Sermons And Gubbins

  This sermon was given at our Sunday morning service on 15th February 2026. The readings were Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9 . I hope you enjoy reading it!   I’ve been thinking a lot – for various reasons recently – about Change. I swear I saw some of you almost shudder there. I think, deep down, none of us really like change. The American journalist, Sydney J Harris, once wrote: “ our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time. What we really want is for things to remain the same but get better ”. I can very much relate to that, can you? Wouldn’t it be excellent if things were different? Not the things I like, though…   The master of self-change and reinvention, David Bowie This morning’s readings are all about change. They’re probably the readings about change in the New Testament. This morning, we heard the story of the Transfiguration . And the story of the Transfiguration is a pivotal point in God’s story of how the world changes. ...

This sermon was given at our Sunday morning service on 29th June - St Peter & St Paul's Day. The Gospel was Matthew 16:13-19 . I hope you enjoy reading it.   In our gospel today, Jesus asks his disciples a question. Well, he asks them two questions actually, but I’ll stick to the first one for now. Jesus takes his disciples out of of their Jewish homeland, and into  Caesarea Philippi  – a place named after the Roman governor of the area, where the Greek god Pan was worshipped prominently, and there was a temple dedicated to Caesar himself, and Jesus asks his disciples what people are saying about him. “Who do they say I am?”, he asks, surrounded by all the trappings of empire, and pagan gods. Who does the world, scrabbling to hold onto the power it has, fighting political and religious wars, say Jesus is?     Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. We call today Petertide.  Two little dickie birds, sitting on a wall....

This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning service on 26th January 2025, the first Sunday following the inaugration of Trump as the 47th president of the United States of America. The gospel was Luke 4:14-21 . Do you have a technique for getting through a sermon? My kids have a snack. It started, when Isaac was a lot smaller, as a way to ensure he was quiet and didn’t fidget. A decent-sized apple could keep him going through the affirmation of faith and the intercessions too.   I’m sure you’ve seen videos of Trump’s inauguration service on the news or social media. I bet that presidential party would have given anything for a way to get through Bishop Budde’s sermon. Trump really looked like he could have used the distraction of a snack – something like a whole bucket of chicken into which he could bury his head. When we take Isaac and Miriam out to the pub, we let them have their tablets and headphones to watch cartoons or films for when they’ve finished their tea. I b...