Sermons for the Season of Easter
Responding to the Resurrection Acts 4:32-35 Luke reports the aftermath of the first Easter, he tells us: With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Everything that follows in the Church’s history and in the lives of all the Christians begins with this and is build on …
A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter (11/04/21): Responding to the Resurrection Read More »
The Empty Tomb Mark 16:1-8 The first Easter morning is fundamentally different from every subsequent Easter morning. We don’t and we can’t approach the tomb as a place of disappointment and despair. There is no way for us to unknow what we have already heard about what the women find there. We already know what they do not know, …
A Sermon for Easter Day (04/04/21): The Empty Tomb Read More »
Pentecost – A Day of Miracles Acts 2:1-21 The day of Pentecost is a day of miracles! The Holy Spirit creates a disturbance. The first most obvious miracle. The one we’re most likely to notice, the one we tend to pay most attention to, is the disturbance which the Holy Spirit creates. Suddenly from heaven there …
A Sermon for Pentecost (31/05/20): Pentecost – A Day of Miracles Read More »
Not doing nothing – Waiting Acts 1:6-14 “Men of Galilee why stand there looking up into the sky? This Jesus who was taken from you up to heaven will come again in the same way as you have seen him go.” There’s an odd pause in the Church year. We reach the climax (which we …
A Sermon for the Sunday in Ascensiontide (24/05/20): Not Doing Nothing – Waiting Read More »
Making the Unknown God Known Acts 17:17-31 Athens is the most challenging place Paul has ever preached. He has been brought here, having left Thessalonica in a hurry. There his preaching had found considerable success in the synagogue and among those Greeks who were already attracted to the God of Israel. But his success had …
A Sermon for Sixth Sunday of Easter (17/05/20): Making the Unknown God Known Read More »
Speaking Truth to Power from Powerlessness Acts 7:55-60 The first Christians very quickly discover that Jesus wasn’t exaggerating when he told them that to follow him meant taking up a cross and dying. They find out that if you are doing Christianity right it is liable to get you killed. Stephen is the first of the long …
The Radical Response to the Resurrection Acts 2:42-47 The task which Luke gives himself in writing the Acts of the Apostles is to show us what happens when the message of the resurrection is preached. On Easter morning and the days that follow, one after another Jesus’ friends have discovered that he is not dead but …
In the season of Easter one of the set readings on each Sunday is taken from the Acts of the Apostles. Each of these readings recalls the Apostles’ preaching of the resurrection. The reading set for the Third Sunday of Easter is the end of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. This sermon reflects …
A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter (26/04/20): This Jesus Whom We Crucified Read More »
Believing Thomas John 20:19-31 The first Easter day ends with the disciples gathered together. They are back in their usual meeting place. They are with one another in the house where just three nights ago they had shared a final meal with Jesus. So much has happened since then. Fear had scattered them and has …
A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter (19/04/20): Believing Thomas Read More »
Christ is risen: He is risen indeed, Alleluia! He Is Not Here, He is Risen Matthew 28:1-10 Before the sun is even properly up, Easter morning begins. It begins in journey from a still sleeping city, resting after the excitement and terror of the past week. It begins in a journey to a quiet place …
A Sermon for Easter Day (12/04/20): He is not here, He is risen Read More »