Communion wafer broken and held above plate

Communion: Do Only Fools Eat Their Lunch Alone?

August 15, 2021Posted inSermons
Sometimes we can be forgiven for thinking of the Bible as an ethereal, otherworldly book. Then readings like our second one today makes us realise that there is a lot of earthly language in it too. Mentions of “eating flesh” and “drinking blood” seem more vaporific than angelic! That was certainly my reaction, and if it was yours too, then we are in good company.

Rest and Responsibility

July 18, 2021Posted inSermons
We are living in an increasingly anxious society. I am sure that many of us have seen reports in the media about the mental health of young people today. Last summer, during lockdown, UK Universities saw at least one student die every week, all these sad cases were either traced back to mental illness, drug abuse or both. During my time in university chaplaincy a few years ago I was on the front line of this struggle to keep some of the most vulnerable students alive and healthy.

The Price of Prophecy

July 11, 2021Posted inSermons
Both our readings today relate to prophets who faced consequences of being prophets. In our sermon today I would like to concentrate on Amos, from who’s book our first reading is from. Amos is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. In Jewish Bibles the books of the twelve prophets are presented as one combined book, yet they are presented as individual smaller books in Christian bibles.

Meetings and Partings

June 6, 2021Posted inSermons
So, this is it. The day is finally here. My last service of my first official ministry and my first time saying this sort of goodbye. The theme of this service ‘Meetings and Partings’ was taken from one of the Engagement Group sessions that I led with you this year. That Engagement Group was, appropriately, on liminal space. As I speak to you now, about to leave my official role as Student Minister behind at the end of this month and not quite fully knowing what is next, liminal space is exactly what I’m about to be entering into.
Rembrandt's 'The Baptism of the Eunuch' painting.

What Can We Learn from The Ethiopian Eunuch?

May 2, 2021Posted inSermons
In our first reading today we encountered a character from the New Testament who, I believe, is sadly too oftern neglected – The Ethiopian Eunuch. Yet there are, of course two Ethiopian Eunuchs in the biblical cannon. And the other is in which book?… no need to all shout at once! Yes the first Ethiopian Eunuch mentioned in the Bible in actually Ebed-Melech in Chapter 38 of the Book of Jeremiah. In that story Ebed-Melech is an official of the King of Judah. Ebed-Melech saves the day in that story by leading a crack team of soldiers to rescue the prophet Jeremiah from a cistern that he has been thrown into (a cistern as in a waterproof well type structure used to collect rainwater – not a flushing toilet cistern).
Easter: Being the Resurrection

Easter: Being the Resurrection

April 4, 2021Posted inSermons
The late, great Frank Schulman – a former chaplain, dean, and fellow in theology at Harris Manchester College advised Unitarian ministers-in-training that “with the Easter sermon there is a temptation to avoid the issue by speaking in broad terms about renewal of spring, flowers, and clouds wafting across the sky.” We can probably also add chocolate eggs to Schulman’s list of distractions yet, while I intend to remain faithful to Schulman’s advice today, I hope you will allow me to indulge you with a childhood memory of mine.
Jesus is shown holding a whip and driving out bankers from the temple. The bankers all represent different modern banks.

The Cleansing of the Temple

March 7, 2021Posted inSermons
Some of you might know that that religious attitudes that I encountered at my Church of England Primary School caused me to go through a distinct period of Atheism that lasted for many years. Indeed, at that time, I was probably the world’s youngest militant Dawkinsite Atheist. I have a now vague memory that those with power over myself and my fellow children at that school were very keen on us singing the Christmas carol ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and were especially keen on emphasising the lines

Transfiguration: How We Shine in Love

February 14, 2021Posted inSermons
The passage from the Gospel of Mark generates odd reactions form people when they first read it. Personally, I usually get to the line, “his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them” before thinking – “what kind of laundry detergent advert is this?!”

Miracles and Healing

February 7, 2021Posted inSermons
Back in the days before such things as Modernity and the Enlightenment had come about, if you had enquired of minister where the evidence was for the existence of God or Christ’s divinity, there is a good chance that they would have pointed you to the miracles in the Bible as infallible or unquestionable proof of such doctrines.