Job 28:20-28; Luke 10:38-42; John 15:9-17: God's wisdom provides new understanding
What's a woman doing, talking about wisdom this morning, and why are all you women listening to me? Can women be wise? Job evidently doesn't think so. When trouble comes on him, from the massacre of all his children and the destruction of all his possessions, to the infliction on him of boils so horrible all he can do is scratch, his wife - evidently not one of nature's optimists - thinks it's all over. Curse God and die! she recommends. And what is his response to her suggestion? Probably it's more irritated than normal, given his circumstances, but still it's a telling one - You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Maybe, if we're feeling charitable to Job, we can deduce from that that he doesn't think all women are foolish, but it's still a put-down, something along the lines of: Typical woman!

I'm sorry to admit it, but February has never been my favourite month of the year. Christmas is over, as is the optimism generated by the new year, but there are few signs of spring. I like to think that others are of my opinion, since in the normal way of things we are only allotted twenty-eight days of February to endure, but this year - leap year - we have to grin and bear February for another whole day. Grrrr!

Happy New Year! is a fairly safe thing to wish one another at this time of the calendar. But the word ‘New', when it's not wrapped up in Hogmanay - and the idea of novelty behind it - is one that people either love or hate.
If the adverts are anything to go by, the people who market goods and services to us seem to think we all believe that new has to mean an improvement on the old - even if the only difference in a product is a change in colour, its desirability and price go up accordingly!

A recent leaked report from the Institute for Public Policy Research has suggested that in our multicultural Britain other festivals beside Christmas should be celebrated nationally. Predictably, this has provoked a reaction of ‘hands off the British Christmas!' from some newspapers. Another predictable reaction came from Sayeeda Warsi, a British Muslim who is the Conservative spokeswoman on community cohesion. "These proposals could actually damage cohesion," she is reported as saying. "You don't build community cohesion by throwing out our history and denying the fundamental contribution Christianity has played and does play to our nation."

Isn't it amazing how fast St Andrew's Day comes round? Of course, for us that also means the yearly Caledonian Service is on its way, with extra numbers because some of our friends in the Caledonian Society of Sheffield are with us. Last year one of the Caledonians observed after the service that she had been rather disappointed in my sermon, because I had not mentioned St Andrew. I didn't feel too badly: after all, I had spoken about Jesus, who is even closer to the heart of our faith! However, in order to offer honourable amends to any others disappointed by my omission, I decided this year to devote my November Pastoral Letter to the friend of Jesus whose name our church proudly bears.

Now I'm 41 I've got my midlife crisis out of the way, so I'm reflecting on what I have to look forward to as an Older Person. But being old isn't what it used to be. When I was little, old age began when people retired from work in their sixties and reached for their slippers. Now the baby boomer generation are starting to retire - but they're reaching for scuba gear. And people older than that are doing things that make me cheer. Did you know that our own Dr Leslie Green is hoping to mark his ninetieth year with a cruise up the Amazon? And Janet Brown, our worker with older people, tells me of a couple she visits in their own home: he's over 100 and she's over 90, but with proper support in place - including Janet's help - they're getting on with life.

Dropping a big hint, I always love it when someone really wants to know what I believe. But I was taken aback recently just after the service, in which I'd been going on about the coming of God's kingdom, when someone asked me, ‘Sarah, do you really believe in that? Do you really think God's kingdom is going to come?'
At the time I didn't have enough time to think of a proper answer because the hand-shaking queue had begun. (By the way, if you're one of those people who never comes to the front door but goes out the back instead, rather than staying to have a coffee, I really miss not being able to say goodbye to you!) But it's been one of those questions that's stuck with me, and now we're in September, it's come centre-stage, as we re-enter the ‘getting-back-to-education' phase so familiar to me at this time of year.

Holiday time is upon us again - or at least upon those of us, unlike my parents, who are not already retired. (‘But that doesn't mean we're on holiday all the time!' they tell me.) Some of us have booked time out to give our stressed-out bodies a break, whether it's walking, golfing, dancing till the wee small hours or sitting in the sun. Others are more interested in giving the mind something new to chew on: maybe a tour of classical sites, art galleries or model railways. But what, I wonder - if anything - have you planned this summer to refresh your spirit?

For nearly a third of my life, the month of May has meant just one terrible thing: revision for exams. And now it seems to be built into my system. Just when the weather's usually starting to get warm and sunny, a warning bell sounds at the back of my mind. You should be revising, a little voice whispers in your head, and if you don't, you're going to regret it.
Of course, these days exams aren't the only way to test how well students know their stuff. Now there's continuous assessment. On the positive side, going over just one or two topics every few weeks doesn't induce as much panic as having to review the whole subject. On the negative side, now it's every month, week and day of the year that the little voice in the back of your head mutters, You really should be getting down to some work. It's a bit like being a minister.

Imagine, if you will, the Last Supper, seen through Peter's eyes.
Jesus doesn't look too cheerful for someone who's entered Jerusalem to popular acclaim. You should have heard everyone cheering him on! The Pharisees looked grim, but they're just jealous.
Something's gone wrong with the arrangements though - the footwasher's not come in. Once that's out of the way, we can start, because we'll serve ourselves during the meal. Jesus will lead us in the prayers, bless and pour the wine for us, share the Passover story with us. We'll get into the ritual we've known since childhood: wicked Pharaoh and brave Moses, the plagues of Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea, manna to eat in the desert and God's Law given at Mount Sinai. We'll eat unleavened bread and lamb on the bone, bitter herbs and sweet charoset. We'll sing the Hallel psalms, God's praises first sung in Solomon's Temple.