Sermons for Ordinary Times
(Genesis 12:1-9) Romans 4:13-25 Abraham is the Bible’s, and especially Paul’s, definitive person of faith. Time and again Abraham believes what God tells him, and time and again his life is reshaped as a consequence. Abraham, who at that point in his life was still called Abram, was told to move from Ur to Haran. …
A Sermon for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (11/06/23): The Faith of Abraham Read More »
Matthew 28:16-20 Just as he is about leave them as he ascends into heaven, Jesus leaves his followers with what has become known as the great commission:Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.This is a problematic day that …
(Matthew 17:1-9) II Peter 1:16-21 How do we know that Christianity is true or good or even useful? Here we are spending our time and energy on it. We devote ourselves to a particular set of commitments and a particular lifestyle that grows our of those commitments. We tell a story and try to allow …
Matthew 5:21-37 “You have heard that it was said. . . but I say to you“ Jesus goes up onto a mountain, sits down, the disciples and the crowd gathers round him and Jesus begins to teach. The choice of location for this teaching is quite deliberate. Given the content of what Jesus teaches in …
A Sermon for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (12/02/23): But I say to you Read More »
1 Corinthians 2:1-4(5-12) Paul DemoralisedPaul looks back to when he arrived in Corinth. When he got there he was disappointed, frustrated, demoralised. He didn’t cut a very impressive figure. Emotionally he was broken. He was self-doubting and fearful. He arrived in Corinth from Athens. In Athens he had engaged Greek culture, Greek thinking, Greek religion …
Corinthians 1:18-31 One of the most troubling things for Christians is the question: why doesn’t everyone believe? Why isn’t it the case that everyone sees the truth of what we are saying? Why doesn’t everyone, or at least a few more, come and join us here Sunday by Sunday? As the church declines in this …
Isaiah 49:1-7 You are my servant . . . .and:I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.One of the first questions that might ask of this, or for that matter many passages of scripture is: Who are these words addressed to? Who …
A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (22/01/23): You are my Servant Read More »
John 1:29-42 How is Jesus recognised as the one sent by God? How do you know? How do we establish that it is indeed Jesus, who is the one who comes to establish God’s kingdom? The one who calls together a people in his name, who reconciles that people and through them the whole of …
Luke 23:33-43 As Jesus hangs dying on the cross, three groups speak. They speak with increasing intimacy, each from a perspective closer to Jesus than the last. Their words reveal, implicitly, what is taking place here. The first group to speak are the leaders the members of the priestly class, senior scribes, and prominent members …
Luke 21:5-19 Jesus makes a series of predictionsWhen we hear Jesus speak we not unnaturally expect him to say something remarkable, to say something no one else could say, that his words offer us an insight that no one else could give. And for the most part he does. But here Jesus makes a series …
A Sermon for the Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (13/11/22):Predictable Predictions Read More »