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 Sunday 19th March, when we celebrated Mothering Sunday. The Old Testament reading was  Exodus 2:1-10  and the Gospel was  John 19:25-27 . Did you know that today is not, in fact, Mother’s Day? That sounds like the start of a sermon from someone who forgot to buy a card for their mum today, doesn’t it? Thankfully, I remembered, and my kids remembered, so I don’t need to try to cover up anyone’s forgetfulness with a technicality – I’m really not sure it would go down well at all, and I would not recommend trying it! But, it is true though. Today is Mothering Sunday – not Mother’s Day – and from the perspective of the Church, there is a difference. Mother’s Day started in the US in the early 1900s, and it was originally a day for mothers to stand together and ask that their sons and husbands would no longer be killed in war. The day took off in popularity, transforming into a day to celebrate and be thankful for moth...

This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning service on 3rd March 2019, shortly before the start of Lent. The Gospel that morning was Luke 9:28-36 , and the Old Testament reading was Exodus 34:29-35 .   I don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with the Comic Relief Kilimanjaro climb on the BBC over the past week? Nine celebrities, including BBC Breakfast’s Dan Walker, Strictly Come Dancing judge, Shirley Ballas and Pointless quiz-host Alexander Armstrong have been recreating the original Comic Relief celebrity mountain climb from 10 years ago. To all accounts, it’s been a gruelling journey up Africa’s highest mountain. There’ll be a documentary on TV on 13 th March which should make for interesting viewing! Mount Kilimanjiro I must be honest, though, there’s not many of these celebrity endurance charity tasks that gain my attention. I’m aware David Walliams did some swimming a few years ago, and there was, of course, Eddie Izzard’s marathon of marathons for S...