Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning service on 30th August. The Gospel was Matthew 16:21-28 , and the New Testament reading was Romans 12:9-21 .  In writing this sermon, I was reminded of a hymn I wrote a few years ago. I nearly quoted it in the sermon, but removed it in the end. It's here  if you wish to read it.   Last week, Huw talked to us about when Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, and then how difficult the disciples must have found it when Jesus instructed them to keep quiet about it. I have been thinking about that this week. And I’ve also been wondering about Jesus’ motivation. To tell you the truth, I have never understood why Jesus wanted his heavenly identity to be kept so under wraps. Well, this week, we finally find out why.   Poor Peter. I’ve never known someone get it so spectacularly right, and then so catastrophically wrong within such a short space of time. Last week , he was top of his game. Jesus asked his disciples w...

This sermon was given at our Sunday morning service on 29th June - St Peter & St Paul's Day. The Gospel was Matthew 16:13-19 . I hope you enjoy reading it.   In our gospel today, Jesus asks his disciples a question. Well, he asks them two questions actually, but I’ll stick to the first one for now. Jesus takes his disciples out of of their Jewish homeland, and into  Caesarea Philippi  – a place named after the Roman governor of the area, where the Greek god Pan was worshipped prominently, and there was a temple dedicated to Caesar himself, and Jesus asks his disciples what people are saying about him. “Who do they say I am?”, he asks, surrounded by all the trappings of empire, and pagan gods. Who does the world, scrabbling to hold onto the power it has, fighting political and religious wars, say Jesus is?     Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. We call today Petertide.  Two little dickie birds, sitting on a wall....

This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning service on 3rd September 2017. The two New Testament readings were Romans 12:9-21 and Matthew 16:21-28 . They say you should always start a sermon with a joke. Ok then… What do you get if you cross a sheep and a kangaroo? Altogether now: A woolly jumper! Ba-doom tish. It’s an oldie, but, as they say, it’s a goodie! It’s actually one of the earliest jokes I can ever remember being told. I remember laughing at the joke as a small child, but not really understanding it; laughing because it was the conventional thing to do after you hear a joke – and also because it’s just fun to laugh – but all the while, I was thinking “ you get woolly jumpers from sheep – why on earth do you need a kangaroo in the joke too? ”. Perhaps I was also laughing at the ridiculousness of that thought. In fact – I’ll be completely honest – I was an adult before I heard the joke again and really thought about it; about the dual meaning of...