Michael was saying, last week, how much he loves these accounts of encounters between Jesus and individual people, and the conversations that took place. Last week we heard of the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night. Today we hear of the Samaritan woman who came to Jesus in the brightness…
So, Lent is here again: a season of fasting and self discipline as we remember Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. Our 40 days of Lent reflect this time, and giving up things we enjoy is a way of deliberately putting ourselves in a position where we are likely to have to wrestle with temptation,…
If you’ve been coming to St Oswald’s for any length of time, you’ll know that Candlemas is my favourite festival. I love it for all sorts of reasons: I love the Candlemas snowdrop legends: that when Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden after the fall, it is said that snowdrops grew in Eve’s…
So, the shops are full of baubles and tinsel and Christmas cards and huge foil dishes for roasting turkey. It doesn’t feel quite as over the top as it has in the past – I think the supermarkets have worked out that we won’t have as much money to spend this year. Nevertheless, there…
We are, these days, very keen to dig the dirt on leaders and celebrities: social media exist on this . No one would bother to read Twitter or Facebook were it not for scandal, and our national newspapers follow not very far behind. I have mixed feelings about this: one the one hand,…
God of creation, you fill the world with your abundance; it overflows with your generous mercy. There is enough for everyone, but we fail to share things fairly: a few have an abundance but millions of others have no chance of a decent life for themselves and their children This year we are experiencing scarcity…
The readings this week are Genesis 32:22-31 and Luke 18:1-8 I love the story of Jacob wrestling with the unknown man who, it turns out, is either God or an angel – a messenger from God. As in the picture on our notice sheet today, by Marc Chagall, the unknown man is often portrayed with…
Sunday Worship – Seven Day After Trinity Sunday. St. Oswald’s Sunday service of Holy Communion will begin at 10.00 am as usual. The service will be led by Revd Canon Michael Radcliffe the and the Vicar will preach. She has had a difficult time following a bad dose of covivid19 and we hope that this…
St. Oswald’s Sunday service of Holy Communion will begin at 10.00 am. Canon Michael Ratcliffe will lead the service and preach the sermon owing to the Vicar being down with Covid-19 and self isolating. Thank you Michael for stepping into the breach again. There will be a Messy Sermon Group for children and a small…
Two weeks ago I handed out the packs for The Vine Community – if you didn’t get one, there are still some available at the back of church. The Vine Community is an initiative of the Diocese of Blackburn which is designed to help people to grow as Christians. It does this by helping people…