Here’s my sermon from last Sunday – apologies for it being a little late this week. The reading from Acts is the account of the Ascension. As it was the Sunday after Ascension Day, and as we had a disappointingly small congregation in church for the Ascension Day service, I concentrated on Acts rather than the gospel reading.

Acts 1.6-14; John 17.1-11

It is the dream, surely, of every advertising executive to come up with an advertising slogan that so captures the public imagination that it enters the language. It then gets used in other contexts, but every time it’s used you recall the original product. In my previous church I preached one Christmas Day picking up on the famous slogan of the Canine Defence League: A dog is for life, not just for Christmas, and then going on to talk about how Jesus is for life, not just for Christmas.  After the service a young man came up to me, very excited, and said, “I loved your sermon!” He was so animated that I thought he was about to say something along the lines of, “It’s changed my life – I want to know Jesus better”, but instead he added, looking really pleased with himself, “My advertising company thought up that slogan!” Continue reading →

Here’s my sermon from this morning.

Acts 17.22-31; 1 Peter 3.13-end; John 14.15-21

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done: it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”

The last words spoken before his death by Sydney Carton, in Charles Dickens’s great novel A The Tale of Two Cities. They are, probably, the most famous and most widely quoted last words in all fiction.

Well chosen words at the point of death can convey so much and can expect to become a kind of verbal memorial to the person who utters them. History records for us, of course, the final words of many famous people, and while some are perhaps best forgotten others still resonate. Take the final words of Edith Cavell, for example, executed by German firing squad during the First World War: Standing, as I do, in the view of God and eternity I realize that patriotism is not enough.  I must have no hatred or bitterness to anyone. Who can fail to be stirred by those words? Continue reading →

Here’s what I preached this week. I concentrated on the gospel reading from John, and as you’ll see encouraged people to reflect on the reading during the week to see what Jesus might say to them through it. If anyone does do this and would like to share any thoughts just use the comments link at the end of the sermon. I’d love to hear other people’s insights.

John 14.1-14

Today’s gospel reading is rather like a box of chocolates. Open a box of chocolates and you’re faced with a choice of mouth-watering centres. And you’re not quite sure which to pick first. Open your Bible to our gospel reading today and you’re faced with a choice of uplifting and encouraging and familiar statements from Jesus. And just as any chocolate box has those chocolates that some people don’t like, so this passage has sayings of Jesus that many Christians don’t like or feel uncomfortable with. And the preacher is faced with a difficult choice – which one to preach on? Continue reading →

It’s been rather quiet on the blog since Easter. I had a week away to recover and then my first Sunday back, which was our patronal, we had a visiting preacher. So, last Sunday was my first sermon since Easter Day. Here it is.

John 10.1-10

Look at any society and you’ll find groups of people doing particular jobs that the rest of that society looks down upon. We look down upon them, make jokes about them, laugh at them. And sometimes even, necessary though the job may be, there is a group that attracts downright hostility. It’s a bit unfair really. These jobs all have to be done – but we all know what people think about them. Many jobs fail the ‘party test.’ Continue reading →

Matthew 28.1-10 (Gospel at the Dawn Mass); John 20.1-18 (Gospel at the 10am Mass)

I don’t know about you, but I like presents to be a surprise. Whether it’s Christmas or birthday or anniversary, I don’t want to know what I’m going to get. To me it takes all the joy out of it if you have to tell someone what you want, or they try to get you to drop hints – there’s no excitement in receiving a present if you already know what it is because it’s what you asked for! The first Easter was a great surprise. The women did not go to the tomb to experience the resurrection.  They went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body.  When they arrived at the tomb, they found the stone rolled away and the body gone.  They certainly didn’t get what they were expecting! Continue reading →

Watch a drama series on television these days and there will usually be a recognition that many people will miss some of the episodes. So at the beginning of each episode you get a recap, and then at the end they give everything away by telling you what’s going to happen next week. It helps to know the whole story. Though it’s much better to actually watch it all yourself instead of relying on a brief two minute recap.

Holy Week is a bit like that. We had episode 1 on Sunday with the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and the reading of the Passion gospel gave us a preview of episode 3 of the story. Last night was episode 2 with the Last Supper. And we saw how Jesus, our Lord and our God, got down on the floor and washed feet. And today, here we are with episode 3 proper – and the Passion story told again, but this time by John. And while many will engage with episode 1 on Palm Sunday, and then episode 4 on Easter Day, they will miss out episodes 2 and 3 because – rather like a television series being badly scheduled, episodes 2 and 3 happen on weekdays. Continue reading →