Category: Sermons

What I might have said this Sunday – Lent 2


I wasn’t preaching this week, but I found this sermon that I preached on the same Sunday three years ago. The gospel reading is Nicodemus visiting Jesus by night. In the Genesis reading we hear about Abram being told to pack his bags and go off to a far country, and then Paul tells us that it was Abraham’s faith that saved him, not his works.

Genesis 12.1-4; Romans 4.1-5, 13-17; John 3.1-17

There is an old Chinese proverb:

He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.

We don’t, on the whole, like asking questions – after all, we don’t want to show how ignorant we are. Continue reading →

What I said this Sunday – Sunday next before Lent


Here’s my sermon for the Sunday before Lent, often known as Transfiguration Sunday.

Matthew 17.1-9

There is a sign on the wall in the fracture clinic in East Surrey Hospital. It begins “I love the NHS” in that annoying way where someone thinks it’s really clever to replace the word love with a red heart. Continue reading →

What I said this Sunday – 2nd before Lent


Here’s my sermon for this week which, in the Church of England, was on the gospel reading Matthew 6.25-end; for the rest of the world (or at least those churches that follow the Revised Common Lectionary, which is most) the gospel was Matthew 6.24-end. Read my sermon to learm more about the verse ‘missing’ from the Church of England!

Matthew 6.25-end

What do you worry about? Continue reading →

To infinity and beyond – what I said this Sunday


Matthew 5.38-end

To infinity and beyond!

Anyone recognise the catchphrase?

It is, of course, the oft repeated cry of Buzz Lightyear, the space ranger action figure from the Toy Story film franchise.

The thing about Buzz Lightyear is that he does not realise that he is a toy. He believes that he is the real Buzz Lightyear, a real space ranger. Throughout the film Toy Story he embarks upon various missions and challenges, uttering his rallying cry, ‘To infinity and beyond’, convinced that all of his equipment is fully functional. He doesn’t realise that his communicator is just a sticker, or that his jet pack is completely non-functional. The truth only dawns when he sees a TV advertisement for a Buzz Lightyear Action Figure. Realising he is just a toy and not the Real Buzz Lightyear after all he falls into depression and has a nervous breakdown. His cry of ‘To infinity and beyond,’ seems a bit pointless once the truth dawns upon him. Continue reading →

What I said on Sunday


This week’s service was a Family and Parade service. The talk was interactive, so no normal sermon to post here this week, but I’ll summarise briefly what I covered in the talk. Continue reading →

What I said this Sunday


Here’s what I said in church this week. If you missed it and would like one of the bookmarks I mention at the end (and you live near St John’s and are reading this around or not long after 6th February) then you’ll find some at the back of church. Continue reading →

What the priest I live with said today


Here is Mother Anne-Marie’s sermon from this morning

John 2.1-11 – The Wedding at Cana

I walked her home and she held my hand
I knew it couldn’t be just a one night stand
So I asked to see her next week and she told me I could
Something tells me I’m into something good

You have to be a certain age to remember Herman’s Hermits, Continue reading →

What the priest I live with preached on Sunday


Still haven’t managed to set up this blog so that the priest I live with can post directly, so here is what she preached yesterday. Continue reading →

What I said on Sunday


Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca (1416-1492)

Back from my Christmas break yesterday for the Feast of the Baptism of Christ. On this day we all go down to the font to recall our baptismal promises dedicate ourselves to the service of Christ. Here’s what I said. Continue reading →