Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was given at our midnight mass service on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day 2021. Merry Christmas to you! Can you feel it? Have you got that Christmassy feeling yet? However old we get, there’s still something magical about Christmas isn’t there? And tonight, when Christmas Eve turns into Christmas morning is – for me – the most magical time of the whole season. Maybe it’s all that mulled wine I drank earlier? Or maybe, it’s the fact that it is night time – the witching hour, if you like, and just being here with you all, with the flickering candles and the beautiful, stirring Christmas music evoking that sense of magic for me. Perhaps that’s why you’re here too? To seek a small glimpse of that Christmas magic? Even as we grow out of childhood and into adults, I think we still, deep down, hold out hope that the magic of Christmas still exists. We cling to the possibility of all that Christmas promises; reconciliation with alienated family-members, children playing happily – and ...

This sermon was given at our Sunday morning service on 5th December 2021, the third Sunday of Advent. The service was also our annual toy service, in which we donate new toys to charity for Christmas presents. The Gospel was  Luke 3:1-6 . What do you think of when you picture a prophet? Maybe your mind is turned to the ancient Greeks and of  Cassandra  – the doomed prophet cursed to always predict the future, but never be believed until she uttered her last, tragic prediction of her own death. Maybe you picture something like The Seer from the History Channel’s ‘ Vikings ’ series; a cowled, disfigured old blind man, who talks in riddles, stating that the nature of prophecy is “only to be understood when it has happened, and it is too late to change it”. Or, perhaps you think of a man like John the Baptist in our Gospel reading from Luke today; a wild man, wearing camel hides who eats locusts and wild honey, crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. Thro...

This sermon was first preached at our Sunday morning service on 7th November 2021. The Old Testament reading was  Jonah 3:1-5,10 . Our readings today are odd readings to have at this time of year. In fact, for those of you whose memories are particularly good, you may well recognise them from back at the end of January. Of course, due to covid, back in January, we were only holding services by Zoom, so only read the Gospel lesson on that particular Sunday. I’m not entirely sure why we’ve got them again today; the lectionary is a strange beast sometimes! But actually, I’m delighted that this morning we had a chance to hear these readings again – mainly for the opportunity that we did not get in January to hear from the book of Jonah for our lesson from the Old Testament this morning. I love the book of Jonah. We all know it of course from Sunday school, with the famous story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale; but there is more to the story. If you’ve never read it, I recommend it....

This sermon was preached at our Harvest Sunday service on 10th October 2021. There has been much talk in the news of petrol shortages, rising fuel costs and existing and protected supply chain issues, causing a sense of fear across the UK. The Gospel that morning was  Matthew 6:25-33 . Our offering at St Michael's was in aid of  Stretford Food Bank , A farmer slowly enters the field. He surveys the golden stalks of wheat, pristine and gently waving in the breeze before him. Solemnly, he prepares his scythe, and whispers a silent prayer to the god of the harvest. In one swift, practised motion, he swings his blade against the wheat, and then stops. Carefully he gathers that first cutting and ties it together, his calloused fingers stumbling over the knot, and sets it gently aside. This will be the offering; the bargain that guarantees a good harvest next year – as long as the farmer did everything right in the preparation, that is. And then, the rest of the harvesting is done....

This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning service on 29th August 2021. The Gospel was  Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23   Hope you enjoy reading it! “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile”. What an odd Gospel to hear in these days of Coronavirus, whilst we sit here in our masks, trying so diligently to contain the spread of this disease that we heard only  earlier this week had returned into the top ten causes of death in England in July  (that’s an odd top ten to hear about, by the way. I wonder if they announce the countdown to number one over the music for Pick of the Pops?). Also in our Gospel, Mark calls out that the religious authorities had noticed – and taken afront at the fact that – Jesus’ disciples were eating without first washing their hands. I think I’m with the religious authorities here; I don’t know about you? I’m sure the hands of the UK have never been as clean as they have been over the past two years. I mean, for me, the song ‘...

This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning Eucharist on Sunday 8th August 2021, following a few weeks of relaxation of the UK's covid restrictions. The Gospel was John 6:35,41-51 . Hope you enjoy reading it! Raising children can be repetitive sometimes. Mealtimes especially. Don’t get me wrong, my two are very, very good, but we still have those conversations every parent has: “Come on now, eat up!” “Don’t liiike it!” “You do! This is your favourite!” “Want ice-cream.” “After. Eat up your meat and potatoes first. And you, eat up your bread.” I swear I have these conversations in my sleep sometimes; “Eat up! Eat your bread!”   Eating bread There is – surprisingly – a link here to today’s Gospel. When I read it out earlier, did it feel oddly familiar? A bit repetitive? If you were here last Sunday, or even the Sunday before, you’d be forgiven for thinking that maybe I’d read out last week’s Gospel instead, or maybe that of the week before? “Hear the Gospel of o...

This sermon was preached on Sunday 4th July 2021; the morning after the England football team qualified for their first semi-finals in the Euros in 25 years! The gospel that morning was Mark 6:1-13 . In today’s Gospel we heard the story of what happened when Jesus – after travelling throughout nearby villages, towns and cities, performing miracles, healing the sick and bringing God’s good news – much like football, came home.   Coming home (well, I had to, didn't it?) You’d think that ought to be a joyous occasion, seeing family and friends again after so long, welcomed back to a home-cooked meal and perhaps even praised as the famous celebrity preacher everyone has been talking about, but… things were quite different.   Jesus, it seems, was none too popular back home. We all know this story – a favourite of many a teenage Christian: ‘a prophet is not without honour except in their home town’. Except this is actually more than a belittling; the people aren’t just d...