Jeremiah 31:7-16

Ephesians 1:3-14

St John 1:10-18

A few days ago, in the middle of the week, I had come to the conclusion that I would have nothing to say to you this morning. I felt drained. The developing news of what was happening in south east Asia was just too much. What can you say in the context of Christian worship at a time like that?

Sure, we’ve had disasters before. How shocked we all were as we saw the events of September 11 developing in front of our very eyes. And for many people, not only those who lost loved ones that day, the sense of shock is still there.

Yet the numbers killed in the destruction of the twin towers were considerably less than the numbers killed on British roads in a single year. Around 3000 people killed by terrorism on September 11; over 3½ thousand …