Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was my first as a guest-preacher, preached on Sunday 21st August; I was invited to preach at St Agnes and then at St Thomas in Oldham. The gospel that morning was Luke 13:10-17 . (As an aside, ignore the heading on the biblegateway link; headings (like chapters and verses) in the Bible are not original and are added by editors to help seperate the sections. Hopefully you'll see (as you read through the sermon) why I don't think the heading is the most helpful!) I’d like to start my sermon this morning with a confession, I hope you won’t hold it against me; I’m not a sports fan.   I don’t follow any football team – and that’s tricky as it’s always one of the first questions I get asked whenever people hear that I live in Manchester – are you City or United? There’s always a sense of disappointment when I answer ‘neither’, the person I’ve met has just had their conversation-starter stopped in its tracks and needs to try to think of something else to talk about. ...

This sermon was preached on the morning of February 21st 2016, the second Sunday of Lent. The readings were Genesis 15:1-12,17-18 , Psalm 27 , Phillippians 3:17-4:1 & Luke 13:31-end .   I love stories. If you ever want to capture and hold my attention, then start me off with a ‘once upon a time’. And if you want me to stop what I’m doing, tell me a story about gods and origins. A story that has been handed down through the ages, or a twist on those tales. I like that kind of tale so much, I even studied Greek and Roman literature and drama at university, and despite that, I still enjoy reading about Odysseus tricking the Cyclops, and the greed, stupidity, and pride of the Greek pantheon of gods, and the ingenuity of the people with whom they interact. I find it fascinating that different cultures have the same kinds of stories. Tales of people wandering, cast out from home; tales of heroes battling fantastic and horrendous monsters; tales of tricksters, getting their...

This sermon was preached on the 18th October, when we celebrated the Feast of St Luke. We held our regular Wholeness & Healing service on the same day. The readings were Isaiah 35:3-6 , Psalm 147:1-7 , 2 Timothy 4:5-17 & Luke 10:1-9 . Once, there was a man. Let’s call him Noah. He was a very firm believer in God – zealous for the Lord, you might say. Now, in the place where he lived, there was a storm. The local officials in the area sent out a warning that the riverbanks would soon burst and cause flooding. They warned the occupants of the town to evacuate immediately. Noah heard the warning, and he said to himself, “I will trust in the Lord. God will keep me safe.” His neighbour came by, and said to him, “We’re leaving now – come get in our car and we’ll get out to safety!” Noah politely refused. “Thank you,” he said, “but I believe the Lord will save me.” And he prayed to God for the waters for subside. The water rose until it was the level of his porch. A m...

This sermon was preached at Evensong on Sunday 3rd April, the 2nd Sunday of Easter. The readings were Genesis 3:8-15 , Psalm 85 & Galatians 4:1-5 . This article was used in my research. A while ago, before Isaac was born, Jen & I talked about adopting. I guess many people who want children but, for whatever reason, do not have them, consider it, as a way to both satisfy their desire to raise a family and to be able to provide a loving, stable environment to a child in need. Paul, in our reading from his letter to the Galatians this evening also talks about adoption, but his understanding, and our understanding of the word are really quite different. I’d like to think about that a bit tonight, and see if it can help us to understand that reading, and God, a little bit better. I have to confess, when I read through this reading a week or so ago to prepare for tonight, I was a bit confused. Paul talks of us receiving adoption as God’s children, and my gut reaction t...