Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany Readings: Micah 6:1–8, 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 & Matthew 5:1–12 You may not have paid too much attention to the “sandwich board” or A-frame sign outside the church, which lets people know that the church is open and that they are welcome to come in, but there is a verse from the Bible that appears right…

Sermon for Third Sunday after Epiphany  Readings: Isaiah 9:1–4; 1 Corinthians 1:10–18 & Matthew 4:12–25 The author of the Gospel of Matthew, whom I will simply refer to as Matthew hereafter, quotes extensively from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Members of the community that Matthew was writing to, which was predominantly a Jewish community, would have recognised or been familiar with these…

Second Sunday after Epiphany Readings: Isaiah 49:1–7; 1 Corinthians 1:1–9 & John 1:29–42 Last Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus, and we read in Matthew’s Gospel that when Jesus surfaced from the waters of the Jordan River after being baptised, the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove and settled on him. In today’s reading from the…