John van de Laar

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK One of the marks of Jesus' life was his strong sense of purpose. Christian scholars debate how much Jesus, in his humanity, understood his divine [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK If your church is following the Revised Common Lectionary, you will probably hear the story of Jesus changing water to wine from John’s Gospel today. [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK The first Sunday after Epiphany always focuses on the baptism of Jesus. This year Luke's version of this story is the main reading. You might [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK This week our meditations focus on the celebration of Epiphany on 6 January. The word 'epiphany' speaks of a moment of sudden inspiration or insight. [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK This week we have been celebrating the incarnation – God becoming human. It's one thing to proclaim that God has been embodied in human flesh, [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK At the centre of this week, of course, is the Christmas celebration for which we have been waiting and preparing throughout Advent. Much has been [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK It sounds strange to see, in the last verse of this Sunday's Gospel reading, the words "warnings" and "Good News" in the same sentence. For [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK This second week of Advent we focus on John the Baptiser, but specifically on his message, which was for the people to "Prepare the way". [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK And so, we reach the start of a new year in the Church Calendar – Advent Sunday. The word "Advent" means "arrival", and in the [...]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK This week is the last of the Church Year. Next week a new cycle begins with Advent Sunday, but before we get there, we take [...]