Readings: Genesis 37:1–4, 12–28, Romans 10:4–15 & Matthew 14:22–36 “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith!” Those words are said by the priest during the Eucharistic Prayer every Sunday morning to introduce what is known as the ‘memorial acclamation’, when we respond together: ‘Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.’ The other place within the liturgy each Sunday where…
Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Readings: Genesis 32:22–31, Romans 9:1–8 & Matthew 14:13–21 The photo above is a 5th century mosaic from the floor of the ‘Church of the Multiplication’, a Roman Catholic church that is located by the Sea of Galilee at a place called Tabgha, which is believed to be the site of the miracle we have come…
Readings: Genesis 29:15-28, Romans 8: 26-39, Matthew 13:44-58 Hidden within the walls of our homes are electricity cables. We cannot see the electricity they provide, but at the flick of a switch we can turn darkness to light, produce heat to warm ourselves, cook our food, power our televisions and charge our mobile phones. We may not think about electricity very…
Readings: Genesis 28:10–19a, Romans 8:12–25 & Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43 I continue to be dismayed by stories that I read about the history of the Church. When I use the term ‘Church’, I’m referring to the Western Church; what we now know as the Roman Catholic Church, and the many denominations such as the Church of England, the Presbyterian Church, the Lutheran Church…
Readings: Genesis 25:19–34, Romans 8:1–11 & Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23 I began last Sunday’s sermon with a short explanation about the passage from the Letter to the Romans for that day. In the passage, Paul was attempting to explain why it was so difficult for people to be reconciled to God only by obeying the commandments and statutes of the Torah (otherwise known…
Readings: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67, Romans 7:14-25 & Matthew 11:15-19, 25-30 I want to begin this morning with a short review of today’s passage from Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Paul’s writing can be difficult to understand at the best of times, but I think this passage is perhaps even more challenging than usual! To put the passage in some context; earlier…
Readings: Genesis 22:1–14, Romans 6:12–23 & Matthew 10:40–42 In last week’s sermon I spoke about God’s grace, and the fact that although freely given to us, it does come at a cost. The gift that God gives us, is that we are reconciled to Him through the death of Jesus, in whom God revealed Himself to us. God created humankind in His…
Genesis 21:8–21, Romans 6:1–11 & Matthew 10:24–39 Our spiritual reflection for this week contains a story about ‘grits’, a dish of ground maize boiled with water or milk, that is commonly served in the southern states of the USA for breakfast. In the story, we find a Yankee (which is American slang for someone from the northern states of the USA) travelling…
Readings: Exodus 34:1–8, 2 Corinthians 13:11–13 & Matthew 28:16–20 I wonder how many of you are familiar with the saying “it doesn’t make one iota of difference”? I had no idea of the origins of this saying until I started studying theology. The English word ‘iota’, which means “an extremely small amount”, derives its meaning from the ninth letter of the Greek…
Sermon for the Day of Pentecost Readings: Acts 2:1–21, 1 Corinthians 12:1–13 & John 20:19–23 In Christianity, we associate the Day of Pentecost with the time when the disciples received the Holy Spirit. This of course was recorded in our first reading for today, which was from the Acts of the Apostles. But long before it was taken over by Christians as…