Come away and rest

A person reading is slightly obscured by books in the foreground

Bishop Steven encourages clergy to ‘come away and rest’ during the summer months, making space for time off and honouring the Sabbath.

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Listening and the conversion of St Paul

Five years ago today, on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, I was consecrated Bishop of Sheffield.  It was on a freezing cold Sunday morning in York Minster with over 2,000 people present in that great church from all over the Diocese…

Uncomfortable words

“Harden not your hearts” The Psalm now commends to us something we need to avoid if we are to hear God’s voice today as we attend to scripture in private prayer and public worship.  Something more than stillness and attention is required. We…

The Voice

Today if you will listen to his voice This final part of the psalm presumes an ongoing conversation between the LORD and his people, between the LORD and each person who will hear him.  This is the conversation which began in the story…

God speaks

Today if you will listen to his voice We will look tomorrow at what it means to listen. But today we need to pause and think about the clearest and most profound truth which underlies these words: the presumption on which they are based. The…

Today if you will listen to his voice

Today if you will listen to his voice At the end of verse 7, Psalm 95 changes gear[1].  The final section of the psalm makes it unique in the psalter.  95.1-7a is a beautiful hymn of praise but like many others in the Psalms (see Psalm…

God’s own people

“For he is our God” What does it mean to declare in the midst of worship that “he is our God and we are his people”? Those who prayed the psalms in the Temple and in their private prayers in ancient Israel and those who pray the…

The special relationship

“For he is our God, we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand” (Psalm 95.7) Psalm 95 has been building to this point and we could and should linger here.  Through the Psalm we call ourselves and one another and the whole…

To worship is to be changed

“….let us bow down….let us kneel….”  Psalm 95.6 John’s gospel tells the story of a conversation between John the Baptist and his disciples.  The crowds are discovering Jesus.  Everyone is going to him.  They think that John…

Caring for creation – safeguarding the earth

“the dry land which his hand have formed” We’re about to move on from the beautiful section on the Psalm about taking joy in God because of the glories of creation. We’re called to sing for joy to the Lord because of the depths of…