After-thoughts

With the Covid-19 pandemic raging around us, minds are focused by the increasing numbers of deaths caused by this coronavirus, on the importance of staying alive. By either avoiding infection, or by recovering. Death and life. Life and death. There is a general panic about dying of the...

Isaiah 58: 6-7 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see...

The main Bible text in today's sermong was from John 13:1-17 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And during supper, when the devil had already...

"Summer" in Sweden is not generally very long and varies somewhat in the amount of rain, sunshine and warmth. This summer was different. Sweden, expecially the southern half, has suffered from a serious drought, worsened by record number of sunshine hours and temperature. July was the hottest...

Today the speaker at church encouraged us to reflect on our lives and the ways in which has been active in them. As I listened I began to wonder if our understanding of God's role in my (our) life (lives) isn't very much affected by our perspectives. And because of this we miss the many...

Today's message at church examined the opposition that Nehemiah faced when building Jerusalem's walls. Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite were the main characters leading this opposition but even Geshem the Arab was in on it. The first we hear from them is in Chapter 2 vs 10...

Today we started an eight week series on the book of Nehemiah. And we started with the first chapter. The speaker gave a good historical background to the book and to Nehemiah the wine-taster of the King Artaxerxes of Persia. The first chapter finds Nehemiah meeting people from Jerusalem...

Resurrection day (Sunday) was wonderful. During his sermon, the speaker recounted a conversation he had had many years ago with an atheist about Jesus' resurrection and the Christian faith. This man of course would not accept that the resurrection had happened, prefering to see the whole event...

I wonder how Barabbas slept the night before he was to be crucified and what he thought as he looked back over his life? Was he a proud nationalist who saw his imminent death as martyrdom for the cause, or was he a brute murderer who loved to brawl, and eagerly got caught up in an uprising...

This past Sunday our thoughts were turned to Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus chosen apostles. For the most part our thoughts about Judas focus on his betrayal of his teacher and Rabbi, after three years of listening to His teaching, seeing His miraculous works, but also getting to know Him as a...

Of all the apostles other than Judas Iscariot, Peter must have had the most terrible sabbath, that Pascha when Jesus was crucified. The week had started so promisingly with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Tensions were high, but for the disciples it must have seemed as if Jesus was...

February 18, 2018. This Sunday we focused on Mary of Magdala, who was one of the women who witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ. Mary Magdalena is a figure who appears in traditions, novels and films with a character of much greater detail than that given in the Scriptures, but a...

11 Feb 2018. Pascha is less than 50 days away. The church I attend has decided that fellowship among the congregation members will be the central theme of Lent this year. Sunday messages will revolve around individuals who were present at Jesus Christ's crucifixion. But as members we are...