This sermon was preached on the 25th of August 2024, the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, at St Barnabas Church in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: John 6.56-69 Ephesians 6.10-20 On Thursday night, I was stood out in the courtyard just there, and a squall came in. The trees waved about dramatically in the wind. I found myself wondering if their branches would snap. I was, of course, not wearing my jacket. But I stood there amazed. And then I shouted aloud, into the air: “Oh… come on!” ...

This sermon was preached on the 21th of July 2024, the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: Mark 6.30-34,53-56 Imagine yourself as a villager, living in Galilee in the first century, the time of the earthly ministry of Jesus. You and your family get by… but only just. You have just enough food, just enough money … just enough to manage, as long as nothing goes wrong. ...

This sermon was preached on the 14th of July 2024, the Feast of Saint Swithun, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: Mark 6.14-29 Bitter envy is absent where peace is present, for ever and ever: where the peace of Christ is present, bitter envy is absent. Those words form the last verse of an ancient hymn, which tells of the life of Saint Swithun. It’s at least a thousand years old. ...

This sermon was preached on the 9th of May 2024, the Feast of the Ascension, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: 1 John 5.1-12 Mark 16.15-20 Today we gather to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. This is a big day in the life of the Church… ranking up there with Passiontide and Pentecost. And yet, oddly, many Christians seem to have forgotten about it. There aren’t many churches in which it is specially celebrated. ...

This sermon was preached on the 5th of May 2024, the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: 1 John 5.1-12 John 15.9-17 This is my commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you. (John 15:12) This commandment of Jesus is so simple, so clear, so profound; it immediately makes sense even to the smallest child. And I find that it is bittersweet in its simplicity… bittersweet because we so often fail to obey this command of our Lord, despite its clarity, and despite its simplicity. ...

This sermon was preached on the 28th of April 2024, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: 1 John 4.7-21 John 15.1-8 There are a lot of shrivelled up plants up here in the hills at the moment. The rain hasn’t come when it usually does. It’s affecting even the huge, old trees in the forest. Trees that are centuries old are turning brown, and starting to die. ...

This sermon was preached on the 21st of April 2024, Good Shepherd Sunday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 10.10-18 Parables are worlds spun from story. And these are worlds that we are invited into, invited to inhabit, invited to experience. So let’s enter, imaginatively, into the world of the parable we heard today. It’s quite a scary world. Sheep are gathered together, in a fold. That’s a place, somewhere in the countryside, where they would have been enclosed, perhaps to spend a night. A place that helped their shepherd to protect them. ...

This sermon was preached on the 31st of March 2024, Easter Sunday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 20.1-18 Let’s taken a moment to reflect. Reflect upon your experience of Holy Week, and of the great Paschal Triduum, the height of the Christian year. We have journeyed from the gates of Jerusalem, to Calvary, to the garden and the empty tomb. We have journeyed from false triumph, to tragedy, and now we find ourselves gathered in wonder and joy. ...

This sermon was preached on the 30th of March 2024, Holy Saturday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: Mark 14-15 Today, Holy Saturday, the body of Jesus of Nazareth has been taken down from the Cross, and placed in a tomb. Saint Matthew tells us: When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. ...

This sermon was preached on the 29th of March 2024, Good Friday, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Text: John 18.1-19.42 Good Friday. How can this day possibly be called Good? Today, the Son of God is tried, tried, and sentenced to death. Today, the Son of God is abandoned by his disciples, his friends, even by Peter, his rock. Today, the Son of God is rejected by his people. Today, the Son of God is sentenced to a degrading death. A death reserved for rebels, for traitors, for those who challenged empire. A death as painful and degrading as human beings can make it. ...