So, Lent is here again: a season of fasting and self discipline as we remember Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. Our 40 days of Lent reflect this time, and giving up things we enjoy is a way of deliberately putting ourselves in a position where we are likely to have to wrestle with temptation,…Continue reading Sermon for the First Sunday of Lent 2023
Category: Sermons
Sermon for Candlemas 2023
If you’ve been coming to St Oswald’s for any length of time, you’ll know that Candlemas is my favourite festival. I love it for all sorts of reasons: I love the Candlemas snowdrop legends: that when Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden after the fall, it is said that snowdrops grew in Eve’s…Continue reading Sermon for Candlemas 2023
Sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent
Advent is a multi-faceted season. It has all kinds of overtones, including that of judgement – we see that in today’s Gospel in the words of John the Baptist. He has a special place in the third Sunday of Advent, so we’ll leave him for now and look at the Old Testament reading which encompasses…Continue reading Sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent
Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King 2022
Christ the King 2022 So, the shops are full of baubles and tinsel and Christmas cards and huge foil dishes for roasting turkey. It doesn’t feel quite as over the top as it has in the past – I think the supermarkets have worked out that we won’t have as much money to spend this…Continue reading Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King 2022
Sermon for the Thurd Sunday before Advent
Today’s gospel reading carries a most appalling story: the story of a poor woman whose husband dies and who is obliged to marry, one after the other, his six remaining brothers who also die, one after the other. Despite the seven husbands, the woman bears no child. Then she too dies. The people who told…Continue reading Sermon for the Thurd Sunday before Advent
Sermon for All Saints Sunday 2022
We are, these days, very keen to dig the dirt on leaders and celebrities: social media exist on this . No one would bother to read Twitter or Facebook were it not for scandal, and our national newspapers follow not very far behind. I have mixed feelings about this: one the one hand, it is…Continue reading Sermon for All Saints Sunday 2022
Sermon for 16th October 2022. Trinity 18 Proper 24
I love the story of Jacob wrestling with the unknown man who, it turns out, is either God or an angel – a messenger from God. As in the picture on our notice sheet today, by Marc Chagall, the unknown man is often portrayed with wings. There’s a wonderful sculpture by Jacob Epstein of this…Continue reading Sermon for 16th October 2022. Trinity 18 Proper 24
Sermon for Proper 13 2022
Today we’re considering the third element of The Vine Community which is an initiative of the Diocese of Blackburn. This is based on the question ‘How can I show the hope and joy of Jesus Christ in the world?’ Even if you’re not involved in The Vine Community, it’s a question everyone can reflect on…Continue reading Sermon for Proper 13 2022
Sermon for Trinity 3 (Pentecost 4) 2022
Two weeks ago I handed out the packs for The Vine Community – if you didn’t get one, there are still some available at the back of church. The Vine Community is an initiative of the Diocese of Blackburn which is designed to help people to grow as Christians. It does this by helping people…Continue reading Sermon for Trinity 3 (Pentecost 4) 2022
Sermon for Trinity 1 (Pentecost 2) 2022
If you had asked the Israelites, thousands of years ago, how God spoke to them, their answer would have been very different from ours. Outside of the Garden of Eden, God spoke through fire, and flood and wind, through earthquakes, plagues and calamities: think of Noah’s flood, the terrible plagues which indicated Gods’ wrath in…Continue reading Sermon for Trinity 1 (Pentecost 2) 2022