelm whatever dykes we put in place to contain it, is there any book of the Bible more relevant than this book that gives voice to the most awful pain imaginable?"

Lamentations gives us a window into the pain of the people of God. And in a world going from tragedy to tragedy, from war to flood to fire to famine this book gives voice to those of us experiencing deep pain and helps us to express our pain to God.

This sermon gives an overview of Lamentations, it's point and purpose and then takes a look at the first of the 5 poems - Lamentations 1.

In John 6 Jesus tells those following him that he is "the bread of life". He then goes on to say that to receive eternal life we need to eat his flesh and drink his blood which sounds a bit yuck! What does Jesus mean by all this talk of bread and eating him? Find out in this talk from John 6:25-71. We will find in the end that it is only Jesus who can truly satisfy.

Have you ever felt out of your depth? Unable to offer any sort of useful help or support? This is exactly the position the disciples find themselves in In John 6:1-25. And in response we see Jesus perform two signs that teach us more about who He is and about how God uses our weakness to show His strength.

The passage invites you to consider:

Who do you think Jesus is?

Do you believe God can use you for His glory? and,

Do you trust His word?

In John 5 Jesus teaches us that making a decision about who he is is the road to eternal life. A great message was shared by Bishop Richard Condie to celebrate the baptism of grace and the confirmation of Di.

In John 4:43-5:15, we read of Jesus healing two people. In doing so we see something of what Jesus requires of us - trust in his word. These stories show us the true nature of faith in Jesus.

We also are invited to think about the relationship between sin and sickness and we unpack that in this talk.

As we continue our journey through John's gospel we come to the story of the women at the well in John 4. This is a masterful piece of storytelling that reveals to us the depth of who Jesus is and what he's come to do.

Jesus is revealed to be the one who enables true worship of God in spirit and truth. This true worship is what ultimately satisfies our souls. The women at the well had been searching in the wrong place. Once she meets Jesus she is transformed.

You too can be transformed by Jesus!

In the opening chapters of John's Gospel, we read the story of Jesus coming into the Temple during the Passover festival and getting pretty upset with what he saw, so much so he made a whip and started driving people and animals out of the temple and flipping tables as he went!

What are we to make of this event and how does it fit with our picture of who Jesus is? How should we respond to Jesus when he doesn't act as we expect?

The first miracle that Jesus ever did was turning water into wine at a wedding because they were running low! Why did he do that? And what does this miracle mean for us today?

This talk is based on John 2:1-12.

In John's gospel we read about how John the Baptist had a ministry of preparing people and pointing them to Jesus. As we hear the story of John the Baptist and Jesus calling his first disciples we learn something about what it means to humble ourselves, acknowledge who Jesus is and commit ourselves to following him day after day.