Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was given at our Evensong service on Sunday 27th January;  Holocaust Memorial Day . The Old Testament reading was  Numbers 9:15-23 . Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. It's said that to ensure the horrors of the past are never repeated, they must never be forgotten. Personally, I think it's very important that we remember the stories from our past, and also the past of our Jewish brothers and sisters. One such story can be found in our Old Testament reading this evening. This story tells us of the beginnings of the Tabernacle. I don’t know how much you know about the Tabernacle, but it’s quite an interesting concept. It’s all tied up with the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt; escaping slavery and setting off to find new lives for themselves in the Promised Land. There, in the desert, the Israelites journeyed for forty years, rarely staying in the same place, all the while relying solely on the providence of God. But, even in these times – perhaps especially in th...

This talk was first given at our 10:15 service on Sunday 30th December. Our Sunday School was still on leave for Christmas, so I tried to ensure the children were catered for in my talk today! The Gospel was  Luke 2:41-52 , where Jesus stays behind in the temple without his parents. Right! Well, that’s it! Christmas is all done for another year, and now we’ve got some tidying up to do! We need to prepare to go ahead into 2019, and get ready for everything the new year will bring! We’ve got some stuff to do in the church here for that… would anyone like to help me? <children come up> Excellent. Ok. Up here, we’ve got our travelling nativity. Maybe it came to some of your houses over Christmas? Well, now Christmas is done, we need to get it all ready for the new year. Some of the figures probably need a bit of a wash, and maybe a bit of a patch-up here and there. And we need to get a new sign-up sheet sorted don’t we, so we know where it needs to go next year? Ok – you take Mar...

This sermon was given at our All Saints service on the morning of Sunday 4th November. The gospel reading was the story of Lazarus, from John 11:32-44 . If you think about it, All Saints Day is a bit of a weird celebration for us in the Church of England, isn’t it? We’re not really that big on the whole width and breadth of saints outside of the usual suspects – you know, the ones who churches get named after. And, as for praying to the saints? Well, that all sounds a bit too much like Popery to us, doesn’t it? It doesn’t really fit with our (Church of) English sensibilities. But, if it wasn’t for All Saints Day, or All Hallows’, as it’s also known, there’d be no Halloween. And I looove Halloween. I know I probably shouldn’t – Christians more religious than I will tell you that we should avoid Halloween, due to its pagan origins and its preoccupation with monsters and the dead. But, it might surprise you to know that the Anglican Church in America does provide a...

This poem was written for our Evensong service on 7th October, the week of National Poetry Day 2018. The day was given over to our church's Harvest Festival, and I was reflecting on what we - who no longer plough fields or scatter seed - can bring to the creator of everything, who needs nothing from us. Hope you enjoy... I am not a farmer; I can bring no wheat. I am not a butcher; I can bring no meat. I am not a baker; I can offer no fresh batch. Nor am I a fisherman; I can bring no morning catch. I am not a hunter; I can bring no prey. I am not a potter and can bring no refined clay. I am not a gardener; I can bring no fresh produce. And I am not a fruit picker; I cannot bring first fruits. I am not a cow-herd; I can offer you no milk. I am not a weaver; I can bring you no fine silk. I am not a serving cook; I can prepare for you no meal And I am not a blacksmith; I can forge for you no steel. I am not a miner; I cannot bring you coal. N...

This sermon was first preached at our Sunday morning service on 23rd September 2018. The Gospel that morning was Mark 9:30-37 , and the Old Testament reading was from Proverbs - 31:10-31 . So… I thought this morning, I’d look at our reading from Proverbs , and preach about how to be a great wife. But, then I remembered that I quite like living in my house, and so I decided that it would probably be a good idea to pass on the exciting opportunity to preach on such a reading as that. I hope you’ll agree with me that that was a good decision. And even if you don’t, well… you’re not the one who has to live with the consequences. But actually, we all want to be great, don’t we? A great wife, a great husband, a great parent? A great friend, a great employee or employer? A great sportsperson, or cook, or artist or writer? We want to be great at what we do, and for people to acknowledge that. We don’t all want to be great at everything (well, some of us do), but… for what’s ...