Bathing is at ancient as humanity. So it is no surprise that ritual bathing is nearly as old. In most of the world’s religions, there are ceremonies that involve water, and washing, and bathing. Cleanliness, they say, is next to godliness. So when John headed out to Jordan, people might have been surprised at how…
Listening to angels – sermon for 5 Jan 2020
Merry Christmas! We still have a little bit of time left in the twelve days of Christmas. Epiphany begins with Evening Prayer tonight, and then we enter a short season which revolves around epiphanies – discoveries of Jesus and who he is. The great story of Epiphany of course is the arrival of the magi…
Word. Become Flesh. – sermon for 29 Dec 2019
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory. Now we are a few days away from Christmas. We have travelled to Bethlehem and seen the child lying in the manger. We have felt the stirrings of hope and joy in our hearts. Now, though, a few days after…
Became Flesh – a sermon for Christmas Day 2019
Today, we hear a different take on the Christmas story. Matthew and Luke give us the story of the Nativity, or two different Nativities. Matthew tells us about the angel’s visit to Joseph, and the Magi, and wicked king Herod, and the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. Luke tells us about the shepherds watching their…
Ready or not – sermon for Christmas Eve 2019
Well hello! Merry Christmas. Welcome to Trinity, or welcome back. I’m delighted that you’ve come this evening, and I hope and pray that this evening’s worship brings God’s blessing. Ah, I need Christmas. Don’t you? I need this season and this holiday. I love Jesus, of course, and I love celebrating his birthday. I love…