Sermons

Trinity VI 19 July 2020 Year A Proper 11 Jesus’s remarkable style as a teacher was to use pictures to capture his audience’s attention. Last week’s Gospel was the Parable of the Sower, which anyone in an agricultural society would have grasped immediately. And I thought in that vein I...

Jesus’s remarkable style as a teacher was to use pictures to capture his audience’s attention. Last week’s Gospel was the Parable of the Sower, which anyone in an agricultural society would have grasped immediately. And I thought in that vein I might use some pictures too, which while not of...

Next week we shall return to church, but before we do, here we are gathered in this virtual way, safely distanced, but together. We are worshipping as perhaps three months ago we might never have imagined. And we are poised on the threshold of our beloved St Mark’s. We are...

One of the charities that I support is the Children’s Society.  When reading their most recent magazine I was struck by the depiction in it of colourful postcards sent by supporters of the Society sharing messages of hope for young refugees.  One such read: ‘Welcome to England.  We hope that...

The theme of my sermon today is ‘glory’.  I have chosen this theme to reflect today’s reading from the Gospel of John.  The focus of John’s Gospel is on the ‘hour’ of Jesus’ glorification which was to return to the Father at the Crucifixion. ‘Glory’ is not a word that...

Today is Mothering Sunday.  In spite of the face to face contact that has been curtailed by the Corona Virus I am sure that many people today will be on the phone to their mothers in gratitude for their love for them and all they have done for them. This...

We are fortunate in this church that there is so much to look at, which tells a story. The stained glass window in the All Saints’ Chapel next to the altar is very fine piece of work. It is by Brian Thomas, born in 1912, he died in 1989. He...

The Sunday School at this moment is in the crypt learning how to pronounce the word Septuagesima so they are word perfect by the time they come back again. Let us wish them all very good luck with that. Before getting the weekly email that gets sent to the families...

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  As we come together today to celebrate Candlemas, I have chosen for my sermon the theme of light and darkness. Looking at today’s Gospel, let me begin with the words of Simeon, who has been guided by the Holy Spirit to come to the Temple to see Jesus. The...

‘Be careful what you throw away’ my grandmother used to say, ‘you never know when you might need it’.  This accords well with the saying: ‘don’t buy new when old will do’.  It is fun and refreshing to buy new things but to my mind there is a gentle warning...

by the Reverend Matt Harbage Readings: Isaiah 11.1-10; Matthew 3.1-12 On this Second Sunday of Advent, we celebrate the prophets of God. These are the holy men and women who, yes, predict the future, but more importantly and more powerfully, the prophets are those who speak the truth. Truth to...

by the Reverend Matt Harbage Readings: Malachi 4: 1-2a; Luke 21: 5-19. Last week, on Remembrance Sunday, I spoke of the Christian calling to witness to the Cross of Jesus Christ: In the face of violence and war, we see in Christ a better way. No longer “an eye for...

by the Reverend Matt Harbage May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. In the UK today, we live in a political culture of division and blame. It will not have escaped any of us that the language used in parliament over the last...

Nature in the Bible and the Saving of the Lost Sheep 3 November 2019 Readings: 2 Thessalonians ch.1, Luke 19 1-10 Ros Miskin, Reader Recently I watched a television programme about children who were evacuated from town to countryside during the second War.  Some of them were found places at...

22 September 2019 Readings: Amos 8.4-7, 1 Timothy 2.1-7 by Ros Miskin, Reader In the final sentence of today’s Gospel reading we are told clearly and simply:‘You cannot serve God and wealth’.  This sentence appears to conflict somewhat with the earlier narrative.  Here, the master commends his dishonest manager for...

by the Reverend Matt Harbage Readings: Galatians 6.7-16; Luke 10.1-11, 16-20. “Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves…. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.” May I speak in the name of God: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen. Today I want to...

by the Reverend Matt Harbage Readings: Deuteronomy 30.9-14; Luke 10. 25-37 (The Good Samaritan) Our Gospel reading today contains a powerful parable and it’s one of my favourite.  When I was a teenager I once knew a Methodist minister. One day I asked him, “Some of these old Bible stories...

by Ros Miskin, Reader Readings: In today’s Gospel reading we learn of a man in the country of the Gerasenes who is trapped by demons within himself that cause him to live outside the city in the tombs. The demons have left him as an outcast without even the capacity...

So there he is, naked and beyond the pale.  In Mark’s Gospel narrative he even bruises himself as he has been robbed of his self-esteem.  He is an outcast whose identity has been eroded by demons to such an extent that he has even lost his real name.  It has...

So there he is, naked and beyond the pale.  In Mark’s Gospel narrative he even bruises himself as he has been robbed of his self-esteem.  He is an outcast whose identity has been eroded by demons to such an extent that he has even lost his real name.  It has...

So there he is, naked and beyond the pale.  In Mark’s Gospel narrative he even bruises himself as he has been robbed of his self-esteem.  He is an outcast whose identity has been eroded by demons to such an extent that he has even lost his real name.  It has...

Here at St Mark’s we have had the pleasure of hosting walking groups who come here to refresh themselves either during or at the end of their journey and this to my mind is a demonstration of Rogation practice.  Next month we will host groups walking for charity which brings...

Here at St Mark’s we have had the pleasure of hosting walking groups who come here to refresh themselves either during or at the end of their journey and this to my mind is a demonstration of Rogation practice.  Next month we will host groups walking for charity which brings...