Epiphany 2A: John 1:29-42 (& Isaiah 49:1-7) The Lamb of God 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was […]
St John & St Stephen’s Church, Reading, Epiphany 2, Sunday 12th January 2020 Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-end. The Baptism of Christ Today, in the church’s year, we celebrate the baptism of Christ. It may be that it’s not specially on our radar…it’s not Easter and it’s not Christmas, it’s not even Epiphany which was […]
Christmas Morning talk, St John and St Stephen’s, 2019. Luke 2:1-14 Play turtle dove track – who can identify this? You might wonder why we’re listening to a call of a turtle dove – if there’s any vague link with Christmas?! On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: […]
Isaiah 52.7-10, John 1.1-14 Sermon Christmas Eve 2019 The opening words of tonight’s gospel are from John the evangelist, our John, as I like to call him. They echo the very first words in the bible, ‘In the beginning…’ where a lyrical description of how God created the universe follows. The power of God’s word […]
Advent 4, Sunday 22nd December 2019 Isaiah 7:10-16, Matthew 1:18-end ‘The child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’ ‘The child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’ I want to use those words as a sort of launch pad into a reflection on the moment of conception of the Christ-child in […]
Today, continuing in our season of Advent, as we prepare for Christ’s birth at Christmas, the spotlight is on two prophets – Isaiah and John the Baptist. It’s over 4 months since I last preached here and I felt a bit rusty as I was preparing for today! Most of you will have gathered that […]
St John and St Stephen, Advent 2A. Isaiah 11:1-10 7 Matthew 3:1-12. December 8, 2019. Isaiah 11. A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. On this Second Sunday in Advent I wonder: What might God be saying to us through the image […]
Today we celebrate Christ the King. This is the final Sunday of the liturgical year; the culmination before we begin again with Advent. Pope Pius the tenth instituted in the Catholic church the feast of Christ the King with these words “If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; […]
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 […]
I have just finished reading a remarkable book – both inspiring and devastating in pretty equal measure. It’s ‘War Doctor – surgery on the front line’ by David Nott. David is a surgeon who has spent a lot of time working literally on the front line in places like Syria and Gaza, doing […]