Community, Peace, Ecology
Jesus, Wisdom and you Readings : Proverbs 1:20-33, PSALM 19, James 3:1-12, Mark 8:27-38 The Gospel call of Jesus to take up your cross and follow him has never been easy to understand, even more, to live out. The 1966 book ‘The Comfortable Pew’, reflected the way the heyday of the United Church of Canada was […]
SAY YES! Readings : Proverbs James 2:1-17, Mark 7: 24-37 There is so much in the readings we heard today, preaching is difficult. But I have chosen to preach through the perspective of the them for this year’s Season of Creation: To hope and to act. This is an easy link to the second […]
Wisdom has made us, wisdom remakes us, wisdom welcome us home Sermon – 25 August 2025, readings 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-29, Psalm 84, Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69 From Proverbs 8: 28: when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,29 when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep […]
Readings : Isaiah 2 :1-5 Romans 13 :11-14 Matthew 26 : 33-44 Hope: There was the person who sent ten different puns to his friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did. Hope: You realise, the reason we have hope is because things can be very bad, […]
If you listened well to the gospel reading you may have some doubts that this Sunday should have the theme of Peace. John the Baptist passed on to Jesus his call for repentance and preparation for the realm of God, where the first would be last. In fact there is a lot of Peace in […]
Readings: Isaiah 35:1-10, Luke 1:46b-55, Matthew 11:2-11 JOY – You cannot fake it Honestly its difficult to be joyful in 2022. Brutal war. Cynical politics. Extreme views normalized. But this week was a delegate to COP15. It was a really good experience both time I visited. Impressive to see the organization and proud to be […]
Sometimes the set Bible readings have a powerful, uncanny contemporary impact. Today is one of those days but it takes work to realise it. Values matter, leadership matters, but Grace undergirds everything. The first Reading of Jeremiah is part of the description of a cosmic battle, which was written for those in exile to Babylon. […]
Listen to the Voice of Creation What does creation say? Listening to the Voice of creation suggests there is one voice, when of course there are many. Just yesterday I was at my magic space on Isle St Helene, and the birds had many voices in the trees, who speak too. A Philadelphia vireo came […]
Readings : Jeremiah 2 :4-13 Luke 14:1 , 7-14 Where will you sit? Forget the Jesus story for a moment and remember the different ways you have had this dilemma. Was it at a lecture theatre? A wedding? A theatre when you arrived late? On the school coach outing? I remember my little heart going pitter patter […]
Readings Isaiah 5 :1-7, Hebrews: 11:29-12:2, Luke: 12:49-56 Sight, time and courage. You know the gospel I want to share today. I simply invite you to live it. This came from a close friend, RC priest Bernard Lynch, and a conversation we had about our mortality. Bernard gave me a quote from Celtic spirituality: The beauty […]