This was a short sermon (actually probably a little too long even then) for our early service on Trinity Sunday. The sermon itself suddenly came to me very quickly, and was a response to people often asking me ‘why does the Trinity matter?’. I’m not saying that this is the only reason, or that the …
Category Archives: Uncategorised
Palm Sunday
This sermon was for a BCP service on Palm Sunday, so the Gospel reading was Matthew 27:1-54, which is his account of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Reading the Gospel passage we have just heard made me think when I first heard it about the nature of time, and how we perceive it. Just …
Sermon on Ukraine
This sermon was delivered the Sunday after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Gospel appointed in the lectionary was the transfiguration, which was what the sermon was therefore originally going to reference. This week has been a week where writing a sermon in advance has felt like a futile activity, events have been …
Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Advent
This week, we have reached the third Sunday of Advent. Traditionally, having considered the patriarchs and the prophets on the previous two Sundays, we now focus in on John the Baptist, as the herald of Jesus’ earthly ministry.Advent shares a liturgical colour with Lent, and is also intended as a time of reflection. Historically it …
Sermon on Mark 10:46
When I was studying to become a Licenced Lay Minister, one of the more interesting topics that we covered was Christian Ethics. Ethical dilemmas are always thought provoking, and ethics as a subject is always walking a fine line. As an academic subject, it is trying to generalise, and find principles; but the nature of …
Sermon on Mark 9:30-37
One of Mark’s themes this morning is once again the incomprehension, even stupidity, of the disciples. Hope for us all here.Why is this such a constant theme of the gospels?Once again, God’s plan for creation’s salvation in the Messiah, conflicts sharply with what the disciples are expecting.This is despite the words of so many of …
Sermon on evil
Lectionary – Ephesians 6:10-20 & John 6:56-69. For the last eighteen months people have been wishing that we could get back to normal. The news this week, no longer dominated by Covid, helps me remember that normal wasn’t really all that great, especially on a global scale.The swift and total collapse of the Afghan government, …
Sermon on Luke 12:13-21
On the face of it, this is a pretty straightforward exchange between Jesus and someone in the crowd. The unnamed person in the crowd appeals to Jesus as a rabbi – the law is pretty straightforward and all he wants is a ruling in accordance with the law. Jesus’ response is interesting on several levels …
Sermon on John 6:51-58
A couple of people have asked me for a transcript of the sermon I preached yesterday on John 6:51-58, so here it is: The Bible talks about bread a lot. It’s a very potent image. In those times bread was truly the staple of life.For most people it was probably three-quarters of their diet, supplemented …