A Sermon for the First Sunday after Epiphany (10/01/21): The Beginning of the Good News

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The Beginning of the Good News Mark 1: 4-11 John the Baptist appears in the wilderness. Something new is happening. Out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere, John appears. His appearing has no context. There is no backstory. There is no build up. John does not fit into anything that is already happening. He is not the effect of some direct …

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A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Christmas and Epiphany (03/01/21): Unexpected Homage, Unexpected Opposition

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 Unexpected Homage, Unexpected Opposition Matthew 2:1-12 The birth of Jesus is announced in Jerusalem by the arrival of a group of foreign magicians! We call them wise men, and in comparison to most of their contemporaries they seemed wise. They studied the stars, and other natural phenomena, in order to discern what was happening or …

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A Sermon for the First Sunday of Christmas (27/12/20): The Meaning of Christmas

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  The Meaning of Christmas Galatians 4:4-7 What is the meaning of Christmas? That is the sort of rhetorical question which a preacher is likely to ask at this time of year. Or perhaps it might be posed more sharply, or even bitterly: What is the true meaning of Christmas? The implication of asking the question that way is …

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A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (20/12/20): And Will Call His Name Immanuel

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 And Will Call His Name Immanuel  Isaiah 7:10-17 As so often happens, Judah is in the midst of a crisis. The place where God’s people live is not only a land which has been promised to them, it is also a cross roads. Trade routes to the north and south, to east and west meet here. So the land …

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A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent (13/12/20): Rejoice!

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  Rejoice! Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 I will rejoice greatly in the LORD says the prophet. In some traditions of the church the third Sunday in Advent (today) is referred to as “Gaudete Sunday ,”that is “Rejoice Sunday.” Which, I guess is why this passage from Isaiah is set for today. That is why in some advent rings one …

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A Sermon fo the Second Sunday in Advent (06/12/20): Your God Is Here!

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Your God is Here! Isaiah 40:1-11 Isaiah is given access to the heavenly council. He is allowed to overhear a conversation between the heavenly beings. He doesn’t hear God speak directly, but what he does hear comes with the authority of God. After they have spoken one of the Heavenly beings turns to him and commands: “Cry out!” …

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A Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent (29/11/20): An Isaiah Advent

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An Isaiah Advent Isaiah 64:1-9 The other day I was watching a webinar by my favourite contemporary theologians: Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon.They were discussing how preachers should approach Advent. In particular, in view of everything that has been happening in this last year, how preachers should approach this Advent. They said that in Advent we are …

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A Sermon for the Last Sunday before Advent (22/11/20): When the Son of Man Comes

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  When the Son of Man Comes Matthew 25:31-46 This is the end of Jesus’ teaching ministry. Three years of wandering and three years of speaking to everyone who would listen reaches its climax here. This is the completion of everything he has tried to reveal. Jesus pictures “the Son of Man” coming in glory. He takes up the …

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