Category Archives: Resources

St Mark’s is committed to producing resources reflecting the ethos and outlook of the church.

This is quite a challenge and one exercising those responsible for learning and faith development as well as for preparing services and selecting hymns.

Although work in progress, we have produced a number of documents that begin to outline an alternative approach to Christian faith – one that is rooted in the vision and vocation of Jesus whilst embracing insights and learning assimilated through the centuries.

Also, services at St Mark’s increasingly include locally-crafted texts within the structure of Anglican liturgy or ones that are conceived from scratch.

The upshot of this is a growing body of material that may be of interest to other people and church communities. Some of these resources can be accessed here and may be used without copyright infringement. All that we ask is that sources are acknowledged.

The Foolishness of the Cross

Preached by on Good Friday, 29th March 2013 • Sermon series:

Opening Prayer Christ of the passion, as we gather in your name, lead us deeper into the wisdom revealed in your suffering and embodied on the cross; rid us of the fear of being judged foolish for owning your name … Continue reading →

Posted on March 29, 2013 in Resources, Sermons • Tagged , , , , , ,

Sermon series: ‘Things We’d Rather Not think About …’

Things we'd rather not think about image

This year the team at St Mark’s preached a series of sermons before Advent on the theme of ‘Things We’d Rather Not think About …’, which took a fresh look at the traditional Advent themes: death, judgement, dying, heaven & … Continue reading →

Posted on January 21, 2013 in Resources

‘Things We’d Rather Not think About …’ A fresh look at traditional Advent themes

Things we'd rather not think about image

THINGS WE’D RATHER NOT THINK ABOUT was the title of a series of Sunday 10 am sermons and 6 pm led reflective evenings which took a fresh look at the traditional Advent themes: death, judgement, dying, heaven & hell. The resources produced for the evening reflections are available to download below. Continue reading →

Posted on January 21, 2013 in Courses, Resources • Tagged , , , , , ,

Sermon series: Why don’t we…?

Ian and Sue talking by the garden of Remembrance

Ian is preaching a series of sermons over the summer on the theme of “why don’t we…?”, in which he responds to some of the questions about worship that have been raised by members of the congregation. The texts of … Continue reading →

Posted on August 5, 2012 in Resources

Climate, Sustainability and the Future

The climate crisis is seen as being intimately linked to the economic crisis, which, with its inexorable drive for growth, fuels the climate crisis. The case is argued that rather than the unsatisfying drive for prosperity as growth, we should be striving for prosperity as human flourishing with emphasis on greater equality. The million climate jobs campaign provides a model because it links action on the environment with action on the economy by providing jobs. Various strategies are explored, such as sharing work, a more localized approach to agriculture and a more imaginative approach to public procurement and housing. Suggestions are made about the nature of the moral/spiritual crisis that threatens us and ways in which we might go forward. Continue reading →

Posted on March 20, 2012 in Resources • Tagged ,

A Journey through Mark

Notes to accompany the reading of Mark’s Gospel These notes have been prepared to help you study the Gospel of Mark.  You are encouraged to read through the portion of Mark specified under each heading and then to consult these … Continue reading →

Posted on February 26, 2012 in Resources

Before ‘Big Bang’

THE SCHOLARLY SEARCH for Jesus of Nazareth can be likened to a cosmologist’s quest for the origins of the universe. Billions of years ago, an high-temperature explosion of super-dense matter occurred, the so-called ‘Big Bang’, giving rise to all that exists. The enormity of this split-second wonder makes investigation into its causes (if, indeed, there are any) extremely difficult. What is more, those clues to date, black holes and the like, suggest a radically different order of things. Continue reading →

Posted on February 10, 2012 in Resources • Tagged ,

A Journey through Mark – Part VIII

The foreknowledge attributed to Jesus is these verses is extraordinary, including predictions of betrayal and denial by his followers (vv. 18-21; 27-31). Had things been as Mark records here it is difficult to understand why Jesus didn’t withdraw from Jerusalem and avoid arrest. Unless, of course, he intended this course of events to come about, in which case Judas should be re-cast in a different light in that his ‘handing over’ becomes essential to the story of salvation. Continue reading →

Posted on February 1, 2012 in Resources

A Journey through Mark – Part VII

From what we can gather the belief that God would bodily resurrect his people from Sheol, the shadowy existence that awaits all at death, came to expression within the Jewish faith at a relatively late stage. We can see signs of it taking shape in the Psalms with believers struggling to make sense of suffering and death in the light of God’s love for and unconditional commitment to them (e.g. Psalms 30 & 88). Continue reading →

Posted on February 1, 2012 in Resources

A Journey through Mark – Part VI

The story of Bartimaeus is one of the great testimonies of faith recorded in the gospels and Mark uses it to form a transition from his ‘discipleship course’ (see comment on 8:22-26) to the culmination of Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem. Here, as in Mark 8:22-26, the contrast between different types of blindness and sight reinforces the conviction that only faith can discern who Jesus is within God’s saving purposes. Continue reading →

Posted on February 1, 2012 in Resources