When I was first ordained, an elderly parishioner needed to have some complicated surgery on her leg; I went to take her Holy Communion in her home and was horrified to see what looked like scaffolding around her leg. I could not take my eyes off it – I kept glancing at the thin bars […]
Sermon Topic: Lent
Re-membering...
It is said that dog’s do not have short-term memories, that they don’t have the same concept of time as we humans do. It certainly is true of our Cairn Terrier, Bertie; when I come back home after being away for a few hours, I get the exact same welcome when I come back after […]
‘From Dust to glory’
Matchwood to Immortal Diamond
Our Lenten journey begins with a simple yet dramatic symbolic action; ashes, placed on our foreheads in the sign of the cross, with words that echo the words of God to Adam and Eve in the story of the fall – “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:19) And what is […]
Jacob's Ladder 'Heaven in Devon'
Today, we begin our Lenten sermon titled ‘Dreams and Visions.’ A title which may well evoke memories of vivid stories where God makes himself known in unexpected and surprising ways. The Bible contains many dreams and vision in which God reveals something of his nature and his plan for humankind. Often, these dreams and visions […]
A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent
The cost of grace: The discovery of my true self.
Two years before the start of the Second World War, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” [1] Difficult […]
Living Water for Spiritual Thirst
Years ago I had the extraordinary experience of spending some days in the Sinai Desert in Egypt with a group from St George’s College, Jerusalem reflecting on the Exodus experience of the Children of Israel. We were in four-wheel drive vehicles rather than on foot. Can you imagine driving madcap (the drivers seemed out to […]
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord” – Colossians 3:23
How diligent are you? I sometimes like to watch cookery programs and find this vicarious experience to be very satisfying and what is more it requires no effort at all. I am always amazed by the way contestants work under pressure in a competitive environment. I am especially fascinated when each contestant is given the […]
Via Crucis: Via Lucis
When I was a parish priest in the East end of London, my little Victorian Church of St Martin of Tours had a beautiful Rood Beam (Rood – R-O-O-D – is the old English word for the Cross) and on this carved beam that stretched from one side of the Chancel to the other, there […]
The Best We Can Be
“The Best a man can get” – remember the Gillette razor company adverts? I do. I longed for the day when I would get my first razor, lather my face with shaving cream and glide the razor over my skin, smoothly, just like the TV advert. As I waited for my debut into manhood, my […]
