Sermons And Gubbins

This sermon was preached at our Midnight Mass service on Christmas Eve 2023. It's a rehash of my sermon from the same service in 2021. I hope you enjoy reading it, anyway! Happy Christmas to you! Can you feel it? Have you got that Christmassy feeling yet?   However old we get, there’s still something magical about Christmas isn’t there? And tonight, when Christmas Eve turns into Christmas morning is – for me – the most magical time of the whole season. Maybe it’s all that sherry I drank earlier? Or  maybe , it’s the fact that it *is* night time – the witching hour, if you like, and just being here with you all, with the flickering candles and the beautiful, stirring Christmas music evoking that sense of magic for me. Perhaps that’s why you’re here too? To seek a small glimpse of that Christmas magic?   Even as we grow out of childhood and into adults, I think we still, deep down, hold out hope that the magic of Christmas still exists. We cling to the possibility of all th...

This sermon was given at our midnight mass service on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day 2021. Merry Christmas to you! Can you feel it? Have you got that Christmassy feeling yet? However old we get, there’s still something magical about Christmas isn’t there? And tonight, when Christmas Eve turns into Christmas morning is – for me – the most magical time of the whole season. Maybe it’s all that mulled wine I drank earlier? Or maybe, it’s the fact that it is night time – the witching hour, if you like, and just being here with you all, with the flickering candles and the beautiful, stirring Christmas music evoking that sense of magic for me. Perhaps that’s why you’re here too? To seek a small glimpse of that Christmas magic? Even as we grow out of childhood and into adults, I think we still, deep down, hold out hope that the magic of Christmas still exists. We cling to the possibility of all that Christmas promises; reconciliation with alienated family-members, children playing happily – and ...

This sermon was preached on Sunday 9th August, in the wake of Greater Manchester being placed in further coronavirus lockdown measures. The Gospel for the morning was Matthew 14:22-33 . If you'd prefer to read a less political take on the passage, then you can read my sermon from 3 years' ago on the same passage here instead. My little boy, Isaac has been trying to perform magic recently. His favourite trick is to put a toy on the table, and then cover it with his hat and then, when you're not looking, he will remove the toy from under the hat and show you that it has disappeared! It's been very interesting watching his technique change; he's progressed now from shouting " Don't look! Don't look, Daddy! " to realising that it's better to try to draw your attention elsewhere. Admittedly, shouting " Oh! Look at the bin! " is not the most sophisticated way for a magician to cover up their sleight-of-hand, but, you have to admit, ...

This poem was given in place of a sermon at our 10:15 service on Christmas Eve. It's (obviously) based on Clement Clark Moore's famous poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas .  I hope you enjoy it. ‘Twas the day before Christmas, and all o’er the world Every grown-up was busy; every boy, every girl. The stockings weren’t up yet, the mulled wine not yet spiced, The presents unwrapped still – <gasp!> – the cake’s not been iced! Church-goers were dotted alone in their rows Whilst shopping lists higher thoughts in their heads o’er-imposed. And mum’s getting frantic, and dad’s getting ‘merry’ And – oh no, no, no! We’ve just run out of sherry! And out in the towns, packed shops fill up their coffers As last-minute shoppers vie for last minute offers. Home, quick! Put lights up, to compete with our neighbour; But somewhere else, now, a teenage girl is in labour. And she’s waited – her advent has been 40 weeks – And she thinks of the child that she be...

This sermon was preached at our morning service on Sunday 13th August. The gospel reading was Matthew 14:22-33 ; Jesus walking on the water. I've always found the usual interpretations of this story somewhat simplistic, so it was interesting to think upon and do some research into other potential meanings here. I hope you find it useful.   When I was a little boy, I loved playing in the local swimming pool. Now, notice how I phrased that; ‘playing in the swimming pool’. I didn’t love going swimming. I’ve never been a strong swimmer; in fact, I was in high school before I finally learnt to swim without using arm bands or a float. No – I didn’t like going swimming; I tolerated the swimming so that I could play in the swimming pool. The pool was exciting; there was a shallow area with spurting fountains you could manipulate to spray in your playmates’ direction, there were huge foam boards that several would-be-pirate children could climb onto and command at the same time,...