Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was given at our Sunday morning service on 26th October 2025; Bible Sunday. The gospel reading was Luke 4:16-24 . I hope you enjoy reading it!   Today, churches around the world are celebrating Bible Sunday . This is a day set aside for us to think about this book that we read from here at St Michael’s every time we meet together to worship God. I’m sure you’ve all got one – at least one – at home too. Maybe an ancient one you were given as a confirmation present? Maybe one bought as a student to aid with studying? Maybe you are in possession of a treasured family Bible, passed down from parents and grandparents, and now safely stored away in a cupboard or the loft? It probably won’t surprise you to know that – at home – we have at least twelve physical copies of the Bible, most of which are different translations. I have to be honest – this one here  is one of my personal favourites! It’s probably not that useful for when we do the readings in church, however…...

This sermon was written for Bible Sunday 2023 and was preached at our Sunday morning service that day (29th October). In the news recently had been stories of awful atrocities committed in Israel and Gaza with escalations of violence on all sides. My sermon this morning has been a particularly difficult one to write. For me, the weight of everything that’s happening in Israel and Palestine just feels so heavy. I’m sure for you, there’s a similar feeling. It’s a kind of grief, I guess, mourning the senselessness, the cruelty and the seeming hopelessness of it all. There are no easy answers, and there really does not look to be a way out of this situation, save for a multiplying of the violence. Today, we’re supposed to be celebrating Bible Sunday ; a day to come together to celebrate the gift of the scriptures to God’s people. But, for me, at the moment, I cannot help but think about the fact that this book is intricately linked with the soil and the sea of the land we are watching fall...