Luke 10:30-37 John 8:31-38 Galatians 5:1, 13-21 “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” And the same applies to the word ‘freedom’. Whenever we start talking about ‘freedom’ we very soon realise that we may…
Luke 9:28-36 As we came down from the mountain, James, John, and me, we were still shaking. I was so confused and trembling so much that I kept stumbling, and John would reach out a hand to steady me. Jesus had told us not to say anything to anyone else about it, not to the…
Deuteronomy 15:7–11 Matthew 14:13–21 2 Corinthians 9:6–15 I didn’t get to where I am by not enjoying many good dinners. I once enjoyed a very good meal on the high table at Mansfield College Oxford, after preaching in the college chapel, but then I am biased in favour of Oxford. In an episode of Inspector…
Luke 2:22-40 What are you hoping for? If you were invited to describe your dream of tomorrow, for yourself, your family, your church, I wonder what you’d say? Perhaps you’re not sure? Or maybe you’ve lost hope, even forgotten what you were hoping for? If that’s so, then today’s gospel might just be for you….
Luke 2:22-40 Whenever I stand by the font, holding a baby that’s either damply smiling or damply screaming, I now tend to think about when we stood at the font with Joanna for her baptism. Only after that did I really understand the anxiety every parent has that they might not behave as I wanted,…
John 2:1-11 1 Kings 17:8-16 I’ve trained my dog to bring me a glass of red wine. It’s a Bordeaux collie. Of course, not everyone knows very much about wine. As Basil Fawlty said, “the kind of people who come in here don’t know the difference between a Bordeaux and a claret”. Martin Luther, one…
Isaiah 43.1-7 Luke 3.15-17, 21-22 A chap out walking his dog one evening was pleasantly surprised when a beautiful and, to him, young woman warmly greeted him. He obviously looked rather surprised, because she apologized and explained, “Oh, I ‘m so sorry. When I first saw you I thought you were the father of two…
Matthew 2:1-12 Deep beneath the Bodleian Library in Oxford, there are many rooms of movable book stacks. Hardly any of the Bodleian’s collection is on open shelves, and most have to be ordered. You used to fill in a little slip, and an hour or so later your book would be ready for you. However,…
Matthew 2:1-12 Well, I suspect that for many of us feel Christmas is well and truly over now, even though there’s officially a few more days yet. Many people’s work, school, or college, begins again by tomorrow, if it ever even stopped. The final party was on New Year’s Eve, the next day was a…
I asked people what they thought I should say today, and lots of people said it needed to be a big. Some people said I needed to make it a cracker. So, here we are! A big cracker! Produce big Cracker Only the English could find a toilet roll and gun powder amusing! Now the…