The Green Chalice by Mark Coleman

  Choosing Life Notes for Sermon preached at St Ann, Belfield 2022 and used in much abbreviated form in a short reflection given in the High Court in my hearing after breaking the North Warwickshire injuction. Why would any of us knowingly do something very likely to hasten our death ? If there was a cliff edge just ahead of you, and experts said there was a cliff edge, would you keep on walking ? If your leaders said “Keep going, don't worry about the cliff, trust us not those who know all about what happens when you walk off a cliff, would you believe them ?  And when some people started falling off the cliff, and you saw pictures on the TV, would you keep following the leaders ? Of course You wouldn’t !  Yet that is exactly what is happening today. We are heading towards disaster. Professor Sir David King, the former government chief scientist, says what we do in the next three to four years will determine the future of humanity. He’s talking about our survival as a sp...

  This Little Light of Mine Sermon preached on Sunday 5 February 2023 at St Ann’s Belfield In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5.16) It should have been a delicious meal. All the ingredients were good. It looked delicious on the plate. But it had no flavour ! All it needed was salt. But there was none on the table. And I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to offend my kind host.  In the ancient world, having your own source of light at night was essential. If your light went out you were stuck. If there was a knock at the door you would not be able to see if it was friend or foe.  There wasn’t much sympathy if your light had gone out because you had been careless and had not topped up the oil. Who are you going to ask for a light ? Of course neighbours are happy to help but … well.. It is a bit embarrassing. The two Biblical images of salt and light are very familiar, and make...