2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5 You do realise that the earth is flat, don’t you? The so-called “experts” would have us believe that it’s a globe, an “oblate spheroid”. Fake news, lies, disinformation! It’s all a conspiracy, with some nefarious purpose that I can’t quite remember. But you only have to visit Whitley Bay to […]
2 Timothy 3:14– 4:5 Guy is a fireman. A brave and honourable profession, we’d all agree. However, Guy lives at some point in the near future, when house insulation has reached such a peak of perfection that houses no longer catch fire. What’s a fireman to do, with no fires to put out? The state […]
Genesis 28:10–17 On Wednesday morning I sat down to write this sermon for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels. So while I was poring over some of the more obscure and arcane chapters of the Bible, journalists up and down the country were still poring over the judgement handed down by the Supreme […]
Philemon 1-21 The letter of Reference. If you have ever had to write one for someone applying for a job, you will know how hard they can be to compose. You feel obliged to tell the truth; but your unembellished view of it might hinder, rather than further the prospects of the person who asked […]
Genesis 18:20–32 ‘The Lord appears to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre and says, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.”’ […]
Luke 10:38 – 42 We hear a voice: ‘He’s here! At last! We’ve been hoping against hope that he’d come; and now he’s actually here! In my house! This man has words of eternal life. And I can listen, truly listen, not just overhear snatches that the wind happens to blow in my direction. Nothing […]
Colossians 1:1 – 14 Imagine two people. Both are listening in, as these words of St Paul that we heard are read out in two church congregations. Yet neither is a regular member of these congregations: each has slipped in at the back, after the service has started. Not quite sure why, not quite sure […]
Luke 10: 1– 11, 16– 20 Be honest! You struggled a bit with the three readings we heard this morning. Didn’t you? I certainly struggled, looking at them earlier in the week. Because all three sound a bit, well, remote from our lives: from our joys and sorrows, our worries and our relationships. I’m happy […]
Luke 9:51-62 Picture busy Northumberland Street. But not now; no, no, no! Picture Northumberland Street on Christmas Eve, about half past four, an hour or so before the shops shut! Here, everybody is on a journey; and everybody is rushing. You don’t make eye contact with anyone. The only conversation, barely discernible above the noise […]
Luke 7:36 – 8:3 I can see it from Simon’s point of view. Organising a banquet, which almost everyone in the village will attend in some shape or form: what could possibly go wrong? You know whom you need to see here. You know who needs to be seen here. You draw up the formal […]
