It’s the ‘Second Sunday of Easter’, sometimes referred to as ‘Low Sunday’ and we are 5 weeks into the Dutch ‘intelligent lockdown’ trying to beat a Covid-19 pandemic. Church has left the building and is happening in homes linked online through Zoom. This is a time to reconsider who we are as church in the light of the Resurrection. Here goes!

The audio begins with the preceding RCL Gospel reading and following Epistle for Easter 2.

Easter Sunday and the church building is empty because the church proper, the people of God in Christ, are at home on-line linked by the internet and the fellowship of Holy Spirit. Francis brought a resurrection message for people disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This Good Friday message preached via Zoom considers the ‘wrath of God’ and the cross. Was Father God angry with Jesus on the account of sinful humanity? Or is God’s wrath something other than what has often been assumed?

Why should we live to please God? Why be obedient to the Biblical instructions for living? In the midst of the COVID19 situation we are obeying the Government’s instructions for living. Barbara explores how obeying God, pleasing God who is love, is so much more.

Lent kicks off with a reminder of what sin is, where it came from and how we deal with it. Francis sets out the Lenten agenda in terms of a ‘Baptism Boost’ through practicing repentance and faith as the core central response to the Gospel. But first, what is ‘sin’ ?

Transfiguration Sunday will of course consider the day Jesus shone like the sun and a voice was heard from the cloud. It was a day of glory. What does that mean, then and now? Read or listen:

When Moses brought the people to the Jordan Valley they were asked to reaffirm their national covenant with the LORD. Big decisions like that do not happen today but sometimes populations do need to agree and work together fro the same page. Public health in the face of an epidemic is such a case and all the more so for people who meet to share bread and wine. Are these stories connected?

This message explores how all the people’s of the world are marked by the pain of sin as first experienced by Adam and Eve and how the Gospel fully appreciated is that Jesus through his cross and resurrection overcame every dimension of that pain. It’s a big story relating to everyone from East, West and South.

Christmas over? Not so fast! Bethlehem just got dangerous and the outworking of God’s redemption plan comes down to two men: Joseph and Herod. This message looks at what they represent and what makes them tick so we might learn to walk in a right way.

On Christmas Day we heard Luke’s account of the birth featuring Shepherds visited by angels and lots of make-do arrangements. Mary pondered all these things in her heart. What do we need to see here and what might be of importance to us who want to welcome God’s actions in our lives?