Sermons

A Christmas letter came from an esteemed parishioner. His wife told him not to “be boastful, smug or complacent.” He continued – there was nothing to boast about, because they had not done anything all year; in their country cottage, where they spent most of the lockdown, they were content ...

  On your marks, get set, go! Looking back over the decades to my school sports day I remember those words being shouted out at the beginning of races which, I hasten to say, I was not very good at but I enjoyed the stimulus of the run.  There were ...

Do you know the Jonah-man Zazz? It opens:   Nineveh city was a city of sin The jazzin’ and a-jivin’ made a terrible din Beat groups playin’ a rock and roll And the Lord when he heard it said, “Bless my soul!” Jonah is in the great prophetic tradition of ...

Communication and Connection: Our relationship with God’s Word From the readings for today: God the Father speaks through his prophet Isaiah: Isaiah 55: v 10 – 11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it ...

WG:  Today’s sermon is a little different from normal. Penny and I are seeking to present a major discussion document endorsed by the House of Bishops to help the Church of England reflect on Church teaching about marriage and created identity, as society’s understanding of these things is evolving very ...

The theme of my sermon today is ‘expectation’. In the second Act of Shakespeare’s Henry V, the Chorus describes the scene that is taking place in preparation for war against France.  He declares that the ‘youth of  England are on fire’ and ‘Expectation’ sits in the air.  Expectation that the ...

From the Gospel for today, John Chapter 6, Verse 61: ‘When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? And Verse 67 ‘Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?’ Perhaps you enjoyed “One more croissant for ...

In the opening sentence of today’s Gospel reading, Jesus poses the question to his disciples: ‘Who do people say that I am?’ This leads into a dialogue about his identity as the Messiah. What, though, was Jesus like as a person?  If I was asked to describe his personality I ...

The theme of my sermon today is mystery.  The quest for knowledge and understanding has formed part of human history since man first walked the earth.  Yet the mystery of faith remains.  As St Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians, now we ‘see in a mirror dimly and ...

Give us this bread John 6 v 33 – 35 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the ...

Did you have an embarrassing aunt when you were young? I was brought up with many aunts, more than I could count, and they are all gone, they all had wonderful names of a particular type, Freda, Mavis, Joyce, Phyllis, Nora, Nora, Lucy, Hester, Muriel….. One of the Noras had ...

What remarkable and unique factors come together today! At the very kind permission of the Chapel Royal and the Duchy of Lancaster, the peculiar status of this historic place permits the ordination of a Diocese in Europe Deacon, Glen Ruffle to serve at St Andrew’s Moscow. St Andrew’s may need ...

The theme of my sermon today is perseverance. I am sure that most of us, at one time or another, have felt the desire to give up when things are not going well.  I certainly have, though my boarding school years taught me to keep going and persevere when sensing ...

What manner of man is this? From Mark 4: 38 – 41 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39 And He arose, and rebuked the wind, ...

In today’s Gospel reading we learn from Mark that the kingdom of God is like a seed that, when it grows up, will put forth large branches ‘so that the birds of the air can nest in its shade.’ When I read that particular sentence about the birds, it brought ...

‘No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.’ Who is the strong man? According to the context of Mark’s gospel, he is Satan, the force of evil, and according to ...

Today is Trinity Sunday.  It is on this day that we celebrate the Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  We can trace the origin of this celebration back to our 12th century Archbishop of Canterbury, St Thomas Becket, whose first act as ...

Ascension-Tide has wonderful hymns, one has kept coming to me as I have been revisiting the New Testament accounts of the Ascension, Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour. Let it hover in the backs of your minds for a moment. On Easter morning a parishioner emerged from church, puzzled by the ...

“The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.” The requiem’s prayers encompass emotions around death: fear, separation, love, memory, hope, thankfulness. This prayer for the dead calls the faithful to face mortality and finitude and situate them within the loving ...

One of my favourite poems by John Donne, begins the third verse: I have a sin of fear…  I hope it is not inappropriate to admit that as I shut the church door on Mothering Sunday 2020, I was afraid. St Mark, has the oddest ending to his Gospel “and ...

Our OT lesson is the gift of the Law to Moses. The Ten Commandments give shape to human interaction and the proper sense of the holiness of God. The Gospel reading, not from Mark this week, is from the start of John’s Gospel. Jesus comes from Galilee and as his ...

Sermon Lent I, 21 February 2021, the Vicar There are elemental factors with which we must deal before we look at Mark’s telling of Jesus’s time in the wilderness. Some years ago, rather baldly, one of the children, said, “Look what you have done to the planet, that we will ...

In today’s sermon I am going to attempt to reflect upon the love of God, drawing upon today’s Gospel reading and the fact that today is St Valentine’s Day.  This reflection will, I hope, offer reassurance and comfort to those who have suffered and are suffering from Covid and those ...

It is an honour to embark on my maiden sermon in front of our St Mark’s communityand what a treasure trove of gospel riches I’ve been given to consider and share with youbriefly, I promise. When William sent the options for today’s readings, he noted that the Prologue to John’s ...