Sermon

This sermon was preached on the 5th of January 2025, The Feast of the Epiphany. Texts: Matthew 2.1-12 There’s something compelling about the magi, isn’t there? Something fun: they’re exotic, exciting, encouraging… and so the tradition of the church has given them backstories and names, Caspar, Melichior, Balthassar. And it is those magi, the magi of the tradition, the kings of the tradition, who we see steadily processing towards the nativity every Christmas, finally reaching their destination today, on the Feast of the Epiphany. ...

This sermon was preached on the 25th of December 2024, The Feast of the Birth of Our Lord, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie. A recording is available here. Texts: Luke 2.1-20 Sermon text Where do you find your hope? What gives you hope? I ask this because hope is an essential human need – one that we too often fail to scrutinise. I have my own hopes and ambitions and I’m sure you do too. And we have hopes for those whom we love, for children, for family, for friends. ...

This sermon was preached on the 24th of November 2024, the Feast of Christ the King, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: John 18.33-37 “If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.” Jesus uttered these words as he stood before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. His hands were bound. His face was beaten and bloodied. He had not slept that night. ...

This sermon was preached on the 6th of October 2024, the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: Job 42.1-6, 10-17 We have just heard the conclusion of the Book of Job. It all sounded pretty clear cut, didn’t it? Job, addressing God, repents. Job has lost his property, his family, his social standing… he has even lost his health. And for Job and his three friends, dire consequences only ever follow after dire actions. ...

This sermon was preached on the 6th of October 2024, the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie Texts: Job 1.1,2-10 The Book of Job takes a person blameless and upright, and puts them through the loss of almost everything. It’s a huge book, forty-two chapters, one of the largest texts within the Bible, so I need to do a little bit of retelling. We didn’t hear in our reading today of the first losses that Job suffers. And at first, the losses happen at a distance: he hears of them one by one, through a series of messengers. ...

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. ...