Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was given on the morning of Sunday 11th August 2024, after a week of riots and counter-protests in the UK. The New Testament reading was Ephesians 4:25-5:2 . This morning’s Gospel is about bread. When we get to August every third year, we get John’s Gospel, and for about 6 weeks, we go through John Chapter 6, during which we talk a huge amount about bread. If you come to church in August this year without having had your breakfast first, you’re going to get hungry! I’ve actually preached in this slot both times over the last six years. Today marks my third sermon with these same readings. So, I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t actually preach on the gospel at all today?  Don’t worry, Caroline is preaching next week, and I’m sure she’ll cover the Gospel – unless she throws in a wild card? Instead then, for today’s sermon, I’d like to turn to our New Testament reading, from the letter to the Ephesians. There’s all sorts of scholarly thought about this letter that I don’t...

This sermon was preached at Evensong on Sunday 28th May, 6 days after the Manchester bombing that claimed the life of 22 people and injured many more. The New Testament reading was Ephesians 1:15-23 . Like many, if not all, of us, I have been trying to come to terms this week with the horrific actions of Monday night, when, after a pop concert at Manchester Arena, a young man, full of religious fervour, set off a bomb, killing himself and 21 other young people, and wounding many others in the area.  “How can this happen?”, we ask ourselves. How does God allow it? Where is God in this awful situation? These are natural questions to ask ourselves, and ask of God. I’d go so far to state that not only are they natural, but they are necessary . Ours would be an immature faith if we did not ask; if we simply stopped our ears at the sound of the question. An immature faith ignores this issue. Not as immature and perverted a faith as one that persuades its adheren...

This sermon was preached at the evening service on Sunday 19th March. The New Testament reading that evening was Ephesians 6:10-20 . There is reference to it having been an awful few weeks for the church; tragically, Natalie, the wife of our priest-in-charge died on Tuesday 28th February having only been diagnosed with cancer within the past few months. Her funeral was on Monday 13th March. I’ve mentioned in my sermons before about how I love stories, especially mythological ones. Growing up, I enjoyed hearing tales of the court of Camelot; of King Arthur, Merlin and Sir Lancelot, but also of other knights – of George and the dragon, and of the perennial battle between the white and the black knights of folklore. I don’t think I’m alone in that. The stories are popular for a reason; we all like tales of good versus evil, of individual bravery and bravado, and – if we’re honest – someone in a cool, shiny metal suit. That’s probably one of the reasons that this evening’s New ...