Following with Commitment
Luke 9:51-62 Today our series on “Followers of Jesus” brings us to some of the challenges that Jesus placed in front of those who wanted to follow him. To what are, let’s face it, some unreasonable seeming demands that he makes, some very negative marketing. “I’ll follow you wherever you go”, someone cries to him […]
Empowered to Follow
Romans 5:1-5 | John 16:12-15 Last week was Pentecost, and in Churches around the world the followers of Jesus gathered to celebrate the festival, to mark the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all people – or at least, the start of that process, for of course it would be some time later that […]
Seeking the Spirit
Acts 2:1-21 We’ve jumped back this week – from a series of four Sundays in which we’ve been looking at the way that the early Church acted, and the way it grew – its internal struggles with the radical inclusion of those who had previously been excluded, it’s living out of the love of God […]
Staying True
Acts 16:16-34 Today’s reading continues straight on from where we left off last week – Paul and Silas, having met with Lydia and shared the good news with her, are now based at her home, speaking to the people of Phillipi.
Rejecting Prejudice
Acts 16:9-15 Last week we reflected on one of the last of the stories from the Peter narrative – the conversion of Cornelius, a significant step for the gospel, out of its Jewish enclave and into the gentile world, in Acts chapters 10 and 11.
Including Outsiders
Acts 11:1-18 One of the things I often do when I’m preparing to talk about a passage, writing a sermon, is to go back to a big excel spreadsheet that I’ve got which lists every sermon I’ve ever preached – the Bible passages, the title, and a one-line summary. This isn’t because I’m trying to […]
Practicing Love
Acts 9:36-43 Over the next five weeks we’re going to be looking at a series of stories from the book of Acts – the book, probably written by the same author as Luke’s gospel, though we don’t really know who that was, that charts the development of the early Christian Church, mostly through the stories […]
Easter Celebration – Sharing Good News
John 20:1-10 | Acts 10:34-43 Some preachers love preparing and preaching on Easter Day. I know that because my Facebook feed is full of them. So much enthusiasm for celebrating this most incredible of days with the faith community that they are part of, unpacking once again the miracle of the day as it unfolded, […]
Celebrating God’s Presence
Luke 19:28-40 There’s a sermon that I, and I think many preachers, tend to preach on Palm Sunday. You’ve probably heard it – if not from me, from some other preacher over the years.
Welcoming when we return
Luke 15:11-32 What is there to say about the story of the Prodigal Son that has not been said a thousand times before? One of the two best known of Jesus’ parables – I reckon it’s probably just nudged out of the top spot by the story of the Good Samaritan – it, like the […]
Persevering when we fail
Luke 13:1-9 A couple of weeks ago, in a scripture class, I ended up talking with a year 5 group about the word ‘Covenant’, especially as used in the Old Testament. For us it’s mostly a Bible word, although it does seem to get used in legal contexts as well – particularly, as far as […]
Revealed as Son of God
Luke 9:28-36 Over the past few weeks we’ve been following through this theme of “Jesus Introduced” – looking at different aspects of the way that Jesus, and his message, were first encountered by the people of his day.
Setting High Standards
Luke 6:27-38 There’s a prayer by Walter Brueggemann (that I used as part of morning worship last Sunday) that begins like this:
First Followers
Luke 5:1-11 I don’t know if you are fans of the TED talks – as a preacher I have to admit that I find them a bit daunting (at least the good ones) – the amount that people can say, and the engaging way they can say it, in a talk roughly the same length […]
Welcomed and Rejected
Luke 4:21-30 So we continue our short series, Jesus Introduced, with this story about his reception in his home town of Nazareth, when he was invited to speak at the synagogue. This wasn’t, as recorded in Luke’s gospel, actually the start of Jesus’ preaching ministry. He had speaking in the synagogues in the towns around […]