Tag: theology
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while we wait…
Biblical Texts: Malachi 3v1-4, Luke 3v1-6 Advent. A time of waiting. It is a time of the church year when we eagerly await the coming of Christ. The word comes from the Latin, meaning arrival, or coming. I love the church calendar, the liturgical year, because it takes us through the arc of God’s salvation…
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all the feelings
I don’t know where you stand politically, but I know for myself there are a whole mixture of emotions today. Anxiety, frustration, maybe a little foreboding. Having relatives and friends in the U.S., it’s hard to watch what is going on there and not be concerned. And what happens in the U.S. often has effects…
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a Christian hope
When we use the word “hope” today, most of the time we’re wishing something will or won’t happen. I hope I didn’t leave the oven on, I hope I feel better tomorrow, I hope it doesn’t rain this weekend. Or perhaps more seriously, I hope my kids are healthy, I hope I get that job,…
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a foundational prayer
Biblical Texts: Psalm 117, Luke 11v1-4 Today’s passage in Luke is so familiar it can easily go by unnoticed. For those of us in church regularly, we say this prayer so often it can become automatic. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s good to know things by heart, but sometimes it pays to slow…
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a harvest offering
Biblical Texts: 1 Timothy 6v6-10, Matthew 6v25-34 YouTube Link Our verses this morning might seem odd choices for a Harvest festival. First, there’s nothing from the Old Testament, where we can find plenty about harvest in general and food in particular. Second, there’s a lot about money. That’s not traditionally been a fun subject to…
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wonderful news now
Luke 6:20-26; Matthew 5:1-12 Blessed are the poor! Blessed are those who mourn! Blessed are you when people slander you! Blessed, blessed, blessed! We hear this passage, and it’s twin in Matthew, all the time. But it’s not an easy one. We don’t use the word blessed very often, which doesn’t help, but when some…
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dog’s dinner
Biblical Text: Matthew 15:21-28 If I had a list of passages, that on face value, you could leave out of scripture, then this would be on it. A woman in distress comes to beg Jesus for her daughter’s healing. His response is not just discouraging, it sounds offensive. This does not seem like the Jesus…
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solus Christus
(Sermon originally preached on 14th July at St. Mary’s in Kidlingon) Biblical Text: Ephesians 1:3-14 May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. Church is an odd thing isn’t it? All of us could be somewhere else this morning.…
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defining dominion
(This was originally a sermon preached for our Ecochurch Service, on 28th July, 2024. I have edited the introduction, but the body of the text is largely identical. If you would like to watch the sermon, you can find it here.) Biblical texts: Genesis 1:26-2:4, Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:16-21. For many of us, an important…