Monthly Archives: September 2026

Sermon: Two dis/obedient children

Posted on September 27, 2026 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Commentator Wendell E. Langley suggests that by telling of two partly obedient, partly disobedient sons, Jesus is concealing a third alternative that describes what the chief priests and elders are doing. Whether they say that the first son, even though he was subsequently obedient, failed to do his father’s will, because he was initially disobedient or they say that the second son, even though he was initially obedient, failed to do his father’s will, because he was subsequently disobedient, then they are left with the question: how much more disobedient must be a son who is both initially and subsequently disobedient? Continue reading →

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Sermon: Celebrate Abigail, not Esther

Posted on September 20, 2026 by Avril Hannah-Jones

A commentator I read this week compared Abigail’s story to the Book of Esther, arguing that Esther’s story mines and undermines Abigail’s. The author makes various comparisons between the two, but ignores what I think is the greatest difference between them. In this story, only one guilty man dies, killed by God. In the story of Esther, 75,000 Persians die at the hands of the Jews: men, women, and children; the innocent with the guilty. (Esther 9:6-16) In today’s story, King David, whose overall body count is estimated to be 140,000 people, with fifteen individuals said to have been killed by his own hand, kills no one. Would the world be different if we remembered Abigail, instead of Esther? Continue reading →

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Sermon: Being forgiving is good for you!

Posted on September 13, 2026 by Avril Hannah-Jones

I have been fascinated by the Global Flourishing Study, launched in 2021, that looks at different aspects of well-being over time in twenty-two countries. In a recent analysis using data from the Global Flourishing Study, psychologists examined whether people who reported being more forgiving reported better well-being a year later than those who said they rarely or never forgave. They found that those who reported that they were forgiving people had somewhat higher well-being when asked a year later about things like their mental health, purpose in life, relationship satisfaction, and hope. This confirms what decades of previous research had found. Continue reading →

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Sermon: The sinned against and sinning

Posted on September 6, 2026 by Avril Hannah-Jones

The church is the Body of Christ. How we treat each other within the church is as important to God as how we as Christians love the world. In fact, how we behave as a community determines how we love the world. Saint Benedict described the church as a ‘school for souls.’ The church is where we learn how to live as God’s people. This means being willing to be honest and open with each other, rather than merely nice. Continue reading →

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