Isaiah 7:10-16 Matthew 1:18-25 A television interviewer was walking streets of Tokyo, where Christmas shopping is as big as it is here. The interviewer stopped one young woman, and asked, “What is the meaning of Christmas?” Laughing, she responded, “I don’t know. Is that the day that Jesus died?” The way she answered, I felt…
Luke 1:5:25 Luke 1:57-80 Suddenly at this time of year, you lot all remember my son. John the Baptist, you call him, and I wonder how much you know about him and how he came to be part of our family? My wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron, so she born into a line…
Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72 Matthew 3:1-12 A few years ago, I met God on the M25. As I was traveling north on the M25, I noticed a lorry coming the other way, heading south. Above the cab, across the front of the trailer, were emblazoned the letters: G – O – D. Then I realised…
Matthew 13:34-35 & 52 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Jeremiah 6:16-21 I wonder if you’ve ever noticed how the distinction between old and new has become very strange these days? I think it’s become something which seems to trouble both the world we live in today, and the church. Sometimes we’re encouraged to buy something because it’s…
Romans 8:18-25 I wonder how many of you can readily recall where the last pitched battle on the British mainland was? It wasn’t one of the Civil War battlefields, nor the Duke of Monmouth being put in his place at Sedgemoor. It was Culloden, in the Highlands of Scotland, where the Jacobite rebellion against the…
John 15:9-17 Ephesians 3:14-19 Eric Lomax was born in 1919, and served as a signals officer in Singapore, when he was captured in 1942 and made a prisoner of war at Kanchanaburi camp in Thailand. He suffered horrendous torture at the hands of guards after they found a radio receiver and a map he had…
2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 On that crowded bus from the gate to the place, you have to stand firm and hold tight. Crowded onto that tube train rush hour, you have to stand firm and hold tight. On that narrow mountain path when it gets a bit windy, you have to stand firm and hold tight….
Job 19:23-27a Luke 20:27-38 If you ever have the misfortune to travel on the M25 between the A3 and the M40, you’ll often encounter what are known as variable speed limits. The theory is that these stop the traffic bunching together by slowing traffic down, so that it doesn’t catch up with the traffic ahead…
John 14:1-5, 18-19, 27 While we worship God in here this evening, we know many children are out and about in all manner of strange costumes, some of them with their parents or older brothers and sisters, playing trick or treat. We might not immediately think so, but there is a very close connection between…
Based upon a published sermon by the Revd Dr Susan Durber Ephesians 1:15-23 When you read a job description, it tells you the qualifications that you need for the job. For instance, if you want to teach French, you need to be able to speak French. If you want to be a solicitor, you need…