Noise! At a hospital appointment on Monday morning I was dismayed by the noise. There was a TV on somewhere – a sitcom with canned laughter but meaningless because the screen wasn’t visible. At the other end of the ward there was a radio playing, and then some people came in with a child and…Continue reading Sermon for the first Sunday in Lent
Category: Year C
O God, whose glory is all around us, even when we are unaware of it we pray for your church; that it may it be a place where your glory is glimpsed, your beauty reflected in worship and in the lives of your people: and a place where many will hear whispers of your love…Continue reading
Sermon for the Sunday Next Before Lent
Above the clouds, the sun always shines When I was a child we holidayed mostly in the United Kingdom, with occasional camping trips to Germany via the ferry from Harwich. There’s a layby, just west of Settle, where we once stopped to fix a puncture: my dad was a very patient man, but he really…Continue reading Sermon for the Sunday Next Before Lent
Intercessions – 2 before Lent
God of love, forgiveness and of blessing, we pray for your church, locally and globally: that it will be a refuge of hope in a world of despair, a place of forgiveness not of judgement, a place where people can bring their inability to forgive, a place to leave things with you until peace is…Continue reading Intercessions – 2 before Lent
A Sermon for Candlemas
Candlemas is a lovely feast: outside of Easter and Christmas, it is definitely on the top of my list of favourites. Beautiful it is, but it is a bittersweet feast – there is sorrow there as well as joy. The bitter: Well, at the end of the service today we turn (physically) from Christmas to…Continue reading A Sermon for Candlemas
Intercessions for the Third Sunday of Epiphany.
Lord Jesus, you came to bring good news. We pray for your church, locally and globally: that it will be a bringer of hope and love, comfort and healing. As your followers, may we too be good news, living your way of love in the world. We pray for your world, especially for places where…Continue reading Intercessions for the Third Sunday of Epiphany.
Sermond for the Third Sunday of Epiphany
Driving north up the M6, there is a place, just south of Lancaster, where hedges begin to give way to dry-stone walls. Most are tumble-down and badly kept, the grey stones often lying in heaps, the walls supplemented by fences to keep the livestock in the correct field. But these tumble-down walls make my heart…Continue reading Sermond for the Third Sunday of Epiphany
Sermon for the Second Sunday of Epiphany.
The Epiphany Theme of Glory The account in John’s gospel of Jesus’ first miracle at the Wedding at Cana, speaks of glory – a golden thread running through the season of Epiphany; the bright star which lead the Magi; the riches they offered and their unexpected encounter with the glory of the infant king; the…Continue reading Sermon for the Second Sunday of Epiphany.
Intercessions for The Second Sunday of Epiphany
Lord, you turned water into wine, we pray for your church, here, and wherever your people gather for worship; that it might be a place of transformation, hope and joy. Free us from self-righteousness and disapproval, judgmentalism and false piety. Enrich our lives, we pray: turn our water into wine. Teach your people to love…Continue reading Intercessions for The Second Sunday of Epiphany