Monthly Archives: January 2026
Sermon: Living out the Sermon on the Mount
The UN Charter says that its aim is to ‘reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small’. But as historian Tom Holland points out: ‘That human beings have rights; that they are born equal; that they are owed sustenance, and shelter and refuge from persecution: these were never self-evident truths.’ They are Christian truths. They are the truths we see in the Sermon on the Mount. Continue reading
Sermon: Calling and character
It is as citizens of the kingdom that Jesus’ disciples will be enabled to live in the way that he will outline in the great block of teaching that we call the Sermon on the Mount, to which we will listen over the next eight weeks. Continue reading
Sermon: When warnings from history are being ignored
Despite all the world’s danger and chaos, we who follow the Lamb of God know that we live in communion with the Creator, whose intention for the creation is justice and peace. As we take comfort in that relationship, so we also join with God in working for the day when the heavens will sing for joy, the earth exult, and the mountains break forth into singing, because God’s will is finally done on earth as in heaven. This is our calling as it is our prayer, now as throughout history. Continue reading
Sermon: Welcomed into an inclusive Israel
We are recipients of the gift of an inclusive Israel. We exist as a Christian community, worshipping the God described in the Hebrew Scriptures, the One who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it, because a small group of Jews invited Gentiles to join them in walking the way of Jesus. Continue reading
Sermon: The true light has come to the world!
As comforting and inspiring as Jeremiah’s Book of Consolation was, the hope it offered was exclusive. It was Jacob, the remnant of Israel, firstborn Ephraim, who was to be redeemed. The nations were to hear the word of the Lord and declare that God has redeemed God’s people, but the nations themselves were not to be redeemed. In the prophecies of Jeremiah, a distinction was to be made between those born to the remnant of Israel and those born to the rest of the world. This distinction is destroyed by the gospel. Continue reading
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