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Week beginning Sunday 11 October 2026 Proper 22 Year A

Today's golden calves

In this week’s scripture, the Israelites feel like they have been waiting for Moses for a long time! They become impatient and frightened, so they make a golden calf and begin to worship it. They want something they can see, touch and control.

It makes me wonder: What are the “golden calves” in our lives today?

Maybe it is social media, popularity, money, sport, appearance, success, relationships or even the opinions of other people. None of these things are necessarily bad, but what happens when they become more important to us than God?

Think about your own life for a moment. What do you spend most of your time thinking about? What do you worry about losing? What makes you feel valuable or important? Could any of these things become something you put before God?

This feels especially relevant this week as we mark 3 years since the 7 October attacks on Israel and the start of Israel's subsequent retaliation. In the UK, there is a lot of discussion about antisemitism and the fear experienced by Jewish people. This reminds us how easily fear, anger and hatred can take control of our thinking. When the Israelites were afraid, they looked for something else to trust. When we are afraid, where do we turn?

The amazing thing is that God does not simply give up on the Israelites. Moses reminds God of his promises, and God shows mercy.

What kind of God is this? A God who is holy, but also merciful. A God who calls us away from the things controlling us and back towards him.

So this week, ask yourself: What is at the centre of my life? And what would it look like to put God back there?

Maybe start with one simple change — one habit, thought or priority that you can consciously place back in God’s hands.

Natasia Bullock is director of Christian theatre company The B Tales.

Week beginning Sunday 4 October 2026 Proper 22 Year A

Listen and flourish

After months of hype the new season of Strictly Come Dancing has finally started. The couples have been paired. The judges are in place. The new presenters have begun. Views on how well they are filling the shoes of their predecessors are inevitably mixed. In order to be fair they need to be given a bit longer to settle in. However, they are clearly making a supreme effort to work together as a team.

In order to flourish the celebrities have a lot to learn. Those who listen to their professional partner and take notice of what they are told are the dancers who will do best. However the professionals also have to remember the rules. Already one couple had their wrist slapped (or points deducted) for improvising too much.

The ten commandments were a gift from God. They were designed to enable the Israelites to live in good relationship with God and each other. Another way of looking at this is to say that the commandments are designed to enable people to flourish in community. The celebrities who did well were congratulated by the judges for listening to their professional partners. So it is with the commandments. Those who take notice of God and obey the commandments will flourish.

People often see the commandments as restrictions which limit what we can do. Rather we should view them in a positive light as guidance for ways in which we can ensure good community living and a strong spiritual relationship. Like the dancers who work well together, we too will flourish.

Stuart Wild is a methodist minister who lives less than half an hour away from the legendary Blackpool Tower Ballroom.

Week beginning Sunday 27 September 2026 Proper 21 Year A

Could you be an advocate?

Have you ever felt like something wasn’t quite right but you are not sure what?

Sometimes, something requires intervention but we ourselves may not know exactly what this is. This week it was announced that Martha’s Rule would be rolled out across A&Es throughout the NHS allowing parents to better advocate for their children when they feel something is wrong.

As a youth worker we can be in a privileged place to advocate for our young people when they feel they do not have a voice. As Moses spoke out in the desert on behalf of the Israelites, we too can speak out for the young people we minister to when their thoughts and feelings are not being heard. Sometimes, they may not even know what it is that they need, but we are able to see their lives through a different lens.

Is there somebody in your group that needs you to be their advocate? This could range from helping to encourage friendships and participation to speaking to parents on behalf of a young person’s wellbeing. Whatever the case may be, the role of the youth worker can play a key part in a young person’s life.

Ros Hardy is an assistant youth minister at Knowle Parish Church.

Week beginning Sunday 20 September 2026 Proper 20 Year A

Trust in God

“Recreate this image as though it was genuinely photographed in 1984, rather than digitally edited today.”

Prompts like these have gone viral recently as millions of people have turned to ChatGPT to turn their photos into ones that could have come straight from the 1980’s. It might sound like harmless fun but all these requests asked so close together puts a large amount of pressure on the servers that create them and that, in turn, creates a huge negative environmental impact.

The effect is so big that many people are crying out that enough is enough, with many social media users not only speaking out about this impact, but also offering alternative ways to explore the same question, such as making your own 80s clothes, asking parents to see their photographs, and giving real-life make-up tips to recreate the looks IRL.

The issue is not the request itself, but where the request is being directed to. It is not too dissimilar to our Bible passage today, with a whole community of people directing their questions in the wrong place.

By learning to put our trust in God, and discerning the questions we should ask, we can work out our steps through life, and maybe learn how to navigate trends!

Lindsay Wright is a freelance writer and designer from Lancashire - www.startswithabrew.co.uk

Week beginning Sunday 13 September 2026 Proper 19 Year A

Transition God

For many people September is a month of new beginnings:

• Some will be starting “big school” or going into new classes.
• Older teenagers might be going to college or university; starting apprenticeships; or beginning their first "proper" job.

We talk about the new academic year but actually we have moved from the old to the new and now we are in a period of transition.

Transition is a period that is highly charged with emotions. There are a whole range of feelings from excitement to apprehension; joy at what is coming; sorrow at what is being left behind. When we ask the question: Have you settled in? we may expect the answer to be: Yes! but really there is often a while before we have left the period of transition and are truly settled. These emotions overwhelm us whether we are Prince George facing a rainy first day at Eton; the Duke and Duchess of Sussex coming to terms with life back in the UK; or the child facing their first bus ride alone to their new secondary/high school.

These emotions must have overwhelmed the Israelites as they followed Moses through the Red Sea. There would be relief at leaving the hardships of Egypt behind them but also apprehension, maybe even fear, at what future the other side of “the sea” held for them.

God was with them. God didn’t necessarily take away the emotions they were feeling but God enabled them to cope with them. In a sense all of life is a transition. We do not know what tomorrow will hold but, of one thing we can be sure, God will be with us just as God was with the Israelites. God may not take away the traumas but going with God gives us the strength and courage to get through.

Methodist minister Revd Stuart Wild lives in St Annes on the Sea and has not yet seen the sea in the Ribble Estuary part and the way across to Southport become completely dry.

Week beginning Sunday 6 September 2026 Proper 18 Year A

Remember who God is

If football is your thing, you’re bound to know that the transfer window SLAMMED shut this week. Note that it didn’t just finish. It didn’t just close. It SLAMMED shut.

One of modern football’s rules when describing the end of the period when clubs can sell players to each other is that you must use the most dramatic language possible. Indeed, that is their marketing approach to pretty much every aspect of the football season. Every weekend has a “season-defining crunch” and a goal that “will be talked about for the ages” and players who will “never be forgotten”. It sounds great, but these “era-defining” matches disappear from memory in no time - sometimes as quickly as the next weekend.

This week's passage focuses on something that is worth remembering - God’s people being freed from slavery. It begins the night before with the people receiving a set of very specific instructions to follow as they get ready for God’s rescue. These instructions are there to prepare them for the journey to freedom whilst also giving them rituals for future generations to re-enact and remember how their ancestors were rescued by God.

It can be easy to forget who God is and all He has done for us. And yet, if we can find ways to remember who God is - through things like communion, worship and reading our Bibles - that remembering can anchor us through life’s storms and get ready to journey on with God.

Chris Neilands is the co-founder of Play it by Ear drama company, based in Belfast.

Week beginning Sunday 30 August 2026 Proper 17 Year A

God goes with you, one step at a time

School is about to kick off!

Well, at least here in the United Kingdom. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland it has just begun and, if you live somewhere else, it could already be the middle of the school term. Maybe that should have read:

School is about to kick off/has just kicked off/got kicked off a long time ago.

Not as catchy…

Whether you are about to begin school/have just begun school/been in school for ages, there is every chance that the mention of the first day of school comes loaded with a specific set of emotions.

How does the first day back to school make you feel?

Ready and excited? Unsure and nervous? Perhaps a mixture of all these emotions?

In our passage this week, Moses is having a big first day. It is his first day being called to be the leader of the Hebrews. His job is to go to Pharaoh and announce that he will be taking his people out of the Egypt and off to the Promised Land.

He does not feel up to the task. But God tells Moses that He will be with him and that will be enough to face up to any challenge.

Perhaps, as you start this new school year, you can’t imagine what the next few days are going to be like, or perhaps it is the other way around in your head e.g. there is a very clear future of exams, tests and pressure.

No matter how you feel about the journey ahead, remember you don’t go alone. God goes with you, one step at a time.

Chris Neilands is the co-founder of Play it by Ear drama company, based in Belfast.

Week beginning  Sunday 23 August 2026 Proper 16 Year A

Be empowered by involving God in your decision making

As August moves on, we’ve arrived in a season of exam results and, for many, time to make decisions about what the next steps in our lives look like. After a lot of preparation, revision and waiting, the time has come to look ahead, to consider what and where we’d like to focus our energies, alongside pondering what God might be calling us to.

Milestones like this happen throughout our lives and, whilst some of us might have a really clear sense of purpose for ‘what’s next’, others might feel some uncertainty. Being empowered as we navigate our way, taking these next steps in life, can mean including parents and/or carers as well as other adults and friends around us who are trusted companions in our life and faith journeys.

Involving God in our decision making – praying, reflecting on our gifts and skills and learning from stories we read in the Bible, is a vital way that can help us find a path through. It’s worth remembering we don’t do any of this alone! God is with us every step of the way and that can give us confidence when making big choices.

Questions

• What are the big steps in life that you’re considering right now?
• How can God empower you in making life choices that are right for you at this time?
• Who are the adults and friends you can speak with, who will help and empower you as you look ahead?

Gail Adcock shares her time between being associate vicar with two churches in North Hertfordshire and a consultant for all things family and intergenerational church related.

Week beginning  Sunday 16 August 2026 Proper 15 Year A

Respond with love

Did you watch the eclipse this week? Do you know anyone who travelled abroad in order to get a better view? Some parts of the country saw something truly spectacular; in other places, the results were less impressive. What you saw depended a lot on where you stood.

In this week’s Bible reading, we hear about Joseph’s reconciliation with his brothers. Although Joseph tells them that everything has worked out for good because God is in charge, his brothers are still unsure whether to believe him; after all, it takes a lot of grace to forgive your own family for selling you into slavery! From where Joseph was standing, having felt God’s power at work in his life, he could see a way to forgive his brothers. To the brothers, forgiveness seemed like an unlikely outcome.

Sometimes two people in the same situation can have very different reactions to it. Perhaps you’ve seen something like this if you’ve collected exam results recently or moved school.

Whatever the fears of Joseph’s brothers, Joseph responded with love, mercy and grace. He helped his brothers and cried with joy and relief. He understood their fear, but responded with a love that took it away completely. We can’t control how others react under pressure, but how we treat them when we recognise their feelings can make all the difference.

• Where do you see people in stressful or difficult situations today?
• How does your faith shape your perspective on these?
• How does your faith affect your response to things that happen in your life?

Tom Rippon is an Anglican authorised lay minister and Assistant Editor for Roots.

Week beginning  Sunday 9 August 2026 Proper 14 Year A

Fear is not a worthy enemy 

This week saw the release of the Scottish Highers results. A levels and GCSE results will come out over the next 2 weeks in the rest of the UK. This is a time of upheaval for our young people - for some it will be exciting whilst for others it may feel disappointing and difficult. All of them will be experiencing uncertainty about what the future may hold.

Reading the story of Joseph being sold into slavery, he must have been very scared - this did not feature in his dreams! I wonder how difficult it was for him to recall God’s promises to him and to hold on to his hopes for the future?

It has been said that fear is not a worthy enemy - it is hopelessness we need to be wary of. Fear can be overcome if we have hope. Some of our young people will have their hopes dashed by their exam results and for those with everything to look forward to, the future may look daunting.

How do you hold onto hope in your life when times are difficult?

How do we help our young people to hear God’s promises to them?

This cohort of students are still being impacted by the COVID 19 school closures, they might feel that life is unfair. How do we encourage them to trust God and hold onto their hope?

Victoria Etherington is University and Young Adult Chaplain in the York Methodist Circuit.

Week beginning Sunday 2 August 2026 Proper 13 year A

Behind-the-scenes work

There has been a lot of sport going on in the world recently. This week we’ve seen the Commonwealth Games kicking off, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have got back into the ring, and of course there was that little event that’s just finished over in America, Canada, and Mexico!

Because of this you may have missed a record being broken by Josh Kerr. Josh is a British athlete who set a new world record for a 1 mile run at the London Diamond League last weekend - a record that has been held since 1999. Josh completed the mile in three minutes and forty-three seconds!

Talking afterwards Josh said “I nearly lost it there at the end, but I got over the line…Those performances take every part of you, every part of your team. Out there, I am just the body, but there is an incredible amount of work behind the scenes.”

And that is what we get from today’s verse. Jacob had everything taken out of him - the struggle was real but he got it over the line. And all of that wrestling is the behind-the-scenes work that leads to miraculous outcomes.

Your challenge question for today:

Can you make God part of your team to help you get over the line when it comes to struggles in your life?

Lindsay Wright is a freelance writer and designer from Lancashire - www.startswithabrew.co.uk

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