Sermons And Gubbins

This story was given in lieu of a sermon on Sunday 11th October. The gospel reading was Matthew 22:1-14 , which is (in my mind at least) quite a troublesome passage. This is my response to Jesus' prompting of us to compare the kingdom of heaven to the banquet he talks about in his parable. I hope you enjoy my own version!      O nce there was a great and powerful king. He lived in a most magnificent palace in a land called Ekklesia. The palace was built high up on a hill, and gleamed with golden domes and silver spires that glittered in the sunlight. All the citizens of Ekklesia wondered at the marvels that must exist within that palace, given the opulence displayed so evidently in its building work. They stared up as they went about their business, carrying trade of fine silks, heady spices and precious metals from the great merchant ships in the harbour to the rich city centre. One of those who marvelled at this palace every day was a fellow called Lazarus. Lazarus ...

 This sermon was preached on our Sunday morning service on 8th September. The gospel was Mark 7:24-37 . I hope you enjoy reading it! The Jesus of the first half of today’s Gospel is – I have to say – a Jesus I don’t really recognise. I don’t know if you feel the same? It starts off normal enough; in our gospel, we hear that Jesus leaves his own community and sets off travelling. Maybe he’s visiting extended family, or perhaps he’s on a tour, spreading the Good News to other members of the Jewish faith (or, potentially more apposite to today’s Gospel, the Jewish race ). Either way, he’s in foreign climes. Whilst there, he finds a place to stay. He’s approached by a local woman who asks for his help. Not for her, but for her daughter, who, she says, is possessed. And here’s where Jesus looks to go off the rails. He says ‘no’.   Jesus and the Syrophoenician Woman     He says ‘no’, and really not politely. He’s rude to her. His language is discriminatory...

This sermon was written for our Sunday morning service on 22nd January. In the news headlines recently had been much talk of strike action across various industries in the UK . It was also the Sunday within the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity . The previous Sunday, we had had a guest speaker come to talk to us about the Inclusive Church movement. The Gospel that Sunday was Matthew 4:12-23 . I hope you enjoy reading the sermon! If you’ve been paying any attention to the news at all over recent months, you will have heard of strikes across many and various trade unions across our country. There has been worker-led disruption across many industries for the last six months or so; some taking up more headlines than others: transport strikes, barristers, and the postal service; other high profile strikes across our healthcare system; and schools and universities – but there have also been strikes across local government, the refuse industry, the financial conduct authority, and my own ...