Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was preached during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity , and in the aftermath of the primate's statement on The Episcopal Church . It was given at an Evensong service on 24th January. About 10 years ago, a website called The Ship of Fools held a poll to find the world's best religious joke . The winner was one written by the American comedian, Emo Philips: Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"  He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Bapti...

This sermon was preached on Sunday 4th October. It was a very difficult sermon to write. I knew, from the readings, that it must be about marriage, and I certainly did not want to be disengenuous in my preaching. It's the sermon I've done that's generated the most conversation at the door afterwards, as well as, I'm very pleased to say, generated the most compliments. There was, of course, some disagreement, and sadly, one lady seemed particularly put out, but at least stayed until the end of the service to tell me so. The readings were   Genesis 2:18-24 , Psalm 8 , Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 and Mark 10:2-16 . A few weeks ago, Vaughan challenged me to refer to God as Mother during a future sermon, for God, as we know, is above, and beyond, and before gender. In this sermon, then, for reasons I hope will become clear, I refer to God the Father, as our Mother, using the feminine form. One of the great things about the Church of England is its lectionary. The rea...