Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was given at our morning Zoom service on Sunday 29th November, the first Sunday of Advent 2020. It was given in the wake (watch for that word) of the 2020 US Presidential elections and also news of three vaccines to help fight the spread of Coronavirus, but also whilst the whole country was in its second lockdown of 2020, with the threat of re-strengthed tiers of restrictions for much of the country when lockdown ended, with tier 3 for Greater Manchester being very very similar to full lockdown itself. The gospel for this Sunday was Mark 13:24-37 . I think we’re all sick of it now; the waiting. You can tell when you talk to people; when you queue next to them in those queues outside shops that threaten to go on forever (the queues, not the shops), or when you see parents and children winding each other up in the park, or even when you talk to your own family and loved ones; people are getting fractious and snappy. I know I am. Maybe you’re of better temperament tha...

This sermon was preached on the morning on November 15th 2015, a few days after the terrible attacks in Paris on the night of November 13th. The sermon was written before those attacks, but required some last minute tweaks to take them, and their effect upon us, into account. In researching and writing it, I am indebted to another sermon I found online preached by the Rev'd Dr Willimon in 2012 - A World Rocked by God . If you have the time, I highly recommend reading it. Part of me toyed (for a moment only, mind) with reading out his sermon instead of writing my own. I'm sure you'll see the sermon below owes much to it. The readings were Daniel 12:1-3 , Hebrews 10:11-25 & Mark 13:1-8 . Before I start my sermon, I’d like to invite you to take some time to look around you. Notice the walls, the ceiling, the beautiful stained glass, the intricate tiling on the floor, the pew on which you are sitting. All this? With all the years it has been here, and...