The Power of the Christmas Story

The Christmas story is chocked-full of powerful images - each on of which has the power to amaze and transform us.  Here's the sermon I preached at this year's Midnight Mass, in an attempt to unpack some of the depths of the story.  To read it, please click here.

Will the real St Nicholas please stand up?!

Today, I gave a talk about St Nicholas to our chapel-congregation at Langstone.  (The chapel is dedicated to St Nicholas, patron saint of children and sailors.)  If you would like to learn a bit more about St Nicholas, please click here.

The Violence of Christmas

Tonight, I gave a 'meditation' on violence at our Community Carol service.  Have you ever pondered just how much human violence is woven into the Christmas story - and what God's response to human violence is?  To read tonight's meditation, please click here.

Baptist or Baptiser

There's a new trend in biblical translation - to rename 'John the Baptist' as 'John the Baptiser'.  What's this about?  Who was John - and why didn't he become one of Jesus' disciples?  Fascinating questions, I think - and the themes of today's sermon, which can be found by clicking HERE.

Advent: Are we there yet?

What's the Second Coming all about?  Why does Jesus say that 'this generation will not pass away' until he has returned in glory and power in the clouds?  Ever thought of the church as a 'Love Factory'?  To muse on these and other issues, please click here to read today's sermon.

Render unto Caesar

"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's - and to God that which is God's" - or so the King James translation of the Bible more or less reports Jesus' words in today's gospel.  It this a cry for the separation of church and state?  I argue in today's sermon that it is anything but.  To read the sermon, please click here.

Servants of the Servants of God

To read today's sermon, on the occasion of the first Eucharist David & Vickie Morgan as deacons, please click here

When two or three are gathered....

To read today's sermon on Matthew 18 ('when two or three are gathered'), please click here.

From the Mountain-top

Here is today's sermon on the story of the 'Transfiguration'.  Please click here to read it.

The Healing of Charlie Gard

Here is a link to yesterday's sermon on the topic of healing.  We are about to re-introduce regular opportunities for healing prayer at our Sunday services (first and third Sundays).  In the light of the tragic story of baby Charlie Gard, I didn't see how one could just ignore such awfulness, while talking about God's healing.  To read the sermon, please click here.  

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

To read today's sermon about what a truly radical 'welcome' might mean, please click here.

Easter 2017 - Alleluiah! Christ is Risen!

To read today's sermon for Easter, please click here.

Mothering Sunday 2017

Here, rather belatedly, is a link to the sermon I preached on Mothering Sunday:  click here

From the Mountain-top

Here is today's sermon:  please click here .  (It is a repeat of the same sermon I gave last year - somewhat enlivened in the preaching itself by off the cuff stories of my daughter's recent wedding).

Too lazy to write a fresh sermon?  Well, I remember the story of a preacher who preached the same sermon for one month in a row...week by week.  When a congregation member finally had the courage to ask him what he was doing, the preacher replied "I'll keep on preaching the same sermon until the congregation starts to act as though they have heard it!".

In our days of 24 hour news and continuous novelty,  many preachers spend hours every week trying to come up with a new angle on an essential truth that they have already expounded...forgetting that oftentimes, the key to effective learning is repetition.  

Adultery, sin, grace and mercy

Here's yesterday's sermon, tackling the long list of 'righteous' deeds (or sins to watch out for) given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.  How many of us can possibly live up to this list?!  Please click here for my thoughts on that topic.

Epiphany 2017 - The 'Bottom-Up' God revealed

Today, I had the great pleasure of visiting the parish which I served as Curate, from 2005 to 2008 - 'Warblington-with-Emsworth' - (which happens to also be our neighbouring parish to Havant).  It was lovely to see old friends and to minister to them in what is a difficult time for the whole parish at present.  To read my sermon for this Epiphany Sunday, preached this morning, please click here.

At the Name of Jesus (New Year 2017)

Here's a link to Sunday's New Year sermon - focusing on the meaning of the Name of Jesus, but also thinking about the importance of other words, like 'church' and 'parish', as we head off into 2017.  To ready the sermon, please click here.