Trinity 10A for St John and St Stephen Zoom Church. August 16, 2020. Romans 11:1-6; 11-20; 29-32 and Matthew 15:20-28 INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION. To what extent do you feel included in the story of Salvation? We start with a story about exclusion – about someone who was sadly given the message that she wasn’t included […]
Sermon for Zoom Church, June 14, 2020, St John and St Stephen, Reading. Romans 5:1-8 5Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not […]
Sermon 3rd before Lent, year A, 09.02.20. Matthew 5:13-20 Salt and Light 13 ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14 ‘You are the light of the world. A […]
Second Sunday before Advent,17.11.19 Malachi 4: The Great Day of the Lord & Luke 21: 5-19: The Destruction of the Temple Foretold Today Jesus tells it as it is – something we can be poor at in religious life, full as we often are of ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts’. The invitation to look at the wonders […]
(this better be good!) Luke 16.1-13 . Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 So I thought – on my last Sunday with you all – that I would like to do three things. To speak from the heart about my time with this wonderful and inspiring congregation; to speak about creation season and water … and if I was […]
Religion and Anxiety What is religion for? I know there are some Christians who don’t like to describe themselves as religious (‘they have a relationship with God, not a religion’) but I think it is a useful term. The root of the word ‘religion’ may mean to bind up again (the same root gives us […]
Luke 14:25-33, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Jeremiah 18:1-11 So a few weeks ago, I gave a sermon riffing on two readings; one from Luke with a very angry-sounding Jesus, and the other, a challenging part of Jeremiah, speaking of false prophets. And afterwards I thought to myself.. “thank goodness I won’t have to do anything like that […]
Jeremiah 2:2-13, Luke 14:1,7-14 There can be few more painful experiences than that of a broken marriage. I am very aware that there are people sitting here today who have had exactly that experience. Those of us who are still married, or who are single, can imagine the grief and heartbreak, or have seen it […]
Jeremiah 23:23-29 Luke 12:49-56 This week, amid the many depressing items on the news, came the rather bizarre (though no longer surprising) story of a much older man publicly bullying a much younger woman, (almost still a girl). Arron Bank’s ‘joke’ about Greta Thunberg having a “freak yachting accident” as she sailed the Atlantic to […]
Luke 11:1-13, Year C, 7th Sunday after Pentecost (*names changed for privacy) Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a young woman. Life had been difficult for her. Her first husband had gone and she yearned for a new start. She wondered if life would provide it. Now, the woman’s […]